friday night: 'samurai girl' is born

One minute Heaven (Jamie Chung) is shy and pretty, the picture of the Japanese princess. The next, she's running away from masked ninjas, on her way to becoming a samurai warrior. And what a ride it is!

First, Heaven meets Cheryl (Saige Thompson), everybody's ideal BFF, plus adorable geek Otto (Kyle Labine). They join forces to help her find her dead brother Hiko's best friend, Jake (Brendan Fehr). (Sigh.) Jake's a master ninja (double sigh) who, it turns out, used to be an assassin for the Yakuza (aka the Japanese mob). (OK, the "ex-assassin" bit is kind of scary, but he's still MAJORLY hot.)

Then, Heaven finds out that it's her destiny to become a samurai warrior who saves everyone around her. (Talk about pressure!) Looks like she’s up to the challenge, though. Case in point: She single-handedly takes on three -- count 'em, three -- ninjas! And all she has to fight with are a hockey stick, a bowl of candy, and a snow globe. (Memo to self: Don’t get this girl mad.)

Next, Heaven comes face-to-face with the ninja who killed her brother. But even more chilling is that she discovers her dad is the head of a notorious crime family, and he hired the ninja who killed Hiko. (And you thought YOU had issues with the 'rents!) The man who breaks the news to her about her dad is a mysterious guy named Severin (Steven Brand). Turns out Severin had been working with Hiko to bring down Heaven’s father. Now that Hiko's dead, Severin wants Heaven to help him bring her dad to justice. (Gulp!) The catch? She has to go back home and work from inside her father's kingdom. Goodbye, freedom. Hello, extreme danger.

Now, if you were a Japanese princess-turned-samurai, would you make the call to dear ol' dad that puts your life on the line?