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S02.E11: Year of the Rat

ElectricBoogaloo

By ElectricBoogaloo
in Fresh Off The Boat [V]

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biakbiak

biakbiak

(edited)

I don't believe the show has dealt with planes. Only an unanticipated miata!

I don't believe the show has dealt with planes. Only an unanticipated miata! Though it does make you wonder why Jessica would agree to fly so many people when they could easily drive for cheaper.

Edited by biakbiak
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ClareWalks

ClareWalks

I used to be delighted by Jessica and her stern countenance, but this episode she just bugged me. There isn't really much about her that should make everyone rally to give her an awesome Chinese New Year. I did laugh at the AAAOO guy and his oh-so-subtly-professed Asian fetish.

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gazebo

gazebo

I only watched this episode because I was eager to see any type of acknowledgement of Chinese New Year on a TV show these days.  I found this episode to be vaguely amusing but I just love the beautiful Lion dance at the end of the episode!

 

I just found it jarring that grandma would take out her money and just give it to the kids like that without it being in the lucky red envelopes.  That's against Chinese New Year tradition.

 

When I was a kid, I couldn't wait to get those red envelopes in Chinese New Year's day.  I don't get them any more now that I am married, but I sure miss those days when I suddenly became "rich" once a year!

 

 

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fishcakes

fishcakes

(edited)

I died when Jessica and Louis spotted the one other Chinese guy in Orlando from the bus. It reminded me of when I had to live in Eastern Washington for a year and would automatically make friends with any other Japanese person I found (there were two).

 

And loved Grandma looking at people's tattoos at the AAAOO celebration. "This one says toaster. This one is Tic Tac Toe."

 

I thought it was interesting that Chinese and Japanese have slightly different traditions/superstitions for Lunar New Year. Jessica cleaned her entire house to welcome in wealth and good fortune, but in Japan, it's done so the bad karma from the previous year doesn't carry over into the new year. Theoretically, we're supposed to get rid of all the clutter in the house too, but I've only got five days, so I don't think I'm going to make it. I'm hoping that getting a haircut will suffice, even though this is the first I've heard of it, but now I'm convinced if I don't do it, it will mean trouble.

Edited by fishcakes
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MaryMitch

MaryMitch

I was thinking "why haven't Americans appropriated Chinese New Year? We do St Patrick's Day and Cinco de Mayo." But then I realized, Chinese New Year is a lot of work! We just want a holiday that allows us to drink and party.

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Black Knight

Black Knight

(edited)

I loved this episode. So many funny bits, but I'll give special shout-outs to these:

 

1) Jessica's look of death at Louis when he asked which person her aunt suggested be cut from the traveling party

2) Jessica and the boys' dumbfounded reactions to the dragon dance (complete with pelvic motions!)

3) Honey jogging through the house watering the tomato plant and moving the bamboo, completely oblivious to Louis and Jessica sitting in the next room

 

So often with people who have immigrated to America, writers make the humor about their imperfect attempts at assimilation, getting American culture wrong, so it was cool to see that reversed in this episode. That dragon especially! I know I already mentioned it above, but it deserves multiple mentions...

 

I also liked the point made near the end about there being a line when you're asking people questions. A few questions are welcomed, the interest appreciated. Don't turn them into a human guidebook and ask them endless questions. Buy or rent a book or two. (Nowadays I would first say "do some googling" but this show is before that.)

 

I read that Nahnatchka Khan says that if this show continues, a Chinese New Year episode will become an annual tradition. Yay!

Edited by Black Knight
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slowpoked

slowpoked

Apparently this was a landmark episode as no show has celebrated Chinese New Year before. And if FOB wasn't picked up for a full-season order, this would have been its season finale.

 

I missed this show and I loved the episode. I love the little digs to the February holiday being either Valentines, or Presidents' Day. And everyone just oblivious to the Chinese New Year, which is a huge celebration here in LA. "You guys get your own New Year???" Heh!

 

There isn't really much about her that should make everyone rally to give her an awesome Chinese New Year.

 

I don't think it's just for Jessica, but for the kids too. And I think their friends made the favor for their friends, not for Jessica alone. Louis' staff made it for Louis, Emery's (or Evan) friends for him. Only Honey was really Jessica's friend at that gathering. And Louis made all of it happen for his wife because he felt guilty about the flight.

 

I also loved the end where Jessica was at first excited to answer all the questions about the holiday, but eventually got tired of it and was looking like "Leave me alone, I just want to celebrate in peace!" The constant interest would get tiring too and eventually the lady would just want to eat her dumplings without any more questions.

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Scott

Scott

When Louis commented that he couldn't find any pork buns, I'll admit I had a thought that if they were desperate, they could probably find a westernized version at Epcot.  Given that, it made me smile when Mitch referenced Epcot as the place he "borrowed" the lion dance costume from.

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mtlchick

mtlchick

We have our uncle staying with us from the Philippines so we watched it off the dvr and laughed quite a bit. We died at the stripper dragon.

Meanwhile this is making me anxious for Chinese New Year for some delicious dim sum.

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SmithW6079

SmithW6079

I'm usually meh about this show, but I really enjoyed this episode. I know a lot of the kids' excitement about new year was for the red envelopes, but I loved that they looked genuinely excited at the lion dance, even "too cool" Eddie.

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PodcastTown

PodcastTown

One of the better episodes, only cause it felt fresh and an episode centered around Chinese New Year. I felt we all can relate to this, ABC knows family. Good stuff. Love the stand up comedy routine by little Evan there.  This episode was written by Sheng Wang, funny that it has his signature taste to this episode.

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ElectricBoogaloo

ElectricBoogaloo

  • Author
(edited)

I loved Eddie's grandmother reading all the bad tattoos. The tic tac toe one was my favorite.

 

I really appreciated having an episode of tv about Chinese New Year. Bonus: dragon dance! The ridiculous mascot costume and the pelvic thrusts were hilariously appalling. Later I was cracking up at the idea that Mitch and Nancy were able to master the lion dance in a few hours. Loved when the grandmother complimented them on the eyelash work.

 

I loved that every time one of their relatives asked why they weren't coming, Jessica made Louis say it. But OF COURSE his mother blamed Jessica for not double checking the tickets!

Edited by ElectricBoogaloo
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Ghost Bear

Ghost Bear

I didn't understand why they didn't drive once flying was not longer an option.  However, since it gave me that wonderful dragon dance I will forgive the show.

 

Because driving from Orlando to DC is an 18-24 hour trip (depending on how crappy I-95 is). That's a long round-trip run for a 3-day weekend. (I've driven that trek a few times. It sucks balls.)

 

Absolutely loved this episode! When it got to the AAAOO party with all the "associated Asians" I looked at Ms. Bear and commented "Remember what I told you about white people organizing a pow-wow at university? This, right here."

 

The bad tattoos had me rolling, as did the crack about Chinatown in DC and their penchant for fireworks. Because, totally true. :D

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theatremouse

theatremouse

I just found it jarring that grandma would take out her money and just give it to the kids like that without it being in the lucky red envelopes.  That's against Chinese New Year tradition.

I agree, it was odd. On the other hand, it jives with her earlier commenting that she wasn't going to give red envelopes this year, when they were trying to butter her up? So I wonder if as written that were an intentional misdirect? Like what she said was true, even though they threw in the thing about crisp bills? I don't know why that'd be a necessary misdirect though. And especially given the whole episode was the kids repeatedly saying "red envelopes"...definitely a jarring, weird choice especially from grandma and what we've been presented of her character. It was a weird detail.
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Dagny

Dagny

I was thinking "why haven't Americans appropriated Chinese New Year? We do St Patrick's Day and Cinco de Mayo." But then I realized, Chinese New Year is a lot of work! We just want a holiday that allows us to drink and party.

 

Bastille Day!

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tennisgurl

tennisgurl

I went to Panda Express for lunch today, and all the chefs were African American, except for one Asian women. I had to get the limited offer Chinese New Year food!

 

Loved everything with the Chinese New Year. When I was a kid, I went to a Chinese New Year party our neighbors (who were Chinese American) had, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. I must have been as exhausting as Jessicas friends were, asking questions (my family is probably as far away from Chinese as Mitch is). 

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ClareWalks

ClareWalks

I went to Panda Express for lunch today, and all the chefs were African American, except for one Asian women. I had to get the limited offer Chinese New Year food!

 

I love Panda Express. My local one is entirely staffed by white teenagers ;)

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Scott

Scott

Panda Express had a commercial during one of the breaks, too. I wonder if they paid for the in-show mention?

 

I mostly fast-forwarded, but I thought they had a bumper after the show, also, so I assumed there was some sort of official tie-in.

 

(Now I'm curious...looks like Panda Express launched in 1983, so they would have already existed in the timeframe of the show (although maybe not in Orlando).)

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Vickismom

Vickismom

I loved that they got it right that it's LION dance and not a dragon dance, like the AAOOO!

Yes!  It's become a small pet peeve of mine.  That was a lion dance, not the dragon.  The dragon is much longer and needs many more people involved.  We had a lion dance performance during my wedding reception and my (white) hubby's family loved it.  But I had to constantly correct them that it was lions, not dragons.  A couple of my cousins are involved in an organization that does the lion and dragon performances for various functions, parties, parades, etc., and I know they hate it when people get it wrong and it rubbed off on me too.

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SmithW6079

SmithW6079

The bad tattoos had me rolling, as did the crack about Chinatown in DC and their penchant for fireworks. Because, totally true. :D

 

The tattoos thing was a given, because we've all heard stories about idiots who get Chinese character tattoos thinking it means one thing and not another, although the tic-tac-toe one was original.

 

Chinese New Year in New York's Chinatown is the same. I went one year. The smoke and firecrackers were everywhere, so you had to be careful walking, and by the end of the evening, I was walking two inches higher from all the fireworks debris that had affixed itself to the bottom of my shoes.

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Snow Apple

Snow Apple

Finally saw the episode. I laughed and cringed at the cleaning scene because guess what I've been doing for the last two weeks? I'm beat. 

 

I don't think I've heard of the hair cutting thing, but have been reminded every year not to wash it during Chinese New Year (you don't want any good luck washing away).

 

I still get red envelopes from the older generation even though I'm an adult. I'm not married though. I still love those $1 to $10 from relatives.

 

Firecrackers are loud. My mom used to cover my ears when some neighbor set one off. She'd grab me even when I was napping.

 

It was funny when Louis listed firecrackers, pocket knife, etc. at the airport. No big deal.

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Blakeston

Blakeston

I found it kind of interesting that they implied that the Huangs don't really think of people from other parts of Asia as Asian, considering that one of Eddie Huang's issues with the series was that the showrunner is Iranian.

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peeayebee

peeayebee

Do Japanese celebrate Chinese New Year? I ask because my sister has been taking a night class, and the teacher, who is of Japanese descent, said there is no class Monday because of a holiday. There's a pretty big Asian population around here. I know there's Korean and Japanese, Vietnamese too. Probably others I can't definitively identify.

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ElectricBoogaloo

ElectricBoogaloo

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According to wikipedia:

The Japanese New Year (正月 Shōgatsu?) is an annual festival with its own customs. Since 1873, the official Japanese New Year has been celebrated according to the Gregorian calendar, on January 1 of each year, New Year's Day (元日 Ganjitsu?). However, the celebration of the traditional Japanese New Year is still marked on the same day as the contemporary Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese New Years.

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fishcakes

fishcakes

Japan celebrates the New Year from January 1 to 3, but Chinese New Year often coincides with Setsubun, which is considered the end of winter and the welcoming of spring. During Setsubun, we drive away ogres and welcome in good luck via the throwing of roasted soybeans. Ahem. Just go with it. I don't think Chinese New Year is celebrated in a big way in Japan, but in the U.S., Japanese are more likely to because it's an excuse to eat dumplings. Well, that's my excuse anyway. But in general, no, it's not a big holiday for us.

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Scott

Scott

I don't think Chinese New Year is celebrated in a big way in Japan, but in the U.S., Japanese are more likely to because it's an excuse to eat dumplings.

 

And if that's not a reason for a holiday, I don't know what is.

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Blakeston

Blakeston

I think it was less that and more that when they were invited to a Chinese New Year celebration by the AAOOO, they were expecting to see the kind of Asian people who actually celebrate Chinese New Year as in Chinese, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, etc.

They went further than just saying that they were hoping to find people who want to celebrate Chinese New Year. Louis said, "I guess technically India and parts of Russia are in Asia."

 

I know plenty of East Asian people who share the view that people from other parts of Asia are only technically Asian, so I'm certainly not saying it's unrealistic. But it felt like a pretty loaded place for the show to go.

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theatremouse

theatremouse

(edited)

In context it didn't really feel that loaded to me. They were still at what was supposed to be a lunar new year party held by the Asian American whatever organization they called it on the show. So in that context, responding with "technically they are Asian" to me, isn't really the same as just saying that as a general remark. The point is, yes they are Asian but not the kind who celebrate lunar new year. The "technically" seemed appropriate enough, not just because it's realistic because plenty of people say things like that, but also because the whole point was it wasn't the Asians they were expecting. Sort of like if you go to a group advertised as "for engineers" and you're expecting a bunch of software engineers and end up with train-peeps. I could totally see someone responding to that with "technically they are engineers"; the implication being entirely that it's true but not what you expected, not necessarily than anyone is less than.

Edited by theatremouse
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marceline

marceline

Do Japanese celebrate Chinese New Year? I ask because my sister has been taking a night class, and the teacher, who is of Japanese descent, said there is no class Monday because of a holiday. There's a pretty big Asian population around here. I know there's Korean and Japanese, Vietnamese too. Probably others I can't definitively identify.

 

Monday is President's Day. Is it possible that the school is off because of that?

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TigerLily20

TigerLily20

It's sad that I'm about to admit this but when I first watched this episode I kept wondering why they got the animal wrong since this Chinese New Year was the Year of the Monkey and the dates they were traveling were off......then I realized this show is set in the 90's.  I have to say that was the first time an episode did not have the 90's feel to it.  Although I did catch the airport exchange better on the 2nd time around when the lady at the counter was asking if they were bringing anything dangerous on the plane with them and Louise listed items, one being fireworks and the attendant was like, oh those are fine, just no citrus.  I laughed way too hard at that the 2nd time around and that was probably the only part that felt 90's to me.  My oldest son watches this show with us now and he loved this episode and he was going around talking about getting red envelopes (and trying to get his brother and sisters from them) when my in-laws were coming up this weekend. 

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NutMeg

NutMeg

As far as I know, they do. They just do it differently, like food has to be red and white for good luck, for instance. I was once in Tokyo for the (western) new year, and got inundated with presents in the shape of rabbits (the Chinese year of the rabbit was starting later), so I think it's safe to say Japanese people celebrate the lunar new year. Also, once, I mentioned to a Japanese contact that I wads born in the year of the dragon, and he got all awkward, then uttered "It is a very good sign... for men". Of course, as a (back then) high flying female executive in a mostly masculine field, I laughed it out, but the point was that he knew his Chinese zodiac all right.   

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