TV Review - Kung Fu (2021)

This series premiered in April but the network renewed the show in May, which is appropriate given that May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. AAPI Heritage Month is the time to recognize the contributions and influence of Asian and Pacific Islander people in the United States. It is especially important to do so, given that the U.S. Senate recently passed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which notes there has been a dramatic increase in violence against Asian-Americans since the coronavirus pandemic. The passage of the bill was spurred mainly by the March 16, 2021, Atlanta mass shooting where eight people were killed in spas and massage parlors and the majority of them were Asian women. However, there have been egregious physical attacks on elderly Asian people on the streets in various cities. There was one incident where an elderly Asian woman named Xiao Zhen Xie in San Francisco fought back against her attacker. While I'd love to say that this series could be seen as a commentary on these trying times, it's more in the vein of other recent shows by executive producer, Greg Berlanti, as well as rising uber producer, Martin Gero.

Olivia Liang (Legacies and Into the Dark) stars as Nicky Shen, a young Chinese American woman who abandons Harvard Law School in order to rediscover herself in her family's native country of China. While there, she attends an all-women monastery where her mentor or shifu trains her in the ways of martial arts. She's there for three years when the monastery is attacked. A woman murders her shifu and steals a special sword that the shifu was protecting. Nicky now wants to find this sword and avenge the death of her shifu. She decides to return to the United States and try to reconnect with her family in San Francisco first.

Shannon Dang (The L Word: Generation Q and Sorry For Your Loss) co-stars as Althea Shen, the sister to Nicky. She's a combination of a computer hacker and fashionista. She's engaged to be married to a very wealthy man who comes from a very wealthy family. She's dealing with her fiancé's family and their possible judgments about her and her family's lack of wealth. She's also dealing with the fact that her boss sexually harassed and possibly sexually assaulted her. She's afraid though to come out against him, not knowing what the public fallout will be.

Jon Prasida, an Australian actor, co-stars as Ryan Shen, the brother to Nicky and Althea. He's a medical student who runs a free clinic for the Asian community who can't afford healthcare. He's also openly gay and is dating a Black activist named Joe Harper, played by Bradley Gibson. Yes, he's openly gay but he seems to be not too engaged in the LGBTQ community. He only came out a year ago, so he's still learning how to fit into the gay community. He leans on Joe in that regard as he can be a bit shy.

It will be interesting to see if the series, developed by Christina M. Kim (Hawaii Five-0 and Lost), explores Ryan's dating life. Otherwise, there's not much for him to do, except tick a box on what's a diversity checklist. Previous shows from Berlanti and Gero haven't just had gay people as tokens. Yet, with the exception of a show produced by Shonda Rhimes, there has been a reluctance on broadcast TV to really lean-in and depict same-sex male relationships with any real passion or intensity. It'll likely be a cute addendum. If one is familiar with the series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997), Ryan will probably be the Xander Harris of the so-called Scooby gang. The real heat will obviously be on Nicky's love interests.

Eddie Liu (Never Have I Ever and Silicon Valley) also co-stars as Henry Yan, a student going for his Master's degree in history. He focuses on ancient Chinese history. He has a criminal past when he was younger but now he's on the right path, studying to do something better with his life. He's the current love interest for Nicky. The real heat is definitely here between the two. What bonds them though is the fact that Henry is also well trained in martial arts. As such, he can be Nicky's sidekick in her quest to avenge her shifu.

Of course, because all TV shows need love triangles, Nicky also gets the occasional help from her ex-boyfriend, Evan Hartley, played by Gavin Stenhouse (9-1-1 and Allegiance). At least, in other love triangles, there appears to be some kind of chance for the third wheel. Whether it's Buffy and Spike in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series or whether it's Veronica Mars and Duncan in the Veronica Mars series or whether it's more recently Samantha and Robby in the Cobra Kai series, the show usually lays out why the protagonist could be with the other guy and not the main or first love. This series very quickly shuts down any possibility between Nicky and Evan. It seems like it's Nicky and Henry all the way, but like with any show things could be shaken up.

Tzi Ma (Arrival and Rush Hour) is a legendary Asian actor who rounds out the cast as Jin Shen, the father to Nicky and her siblings. He's also the owner of a Chinese restaurant called Harmony Dumplings. He along with his wife, Mei-Li Shen, played by Kheng Hua Tan (Crazy Rich Asians and Marco Polo), seem like the typical immigrant parents. Mei-Li might be more conservative, but generally Jin and Mei-Li seem open to their children going off and living their own lives. Yes, neither were happy when Nicky abandoned law school, but they got over it, as Nicky works to ingratiate herself back into her family's lives. For example, Nicky volunteers to help out at the restaurant.

Given the lack of TV shows with predominant Asian casts or that have a focus on Asian families, this series is a welcome addition to the television landscape. Yes, it's a remake of a 1972 series, but it does what something like Iron Fist (2017) didn't have the gumption to do and that's take a property that's tailor-made for an Asian lead and actually put an Asian lead as the lead. Iron Fist instead whitewashed the property.

When it comes to Asian representation in that regard, this series is currently the only game on the air. CBS had Hawaii Five-0 but canceled it in 2020. ABC had Fresh Off the Boat and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. but ended those shows in 2020 as well. Yes, there are TV shows with Asian or Asian-Americans in the cast like Chicago Med (2015) or The Good Doctor (2017), but a show with a predominantly Asian cast or that focuses on an Asian family can only be found on cable and streaming networks. The third season of Master of None (2015) is coming at the end of May on Netflix. The final season of Kim's Convenience (2016) will come to Netflix later this year. Ramy (2019) will have its third season on Hulu some time soon. Warrior (2019) will have a third season on HBO Max perhaps next year and Wu Assassins (2019) will have a final episode some time soon as well on Netflix.

All those aforementioned shows feature people who are East Asian or of East Asian descent. In terms of Pacific Islanders, the only option I've seen recently are NBC's Young Rock and Netflix's Finding 'Ohana (2021). This series though is the best I've seen that would be perfect for those wanting to appreciate AAPI Heritage Month.

Rated TV-14.

Running Time: 1 hr.

Wednesdays at 8 PM on CW.