Nicky Shen, a Harvard college dropout, has spent the last three years training in a shaolin monastery owned by Zhang Pei-Ling in Yunnan, China. One night, the monastery is attacked by Zhilan, who seems to share a history with Pei-Ling. Witnessing Zhilan stealing a prized sword that the monastery protected and killing Pei-Ling, Nicky tries to reclaim the sword, but fails and burns her hand, leaving behind a mark. She barely escapes alive, but not before hearing Zhilan's cryptic warnings.
Deciding to face her past, Nicky returns to her hometown of San Francisco's Chinatown, where she is warmly greeted by her father, Jin, and older sister, Althea, though her mother, Mei-Li, and younger brother, Ryan, are less welcoming. She catches up about the many developments she missed back home, including Althea's engagement to investor Dennis Soong, Ryan's graduation from medical school, and the fact that her ex-boyfriend, Evan Hartley, is currently dating another woman. Nicky also learns that Jin has been threatened by a gang led by Tony Kang, the unofficial ruler of the Chinatown, thanks to a debt accrued by Mei-Li to pay their rent. Not wanting to succumb to his terror, Nicky chooses to band her family and friends together to face him.
In the meantime, Nicky continues her pursuit of justice for Pei-Ling by tracking down Zhilan. She becomes acquainted with Henry Yan, a Chinese historian and martial arts practitioner, enlisting his help to find out what Zhilan is planning with the sword.
Tropes featured in this episode:
- Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder: Evan has been dating a woman named Sabine since Nicky left him.
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Althea is clearly embarrassed when her mother begins singing during her engagement party to Dennis.
- Claimed by the Supernatural: The sacred sword burns a mystical mark on Nicky's hand. The wound on her shoulder may also be an important leftover.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Ryan and Mei-Li eventually come around to Nicky's return, welcoming her back to the family.
- Empowered Badass Normal: As pointed out by Ryan, Nicky's expertise in kung-fu is already badass, but the way she manages to fly is certainly not normal.
- Generation Xerox: Nicky learns that Mei-Li was a rebel to her parents, just like her, although she claims that she never became a runaway.
- Gotta Catch Them All: Zhilan is collecting eight sacred weapons that will cause a destructive transformation if united.
- Hackette: Althea is one, much to Evan's surprise.
- Heteronormative Crusader: Jin is still weird about Ryan coming out, while Mei-Li pretends that it never happened at all.
- I Have No Son!: Mei-Li's initial response to Nicky's return is saying: "My daughter died three years ago". She gets better.
- Loan Shark: Tony Kang threatens Jin to pay double the money he lent to Mei-Li, or else he will kill him in 72 hours.
- The Matchmaker: Mei-Li attempted to admit Nicky into a matchmaking service, causing her to chicken out and wander into Pei-Ling's monastery.
- Minored in Ass-Kicking: Henry introduces himself as an art historian. It turns out he is an expert in martial arts as well.
- Parental Marriage Veto: The reason why Nicky became a recluse. Her mother disapproved at her relationship with Evan because he is a non-Chinese. She was forced to break up with him, then sent away to China, where Mei-Li hoped that she would connect with her roots and find a Chinese guy to marry. Nicky saw this as one step too far, causing her to run away.
- Properly Paranoid: Since Nicky left, Althea has been tracking Ryan so she will know where he goes. This comes in handy when he tries to confront Tony Kang alone.
- Secret-Keeper:
- Before Ryan decided to come out, Nicky was the only one who knew about his sexuality. The reason why he is mad at her is because she wasn't there when he came out to their parents, who responded coldly.
- Nicky makes Althea and Ryan promise not to tell their parents about her newfound expertise in shaolin kung-fu.
- She Is Not My Girlfriend: When Nicky meets Henry, an old passerby comments that they make a great couple, causing them to respond with this.
- Sibling Team: Nicky teams up with Althea and Ryan to investigate Tony Kang.
- Spirit Advisor: Pei-Ling's spirit regularly appears to advise Nicky about her life choices.
- Tragic Dropout: Played with. Nicky never regrets dropping out of one of the best universities in the country, as it is not her dream anyway. It is her mother who is still sore about her decision to quit Harvard.
