Shang-Chi and the Fifth Business

I got to watch Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on opening day. It was a very enjoyable watch. The best way I could describe it is as a modern kung fu flick with a near-seamless blend of sci-fi and the mystical. With few cameos and brief references to previous Marvel films, it felt like its own movie, which helped it shine amidst this post Avengers: Endgame slough.

There were several characters with interesting arcs and dynamics, like Shang-Chi and his father. That being said, there was one particular character I had reservations about going into this film: Katy, Shang-Chi’s best friend. Some of my concerns stemmed from the actress playing her. I had one fellow Shang-Chi viewer claim that Katy had no purpose in the film, that she could have been written out entirely and it would have made no difference.

However, I would argue that Katy did have a critical role in the movie. She was the Fifth Business.

——And yes, spoilers ahead——

First and foremost: Why this apprehension towards Katy?

Katy was played by Awkwafina. My first encounter with her (not in person, of course) was in trailers for the series Awkwafina is Nora from Queens. In that show, she plays Nora, a loud, immature 27-year-old. The type of humor used in Nora from Queens isn’t really my cup of tea, so I steered clear of it. When I saw Awkwafina in the trailers for Shang-Chi, I grew skeptical. Was she going to be the token comedic scapegoat with the Nora from Queens type of outbursts?

At the start of Shang-Chi, we find out that Katy is an immature young adult with a lack of ambition. She works a low-paying job with no desire to ascend or improve, as her family is so keen to point out. Warning bells immediately rang in my head. “Oh, great. It’s Nora from Queens. Is this typecasting? Is this the sort of thing I should expect from this actress going forward?”

While some of the jokes and outbursts in the first half of the film felt forced sometimes, Katy’s growth as a character, and Awkwafina’s performance to show it, cannot be denied.

There was a point in the movie where Katy is helping an old lady carry archery gear. She rambles on about how aimless her life is, how she would try something but quickly grow bored of it. The old woman eventually forced a bow and quiver into her hands and told her, “If you aim at nothing, you hit nothing.”

It was here that her behavior changed. Someone finally told her what she needed to hear, and she started to take things more seriously. While she still had some humorous moments, she threw herself into a task and kept at it, even when it got hard.

Awkwafina’s portrayal of that change was also quite notable. She shifted from the Nora from Queens loud-and-proud to a more mature and reserved demeanor. While a stark contrast, she did not throw away everything she built up in Katy’s character pre-change. This dynamic balance, much to my surprise, is testament to how well Awkwafina handled the character in her performance.

Now, the questions some of you have no doubt asked: What is the “Fifth Business” and how does Katy fit this archetype?

We can trace the term back to a novel of the same name written by Robertson Davies in 1970. In an opening quote, Davies defines the Fifth Business as this:

“Those roles which, being neither those of Hero or Heroine, Confidante nor Villain, but which were none the less essential to bring about the Recognition or the denouement were called the Fifth Business in drama and opera companies organized according to the old style; the player who acted these parts was often referred to as Fifth Business.”

In other words, the Fifth Business is a side character who, if not for them, the story’s resolution would not have happened the way it did. Two prime examples would be Han Solo and Smeagol.

Han Solo, who first appeared in Star Wars: A New Hope, is an interstellar smuggler and resident rogue. Originally joining the team as their means of transportation, Han didn’t buy the whole resistance movement and, instead of joining the fight, ducked out once he had been paid. However, he had an off-screen change of heart and returned for the final battle.

He earned his Fifth Business status during the dogfight above the Death Star. With Chewie by his side, he swooped in, shot down the Tie-Fighters pursuing Luke, and gave him the opportunity to destroy the massive space station. If Han had not come back, A New Hope would have ended quite differently. Darth Vader would have shot Luke down, the Rebels would have been wiped out, and the Empire would continue to rule the galaxy.

Sometimes, the Fifth Business takes the form of a less-than-friendly character, as was the case with Smeagol from The Lord of the Rings. In Tolkien’s iconic trilogy, Smeagol was a corrupted slave to the Ring and would do anything to get it back. His back-and-forth tendencies to assist or conspire against Frodo and Sam made him a dynamic character fighting with himself.

In the third book, Return of the King, Frodo and Sam finally reach Mount Doom to cast the Ring into the fires that forged it. However, Frodo is unable to resist the Ring’s influence any longer and puts it on, giving his position away to Sauron and alerting him to his intended purpose. It is then that Smeagol returns one last time. He wrestles with Frodo, bites his finger off, and reclaims his Precious.

Despite the grisly nature of this exchange, it was necessary to the story. If Smeagol had not done this, Sauron’s dark forces would have found the Hobbits and seized the Ring for their master. It would have spelled annihilation for all of Middle Earth. But because of Smeagol’s selfishness and inability to keep his balance while dancing in victory, the Ring fell into the flames of Mount Doom and Sauron was defeated.

So, what makes Katy from Shang-Chi the Fifth Business?

(last warning on the spoilers)

After the old woman’s remark about aiming at nothing and hitting nothing, Katy decides to help out by learning archery. She quickly develops a knack for it, which is uncannily convenient for the coming fight against Shang-Chi’s father. Sure, we could explain her sudden proficiency as latent talent, lots of hard work in a few days, and/or mystical dragon-scale weaponry, but that’s neither here nor there.

In the final battle, Shang-Chi’s father inadvertently releases a massive demon that grows stronger as it feeds on souls. In the midst of the chaos, the demon grabs hold of a guardian dragon and attempts to suck out its soul. Shang-Chi is unable to stop it because he’s too busy keeping his sister from falling to her death.

As the tensions rise and hope begins to fade, a single arrow cuts through the air and pierces the demon’s throat, ruining its absorption attempt. Everyone looks up to see Katy, bow still up and slightly flabbergasted. That one act gives Shang-Chi the chance to pull his sister to safety and finish off the demon once and for all.

Regardless of how she was perceived at first, Katy was essential to the story of Shang-Chi. Without her, Marvel’s greatest martial artist would have failed and the legend of the Ten Rings would have ended in defeat.