Enter The Tiger

Trivia Contributor
Although we see Bon Bon Hai for the first time in Sing Wah, this is his first appearance.
 Monica Sztybel
Gigi DeLeon (Teeya) was also in Lacquered Box as Rene the florist.
 Monica Sztybel
The man who delivers the message to Caine has a semi-regular role in La Femme Nikita.
 Monica Sztybel
The episode was originally titled Messanger.
 Monica Sztybel
Script differences  
The tease in the script does not start with the flashback of Teeya at the temple, but with Peter and Caine tending to the flowers. However, the cute moment about the plant being poisonous is not in the script. Instead, it starts out with Caine instructing Peter where to get the extract, while Peter's mind is on the joke.

The delivery of the joke is slightly different:

Peter: "...So she thinks this parrot is beautiful and she wants to buy it. The owner of the store tells her the parrot only knows three words - 'Who is it?' He has other parrots that know a lot more. But she says, 'No,' she wants this one."
Caine: "Why would someone go to all the trouble to teach a parrot those particular words?"
Peter: "Who knows - will you listen..."
Caine: "Continue."

They cut to the messanger, then back to Peter who describes the part about the arrival of the interior decorator as in the episode. The only difference is that when he gets to "Who is it?" Peter says it, and Caine adds, "The only words he knows."

When Peter tells Caine the decorator dies, Caine asks, "He dies?"

When Peter delivers the punch line, Caine looks at him as if he's expecting Peter to continue.

Peter: "You get it?"
Caine: "That's it?"
Peter: "Come on, Pop...it's funny."

It continues as in the episode with Peter trying another joke and Caine laughing, etc. They cut again to the messanger, only in the script he's not anywhere near Caine's place yet, just at the fire escape. Then it goes back to father and son.

Peter: "It's okay, some people have a sense of humor...some don't. You don't.
Caine: (offended) "I do."
Peter: "Yeah...then how come I tell you three jokes and you don't laugh once. And don't say because they aren't funny, cause I know they are."

Cut again to the man as he climbs the fire escape. Back to:

Caine: "I will tell you one."
Peter: "This I got to hear. Probably starts...a preist and a kecko go into a bar..."
Caine: "No...it's not a kecko...a priest and a parrot go into a bar..."
Peter: "My parrot joke's not funny, but this one is... Okay, a priest and a parrot go into a bar..."

They cut to the man again, arriving at the top of the stairs. When they go back to Caine and Peter the punch line has already been told and we're not privy to it. But Peter is laughing. He says, "Wait a minute...parrots don't talk like that."

When the man enters, Peter notices the tears that well up in Caine's eyes. Unlike the episode, Peter doesn't see this man as a threat. Caine and the man have words in Chinese, but he is not Chinese. Then the man notices Peter and Caine, with great respect, introduces Peter without using any names.

Caine: "This...is my son."

The man "studies Peter for a beat, then steps over and embraces him. Peter pulls back slightly from the stranger's sudden overt friendship. The stranger turns and says something to Caine in Chinese."
Stranger: (in Chinese) "A man's true treasure is his children."

This is when the man slumps and falls. Peter is the one who tries to support him. The man indicates that he needs no help. When he pulls out the item wrapped in newspaper, the camera closes in on the fact that it's from Paris, France.

When Caine knocks the man out, there's an "involuntary yell from Peter."
 Monica Sztybel
Act one is when they have the scene with Peter, the Ancient and the microwave.
Monica Sztybel
Then they go back to Caine's. In the script it turns out that the messanger has a bullet wound in his right arm. Peter notices and says it has to be reported. Caine says, "Later."
 Monica Sztybel
Caine tells Lo Si (in the script they spelled it Lo See) to stay with the man when he wakes. Peter is full of questions.
The Ancient comments: "So many questions fill the air, there is no room for answers."

Peter: "Okay - you talk; I'll listen."
 Monica Sztybel
When Peter remembers that Zhong-li Quan is the immortal with the fan, the script makes note that Caine is proud of his student.
 Monica Sztybel
When Caine says that the Zhong-li Quan followers have been around since the Han Dynasty, Peter comments that it's 200 years. Then he adds, "...and they keep on tickin'?"
 Monica Sztybel
Peter notes that the messanger is not Chinese. Caine says that most are not.
 Monica Sztybel
When Peter comments on the march in Tianeman Square, the speech from Caine that follows isn't there.
 Monica Sztybel
When Caine lays out the newspaper, he asks for a pen. Peter pulls out one, but the Ancient comes up with a quill and ink. Caine opts for the old fashioned pen.

Peter: "What's that - a code?"
Caine: "Yes."
Peter: "But that's today's newspaper."
Caine: "Of course."
Peter: "Someone went to all the trouble to find the right newspaper, which would fit those characters and provide you with a specific message." (a beat) "It looks like an address."

How does Peter know???

Caine: "We must go."
Peter: "'We'? I've got things to do today. Cop stuff."
Caine: "They will have to wait." (very serious) "I need you with me...For if I falter, you must be there to carry on." Caine is as serious and concerned as Peter has ever seen him.

They start to leave. Peter asks if he should call the precinct. Caine says to do it later. Caine warns the Ancient that the stranger may try to kill him.

Ancient: "If I had my oven I could make him a nice cup of tea to demonstrate my friendship."
Peter: "Use the stove."
Ancient: "Too old fashion."
 Monica Sztybel
When they get down to the alley, Caine stops.

Peter: "Are you expecting someone to be waiting?"
Caine: "Perhaps."
Peter: "The ones who are after the guy upstairs?"
Caine: "Maybe."
Peter: "I love how you are always so precise."
 Monica Sztybel
In the car, Peter asks, "You said you may 'falter', that's why you need me. So what kind of dance are we going to...what can we expect?"
Caine: "From my past experiences with the Zhong-li Quan I have learned it is best not to expect anything."
Peter: "If you don't know what's coming, how do you expect me to finish it?"
Caine: "I just do."
Peter: "We're being followed."
Caine: "I know."
Peter: "Let's lose them."
Caine: "You can try."
Peter: (jumps to the challenge) "Try, hell?"
 Monica Sztybel
According to the script, Peter loses the tail, but there is no mention of the other car.
 Monica Sztybel
They arrive at the house. Peter gets angry at Caine when Caine opens the front gate illegally. It's not like the episode where he jokes about it. He insists they have the wrong address and they should go to the station and run it to be sure. Caine doesn't listen. He knocks on the door. A dog barks from behind the house. Caine goes to the back of the house and Peter has no choice but to follow.

Behind the fence is a vicious dog. She apparently has done a good job at tearing up the back door trying to get into the house. When she sees Caine and Peter she lunges for the fence. Peter instinctively backs away, but Caine moves forward. He hums to the dog. She settles down and Caine climbs over the fence, walking past the now calm dog. Peter "gathers his courage, climbs the fence and he too walks past the dog. The dog follows the two men into the house."
 Monica Sztybel
After Peter's comments about there being someone in the house, the dog growls. The chase is the same. The only difference is that Link Wonn ends up in a closet. Caine and Peter open the door and he tries to flee, but they restrain him. Peter tries to reason with him, but Caine pushes them both into the closet. That's when Caine tells Peter to protect Wonn with his life if he has to.
 Monica Sztybel
Wonn is weaker in this. When the attackers approach, he slumps to thefloor, saying, "They're here...oh...we're all dead."
Peter: "Don't worry...if someone dies it won't be you."
Peter pulls his gun and moves to help his father.
Caine: (without looking at him) "No! Stay with Link Wonn."
Peter: "Link who?"
Wonn: "Link Wonn. That's me."
 Monica Sztybel
The fight is different. The men charge Caine and he does some flips toavoid them. The script says, "In the past when faced with multiple adversaries, Caine is content to drive them off. Not this time. Caine wants to incapacitate them, and he does."

Wonn is impressed.
 Monica Sztybel
Caine slips some herbs under the tongues of the attackers. Wonn is talking a mile a minute. He thinks Caine is giving them poison. He goes on and on. Finally, Peter: "Don't you ever stop?"
Wonn: "What?"
Peter: "Talking."
Wonn: "I'm a little nervous."

Caine explains that the herbs will keep them asleep.

Peter: "So tell me, Gabby, what have you done to deserve this much attention?"

This is when Caine explains that Link Wonn is the leader of the revolution and tells Peter who the assassins were.

Caine says that Wonn can't leave the house, but Wonn feels he is invincible with Caine on his side.

Peter says he has to call this in, but both Caine and Wonn refuse. Wonn is there illegally. Peter is not happy.

Peter: "Great. Just great." (walks a few steps away - anger builds) "What have you gotten me into here?" (doesn't wait for an answer) "B and E, assassins, illegals..."
Caine: "You cannot involve the authorities."
Peter: "Why - your honor won't allow it." (Caine nods. Peter's anger redlines) "You talk about duty and honor, well, you're not the only one who pulls on that shirt every morning."
Caine: (flashes anger of his own) "What we are doing here is very
important to a great many people." Peter: "Right - like what I do isn't? Like my duty...my honor...my promises somehow are less important. Well, they are not. I have my own oaths, my own commitments."
Caine: (he bos to his son) "You are right. I have been thoughtless. Your commitments are as important as mine...as anyone's. But before you make that call...listen to his mission...then what ever you do, I will support it."
Peter: "Fair enough."
 Monica Sztybel
When Wonn says he's there to meet Bon Bon Hai, Caine asks, "Who?" I think the script meant for Peter to ask this, since Caine seems to know who he is for the remainder of the script. And BBH seems to know Caine when he sees him.

This is when they explain the Chinese Zodiac in relation to the Chinese expatriots.

Once the explanation is finished, Peter says, "I'll hold the call - but sooner or later I'm going to have to make it."
Caine: "I understand."

They head out of the mansion. There is no mention of Teeya or of the secret place BBH is at. Peter heads to the Stealth. Caine tells him to leave it. When Peter tries to protest, Caine says, "It makes us too prominent."
 Monica Sztybel
There's also no Frank Zappa or Bob Dylan jokes. When they walk through Chinatown, Wonn adds to his distaste of recreating China by saying that those people should have stayed in China and helped change it.

Peter: (smiles) "I think you just like to argue."
Wonn: "No - discuss...never argue. Plato believed discussion was the most positive method of learning."
Peter: "It was Socrates."

Then Peter says he has to call in, and goes to a payphone. Wonn says he's hungry, and that he's fallen in love with the American hot dog. They go to the vendor. Cap isn't there. There's no Buddhist hot dog vendor joke. Wonn just walks up and says, "With everything." The hustler and his girlfriend start fighting.
 Monica Sztybel
Peter's conversation with Strenlich is a little different. After talking about Skalany (that's a little different too, but not important), Strenlich asks:

Strenlich: "So what's going on?"
Peter: "I'm playing in one of my father's games."
Strenlich: "Just the sound of that makes me nervous."
Peter: "I may need a couple of things."
Strenlich: "Why am I not surprised."
Peter: "I need some housekeeping."
Strenlich: "Clean up or repair?"
Peter: "A little of both. Four guys - in a house over on Demass. I'll
give you the exact address later."
Strenlich: "Later? And I suppose, eventually, you'll fill me in on the
rest. Charges - that kind of thing."
 Monica Sztybel
Wonn is breaking up the fight between the hustler and his girlfriend. He tells the man how offended he is by his actions against the woman.

Peter: "Yes, of course..oh, and Chief..?"
Strenlich: "Uh, huh."
Peter: "I may need some back up...I may need a lot of back up."
Strenlich: "Where...and if it's not too much to ask...why?"
Peter: "I don't know where...and... (he hesitates) "...I can't tell you why." (quickly adds) "...not right now. But I will, as soon as I can."
Strenlich: "I don't mean to be pushing...or anything...I'm just the chief of Detectives and this is your father's case..." (a beat) "Okay...I'll play along, this one last time, Peter. But..."
Peter: "I know, I know. There are procedures that must be followed."

DESCRIPTION: "The hustler is about to rip Wonn's head off, when the young man simply turns to Caine."

Wonn: "Caine, this man means to do me harm."
Hustler: "Harm you? No - I mean to rip out your tongue and let you look at it."
Wonn: "No you won't."
Hustler: "Really - why not?"
Wonn: "He will not allow it. You see, unlike this poor defenseless girl...I have a protector.
 Monica Sztybel
As in the episode, Peter quickly disconnects with Strenlich when he sees what's going down.
 Monica Sztybel
Caine fights off the man and Peter isn't thrilled. Wonn insists he was just stopping the man from hurting the woman. Peter says, no "You stepped in, but my father made him stop." Wonn insists the results are the same. Caine says he didn't want Wonn to get injured.

Caine: "His mission..."
Peter: "Stuff his mission." (to Wonn) "You say you're here on a very important mission...to risk everything on the street like this is stupid. You didn't know this man - hell he could have had a gun.. or a friend with a gun.. or lots of friends with lots of guns."
Wonn: "Evil must always be confronted...regardless of the risks."
Peter: "Yeah, well, having my father to back you up makes confronting evil a little easier to jump into."
Wonn: (shamelessly) "Absolutely. I wouldn't have thought of doing it without him."
 Monica Sztybel
Caine insists they should head to the meeting. This is when Wonn mentions Teeya. Peter doesn't like the sound of it. Wonn insists they're friends from the University and that no one knows about her. He wishes to give her news about her brother. Peter gives in.

Once they arrive, Peter scans the street.

Caine: "There is no one on the street who is out of place."
Peter: "I'm going to have to take you on more stakeouts."
 Monica Sztybel
Instead of a boutique it's a strip club. She's wearing a flimsy transparent top. Wonn disapproves. She gives the same speech as in the episode. A bouncer orders him to leave. Wonn gets self righteous and calls the man rude. When the bouncer threatens to manhandle him, Wonn calls for Caine. Peter, steps forward, but Caine stops him. Wonn is surprised.

Wonn: "Caine...aren't you going to help me?"
Caine: "You have visited this upon yourself...you must deal with it."

Wonn gets punched. The bouncer leaves. Peter helps Wonn to his feet.

Wonn: "But, I thought he was going to step in like he did before."
Peter: "If I were you, I'd ask before I pick the fight. It'll save your face."

They leave the strip joint and end up in an upscale part of Chinatown that Peter has never seen before. The doorman seems to know who Caine is, but is hesitant to let them in. Instead he says for them to use the rear entrance. Peter quips that he's been thrown out of better places.

Wonn doesn't understand why Peter is offended. Peter says he hates dress codes. "You need the right tie to go through this door, the right shoes to come in here." Wonn says it's proper, which surprises Peter, considering the man is a radical democrat.

Caine stops outside.

Peter: (a tight whisper) "What?"
Caine: "There is no one here."
Peter: "Yeah...so that's good, right?"
Caine: "There should be. If we were to be attacked, would it not occur here. In this dark alley...with only one way in."
Peter and Wonn scan the alley.
Peter: "I guess it would."
Caine: "Strange."
They continue on. More wary now because there is no overt threat.
Peter: "You make me crazy, Pop...you've got me worried when someone's here...now I'm worried because there's no one here. You're making me nuts."
A man guards the rear door...
Peter: "I hope this fool jumps bad, just to relieve the tension.

The guard is expecting them and lets them enter. A few men approach. One points to lean against the wall. Peter hesitates.

Caine: "Do as he says."
Peter: "I wouldn't mind if he said something...pisses me off when he just points like that."

The men jump when they discover Peter has a gun.

Peter: "Don't wet yourself. I'm a cop."
Caine: "Give him your weapon."
Peter shoots Caine a look.
Peter: "I've been doing this too much lately." (hhe hands the gun to the floorman - butt first) "Keep it away from the kiddies."

Peter is more vocal in this scene than in the episode. The floorman leads them inside and says, "Wait."

Peter: "I'll be damned - 'it' talks."
Caine: (sharply) "Do not allow your attitude to effect the outcome of this meeting."
Peter: "Sorry - I'm just not used to coming in the back and being treated like..."
Caine: "Our purpose is more important than your misplaced pride."
Wonn: "Father's never change do they. I still get yelled at by mine too."
Somehow that doesn't make Peter feel better.

Peter senses the eyes of the party goers on them.

When they get to BBH's table, BBH remembers Caine, who introduces him to Peter. BBH clears his table, as in the episode, and he goes into his speech about how he can't support Wonn's cause.

Peter: "He is only asking for your voice. To be there to support him when the time comes."
BBH: "I know what he wants..."

BBH calls in the secret police and Caine, Peter -- and Wonn take them out. Peter is amazed.

Peter: "Why didn't you fight like this in the bar?"
Wonn: "Never show too much, or look too good, unless it is absolutely necessary. I'm surprised your father never taught you that."

BBH doesn't take part in the fight. He's a lot more diplomatic and congenial than in the episode. Once the fight is over Wonn tells him that they will go on without his support and that he should not interefere. BBH asks him not to fault him for being cautious. BBH is impressed with Wonn, and he gives him the medallion.

BBH: "I am willing to offer my support. Conditional."
Wonn: "It is appraciated."
BBH: "Good - that's done. Now, sit. We will eat and you can tell me about your plans."
Peter: "Great. I'm starved and something smells terrific." He rights a chair and sits at Bon Bon Hai's table.
Peter: "How's the duck?"
 Monica Sztybel
The next scene is in the street with Caine, Wonn and the dog. He's being passed to his next guardian and he doesn't want to leave the dog behind. He says the line about wishing Caine would be with him. Caine says he'll be there when the time comes. He embraces Caine and goes to join the guardian.
 Monica Sztybel
The tag just says, "Caine's place. Peter, Caine and the Ancient TBD."
 Monica Sztybel