Mikes Film Talk

Dr Ken goes cultural in its Thanksgiving special as Ken and Allison clash over Molly’s new tattoo, which is Japanese.  Ken takes umbrage at not only the new ink on his daughter but he is also bothered by the the fact that Molly chose Allison’s cultural heritage to display on her body.  A comic subplot is the “lonely” turkey day party thrown by Dr Julie (Kate Simses) and Dave attempting to  film his Thanksgiving day family “traditions” for a school project.

Like all of  the series, this episode contains some great comic gags. Molly’s “fax-ting” with her friend after her parents take away all her social media platforms. Also funny is the follow up to that gag: Allison says to Ken, after he points out that only Molly could find a loop hole, “Well, be glad she’s not “fex-ting.”

“Is that sex fax-ting”

“Yes, apparently it’s a real problem in Russia.”

It has to be noted that the Polaroid gag is also brilliant..Just saying.

Ken and Allison get into an argument about who is more culturally aware and Allison accuses Ken of being a “lapsed” Korean. This prompts Ken to serve Korean dishes at the Thanksgiving day repast, kimchi being one which allows Ken Jeong as Dr. Park a chance to say about how fermented this “cabbage” is. Allison also serves Japanese dishes, one of which is soba noodles that, she points out,  are “always in the house.”

This marks the first time that the bicultural nature of the Park’s family is stressed in the sitcom.  As noted before, by this reviewer, Ken Jeong’s character Dr Ken is Korean, but as a matter of course and by benefit of the character’s “setting”  is American first and foremost while his Korean background is addressed via nuances of the various storylines.

(For example: the “whore’s breakfast gag when Molly tries a beer at t a neighborhood party.)

It is interesting to note that not only is Ken’s Japanese wife Allison (Suzy Nakamura) able to speak Korean better than he can, but that Ken himself confuses  his mother’s Korean wedding dress for a traditional male outfit.  Comedic hijinks ensue as both family’s cultures are represented for the “parents” and they want to know where the turkey is.

The message here is a splendid juxtaposition of generational differences. The older members of the family all adopted the themes and traditions of their “home”  country while the younger members, Ken and Allison (although more so with Ken) want to include a reference to their heritage, ethnicity and culture.  The final word on the issue seems to be that the youngest generation (Molly and Dave) are not overly bothered either way.

After a oddly disjointed and disappointing Thanksgiving day meal, where all the parents converge at Ken’s house for their turkey feast for the  first time, Ken’s father (played with a brilliantly tired sort of comedic gravitas by Dana Lee) has a talk with his son about culture and where it fits in the scheme of things.  

Ken goes back into the dinner party and suggests pizza. The final message being that even on Thanksgiving, the meal consumed has little to do with the tradition.  Meanwhile, Dr. Julie’s captive guests, Clark and Damona, make good their escape after Damona  changes the clock face and Pat (David Hoyle) stops by to take a bottle of wine and deliver the final gag of the show by portraying the “invading white man” in Dave’s film project.

Krista Marie Yu and Albert Tsai continue to gel perfectly as siblings and Yu’s bit with the fax machine was brilliant, as was Tsai’s voice over for his film project. Ken Jeong shines each week as do the rest of this ensemble of comic performers. As usual Kate Simses rules as the queen of brilliantly gentle comic  moments.

Dr Ken continues to deliver on the comedy front and is guaranteed to make the viewer laugh out loud on a regular basis. The series airs Fridays on ABC and while there has been no word on a second season, this is one that should be a “no brainer” for the network.