Kung Fu (TV Series) An Eye for an Eye (1973) User Reviews

Anti-revenge too revolutionary a concept for most.

[cranialsi · 9/10 · 5 November 2009]

I will not go into the details of this episode as the synopsis gives a fairly detailed description of the plot. What it does not do however is provide any insight into the philosophical questions raised in this episode which have relevance to the United States psyche perhaps even more strongly today.

In this episode Caine is placed in an interesting position, a monk trained to respect all life he encounters a woman Annie who as she has been raped and does not want the child, Whilst his position may seem callous or unfeeling to some, he counsels Annie to release her anger, recognising the destructive energy of this emotion.

As with all such destructive emotions, the desire for revenge leads to death, that of her brother and the baby, born prematurely as a result of Annies rage at Caines refusal to collude with her in revenge. This it should be added is also strongly driven by her father whose hatred runs to that of all 'Yankees' for the destruction of his farm (no doubt worked by slaves).

Whilst Annie on the death of her baby sees the futility and destruction of her emotions the father cannot. This then is the hard medicine for the psyche. Whilst the feminine is able to forgive and let go the masculine falls into decrepitude when faced with the impotence of its inability to exact revenge.

It see,s a shame that we cannot learn from these lessons as even after Ghandi and Mandela the path of non-violence is seen by others as weak.

Interesting and Entertaining, as Kung Fu always is, but Flawed

[pcernea-1 · 6/10 · 13 August 2009]

I won't go into too much detail about this episode, since it's summarized well in the synopsis. To make a long story short, after the Civil War, a Southern woman Annie suffers a series of wrongdoings at the hands of three immoral Yankee soldiers. She wants revenge, but Caine counsels her to let go of her hate.

My criticism with this is, first, how stern, almost dismissive Caine is, given the colossal nature of the wrongs Annie endured. One of the soldiers raped her. Then, when her brother challenges him to a duel, he shoots her brother in the back, and tries to kill her. During the duel, by the way, for a kung fu master who can hear rustling leaves and dodge spears, he's incredibly oblivious, looking in the other direction while the brother gets shot in the back. Then, his reaction is not, say, to throw a ninja star at the killer, but to shout, "Enough!" which does nothing with a skinless guy like that soldier who can't be reasoned with. Luckily, with his last ounce of strength, the brother manages to kill that soldier before the soldier kills Annie and maybe Caine.

Next, the hypocrisy of Caine. He's quick to be critical and stern concerning Annie's feelings of hate, but he forgets that she hasn't been trained in a shaolin temple to control her feelings. In fact she's holding up remarkably well for someone who's just been raped, had her brother die, etc. Moreover, he neglects to mention the little fact that he himself killed the Chinese emperor's nephew for killing his Shaolin teacher Master Po, as you find out during the pilot. Couldn't he at least say, "I know how you feel" instead of acting like this mysterious kung fu master? I know there's only so much time for the show, but they could've made the emotional parts a little deeper, while excising pointless (though cool) parts like the fight with the Native Americans.

Finally, the way he handles her pregnancy by the rapist. She says she doesn't want the child, and he quickly throws back something along the lines of, "All life is sacred" and proceeds to ignore her. Then as she's giving birth, she's in pain, and he doesn't give her any ancient Chinese medicine, he just starts talking to her about the wonder of birth and life. Boy, I tell you, I'm not a woman, but I can imagine, if I was passing a kidney stone, say, and someone was telling me about the wonder of the urinary system, I'd probably punch them in the face!

These weaknesses, notwithstanding, it is another great episode, so go on Youtube and see it!