Kung Fu: "The Way of the Tiger, the Sign of the Dragon."

"When you are able to snatch the pebble from my hand, it will be time for you to leave."

Contrasts.

That's the only thing that comes to mind as I look at my review of "The Wild Wild West" and "Kung Fu."  On one hand, we have a so-called 'violent' show about two cowboy-like adventurers busting up people left and right while playing to all the stereotypes of the genre.  However, in this show that premiered two years after "West" had been forcibly ridden into the sunset, shows a gentler side to the Western.  Gone are the Native American/"Yes, Kimosabe" nonsense, replaced by the more accurate (?) and socially acceptable stereotype of the Racist White Idiots who somehow are stupider than their Enlightened Kind but yet keep fucking the Enlightened over with startling success.  "Gunsmoke" had been replaced with "Billy Jack."  One 'accurate' stereotype had been replaced with possibly a more accurate but still one-dimension one.

Welcome to the 1970s, one could say with tongue in cheek.

"Kung Fu" was never a hit.  In fact, according to TNT's webpage, it never broke the top twenty shows for every year it was on.  Three to four years and not a hit.  This despite the famous saying that Master Po offers to young Caine:  "Snatch the pebble from my hand, grasshopper."  Nowadays, that alone would make the show in the Top Ten:  but, these were different times, possibly more pure times.  So, "Kung Fu" was risen to cult status, where it still lives today.  Not forgotten, but not wholly recognized:  perhaps the best treatment for any show.

And, from the "Wild Wild West" viewpoint, there isn't much to recommend "Kung Fu."  All the action scenes are extremely quick and are quite realistic:  the goal of Caine when he uses violence isn't punishment, it's strictly for self-defense.  A lesson taught quickly and painfully.  No drawn out 'jumping on the table and kicking the guns out of their hands' kinds of trickery.   In fact, the only real battle of any length in this pilot is at the very end and is more of a sign of things to come rather than a "Good vs. Evil" decision.  And sets up the series...

"Kung Fu: Way of the Tiger, Sign of the Dragon" is the official name for the two hour series pilot, which is more accurate described as two plots interwoven.  The first plot concerns the adult Kwai Chang Caine, a mysterious wanderer whose half-Chinese heritage causes him trouble in a Western Town but allows him to get a job working the railroad.  This brings him into the plight of several Chinese workers who are being treated horribly by their White Stereotypical Jerks.  These jerks also have a secret:  thanks to geological faults there are several trapped packets of natural gas in the land ahead.   One spark from a hammer onto steel could set off a giant explosion.  But, the WSJs are getting paid good money (per mile) so instead of slowing down for caution's sake they push forward.  The workers plead their case to Caine, who they find is a Shaolin Priest.  Shaolin Priests, they know, are supposed to help people in need.  Caine has no choice but to and does so in a quick manner, which leads to the workers taking over the camp.

And after reading that,  I know why this series couldn't have been done earlier:  the whole 'workers taking over the establishment' thing wouldn't have been taken so lightly in the McCarthy Era.  Especially by the now Communist Chinese.

The second plot is young Caine's training:  orphaned in China, Caine is taken in by the kindly Shaolin Priests who educate him in their ways.  This involves a lot of philosophy and various unique forms of training, like deflecting spears with your own chest and walking across rice paper without breaking it.  This is inserted at various parts of Plot One (two paragraphs up) which adds more depth to that threadbare plot.  Thus, Caine 'graduates' and undergoes the final test which burns a 'tattoo' of the tiger and the dragon into the inside of each forearm.  This is how the workers find Caine is a Shaolin Priest, by the way.

Anyway, this plot concludes with the death of Caine's favorite teacher at the hands of a Chinese Imperialist Guard due to misunderstanding.   The Guard kills the Master, Caine kills the Guard, and is forced to run to America to hide out from the Emperor.  And thus, the plots wind together to the end:  as the workers feast and party at the defeat of their overlords, Caine is awakened by three mysterious men.  Men who happen to be hunters from the Emperor.  They challenge Caine to a fight, and after some basic fighting sequences Caine wins by killing the hunters.  As the workers cheer Caine, Caine does not accept their applause:  he has killed, which got him in this situation in the first place.  Setting fire to the railroad and fulfilling his agreement to the workers, he leaves them and keeps trekking across the American West of the 1800s.

And so the series begins.  Eventually it is learned that Caine is searching for his white half-brother and still evading the Emperor.  While it does have it's action sequences, "Kung Fu" is strictly a cerebral show, designed more for philosophizing rather than doing stunts that rival the "Matrix."   But, at times, the structure of the first 'worker' plot can be annoying but the second plot 'interwoven' into it makes it worthwhile, pushing the interest of the show.  In fact, I found the scenes of Caine in China more interesting than the American West angle, which seems just to be there to be different.  Eventually, this angle would be softened as the '70s progressed and Caine met a more diverse sort of people.

Which is good.  Stereotypes of any kind are just....well, wrong?

RATING:  Cerebral entertainment followed by quick scenes of violence make this a Western more suited for the brain rather than the adrenaline gland.  A good show, nevertheless, just know what you're getting into:  Three and a Half Stars out of Four.  Snatch the tape from my hand, grasshopper.