Mikes Film Talk

“Fresh Off the Boat” steps up the comedy quotient with “Hello My Name Is..” while the entire episode is about what name Evan will use to open his toaster account, by the end it does not matter as mom Jessica tells Louis their youngest will be called Dr. Huang.

Eddie (Hudson Yang) breaks the family toaster making a pop-tart/bagel sandwich and the Huang family now need a new one. It is time to open a new toaster account at the bank. Evan is chosen as he has a wad of cash saved from not buying candy for three years.

Jessica: “That’s why you’re my favorite.”

Evan: “I know.”

The entire Huang clan, including Grandma (Lucille Soong) turn up at the bank and while Evan (Ian Chen)  is excited to be signing his name to his first official document, Jessica bursts his bubble by revealing that his name was randomly chosen. The name of Evan came from the checkout nurse at the hospital where he was born.

Evan is crushed:

“My name is random? I thought you picked “Evan” just for me. I thought you looked into my little baby eyes and knew I was an Evan. But I could have been anything.”

Jessica then reveals how she picked her American name.  Initially it was Bob as her Chinese name was too hard for American’s to pronounce. Something that Evan soon learns is still a problem when Frank, the bank assistant pronounces his Chinese name as “Seafood.”

Evan: (Annoyed.) “Yes Frank, that’s my name. Seafood.”

Louis tells two stories about how he picked Louis as his name. The first is made up and based on the Incredible Hulk  actor Lou Ferrigno. The second revolves around “Uncle Barry” who Jessica hastens to explain is not their uncle but a bum.

The tale ends with food poisoning and Louis meeting Jessica in the long line to the restaurant’s toilet.  It also  finishes with Louis projectile vomiting in the alley while fighting for  the name of Louis.

Emery (Forrest Wheeler) gets chills when he learns that his name came from an emery board.  Eddie goes into a fantasy about the name he would chose. In the eldest Huang son’s vision he is sitting back with a face tattoo and a suit. Jessica shoots this down instantly:

“There is no world, real or imaginary, where you will ever have a face tattoo.”

In Eddie’s fantasy the president is Shaquille O’Neal and Busta Rhymes is on his record label.  His chosen name is Topaz (his birth stone) and he forces Rhymes to have a concert on the moon.

Evan goes to splash water on his face and Grandma explains that he makes the name, not vice versa.  He then choses the  name for his account and when the family come home Eddie breaks the newly acquired toaster.

“Fresh Off the Boat” just keeps getting better and better. The kids on the show just rock in respective roles. Ian Chen shows abilities that far exceed his years. The scene where Frank asks if the family will just buy a toaster rather than open the account, Chen just looks at the bank teller and blinks once…slowly.

Hysterically funny and just brilliant.

Randall Park and Constance Wu are perfectly matched and are effortlessly funny.  Soong also makes the most of her non-English speaking grandmother. The epilogue piece at the end of the episode revealed how she got all those Garfield books and the significance of the name Jenny.

Great one liners abound in this episode. From Louis’ “Those gumdrops were like bullets” to the “All white people look the same” each gem hit the right balance to be truly funny.  Another great gag was the Jessica “moon rock concert” line  which was delivered perfectly.

“Fresh Off the Boat” continues to be a delight and it maintains its comedy from episode to episode.  This sitcom, inspired by the real Eddie Huang’s memoirs is a well oiled comedy machine with performers who mesh together perfectly.

The series airs Tuesdays on ABC.