Nicky comes across a homeless girl, Ronda, who was banished from home by her mother's boyfriend, and decides to help her and her mother retake their house, recalling Pei-Ling's advice not to run away from fear. She also reconnects with her father by playing a game of Weiqi, assists Althea for her dress fitting, and continues her investigation of Zhilan with the help of Evan and Henry.
Tropes featured in this episode:
- All Take and No Give: Derek forces himself into Carmen's and Ronda's life so he can take their money.
- Catapult Nightmare: Nicky experiences one in the opening.
- Chekhov's Skill: Nicky was a law student at Harvard, which was probably how she met Evan. She ends up advising Carmen on how to legally remove Derek's leash on her apartment.
- Domestic Abuse: Derek beats up Carmen whenever she tries to stand up to him.
- Forced from Their Home: Ronda was banished from home because she dared to stand up to Derek.
- The Gambling Addict: Derek always gambles whenever he has enough money.
- Gambling Brawl: Nicky fights against the casino's guards while confronting Derek.
- I Will Wait for You: Nicky nearly finished playing a game of weiqi with Jin when she left three years ago. According to Mei-Li, Jin left the board game intact at the living room for quite a while, hoping that Nicky would miraculously return, until he quietly removed it away, apparently to hide his heartbreak.
- Lethal Chef: Althea bakes a cake that Nicky and Ryan compare to their father's aftershave. However, her red velvet cake is apparently pretty good, though she's overdone it.
- MacGuffin Guardian: Each of the eight sacred weapons are protected by a hereditary guardian, with Pei-Ling and Zhilan's family being among them.
- Odd Friendship: Nicky finds it weird that her mother and Evan are now friends, despite her disapproval at their relationship being the reason Nicky left home in the first place.
- The Password Is Always "Swordfish": Althea easily deduces Derek's password, justifying how 90% people adhere to a predictable algorithm.
- The Reveal: It is revealed that Pei-Ling and Zhilan are sisters.
- Smart People Play Chess: Golden child Nicky's hobby is playing weiqi with her father.
- Stranger in a Familiar Land: Nicky still has trouble reconnecting with her family after three years living in isolation. Henry tells her that he experienced that too when he came home after two years studying at a wushu academy in Beijing.
- Vigilante Man: Nicky chooses this as her calling.
