Mikes Film Talk

Fresh Off the Boat: Keep ‘Em Separated proves that this show is not just about fitting in with the American dream of the ’90s but its also about issues like befriending someone of a different gender. In other words, the old “Harry Met Sally” theme of men cannot be just friends with women. Especially when they are married…

Season two of Fresh Off the Boat continues to entertain with funny storylines and despite this episode spending a lot of time with the “kids” it lost nothing in terms of comedy.  The writing also featured a three-pronged attack, if not more, on the realities of being a friend, regardless of gender.

At the start of the episode Jessica (Constance Wu) is catching up with next-door neighbor, and bestie, Honey (Chelsey Crisp) when Louis comes in. The two women are having wine and talking and it is Honey’s turn to say who she would haunt. 

Louis invades, grabs Honey’s glass of wine and cheerfully tells Jessica’s friend that there are “plenty more of those bad boys in the kitchen,” when she complains. The next night Louis invites himself into their tete a tete once more. Finally the women have to sneak off to a bar to visit without Jessica’s husband “cutting in.”

Their plan fails when Louis finds them.

Jessica decides to get Louis back into playing pool by breaking out his old pool cue and giving him names and directions to local pool halls.  Her plan works and Louis gets back into playing pool and he has a new friend; Tony.

The only problem is that Tony is a woman (played by Angelique Cabral). 

Standout moment:

Grandma Huang (Lucille Soong) gets the standout moment of the episode. As Jessica freaks out over the fact that Louis is “hanging out with another women” Louis’ mother wheels herself into the living room:

Grandma Huang (in Chinese): “You’re being replaced. I will push for you to stay on the couch until you find a new place.”

Honey and Jessica head down to the pool hall to meet Tony and Louis’s wife becomes aggressive and removes her husband from the premises.

“You have no power here, witch…”

At school Eddie, who is still dating Alison (Isabella Alexander), learns that his old crush Nicole (Luna Blaise) has broken up with her boyfriend. Huang and his pals are talking about the breakup at lunch. They learn from Ned that  Nicole’s boyfriend quoted the Terminator as a means of ending the relationship. 

Chris to Nicole: “Hasta la vista, baby, like for  eva.”

Eddie: “That’s how he broke up with her?”

Walter: “T-2? That’s cold.”

Nicole stops by Eddie’s table and while Trent tries to catch her eye, Eddie asks his previous crush out for ice cream later in the week.  Dave questions the wisdom of Huang’s going “out” with an old crush that Allison knows nothing about.

A plan is devised wherein Eddie and his group of friends work to keep the two girls apart, hence the title.

Allison calls Eddie and reveals she knew about the crush and that she used to have a crush on Dave (Evan Hannemann). Eddie is not pleased at this news and when he catches his girl talking to his best friend, he reacts badly.

Honorable Mention:

After Jessica grabs Louis out of the pool hall, and away from Tony, she explains that Louis can have a female friend, outside of work, but reels off a list of 12 rules that he must obey. The lengthy list  includes the woman not being taller, or thinner, Louis having to display his wedding ring, by his face, at all times, and so on; each rule being funnier than the last. Major kudos to Constance Wu for this one.

Also in the honorable mention category is the entire scene with Jessica in a skin-tight cat-suit and high heels in the pool hall with Louis.

Final Thoughts:

The magic of this episode is that  Eddie appears to take after his mother in the area of romance and relationships.  Just as Jessica loses it when she learns of Tony, and then flips out when she sees the woman, Eddie reacts aggressively when he learns of his girlfriend’s old crush on his best friend Dave and then catches Allison talking to his bestie.

In a deviation from its normal “fish out of water” theme, Fresh Off the Boat takes a look at the whole question of gender specific friends and when it is okay to be friends with the opposite sex. (Only when the sun is up, according to Jessica.) With the storyline applying to both Eddie and Louis, and Jessica, this was well written and performed with an impressive perfection by all.

The child actors have all “upped their game” and the interaction between the youngsters went smoothly and entertained.  Hudson Yang always delivers but in Keep ‘Em Separated his youthful cast mates acquitted themselves well.

Fresh Off the Boat shows that clever writing always wins. The “Keep ‘Em Separated” applies to both Eddie’s two girls and Jessica’s plan to keep Tony away from Louis.  By the end of the episode, Eddie makes up with Dave and Louis is allowed to play pool with Tony.

At the pool hall/bar the two  finish their discussion about  who would win a fight between “A Cabbage Patch Kid possessed by a demon or Teddy Ruxpin with a Metallica tape in him…”

Tony accidentally makes contact with Louis breaking one of her 12 rules. The bartender immediately intercedes:

“Hey! No touching. You know Jessica’s rules.”

Fresh Off the Boat airs Tuesdays on ABC.  Tune in and catch one of the funniest comedies on television. Yet another comic feather in ABC’s cap, watch this show if you like to laugh.