Fresh Off The Boat was last years best network comedy, in my opinion, it was refreshing, truthful and above all relatable. This year, in it’s second season, it’s back and it's premiere had me laughing, smiling and in the process of starting a petition to get Constance Wu nominated for an Emmy, because seriously, she’s way beyond exceptional and this episode is further proof of this.
One notable change from the previous season is the lack of narration. Though we do get a bit of a ‘previously on’, segment whom Ian Chen writes out perfectly.
The premiere episode, “Family Business Trip” was exemplarily written by Nahnatchka Khan (The incredible creator of Don’t Trust the B- - - - - in Apt 23). I can't use enough adjectives to describe how awesome this episode is. As the title and promo and many promotional photos have suggested, the episode takes place during Summer Break and highlights all the hiccups that occur during this time.
I’ll tease one more piece of brilliantly written dialogue, “you’re job is a vacation… from poverty”, I swear that’s something my parents would say. I'm actually positive they have said it. Nahnatchka writes so well, it must mean she's had these experiences, like me, like us, and thats where the best stories come from, our experiences.
Look out for the first Hotel Lobby scene, it’s a masterpiece (as well as the last one). The way it’s written is genius, it’s incredibly relatable, yet again. I found myself watching it, saying out loud, that’s something my mom and dad do, they really do and I'm sure you're parents might too.
“We are going to get our money’s worth”, is a quite a big theme of the episode. It plays a part into how the characters act and I know from experience this is all too true. The camera editing is perfectly done, once you watch it, you should be able to identify with at least one of these things people do when entering a hotel room, how could you not.
Randall Park and Constance Wu have an excellent scene together exhibiting, the casual everyday “discussions” between parents. One other thing worth mentioning is the ‘go to your room’ statement, parents so often say their children, takes on a whole new meaning in this episode.
There’s a great message in the episode as well, society distracts us with our mundane lives, our jobs and our family but we need to look at ourselves and realize that every step is closer to the “grave”.
As I've been saying, maybe too much, this show is way too relatable (that’s a good thing, I can now reference this show in my life, so thank you ABC for putting on a ethnically diverse show that people who aren’t represented on TV can relate too, laugh at, and even admire). Please watch Fresh Off The Boat, Tuesday, Sept 22 at 8:30|7:30c on ABC. You really don’t want to miss it! The entire episode is just too good.
