SGRoA: Forever Knight S01 E08: Cherry Blossoms
I know. I skipped a week. I got all caught up in Thanksgiving and planning my Catemas party that it just plum slipped my mind. So I set an alarm on my phone, so we never have to have this uncomfortable conversation again. I'm sorry.
Onward!
We're in Chinatown, in the rain. Some businesspeople leave a building and get in a cab, but then a van backs up in front of them and two dudes get out with guns. They open fire on the cab and kill everyone inside. Some dude in a suit gets out to check their work and then says, "We're done here" and they all leave.
Captain Stonetree shows up at the crime scene, so we know it's important. Schenke makes a Chinatown reference which Stonetree doesn't appreciate. Srs bsnss, you guys.
Immigration's on the scene, and Homicide is supposed to give them their full cooperation. Schenke complains, and the immigration officer totes calls him out on his casual racism. Good for you, Immigration Guy!
Apparently, one of the victims was going to testify against a Hong Kong crime family - but none of the vics was female, so she got away. The cabbie and the two guys she was with bit it. Nat's cranky after the autopsy, because her budget's been cut and she has to fire people. Boring.
Stonetree can only afford to put two cops on the case, but Nick wants to add a Chinese detective. Immigration volunteers, despite Schenke's derision. Nick thinks there might be a leak in Immigration, because apparently they're known for keeping secrets. Immigration Guy - Okay, his name is Kwan - doesn't take any umbrage at this suggestion, and tells Nick he'll keep an eye out.
Nick goes back to the crime scene to vamp out and collect evidence, I guess. He climbs a fire escape and jimmies a door open and triggers a flashback. White tie, tails, top hat, but based on the cut of the suit, it's 20th century. He's seeing an acupuncturist to control his thirst for blood.
Back in the present, he's wandered into an apothecary and is being held at gunpoint by the owner. He hands over his badge and asks the guy about the missing woman - Nancy - but the guy's hedging, trying to say he hasn't seen her. Nick hands over his business card and leaves, thinking nothing is amiss. But apothecary dude totes remembers Nick all vamped out - because his mom was the acupuncturist. He thinks Nick killed her.
Guys, let's get this out of the way - this was never a favorite episode of mine. I was hoping that I would be pleasantly surprised upon re-watching, but this shit is bland, yo. So here's a fat baby in a sink:
Okay, so, Schenke's hitting the streets with Kwan the next day, and they're arguing about whose culture is better. B.D. Wong would never take this shit, yo. Schenke actually tells Stonetree that he thinks Kwan is the leak, but Nick ensures that Schenke is in charge of briefing the new detectives on the case.
Nick goes back to the apothecary - herbalist? I'm not sure what the proper term is - and follows the guy to see where Nancy's hiding out. Schenke, meanwhile, is organizing a basic canvass of the area around the apothecary shop. You'd think that if the budget freed up roughly ten more cops, they could do something more useful, but whatever.
Nancy's been shot, but Apothecary Dude is helping her out with a little acupuncture and some herbs and soup. Nick walks in and demands that Nancy be taken to a hospital, and he has a point, but neither she nor Apothecary Dude want to move her. Nancy's afraid the mob will get to her, and AD just thinks that she should be kept calm and still. Nancy backs up the leak hypothesis, too. Nick lets them stay, mostly on AD's word that he'll protect her.
Schenke's back at the station, shoving pushpins into a map on his desk, coordinating the canvass. Nick comes in and says he found Nancy, and I'm amazed Schenke doesn't shank-y him, frankly. Nick made Schenke work with Kwan, made him take over the other detectives, made him run a canvass, and then showboats in and craps all over that hard work.
Anyway, Kwan comes in, so Stonetree tells him that they found Nancy, but not where she is, exactly. Nick gets Nat to tend to Nancy's wounds (and jeez, someone loves the letter N, don't they?), so there's a doctor with her.
Oh, snap! Kwan is the leak! The mob is holding his family hostage, so he's feeding them information to ensure their release. I wouldn't trust them, dude. The mob doesn't keep its promises very well.
Back at the Chinese ranch, AD is making a lot of veiled statements about Nick's "kind" and how he can't forget his past and blah blah blah. Nick's trying to reassure Nancy about testifying, and he talks about how Immigration in Canada is basically the Marshall Service here in the States, because they run Witness Relocation.
Nancy's basically on board with testifying when some gunmen and a dude with nunchucks show up, so there goes that, probably. Nick vamps out and beats a couple of them, then bends a pipe and shoots steam at one guy, then takes like ten bullets from another. Then he tries to hypnotize AD, telling him "You did not see this", to which AD says, all deadpan and shit, "Ah, but I did."
Nick can't figure out why AD hates him, and tells Nat that if he has to bug out of Toronto, he'll let her know where he ends up. But AD hasn't said anything to the rest of the cops - he has his own plans for Nick.
Which include immobilizing him with one well-placed acupuncture needle. Is that possible? That seems...a little improbable, to me, but I don't know from acupuncture. AD takes Nick back to the shop and finally reveals that he thinks Nick killed his mother. Turns out it was Lacroix, obvies, and this scene goes on forever and blah blah blah. Nick convinces AD it wasn't him by bringing in Janette, who backs him up.
Nick takes Janette to his apartment, and Janette thinks he could do better. She helps herself to some blood, but it's gross - "What is it? It's cow, isn't it?" She tries to get Nick to embrace his vampire nature, but of course he won't.
And that's it. Yawn. Good thing I recap before bedtime, because this shit put me right to sleep.