Cherry Blossoms (CB)

Die China-Connection

Week starting August 9th, 1992

Roy Sallows

Brad Turner

James Hong as Dr. Chung

A group of Chinese Mafia hit men let loose on a taxi cab. All the occupants are killed save one girl, Nancy Long, the primary intended target. She is needed as a key witness for the Immigration Naturalization Service against this gang and she is helped into hiding by a friend. Nick and Schanke are assigned to help INS Detective Qwan in locating her.

Nick returns to the Chinatown alley where the shooting took place. He meets an old acupuncturist, Dr. Chung who knows where Nancy is but won't tell Nick. He doesn't like or trust Nick because he remembers Nick as being the one who killed his mother when he was a little boy in 1916 San Francisco. Dr. Chung knows what Nick is.

Back at headquarters, Schanke and Detective Qwan have an argument over racial issues. Nick tells Qwan that somebody leaked information on Nancy being a witness and where and when she could be found. Nick tells Qwan he better check out his own department, because Nick knows no one at headquarters blabbed. Nick then returns to Chinatown and follows Dr. Chung to Nancy. She is hidden in a warehouse storeroom and Chung is treating her gunshot wound with old Chinese acupuncture methods. Nick makes his presence known and tries to reassure them both that he is not the enemy, he is there to protect her. They both fear Immigration and that Detective Qwan will find them.

Nick returns to headquarters and tells Stonetree that Nancy is safe but she is hurt and will not agree to any police or INS help. Stonetree says he doesn't trust Qwan or the INS either and that Nick should just go do what he has to do to take care of Nancy. So Nick takes Natalie to give Nancy some modern medical care. But the bad guys already know that Nick is helping her and follow Nick and Nat to the warehouse. As they sit in their dark car and watch Nick and Nat go in, we learn that it is Detective Qwan himself who has been giving them all the information they want because they are holding Qwan's family hostage.

In the storeroom, Nat examines Nancy and declares her stable for the moment but that she will need an operation very soon to stop the internal bleeding. Nick tries to reassure Dr. Chung that Nancy will be protected by the Witness Protection Program, they will set her up with a new life and identity. Dr. Chung doesn't find this acceptable. He says, "What about her NAME... her PAST?" and he goes on to explain that she will have to forget and deny everything that makes her be HER. He tells Nick, "Nobody can forget their past." Nick doesn't know yet that Chung is referring to his own childhood and the night Nick visited his mother, who was an acupuncturist too.

Nick leaves the storeroom and finds a group of hit men waiting. They shoot Nick and grab Nat as she runs out of the storeroom. Nick puts most of the attackers out of action, but the last one still has Nat in his grip with a gun to her head. Dr. Chung, who has seen everything Nick did, calmly walks up behind the man holding Nat and strategically pokes a few needles into the man's neck, paralyzing him instantly.

Moments later, Stonetree arrives with police reinforcements who cuff all the bad guys and haul them off to jail. Nancy is taken to a hospital. Nick looks across the room to where Dr. Chung is talking with Stonetree and tells Nat, "He hates me, but I don't know why." Stonetree approaches Nick and Nat and they are preparing themselves to have Stonetree tell them, "Dr. Chung just told me the most incredible story about you, Nick." But all he says is that Dr. Chung has asked for Nick to give him a ride home.

Everyone leaves but Nick and Chung, and Dr. Chung calmly repeats his maneuver of just a short time before... he strategically pokes a few paralyzing needles into Nick's neck, just as his mother taught him to do back in 1916. He doesn't remember that his mother had done this to Nick as part of his treatment, and that since Nick was completely immobilized he couldn't have killed Chung's mother. Chung doesn't remember after all these years that after Nick was paralyzed, Janette and Lacroix came in. He looks at Nick and says, "These are old eyes but they see clearly. I know what you are. You live forever, but I saw you kill my mother. I will remember your face through a thousand days."

Nick tells him that the night his mother died, Nick was not the only one of his kind who was there. Nick asks the now very old man to think back and remember that there was a beautiful woman there too and he begs Dr. Chung to let her come now and speak in his defense.

A short time later, even though it is now full daylight, Janette comes rushing into the warehouse, smoke billowing from under her hooded cape. She tells Chung that Nick did not kill his mother. Lacroix did. Seeing Janette brings back the complete memory of that night to Chung and he knows Nick and Janette have told him the truth. He lets them both go in peace.

Epilogue - Janette visits Nick's loft apartment for the first time. She is a bit disappointed and tells Nick that in so many hundreds of years she thought he could have done a bit better for himself. Nick tells her that he has to at least appear to be living on a cop's salary! She asks him to stop his search for redemption and mortality and come back to her and Lacroix. They kiss and are about to get more serious when Nat unexpectedly shows up. This is the first meeting of Nat and Janette and Nick introduces them to each other as "old friends".

1916, San Francisco, Chinatown
Nick has gone to see an Asian lady acupuncturist in his quest to leave no stone unturned that might help him regain his mortal status. She has a very young son who she sends into the other room and then begins Nick's treatment. She tells him she has succeeded many times in quelling men's urges. When Nick is incapacitated from the neck down by a few needles, Lacroix and Janette come in, not at all pleased by Nick's latest futile attempt to become mortal again. To express his displeasure and teach Nick a lesson, Lacroix bites the Chinese woman and drains her blood and kills her. Janette does not agree with Lacroix's methods and is sorry this happened, but she then leaves with Lacroix. The young son had been watching all the while through a crack in the door and now has Nick's face forever engraved on his mind as the one responsible for the death of his mother.

While this wasn't one of my own personal all-time favorite episodes, it had a lot of very good highlights to it. In this episode we learn Nick can speak Chinese, even though he doesn't want it widely known that he can! (How many other languages does he speak? Now there's project for some devoted fan to research!) We get Janette's first impressions of Nick's loft and her opinion of his dietary choices. Nat and Janette meet for the first time and we get to see how both women love him in such a non-possessive way. They are each very willing to back off and let Nick make his own choices. We see a rare moment when Nick is in a very real life or death situation, so seriously dire that he calls Janette to come out in the daylight to defend him and she actually does it. She braves the burning daylight to come and save him.

FoD's	Stonetree trusts Nick to take care of Nancy in secret and doesn't demand Nick tell him all the details.
Immortal Beloveds	Janette shows her love for Nick by nearly frying herself to come out in the sunlight to save Nick from Dr. Chung's faulty memory.

Chung to Nick:	"We should all be afraid of revenge."
Nick to Schanke:	"Law of averages, Schank. Every once in a while, even you have to be right!"
Janette:	sipping a drink at the loft "OOOh... What IS it?... It's COW, isn't it!!?"

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