Mandarin is the name of the game this week on Fresh Off the Boat and there can only be one winner! Jessica and Evan played an intense game of “who can speak Mandarin the longest?” The best part about the game was that neither of them like to lose, so they were willing to try and sabotage each other in order to win. That staring contest was no joke. They would’ve let the phone ring all day if they had to. It all came to a head as Jessica was about to go live on the air. It was a little disappointing that Evan gave up before the cameras started rolling, but seeing him get pushed away in that chair made it all worth it. I thought there was going to be an emotional moment where Evan would lose on purpose for his mom’s career, but I’m glad that didn’t happen.
Side note: As funny as it was that everyone assumed they knew what was being said in Mandarin, it was also kind of sad. Foreigners are pretty much forced to learn English, but Americans don’t really learn other languages. Not sure if those scenes were supposed to be social commentary or not.
A new year meant a new Emery. His bad luck year was suppose to be over and he was ready to ask Celeste to the dance, except he wasn’t. First attempt was him awkwardly standing next to her assuming she’d notice him. What’s nice about Emery’s arc is that it continues to reveal to Emery as well as younger viewers that growing up changes things. Emery was popular with the ladies when he was young, but that’s not always going to be true. Sometimes you have to make the move.
Mixed in with that idea was what parents will do for their kids. Louis also had a bad luck year once and he wanted to make sure that Emery’s luck was better. He wanted Emery to ride the tiger all the way! Louis used his connection to Kenny Rogers to help. It boosted Emery’s ego so much he humorously talked about himself in the third person. Unfortunately, Emery found out that his “fame” was a lie and he wasn’t happy about it. Although, this did lead to a hilarious scene of Louis popping out of the bushes to ask Celeste to say yes to his son when he asked her out. That whole plan was a funny hot mess. In the end it was is Grandmother that helped put things into perspective. Parents only want to help just like she did back in the day when Louis entered that dance competition, except Louis can actually dance so it was totally feasible for him to win. Anyways, knowing all that made it heartwarming when Emery put on the jacket to show his dad that he helped.
Side note: I definitely wanted to see what Emery was going to do with those fireworks and doves. It was a real bad and dangerous plan, but it looked like it would’ve had an awkward, but hilarious pay off.
In the background of all this, Eddie was trying to figure out why Big Auntie didn’t send him money. Turns out that he was to blame for his Grandma being in trouble with Big Auntie and although he was forgiven by one relative he was in trouble with the other. Looks like he won’t be getting that sub woofer anytime soon.
Fresh Off the Boat airs Tuesdays at 8:30/7:30c on ABC.
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