Kollab Watches: Fresh Off the Boat 2.09 – “The Real Santa”

Fresh Off the Boat caps off its midseason finale with its very first Christmas special, “The Real Santa.” In this week’s episode viewers are treated to new perspectives to typical holiday shenanigans, including the search for the perfect gift and maintaining the illusion of Santa Claus for children still young enough to believe in him, all with a Huang-twist.

The holidays have arrived as we’re introduced to Jessica’s miniature holiday town, or as she calls “Jessica Town.” As she admires her set-up, she vents her concerns to Louis about her dismay over the portrayal of Santa Claus as a blue-collared, overweight Christmas icon. In usual Jessica fashion, she takes matters into her own hands; first by bringing on Honey’s husband to pose as an Ivy League-educated, physics-crazed Santa Claus at the holiday party at Cattleman’s Ranch. However, when Mitch accidentally breaks the illusion, Jessica rewrites Santa’s story even further by telling her son Evan that Santa is Chinese, much to Louis’ disapproval. All is well until Evan speaks out on how Santa should be present at his school’s assembly, rather than the “politically correct” gray blob mascot that replaces him, and everyone in the room cheers him on up until his comment about Santa being Chinese. The lies have caught up with Jessica, as she must find a solution to Evan’s confusion once and for all.

From my point of view, Jessica’s storyline is a polarizing one. Her disapproval of Santa lacking a degree from a university, specifically from the engineering field, is perpetuating a damaging stereotype. Yes, people may laugh and only consider the comical story of Jessica taking the legend of Santa too seriously, but with the model minority myth still strongly believed in society today, the direction she went with rewriting Santa’s story only reinforces it, especially when she later tells Evan that he is Chinese.

On the other hand, having Jessica say that Santa is Chinese also sheds light on a subject that’s not as thoroughly discussed. Why does Santa always have to be white? While one may argue that it’s because he hails from European folklore, considering the number of people of different ethnicities who celebrate Christmas, it’s wise to consider the possibility that it doesn’t always take a white man to be Santa (as Jessica proves near the end of the episode). Through this lie, she provides an opportunity for Evan to see how someone of his race can bring holiday cheer to children all over the world.

Meanwhile, Emery has put together a wonderful gift for Jessica for Christmas by creating his own replica of the bakery missing from Jessica Town. However, when Honey presents her a bakery that she found, the poor boy it stooped as he doesn’t know what to give to her with only days left until Christmas. He turns to Eddie, who doesn’t have a gift yet for Jessica, for guidance. Much to Emery’s dismay Eddie suggests to keeps it chill by taking “action with inaction.” Eddie eventually churns out a poem that he suggests can be from both of them and Emery makes it look presentable by rewriting it on a scroll. However, when he realizes that the poem wasn’t Eddie’s handy work but rather the lyrics to Tupac Shakur’s “Dear Mama,” Emery is at a roadblock again over what to give his mom. Fortunately for him, and as predicted by Eddie, it all works out in the end.

It’s uncommon to see just Emery and Eddie together in a storyline for a whole episode. It was hilarious to see just how opposite their personalities are as their ideologies collided over strategizing gift ideas for Jessica. My only complaint was that due to their plot not being as big as Jessica’s, we didn’t really get to see too much of them together. Hopefully we’ll get a larger story with them in the future, for actors Hudson Yang and Forrest Wheeler work really well together.

I was also psyched to see that Eddie is a Tupac fan. From the minute we were introduced to him in the first season, I was always curious as to whether or not he was, given his love for rap music. I was able to pick up on Eddie’s admiration for Tupac the minute he read “his” poem and not later when Emery saw Grandma watching the “Dear Mama” music video.

This episode of Fresh Off the Boat nicely concludes the show’s first full year on the air. The second season continues when the next episode airs on February 2, 2016. Until then, Happy Holidays everyone!

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Cover Image: ABC/Kelsey McNeal

Kollab Watches: Fresh Off the Boat 2.09 – “We Done Son”

This week’s episode of Fresh Off the Boat is all about relationships. Whether if it’s with a friend, a love interest, or a family member, the relationships you have with people are some of the most valuable things in life. Though sometimes, there are just some relationships that are meant to be let go.

The joint house restoration business between Jessica, Grandma and Honey is off to a rough start. Any suggestion that Honey makes is frugally dismissed by Jessica, even though on her end, Jessica spends $500 monthly to consult Madam Xing, her fortuneteller. When Honey calls out Jessica over taking her fortuneteller’s advice over her “partner’s”, a frustrated but prideful Jessica decides to end their relationship. For a while Jessica seems content with the decision, but after realizing that she doesn’t want to wind up “alone and right”, like Grandma Huang, she attempts to make it right with Honey. Unfortunately, Honey is in no position to forgive. What is Jessica to do?

Meanwhile, Louis is also dealing with a friendship at odds when his former roommate Barry comes to stay for a few days. Barry is nowhere on Jessica’s good side, because he never paid back a loan that Louis gave to him for a vitamin company they attempted to start back in the day. So when Louis finds himself face-to-face with another investment deal, he must decide between loaning over money he’ll likely never see again or save himself a lot of hardship and let go of this guy once and for all.

What I liked about these two storylines for Jessica and Louis was that they really tested their personality traits. Jessica is headstrong, stubborn, almost never admits she’s wrong when she is and rarely ever apologizes. Louis has an open perspective on life and tries to see the good in people. In the episode, they were each challenged with having to do the opposite of what they would normally do. Jessica had to swallow her pride in order to save her friendship with Honey and Louis had to stand up for himself and not let Barry talk him into giving him anymore money. I found these instances to be an interesting path for the writer (Ali Wong, one of the several Asians in FOtB’s writing room) to present.

Similar to the Chinese superstitions examined in the season one episode “Very Superstitious” (which Ali Wong also wrote), it was interesting to see how the practice of Chinese fortune telling was incorporated into this episode. While Jessica didn’t dive too deep into why knowing her fortune was very important to her, fortune telling is a respected practice in Chinese culture used in social and business decisions even to this day. Looking back on the episode, while Honey was in the right for calling out Jessica’s willingness to listen to Madam Xing over her, she could also have been seen as insensitive for not respecting a part of Jessica’s culture. After all, as we see by the end of the episode, Madam Xing was technically right about when they should sell the house.

It wasn’t just the adults who were at odds with the relationships in their lives. Eddie wants to buy a $50 necklace for Allison for her birthday, and in order to raise money to buy it, he takes up a new job at the house of his new neighbor, rapper DMX (or Earl when in the presence of his baby daughter Genesis). Not only is Eddie forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement, but he’s also given so much work to do that he becomes so tired and grumpy at school, not even Allison wants to be around him. At a loss over being away from her, Eddie’s new boss takes him under his wing (as well as his greenhouse of orchids) and teaches him how “presence triumphs presents.”

Once again, this episode shows how far Eddie has come along since the first season. Before when he wanted to buy something, he was told to get a job to earn the money. This time around, he instantly went looking for work when the price of the necklace was out of his budget. At the same time, Eddie also shows how much Allison really means to him by putting in all this effort to give her something nice for her birthday. It’s a sweet gesture and a trait that’s not always found in middle school boys.

This week’s episode was another score for Fresh Off the Boat!

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Featured image courtesy of ABC

Kollab Watches: Fresh Off the Boat 2.08 – “Huangsgiving”

If there’s one thing that can be said about Thanksgiving is that it brings families together, for better or for worse. While it’s a great opportunity to kick it with relatives you haven’t seen in a while, such a gathering also sets up for the worst of the grudges and other possible family dilemmas to resurface. In this week’s episode of Fresh Off the Boat, “Huangsgiving,” we see Jessica’s desire to outdo her attention-seeking sister come out, as the Huang family assembles to prepare for their first Thanksgiving in the Sunshine State.

Normally it’s Jessica’s sister Connie who plays host to Thanksgiving. However, this time around, their mother formally announces during her traditional 5:30 AM phone call that it’s Jessica and her family who have been given the honor. Unfortunately, despite having preparations set as far as what food to prepare and what additional people to invite, things begin to fall apart quickly.

Upon Connie’s family’s arrival the day before Thanksgiving, Connie is quick to announce how she’s having issues with her marriage to her husband Steve. Despite Jessica not buying her pity party, Louis offers him the couch to sleep on for the night. However, Steve convinces Louis to join him for “a little drink” and he finds himself lying outside the house the next morning, with the ultimate of hangovers and a half-eaten burrito on his chest. Jessica naturally assumes the drinking was a strategy for taking advantage of the Huang family.

The chaos continues throughout the day , including supposed ready-to-cook Cornish hens being delivered live, a raw turkey in the oven that Louis forgot to turn on, stingy and sour cranberries, and Louis gets knocked out during a friendly game of football. Nothing goes according to plan (including Steve’s attempts to win back Connie). This is ABC however, so everything turns out alright in the end for the Huangs in an (almost) heartwarming fashion.

This episode had a number of great callbacks to moments from the previous season. Jessica’s brief phone call with Connie, complete with passive-aggressive subtitles, was a great nod at season one episode, “Success Perm.” Also returning from that episode were the two grandmas being badasses together again, as well as Eddie struggling to keep up with his cousin Justin; whose taste in music is “like chasing the wind.”

I did find the return of Jessica’s gay ex-boyfriend Oscar (in tow with his new NPR-loving boyfriend no less) a little out of place, though it’s explained that he’s a favorite of Jessica’s mother and being used to sway her approval. Honestly, even if it wasn’t a big part of the story, how many people here would actually invite their exes to their Thanksgiving feast?

Much like the organized chaos of actual Thanksgivings, there was no official B plot in this episode; just a bunch of smaller vignettes, supporting the main storyline of Jessica and Louis putting together the best Huangsgiving ever. I personally liked how the episode was able to carry itself with one primary storyline all the way through and it’s a testament to the strength of the characters that it worked out so well. This bodes well for future “special” episodes. On the downside though, we had less time to spend with some of the other characters, like the kids. Yes, Emery and Evan were frustrated that Honey was not taking their table decorations seriously, and Eddie and Justin put their musical differences aside to download pictures of sexy girls (or a sensible Tracy Chapman) on the Internet, but their stories were more on the periphery to the main plot.

The second holiday episode of Fresh Off the Boat was a success, especially following the news that two more episodes have been added to its season’s line-up.

Please note that the next episode of Fresh Off the Boat won’t be until Tuesday December 1st.

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Featured image courtesy of ABC

Kollab Watches: Fresh Off the Boat 2.07 – “The Big 1-2”

I’ve been enjoying the episodes of Fresh Off the Boat this season where Louis and Jessica have taken center stage, but I was happy to see this week’s episode, “The Big 1-2,” re-direct its focus on the children of the Huang family. In this episode, all three got to test and challenge the rules placed upon them, as they made space for either breaking out of character or just wanting to grow.

Eddie continues to make the transition from child to adolescent as he celebrates his twelfth birthday. After last year’s Star Wars-themed birthday party fail, Eddie tells his parents that he doesn’t want a party this year and instead wants to spend the day with his friends at the mall. However, as Jessica and Louis arrive at the mall, balloons in tow, to surprise him, they catch him having a secret birthday party with his friends and, to Louis’ dismay, Mitch. Confronting him about it over dinner, Eddie calls out his parents’ overly strict rules for his inability to be himself at home. To his surprise, his parents decide to start relaxing the rules, and this leads to after effects both good… and weird.

Meanwhile, Emery and Evan, who are tired of being constantly ignored by their parents in favor of their troublemaking brother, decide to break from their goody two shoes and start living life on the wild side. When their big reveal of how they went to see the PG-13 rated Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls gets no reaction, they decide to step it up by messing up their clothes and hair, sticking their hands into a jar of Nutella before eating it, and pouring their Legos all over the floor, like badasses! They turn out to be the worst rebels in the world, as none of their mischief is met with any reaction of a sort. Even their last resort of running away to Denver falls through when the sight of their empty suburban street scares them into staying home. But in the weirdest way possible, and to their delight, it all works out in the end when they find themselves grounded (possibly for the first time in their lives).

I continue to enjoy seeing different sides of Eddie. He’s becoming better-rounded as a character as he’s slowly growing from a self-absorbed, hip hop-loving boy to a young man who has just as many conflicts and insecurities as anyone else. It’s an evolution that feels real as actor Hudson Yang does a successful job at portraying Eddie’s struggles. Plus, given that he too just turned twelve recently, I can only imagine bringing more of an authentic feel for the character as he continues to grow. (Fun fact: I don’t know if anyone else considered this, but did anyone find it weird that the show made Eddie’s birthday in November when the real Eddie’s birthday is in March?)

As for Emery and Evan, I continue to laugh out loud over the humorous and mischievous antics they get themselves into. My brother was watching the episode with me and during their little montage, every act of “rebellion” was met with a sarcastic but appropriate “They did not!” from him. Despite their young age, actors Forrest Wheeler and Ian Chen are already on the path to becoming comedic pros, as their timing is spot on.

Overall, it was another fun episode of Fresh Off the Boat with great one-liners from Jessica and more of Louis’ charismatic and open perspective on life. I can’t  wait to see how future episodes branch off from what occurred in this episode.

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Featured image courtesy of ABC

Kollab Watches: Fresh off the Boat Episode 2.06 – “Good Morning Orlando”

Remember how I said that the fourth episode for this season of Fresh Off the Boat was a definite favorite? Well this week’s episode, “Good Morning Orlando,” can officially be added to the same list. From the humorous awkwardness that comes with first love, to a social commentary that definitely hits close to home, this episode went above and beyond with stories to enjoy and contemplate.

It’s been two weeks since the Fall Ball, and Eddie hasn’t spoken to Allison since then, but that hasn’t stopped him from thinking about her (“She punched me in the armpit. It was amazing!”). However, according to her group’s messenger boy Ned (don’t ask), it turns out they’ve been an item since that fateful mash pit. Soon Eddie’s friends wind up with Allison’s other friends and they go on a romantic first group date of passing each other on the escalators at the mall. But when one of Eddie’s friends suddenly faces a break up from a girl he didn’t realize he was with, they come to realize: Who the hell are their girlfriends?

I thought it was humorous how the episode portrayed Eddie, his friends, and their first girlfriends’ idea of dating ( and where passing each other on an escalator is equivalent to nailing a first date). It’s a nostalgic look back at the days of first experiencing butterflies in your stomach just from the sight of someone you’re into, and the nagging questions of whether you should talk to them, what you should say, and whether or not the feeling is mutual. It was also fun to take a nostalgic look back at a pre-mobile phone era. If this story had taken place today, I think Eddie would have probably received that “Hi!” from Allison via text (or Snapchat?), instead of a physical note. It was sweet that in the end, Eddie finally figures out – via the wisdom of Emery- that to make a relationship work, communication is key (and maybe the girls should consider this advice too and not have a representative do all the dirty work for them).

Meanwhile, Louis is approached by the co-hosts of Good Morning Orlando to come onto the show and promote Cattlemen’s Ranch. Jessica sees it as a perfect opportunity to bring more business- and ultimately more money- to the restaurant (especially after she didn’t take Honey’s husband’s advice about checking her now termite-infected restored house). He appears to make a good impression on the show by cracking imitations of Donald Duck and Rocky Balboa. However, upon his arrival home, Jessica calls him out on his foolishness and accuses him of how he might have created a negative portrayal of Chinese people, invoking the one thing Louis hated from Sixteen Candles, Long Duk Dong (yeah, she went there). But when he is banned following a second appearance on the show where he accused the co-hosts of racism, Louis comes to his senses that he can’t please everyone and should just be himself.

While promotion leading up to this episode was mainly concerning whether or not Eddie and his friends have game at the tender age of twelve, it was Louis’ storyline that I loved most about this episode. I liked that Louis told Jessica, after she lectured him on how he should be acting on TV, that “one person can’t be everything.” It was a clever way to talk about #repsweats, a term coined earlier this year describing the many expectations placed on Asian Americans on TV to “properly” represent themselves to audiences, because as a community we are so afraid of misrepresentations (like with Long Duk Dong). Putting that internal struggle of our community into the context of Louis’ story line in this episode was brilliant and helps deliver that message to viewers who might not have been aware of it before. We are fortunate today to have two shows (so far) that center around Asian American families, and as Louis would likely agree, we still have a ways to go before we get over the #repsweats, but it’s a start.

On a final note, I don’t know if Fresh Off the Boat is one of those shows where shipping couples is a thing, but now that Eddie and Allison are actually together, what would their couple name be? Eddison?

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Featured image courtesy of ABC

Kollab Watches: Fresh off the Boat 2.05 – “Miracle on Dead Street”

One of the things that executive producer Melvin Mar said that he was most looking forward to this season at CAAMFest San Jose last month were the holiday episodes. Since the first season began as a mid-season replacement, the show never got a chance to do any special episodes of the kind. That’s what made this week’s episode very special, it was the very first holiday storyline for Fresh Off the Boat, and it really was an episode of firsts: Louis’ first Halloween in the suburbs, Eddie’s first “normal” trick-or-treating experience, and Jessica’s first restored house since partnering up with her mother-in-law and Honey. However, as it tends to be the case when it comes to the Huang family, things never quite go according to plan.

Louis is psyched for his family’s first experience of celebrating Halloween since their move from Washington, D.C. However, he is disappointed when his youngest son Evan informs him of how they live on a “dead street”… and no, contrary to Louis’ original assumption, it has nothing to do with the walking dead or anything like that. As Evan explains, they live on a street where trick-or-treaters rarely visit. Unwilling to miss out on his first suburban Halloween, Louis guides everyone with preparing their street for the ultimate trick-or-treating experience (and all in a total of only five hours).

Meanwhile, Jessica- who has never been fond of Halloween as it gives kids an excuse to behave badly- has her hands unexpectedly full when her newly restored house is in danger of being attacked by a group of obnoxious teenage boys. She at first tries to get them preemptively arrested for something they planned to do. When that back fired, along with a failed attempt at recruiting her family to help, Jessica makes it her mission to protect the house at all costs.

While Halloween can be seen as a children’s holiday, this episode of Fresh Off the Boat focused more on Louis and Jessica’s experiences. Like in the last episode “The Fall Ball,” Louis’ obsession with American culture and fulfilling the American Dream was on display in full force. While it may have seemed corny when he made that heartfelt speech about bringing the Halloween spirit to their neck of the woods (with lines stolen from Field of Dreams), it makes sense when we remember where Louis is coming from: He’s a man who immigrated from Taiwan and has been working from the ground up for his family to be as successful and comfortable as any other American family.

Meanwhile for Jessica, her story highlights the darker side of Halloween; the side that adults may face when their property becomes a potential target for intrusion and vandalism. While she may seem like her usual wet blanket self, she does have a valid point about how Halloween is a time to be wary of pranks. The different outlooks from the two Huang parents is part of what make Fresh Off the Boat very unique; as it continues to expose different layers of common American traditions from the Huang’s Asian American experiences.

It was also fun seeing Halloween celebrated on Fresh Off the Boat; especially when it came to the costumes (though I confess to looking up who was dressed as who on Angry Asian Man’s blog post about the episode, for I didn’t recognize most of them). Despite her not having a big role in this episode, let’s please take a minute and zoom in on Grandma’s Garfield costume, for she looks incredibly badass in it!

Lastly, I also wanted to note Nicole’s return in this episode, for I was certainly surprised to see her (and that Eddie actually had enough dignity to talk to her without giving her a death stare). In a way, I can see her appearance making sense, not only because she and Eddie attend the same school, but also because his mom is friends with her stepmom. I wonder what role she will play from here on out?

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Featured image courtesy of ABC

Fresh off the Boat Recap 2.04 – “Fall Ball”

It’s not unusual for an Asian household to be multi-generational. While it varies from household to household, living with extended family is a lot more common in Asian American families. Having three generations living under one roof can be pretty hectic; especially when members of different generations are either trying to help another out, or are butting heads. In this week’s episode of Fresh Off the Boat, we get a little taste of both.

Jessica is in desperate need of a loan in order to strengthen her career as a real estate agent by going into house flipping. Conveniently, Grandma Huang’s late boyfriend (who, for some reason, everyone knew about except for her) left money for her in his will. Seeing an opportunity to get the money she needs, Jessica – who’s always had stiff relationship with her mother-in-law – attempts to get on her good side. Not one to be fooled, Grandma lays down some harsh truths about Jessica’s attitude that causes her to stop and re-evaluate her motives and relationship with her.

Meanwhile, the Fall Ball at Eddie’s school is coming up, and Louis is more psyched for his eldest’s first school dance than Eddie himself. Having never been to a school dance himself, all he knows about them are from re-watching the John Hughes classic, Pretty in Pink, over and over again, back when he worked at a New Jersey pizza savers factory with Jeremy Lin (er, I mean, Chau). However, when he sees how ill prepared Eddie and his friends are for the dance (cue his horrified expression as they demonstrate their dance to Shaggy’s “Boombastic”), Louis takes matters into his own hands as he helps the boys get ready.

I think it’s safe to say that this was one of my favorite episodes so far this season, and while there are several reasons that come to mind, the main aspect I enjoyed was really the character development exhibited in the episode.

Grandma Huang has always been a fan favorite with her funny one-liners and just generally being awesome. In this episode however, we began to see and learn more about her, and that especially goes for the scene where she calls Jessica out on her scheme to get her money. It’s a genuinely interesting direction the episode took with her, though I have to say that her remark about white people being the cruelest race went a little too far, even for her.

I got to see this episode screened in advance at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum’s Hella Asians on TV event last week. During the panel discussion afterwards, comedian Jenny Yang pointed out that the scene between Jessica and Grandma Huang proved just how revolutionary Fresh Off the Boat is as a TV show starring an Asian American family. She discussed how incredible it was to see a conversation on an American sitcom conducted entirely in Mandarin – and that the one Mandarin line where subtitles didn’t show up for was when Grandma calls out Jessica on being cold-hearted. That is surely something you hardly ever see otherwise from other family sitcoms.

The other character that I felt got to develop more this episode was Eddie. After encountering Allison (the flute-playing girl from the end of the second episode), he developed a new crush on her. While he’s eager to pursue her, his insecurities show when he reveals to Louis how he doesn’t want to go through heartbreak again. It’s a sign that he’s growing up, and it’s a clever storyline to follow as we continue to watch Eddie transition into adolescence.

Overall, it was a fun episode of Fresh Off the Boat that continued its streak of NBA guest stars with a cameo from Jeremy Lin, as well as its ongoing effective 90’s throwbacks (remember frosted tips anyone?). Also, congratulations to the cast and crew of Fresh Off the Boat, for it has recently been announced that the show has been given a full season order!

Please note that Fresh Off the Boat will not be on next Tuesday, but be sure to tune in the week after that.

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Featured image courtesy of ABC

Hyphen presents Real Talk about #HellaAsians

On the evening of October 8th, the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, in collaboration with Hyphen Magazine, hosted Hella Asians on TV. The three-hour, sold out event included an advanced screening of the episode, “The Fall Ball,” from ABC’s Fresh Off the Boat, followed by a panel discussion about the shifts and challenges that come with representing the Asian Pacific Islander American community in mainstream media.

In the dimming sunlight overseeing the Civic Center Plaza of San Francisco, the museum slowly came alive as the event kicked off with a happy hour, 45 minutes prior to the doors opening to Samsung Hall for the screening and panel itself. Not a single seat was left empty as Hyphen Editor-in-Chief Michelle Carlton made the introductions to the episode.

Photo by Vi Son Trinh
Photo by Vi Son Trinh

The lights went out and the screen flickered to life with the Huang family at it again with their day-to-day shenanigans. Laughter ensued for the next 20 minutes for what was surely an episode that was worth seeing five days ahead of its air date.

The discussion kicked off immediately following the conclusion of the episode with a panel that included comedian Jenny Yang, comedian/performance artist Kristina Wong, and author Jeff Chang. They began by discussing the episode, as Chang noted how the relationship between Louis and Eddie in the episode felt very much like the Season 1 episode, “Persistent Romeo”, when the sex talk is given. Yang found it particularly trippy when a conversation between Jessica and Grandma takes place entirely in Mandarin- subtitles and all- on an American television show.

Photo by Jenny Yang
Panelists Jenny Wang (left), Kristina Wong (center) and Jeff Chang (right) – Photo by Jenny Yang

On the show in general, Wong stated how she’s constantly wowed it’s still on the air, for she’s always scared that it’s suddenly going to go away. As far as the statistics go as to whom is actually tuning in to Fresh Off the Boat, Yang revealed that the largest Asian American viewership is Filipinos. She also noted how there’s a large Black audience for the show as well.

The panel touched on a wide assortment of aspects regarding Fresh Off the Boat; from their worries about how it could turn out wrong prior to the series premiere, to how the actors portray their characters, as well as the controversy surrounding Eddie Huang’s outspokenness on his stance on the show based on his life. They went beyond Fresh Off the Boat and discussed the number of Asian Americans that are on television now, from returning shows like Agents of SHIELD and America’s Best Dance Crew, to new shows like Dr. Ken and Quantico.

While the panel made it evident throughout its discussion – as well as during the Q&A – that it’s wonderful to see an emerging diverse media landscape, they made sure to point out how there’s still more progress that needs to be made. However, the fact that we’re at a point in time where we are finally seeing “hella Asians” on TV – such as the first Asian American family sitcom in 20 years – is a wise direction to go in.

Watch the Panel here:

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Featured image courtesy of Hyphen Magazine & Asian Art Museum

Fresh off the Boat Recap 2.03 – “Shaquille O’Neal Motors”

For those who may not know, buying a car is serious business in an Asian family. One must go into the dealership with their game face on, ready to take advantage of all the deals and not get taken advantage of in the process. Mentally, it’s like entering the Hunger Games, only not life-threatening (and less blood). This week’s episode of Fresh off the Boat explores high stakes adventure through the eyes of the heads of the Huang household.

In honor of their 12th wedding anniversary, Louis recreates the day he and Jessica got married by bringing her to a car dealership, Shaquille O’Neal Motors specifically, to pick out a second car (which they desperately need). Despite the thoughtful gesture, Jessica is uneasy about buying a new car; not so much out of frugality, but because as a proud, top notch bargainer, her confidence was shaken when they bought their first car and she accidently missed out on a deal for free floor mats. Luckily, Louis brings Jessica back to her senses and she regains her mojo to finally go back and get a good deal on a new car. Their coordinated tactics through the gauntlet of “top managers” sent to negotiate with them is eventually rewarded with a face to face with the dealership’s real top manager, the eponymous Shaq himself.

Meanwhile, Eddie and his brothers have their eyes on a waterslide that’s shaped like a hot dog (appropriately called the Hot Dogger) but they can’t afford to buy it themselves. After learning from his neighbors that his brother Evan’s limited edition Beanie Babies are worth some real cash, dollar signs appear in his eyes as he decides to use this new development to buy the waterslide. Although he may have missed a crucial step in the process and is later met with negative consequences when Evan finds out what he’s done.

This is the first episode of my memory where it was really about the relationship between Louis and Jessica. Their personalities may be anything but alike, but this episode showed how they really are on the same team. Randall Park and Constance Wu have such great chemistry together, their comedic timing and acting are on point as they naturally bounce off each other, especially in the negotiation scenes at the dealership.

This was also the first time where we see the Huang brothers together throughout a whole episode. It was nice to see all three of them in a storyline for once. Similar to Park and Wu’s performance, their scenes in this episode gave me a good look at how Hudson Yang, Forrest Wheeler and Ian Chen perform together and I have to say, they really do a convincing job as onscreen brothers.

Finally, I really liked O’Neal’s guest appearance as himself and I thought how he was incorporated into the storyline as the manager of his own car dealership was very clever. While he is not the first NBA star to appear on Fresh off the Boat, he still made a big impression (pun intended) in the two scenes he appeared in with a distinctive camera presence and impeccable comic timing. Also, this might be stating the obvious but I have to say: That computer Shaq was typing at looked tiny compared to him. My awareness for just how tall this man is popped out even more when he and Jessica stood up to shake hands on the car deal. I swear she looked like a small girl from the back of her head compared to him.

Another great outing for this show, until next week!

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Feature Image Credit: ABC 

Fresh off the Boat Recap 2.02 – “Boy II Man”

It’s no secret that Fresh off the Boat wears it’s 90’s setting on its sleeve, trading equally on sharply written jokes and nostalgia; such as trips to the local Blockbuster, Eddie’s love for the Notorious BIG, and at the end of last week’s episode, one of his friends even arrives at school dressed as The Mask. In this week’s episode, “Boy II Man,” 90’s pop culture is taken even further when the music of quintessential R&B group Boyz II Men take center stage… sort of.

In attempt to get out of piccolo class his mom Jessica is forcing him to take at school, Eddie decides to serve as a tutor for his crush Nicole (when in reality, they just spend the class period, listening to Boyz II Men). Unsurprisingly, Jessica doesn’t approve of this arrangement. Unfortunately, her attempts to get Eddie to go back to band practice fails due to him manifesting the early signs of teenage rebellion, resulting her first encounter with a flat out “no!” However, by getting inside the head of his faculty adviser, who has an Asian fetish without shame, with a made up story about a Chinese philosopher, Jessica arranges a perfect counter to Eddie’s scheme. Although as a result, any hope of him winning Nicole’s affection is dashed when an older boy, who shows up for his tutoring, wins her over with Arnold Schwarzenegger quotes and Butthead imitations.

Meanwhile, Eddie’s dad Louis is in a funk of his own when he pleads to Jessica that they try having a daughter, only for Jessica to tell him twice, “This shop is closed.” His desire for a daughter scares brothers Emery and Evan, out of fear of what that could mean for them in the long run.

Despite my memory being fuzzy on what pop culture was like in the 90’s (likely due to the fact that I was born in the 90’s), I am very aware of who Boyz II Men are and how popular they were then and now. From my impression of the title for the episode, I thought we’d be treated to a sampling of some of their hits, which is why it surprised me that the only song heard by them was their heartstrings-tugging “End of the Road.” While Eddie’s introduction to the group appropriately came right when he was about to go down in the dumps, how come their songs weren’t utilized at other parts of the episode, like when Nicole was watching them on MTV (good opportunity for the “Motownphilly” music video) or when she and Eddie hung out in tutoring (appropriate timing for their cover of “In the Still of the Night”)? Boyz II Men has a plethora of hit songs under their name, and if “End of the Road” was the only song by them that we were going to hear, then the episode may as well been named “Fresh off the Love Boat.”

On the other hand, I do like how Eddie’s storyline wound up in the episode. I feel that we are beginning to see him make the transition from childhood to adolescence, and that really showed through when he goes through his first heartbreak. Having feelings for someone can be hard, especially if it’s one-sided, and it’s even harder when one is experiencing it for the first time. I was glad to see how, despite being difficult with him all episode, Jessica- with assistance from her friend Honey- was able to become more of a confidant rather than a parent when comforting Eddie by recounting her experience of getting dumped in college and how there are other girls out there who he has yet to meet (cue the girl in the band room, playing Dr. Dre’s “Nuthin’ but a ‘G’ Thang” on her flute).

Finally, I’m curious as to where the show is going to go with the faculty adviser with the Asian fetish. That scene where he and Jessica interact was funny yet pivotal, just to show how yes, Asian fetish is a thing; a creepy, degrading, racist thing might I add. I wonder if that character will be an one-off “creepy, Asian-obsessed white guy” joke, or if there will a story built around him in the coming episodes?

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Feature Image Credit: ABC via Angry Asian Man