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S01.E12: Dribbling Tiger, Bounce Pass Dragon

ElectricBoogaloo

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EarlGreyTea

EarlGreyTea

That was a meh episode, but worth it for the shot of Louis' arms. Niiice.

 

Love all the tongue in cheek comments about acting being a dead end, with no Asians on TV. And the last shot of Margaret Cho's show? Capped off the meta that was this episode.

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peeayebee

peeayebee

I didn't particularly like this one, though I think Maria Bamford did a great job. I wouldn't mind seeing her again.

 

Randall Park looks like he really does/did play basketball. Anyone know?

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fauntleroy

fauntleroy

I watch this show for Constance Wu who is the breakout star and Randall Park. Eddie is just a wannabe little shit living somebody else's stereotype. And the other kids are just kids, overscripted as usual for TV. The sight of spoiled American kids, no matter their ethnicity, trying to act cool and streetwise even while living in blandly pleasant suburbia is annoying no end.

 

The measure of the play's success being that it had been running for six years without offending anyone, and Jessica rewriting the play, were terrific. Nothing the kids are up to is anywhere near that clever.

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tennisgurl

tennisgurl

Awwwww Jessica got her horse! Her creepy, and yet oddly cute, horse!

 

That play really did look like a mess. Even as a kid, I would have been trying to figure out a plot to follow or something.

 

Mighty Ducks! Oh, the nostalgia! One of my favorite movie franchises of my childhood! That right there makes it a good episode. Quack! Quack!

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Perfect Xero

Perfect Xero

Have to say, I didn't enjoy this one ...

 

Louis broke an 11 year boy's arms because he was better than him at basketball, then Eddie and his friends assaulted another 11 year old for no reason other than him being better than them at basketball ... Yay for being thugs?

 

If this was IASIP or a similar show where the entire joke is what despicable people the characters are that would be one thing, but I don't think that we're supposed to view the Huangs as awful human beings deserving of contempt and hate, so it doesn't really work here, IMO.

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Ottis

Ottis

Loved all the commentary on schools today, and the PC "all feelings are valid" approach.

 

Missed grandma rolling in with Eddie's musical intro.

 

Did not miss the steakhouse, which I find kind of a drag.

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SmithW6079

SmithW6079

If this was IASIP

???

This was the first episode where Eddie didn't annoy me. I liked the basketball fantasy sequence. I think they were talking in "dub" too.

I felt sorry for the boys. Having fun is not wrong; you can balance play and work. It's too bad Jessica can't see that.

Are the lyrics to the theme "song" "fresh off the bus"?

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Racj82

Racj82

Have to say, I didn't enjoy this one ...

Louis broke an 11 year boy's arms because he was better than him at basketball, then Eddie and his friends assaulted another 11 year old for no reason other than him being better than them at basketball ... Yay for being thugs?

If this was IASIP or a similar show where the entire joke is what despicable people the characters are that would be one thing, but I don't think that we're supposed to view the Huangs as awful human beings deserving of contempt and hate, so it doesn't really work here, IMO.

the movie they were referring to mighty ducks, did the exact same tactics to win. In the 90's . And they were the good guys. There was nothing evil about it. But this episode, did work as a way of demonstrating how ridiculous the rules in those movies are and how bad it would be to use said tactics in the world. So, I laughed. Mainly because I didn't take it seriously.
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Ankai

Ankai

Have to say, I didn't enjoy this one ...

 

Louis broke an 11 year boy's arms because he was better than him at basketball, then Eddie and his friends assaulted another 11 year old for no reason other than him being better than them at basketball ... Yay for being thugs?

 

If this was IASIP or a similar show where the entire joke is what despicable people the characters are that would be one thing, but I don't think that we're supposed to view the Huangs as awful human beings deserving of contempt and hate, so it doesn't really work here, IMO.

It could be worse. The show could have the parents beating the boys every episode and emphasize the father's gangster background.

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solotrek

solotrek

the movie they were referring to mighty ducks, did the exact same tactics to win. In the 90's . And they were the good guys. There was nothing evil about it. But this episode, did work as a way of demonstrating how ridiculous the rules in those movies are and how bad it would be to use said tactics in the world. So, I laughed. Mainly because I didn't take it seriously.

The Bash Brothers from The Mighty Ducks 2! And the way they ended up taking down Team Iceland with the lassos and other weird tactics.

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ElectricBoogaloo

ElectricBoogaloo

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(edited)

As hilarious/horrifying as the sparkle time beauty horse at the end of the episode was, my nitpick is that Jessica is too old to have wanted a knock off My Little Pony. The show takes place in 1995 and Eddie is about 13 so he was born in 1982. The original My Pretty Pony (which was much bigger) came out in 1981 and then the smaller My Little Pony came out in 1983. That means Jessica was coveting a toy pony when Eddie was a year old. I don't find it totally unbelievable (mostly because my mom grew up poor and never had any dolls so when got a job in high school, she saved up and bought a doll for her to share with her two younger sisters), but since she mentioned that other girl having one I assume they were supposed to be younger when the other girl had a sparkle pony.

Edited by ElectricBoogaloo
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peeayebee

peeayebee

But either way, it's not "fresh off the boat, so it doesn't really work as a theme song.

Oops, I misread the post. I'd say, Yes of course the theme song lyrics are "Fresh off the boat," but it doesn't sound like it.

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Constantinople

Constantinople

I thought the kids went to private schools.

Which isn't to say that private schools can't have budget issues, it just seems a little odd. I don't recall there being any stories about more and more parents getting financial aid from the schools, so that the effective tuition is too low to cover costs.

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Perfect Xero

Perfect Xero

(edited)

the movie they were referring to mighty ducks, did the exact same tactics to win. In the 90's . And they were the good guys. There was nothing evil about it. But this episode, did work as a way of demonstrating how ridiculous the rules in those movies are and how bad it would be to use said tactics in the world. So, I laughed. Mainly because I didn't take it seriously.

 

I understand that we're not supposed to take it seriously because it was so over the top, but still ...

 

The difference is that in those movies (and it really doesn't come to the over the top tactics until the sequel) the villainous team in black jerseys is shown blatantly playing dirty and putting illegal hits on the undersized heroes while the refs inexplicably let them get away with it as Emilio screams at them to call a penalty, prompting the Ducks to fight back and use Lassos and whatnot.

 

In this episode the other player was just much better than them, prompting team Huang to decide that if they couldn't win, they'd just hurt him.

 

Maybe the joke was supposed to be that Louis and Eddie are actually the villains of the story, but I didn't get the sense that the show was aiming for that.

Edited by Perfect Xero
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Unraveled

Unraveled

I enjoyed The Mighty Duck homage, and I was really not expecting the call back to Margaret Cho's show. Even though my parents never watched American TV, we actually all sat down to watch the first couple episodes together.

 

I've been reading Eddie Huang's book, and I infinitely prefer the television show to the book.

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Raja

Raja

Have to say, I didn't enjoy this one ...

 

Louis broke an 11 year boy's arms because he was better than him at basketball, then Eddie and his friends assaulted another 11 year old for no reason other than him being better than them at basketball ... Yay for being thugs?

 

If this was IASIP or a similar show where the entire joke is what despicable people the characters are that would be one thing, but I don't think that we're supposed to view the Huangs as awful human beings deserving of contempt and hate, so it doesn't really work here, IMO.

 

since the "child" was so large the way the show played it was not Louis breaking a kids arm but a man taking another man to the paint and one of those accidents of sport happened. It normally happens a few years later when a growing teen plays against an aging man and the muscle mass is the advantage he has over a kids quickness and endurance.

 

The real reason for mercy rules in kids sports before the thought that little junior would get his feelings hurt by losing was to stop Eddie's from doing what they did, especially if the opposing coach didn't pull the local Shaquille O'Neal out of  game when they had a 70 point lead. It happens at the major league level should a player attempt a to steal a base or starters in other still play as if the game was tied going for a playoff berth during a rout. In the pro's case the contract to provide content so networks can sell advertising forbids just calling the game over.

I thought the kids went to private schools.

Which isn't to say that private schools can't have budget issues, it just seems a little odd. I don't recall there being any stories about more and more parents getting financial aid from the schools, so that the effective tuition is too low to cover costs.

They went to "private" Chinese after school cram sessions, held by Jessica since Orlando did not have them like DC had.

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fishcakes

fishcakes

Not a great episode, but it's the little details that make me love this show. I don't think I can explain how delighted I was when Louis mentioned Shakey's. Also, I had the exact same Panasonic electronic typewriter that Jessica was using. It had a screen that showed you 25 characters at a time and held one page of memory. I was decluttering my parents' house a couple of years ago and found it in the back of a closet. It still had my 1989 resume on it.

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Perfect Xero

Perfect Xero

since the "child" was so large the way the show played it was not Louis breaking a kids arm but a man taking another man to the paint and one of those accidents of sport happened. It normally happens a few years later when a growing teen plays against an aging man and the muscle mass is the advantage he has over a kids quickness and endurance.

 

Well, yeah, that's the issue I have with how they played it, a large kid is still a kid, you shouldn't treat an 11 year old boy like a "man" even if he looks like he's 23, just like it shouldn't be okay for Louis to hit on someone that is an 11 year old girl even if the actress playing her was special guest star Kate Upton.

 

I just don't like the implication I was getting from the show that it was okay to go after these kids like they're adults simply because they look more developed than one might usually expect for their age. I've seen too many bad situations in real life where jackass adults want to treat kids like the age they think they "look" rather than the age they are.

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theatremouse

theatremouse

I'm not even sure I disagree with you, but to play devil's advocate for a moment, I don't think they were necessarily treating the kid the age he looked. I think there is somewhat of a difference here because it was a sporting event (or practice really, but still). What happened with the kid was more an issue of treating him at the level of someone having his skill set at that particular sport. If a kid proves to be advanced at a particular skill, then I think it is fair in certain circumstances to treat the child based on their skill level and not based on some generic notion of what it means to be that child's age. I think it also helped that he clearly didn't set out the break the kid's arms. It just sort of happened, and frankly could've happened anyway, even if the only people involved were all children. There's an inherent risk of injury with athletics. I mean, I'm not sure it really played out that way entirely, and they were depending on the kid looking 20 as part of the joke, but I could see part of the thinking being: if the kid plays like an adult play him like an adult. You wouldn't necessarily speak to him like an adult, or expect him to have the emotional maturity of an adult, but you also don't necessarily go easy just because someone's a kid if they've shown they can really play well, not just "for a kid" well.

I did not like the Mighty Ducks references tho, not worth it just for the montage of the zillion fouls, specifically because we were not shown the other side equally playing dirty but getting away with. Part of teaching the fundamentals is good sportsmanship. The issue here was just that no one on Eddie's team but the tall kid knew how to play basketball, and the other teams moreso, did. It was a really weak plot for me.

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fishcakes

fishcakes

Also, wasn't there a question about the kid really being a kid? Louis seemed to think he was an adult ringer (which I realize isn't a rampant thing in middle school basketball, but this show doesn't err on the side of realism). After the accident, he sheepishly said something like, "oh, I looked at his medical records. It turns out he really is 11 and a half."

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tearbender

tearbender

You know sometimes I wonder if Constance Wu's performances aren't a bit over hyped. She definitely has room to grow as an actor. But then  after replaying her monologue about the Sparkle Time Beauty Horse again and again and again I've come to the conclusion that yes, she really is that good. If she doesn't use the pilot as her submission for the Emmy nomination, this episode will work just as well.

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applecrisp

applecrisp

" I was talking to the ref, and there's a mercy rule.  He even drew a map to the nearest Shakey's."

 

I love this show!

Was your Shakeys a pizza buffet type place?  We had one but I thought they were a local chain. I'm from Iowa.

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ElectricBoogaloo

ElectricBoogaloo

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Was your Shakeys a pizza buffet type place? We had one but I thought they were a local chain. I'm from Iowa.

The Shakey's Pizza I am familiar with is an international chain. Our local library had a reading contest/program every summer. For every twenty books we read, we got a gift certificate for a little personal pizza at Shakey's. The first summer that we lived in California, my sister and I lived on those pizzas!
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fishcakes

fishcakes

The Shakey's Pizza I am familiar with is an international chain. Our local library had a reading contest/program every summer. For every twenty books we read, we got a gift certificate for a little personal pizza at Shakey's. The first summer that we lived in California, my sister and I lived on those pizzas!

 

That's the same Shakey's I know too, and I'm surprised to learn they still exist. I'm in Seattle and they used to be all over the place here, but now there's only one left in the entire state. (It gets two and a half stars on yelp, so I'm not inclined to go there, even for old times sake.)  I don't remember the little pizzas, but I do recall the barbershop quartet outfits that were similar to the ones they wore at Farrells Ice Cream Parlors.

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HawaiiTVGuy

HawaiiTVGuy

I loved this episode as the elder Huangs' disbelief/reluctance about needing to participate in school activities and Jessica's disdain for acting as a legitimate after-school activity/career choice was so on-point.

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Pristine

Pristine

Was your Shakeys a pizza buffet type place?  We had one but I thought they were a local chain. I'm from Iowa.

 

Applecrisp - I don't remember it being a buffet, just that they showed old-timey movies, and you could watch them make the pizza.  (I'm from Iowa, too.)

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