S01.E05: Chinatown Expert

[AnimeMania]

You can't go home again.

Premiere Date: Tuesday, November 19, 2024     Hulu     

[Mr. R0b0t]

I feel slow on the uptake... so is Detective Turner slowly realizing the meta-ness of it all or is something else going on with him?

[arc]

Five episodes in, I'm really starting to miss having a full title or opening sequence. The ultra-minimalist title card is just not enough for me.

The tunnels under Chinatown were so weird and spooky. Does this show end with Willis meeting author Charles Yu? (I haven't read the book, so I'm just speculating.)

On 11/23/2024 at 8:31 PM, Mr. R0b0t said:

I feel slow on the uptake... so is Detective Turner slowly realizing the meta-ness of it all or is something else going on with him?

I think that's what's going on with him. In a way, it reminds me of what Matrix Reloaded said about earlier versions of the Matrix: the first version was a (fictional/computer-generated/virtual) utopia and people rejected it wholesale because it was too good. Seems like that might be happening to Turner. His life works out so well all the time.

The actual plot line of Willis and Lana wanting to break into Uncle's office felt really rushed. And yet they had time for a random Audrey cameo. I hope that pays off later, but right now the Audrey situation feels like just a weird complication that doesn't seem to be going anywhere.

[shapeshifter]

Actor Jimmy O. Yang and author Charles Wu resemble each other enough (especially younger Wu) that if the show does go there:

On 11/25/2024 at 6:04 AM, arc said:

Does this show end with Willis meeting author Charles Yu? (I haven't read the book, so I'm just speculating.)

— that I assume Jimmy O. Yang would play both parts.
But I haven't read this book either.
I read Yu's first book, "How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe," and really enjoyed it; this show seems to almost be a reworking/further exploration/detour of the themes of his first novel. 

Edited December 1, 2024 by shapeshifter