This season on The CW’s Kung Fu, Nicky Shen’s (Olivia Liang) life has been turned upside down and not just because of the shocking return to life of her beloved shifu Pei Ling (Vanessa Kai). Her breakup with Henry (Eddie Liu) was a little complicated by the arrival of a new love interest in Bo, a barista who also happens to be a bit of a local vigilante and who also fits in nicely with the Shooby Gang. Played by Legacies alum Ben Levin, Bo has quickly become a fan favorite character but this week’s episode of Kung Fu, “Rescue”, saw a huge reveal about Bo that is likely to leave not only fans reeling, but change everything going forward this season. Speaking with ComicBook.com, Levin broke down that shocking Bo reveal and has just one hope when it comes to fan reaction: “I hope they don’t hate me.”
Warning: Spoilers for this week’s episode of Kung Fu, “Rescue”, beyond this point.
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While the episode started off on a high note in the aftermath of Nicky and Bo finally getting together — not to mention Nicky coming clean to her new love about her status as a warrior and the world of magic she exists in — by the end of the episode things had taken a dramatic turn. Nicky ended up going into the mysterious realm where Zhilan (Yvonne Chapman) ended up after the collapse of the Source Realm last season on a mission to kill the Harvester, a mysterious figure that has been reaping the souls of the warriors in an effort to strengthen Xiao, who remains trapped within Pei Ling’s mind. Nicky isn’t able to do so — she has to make a last-minute choice when faced with the Harvester and ends up saving Zhilan and returning her to the land of the living, but at the very end of the episode, the identity of the Harvester is revealed: it’s Bo.
“Listen, I have a thesis statement for Bo,” Levin told us. “Hurt people hurt people. That’s what I’ve been telling myself throughout this. And there’s a few episodes that will come after the one you just watched, and it’ll explain a little more. But yes, it is sort of a massive betrayal it does seem.”
It’s a betrayal that is clearly going to have some massive consequences, especially when one considers that Bo’s relationship with Nicky has just turned intimate. But according to Levin, while Bo sees Nicky as “the good magic” as he tells her at the top of the episode, Bo also sees himself as being on the side of the good magic as well, making for a very complicated situation all around.
“I feel like it’s been pretty clear from the first episode where we meet Bo, he’s just magnetically drawn to Nicky and I think it’s much more than that, for reasons we don’t know yet,” Levin said. “I find her in the warehouse, and I’m immediately drawn to her, and I have this almost like a burning need to help and to be part of her righteous journey that she’s on as a protector and as a warrior, which she reveals to me in this episode. So, I don’t know. I feel like, Bo, as I say in episode five, has not been subtle. I’ve laid it out on the table that I want this, I want her, and I think you could even say he’s sort of blinded by that attraction.”
He continued, “And so, I think the hot and heavy night before leading into the morning after, I think it’s nothing but exactly what Bo’s been pining for and longing for. And, I think Nicky says it all at the end of episode five, where she doesn’t want to hide these things from me, and in order to make this relationship work, she wants to share her truth. That’s when she tells me she’s part of the long and distant line of ancient warriors. I think part of the reason I don’t respond as shocked as maybe it calls for is because of what’s revealed at the end, that Bo is aware of magic and also believes he’s on the side of the good magic.”
But even though it may seem like, at least to viewers, that Bo isn’t actually the good magic, Levin said to not count Bo out yet. He’s on a long journey and, like she did with Zhilan, Nicky may have a major impact on Bo.
“I do think that you will see something similar, and I do think Bo and Zhilan have some similarities that will become clear as the story progresses,” Levin said. “But yeah, I think at this moment, he’s torn, but at the end of episode six, he believes everything he’s done is as a hero, and what he’s doing in the other realm is for the greater good. And, seeing Nicky at odds with him there shakes him and that’s what that last beat is. It’s not as though he’s now completely questioning everything about his mission in the other realm, it’s simply just a shock. So, over the next two episodes you’ll see it will be a lot more clear why he’s doing what he’s doing.”
He added, “I hope they don’t hate me. I really hope people can just give me a break for two episodes, and then it’ll come to light.”
Kung Fu airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on The CW.
