Recap: Doubts Arise in ‘Kung Fu’ Season 1, Episode 7 “Guidance”

Kenedi
16 Min Read
The CW

The last episode of Kung Fu (see recap here) left viewers with Nicky passed out on the ground outside the gala after losing the dagger she and Henry worked so hard to acquire to Zhilan. Without further ado, let’s delve into what happened in “Guidance.”

Evan finds Nicky passed out on the ground where Zhilan left her. After telling him what happened, Evan drives her away. Henry sees her in his car and worriedly calls out after her before she texts him saying Zhilan got the dagger and apologizing.

In the car, Nicky tells Evan about Pei-Ling, worried she’s not who Nicky thought she was. Evan brings Nicky to his family’s where she can recuperate. He cleans her face wounds, and the two share a moment, faces close, before Evan pulls away, awkwardly stating he needs to get back to Sabine.

Pei-Ling’s apparition appears, telling Nicky not to succumb to doubt; she’s still on the right path. Nicky doesn’t want to hear it, acknowledging that Pei-Ling isn’t real and can’t give her the answers she wants. She declares that she’s done fighting Pei-Ling’s battles by hunting the artifacts and fighting Zhilan. Pei-Ling states she wishes she could help ease Nicky’s pain. Nicky tells her to go away; she complies.

In Guizhou, China, Zhilan enters an empty house. She picks up a teddy bear, and we flashback to her childhood. Pei-Ling is taking care of Zhilan, who is unwell. Pei-Ling tells their father, Yibo, who is writing something at a desk, she needs to go to the herbalist. He claims they don’t have the money; he’s working on something that will get them enough money to help her. Zhilan says she doesn’t need medicine. Yibo says Zhilan is stronger than Pei-Ling thinks. Zhilan looks at the symbols on his paper; they are some of the same ones that were branded on Nicky’s hand. Back in the present day, Zhilan starts searching for something.

At the community center, Ryan looks at Nicky’s x-rays; her ribs aren’t broken, but they’re “bruised, like hella bad.” Restricting her movements (i.e., no training or anything strenuous) for 2 weeks should have her healed in a month. Ryan and Althea are worried about her and urge her to at least talk to Henry about what happened.

Nicky meets Henry, who is also worried. They agree to talk, but Henry has to meet a friend who needs help. He invites Nicky along. Henry’s friend, Kevin, is concerned about his sister, Phoebe, who has suddenly sold all of her belongings, cut ties with her family, and moved into a facility to train with Kung Fu instructor Master Drake. The last time Kevin saw his sister she looked roughed up. Other students have been in the ER. Nicky agrees to infiltrate an open training session at Drake’s Shaolin school to talk to her.

Zhilan’s uncle finds her at the house. He wonders what brings her back home from her fancy life in Hong Kong. Seeming hesitant to speak to him, she says she misses her dad. Flashing back again, Zhilan is listening in as Pei-Ling and Yibo argue. He wants to sell the sword while Pei-Ling tells him it’s their duty to protect it. He tells her that he doesn’t share her mother’s beliefs or faith and that his responsibility is to take care of the three of them, claiming the money can get Zhilan treatment. He tries to wrestle the sword away from Pei-Ling, but accidentally gets impaled as they grapple. Pei-Ling tells Zhilan they need to take the sword and run before Mr. Tan (the buyer) shows up. Zhilan is horrified, and Pei-Ling leaves alone despite begging her to come with her.

Nicky is applying salve to her ribs when her mom walks in. Mei-Li asks where she went after the gala. Nicky claims she stayed with Althea and cracked her head as a result of some heels, quickly escaping. Mei-Li, suspicious, inspects the salve.

Nicky enters the gym and approaches Phoebe, giving her a training tip. After revealing why she’s there, Phoebe becomes icier. As Nicky questions her about the intensity of the place, Phoebe insists Master Drake saved her, giving her a second chance. Phoebe reveals her goal to master Tsoi-Hung, the highest tier of Drake’s training, no matter the cost.

Nicky goes to speak to Drake under the guise of wanting to learn about Tsoi-Hung. He tells her that only initiates can learn and that Tsoi-Hung is achieved through a series of trials to unlock the deepest secrets of Kung Fu. Drake offers to waive Nicky’s initiation fee and let her participate in the first trial since she trained at the Shaolin monastery. She agrees.

Zhilan’s uncle says he missed her, especially since she beat such a hasty exit after her last visit. She explains she had an unexpected visitor. Flashing back to 2 years prior, Zhilan comes home when she realizes Pei-Ling is sitting at the table wanting to talk.

Zhilan asks why now after 20 years; it’s Yibo’s birthday. Pei-Ling reiterates that what happened was an accident. Zhilan asks why she ran then. Pei-Ling responds that they were both just children in shock. She made mistakes, but she was scared of Tan taking the sword. Torn between her sister and protecting her birthright, she chose her duty. Pei-Ling says if there was a way for her to make it up to Zhilan, she would. Zhilan demands the sword as retribution.

“There is something you could do — something you could give me. The sword. You say the sword is your life. Well, you took my life the day you abandoned me, in a pool of Papa’s blood. Your life for the life you took — the only fair price. Give me my birthright.”

Pei-Ling refuses and leaves, but not before telling Zhilan she still loves her.

Althea is looking into Tsoi-Hung. While working, she interrogates Nicky about what Henry thought about her sleeping over at Evan’s — which Henry doesn’t know about yet. Althea finds a website; Drake has been livestreaming dangerous fights between students, profiting off of them without their knowledge while leading them on with the imaginary reward of Tsoi-Hung.

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Althea and Nicky tell Evan, Henry, and Ryan about Drake’s illegal operation. Althea says that the fights are being broadcast from a secondary location, not the school. Evan tells them the broadcasting site is their smoking gun if Althea can trace the location while a broadcast is happening. Unfortunately, that means someone has to be on-site close enough to the router for her to use their phones to backtrace it. Nicky volunteers since she has a standing invite from Drake. The others are concerned; she’s hurt and is going to get thrown into the ring.

Zhilan tells her uncle she was looking for a notebook and a scroll with ancient text. He tells her they shouldn’t speak of such things. When she questions why, he reveals he promised Pei-Ling to protect Zhilan from all that. He reveals that when Pei-Ling went on the run, she begged him to take Zhilan in. Zhilan feels betrayed. She pins her uncle against the wall and tells him she is already involved; she killed Pei-Ling and will kill him if she has to.

He reveals the items’ location under the floorboard. The scroll, a guide for the sword’s guardian, belonged to their mother. Their dad was trying to translate it, but he didn’t get far before he died. He believed the scroll carried the secret to all 8 weapons. The scroll is missing; her uncle sold it to Mr. Tan the night Yibo died.

As Nicky is leaving to go to Drake’s, Mei-Li overhears her on the phone with Henry (who’s going with her) and asks where she’s going. She makes an excuse about running errands for Althea again before rushing off. Suspicious, Mei-Li opens Nicky’s computer and finds Drake’s website, writing down information.

At the gym, it’s revealed that Nicky will be fighting Master Drake himself. Althea still needs about 8 minutes, so into the ring Nicky goes despite Henry’s concerns. The two begin to duel. Initially, Nicky has the upper hand. However, Drake nabs her in the ribs and she goes down. Drake taunts her, asking if she wants to quit in the face of Tsoi-Hung. Nicky glances over and sees Pei-Ling’s apparition smiling at her in the crowd.

She flashes back to the monastery; Pei-Ling is crying after visiting Zhilan. When Nicky asks if she’s okay, Pei-Ling responds that she hopes her mistakes haven’t prevented her from guiding others. Nicky tells her she’s a great teacher, but Pei-Ling says she wishes to be judged not by her teachings, but by Nicky’s growth.

Althea has cracked the location of the streaming servers. Evan goes to call it in and Ryan goes to call Henry so they can get out of there. With a determined glint in her eye, Nicky gets up. The duel resumes. She sweeps Drake, and the tide seems to turn in her favor. Their duel in the ring is interspersed with montages of Nicky training with Pei-Ling. In an amazing feat that seems to defy gravity, Nicky flies through the air, spinning and landing multiple kicks that knock Drake back against the cage. He is defeated; the students leave.

Climbing out of the ring, Mei-Li is revealed to have seen everything. Outside of the school, Henry tells Nicky the program will be shut down, the cops should go after Drake soon, and Phoebe is going home with Kevin. Henry asks her what’s up. She tells him she’s been struggling since her confrontation with Zhilan, doubting everything, realizing she doesn’t know everything about Pei-Ling. Despite this, Nicky knows she was a good shifu. She’s still dedicated to Pei-Ling’s mission.

She asks Henry if he’s ready to start working again. Henry tells her that he’s there for her, but he saw her leave with Evan. If she still has any feelings for Evan, Henry can accept that, but he has to put what they have on hold. When she agrees, he bids her goodnight.

When Nicky gets home, Mei-Li confronts her about what she saw at the gym. Nicky tries to brush it off, but Mei-Li has a grave aura of acceptance as she drops a huge bomb.

“You are a warrior, Nicky. A warrior by birth. I’ve been trying to shield you from it your whole life, trying to change your destiny. It was the last thing I wanted for you. I suppose I was a fool to think I could stop it. It’s in your blood. You are a descendent of Liang Daiyu, the first woman warrior.”

In Taipei, Kerwin Tan (Mr. Tan’s son) finds Zhilan in the back of his car. She tells him she’s after Biange, something his father is familiar with and also interested in. Zhilan wants the scroll back, telling him she has the means to translate it. Kerwin asks why she came to him. She offers to go to one of his siblings. As she goes to get out of the car, he locks the door and tells her, “let’s get out of here.”

Mei-Li tells Nicky that their lineage is real and traceable, but that not many believed in what that legacy meant. As descendants of Liang Daiyu, they are the rightful owners of her sword. The sword’s been lost for generations, held by a guardian, but when the time was right, it would be reclaimed by the rightful owners. Once every generation, a woman in the family would be chosen to wield the sword. Mei-Li never really understood any of it, but her sister Mei-Xue, who Nicky believed to be dead, did. Mei-Xue, obsessed, ran off to pursue the sword, believing she was the rightful owner, and their family never saw her again. However, when Mei-Li had Nicky, she always saw a glimpse of a warrior in her.

Nicky is angry that Mei-Li began controlling her from an early age (ex: taking her out of karate), trying to reshape her into who Mei-Li wanted her to be. All her life, she’s tried to understand her path and Mei-Li has hidden it from her. Mei-Li claims she only wanted to keep her safe. Nicky storms out. Jin gives her the car keys and asks Mei-Li “what have you done” before the screen goes black.

You can catch Kung Fu on Wednesday nights in its new time slot at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT on The CW. As always, make sure to stay up to date with all of our coverage here, and stay tuned for more updates!

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By Kenedi
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Kenedi is a college student with her sights set on attending medical school. When she isn't hard at work, Kenedi enjoys reading, watching her favorite shows, and listening to music. Some of her favorite fandoms include Supernatural, One Tree Hill, Bones, Abbott Elementary, Percy Jackson, and Scrubs.
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