Fresh Off the Boat has come out of the gates firing in Season 2. On the heels of the fantastic “Boy II Man” comes “Shaquille O’ Neal Motors,” which uses its guest star gimmick to great advantage in telling an important story about Louis and Jessica Huang. As I noted last week, Fresh Off the Boat‘s been re-tooled to focus more on Jessica, and it pays off again in “Motors”.
What makes “Motors’ almost more impressive than last week’s episode is how it employs a half-hearted conflict to generate terrific television. The dramatic crux of the episode is Jessica’s inability to overcome her failure of not getting free floor mats during her first car purchasing negotiation as a Huang (which happened literally on their wedding day). That disappointment has revisited her each year, so when Louis tries to bring her to a dealership for their anniversary, she runs away in a panic. It’s a nonsensical plot detail that only works because it’s informed by Jessica’s tough nature; while it seems ridiculous, she might actually hold a grudge against herself for not getting those free floor mats a dozen years ago. Even considering its potential validity, “Motors” seems less interested in the actual emotional conflict than the fallout from it: it’s quickly dismissed early in the episode’s second act, without really giving it time to naturally bring itself to the surface. Jessica just runs away from the dealership, and Louis immediately finds her drinking in a nearby lesbian bar (“Normally, Jewish guys are always hitting on me,” she notes, oblivious to where she is), full of anxiety and shame for the “biggest mistake of her life.”
Once Louis makes the point that for him, that day signified the first time they signed their names together on something, “Motors” pushes away from Jessica’s less-rewarding internal conflict, turning the rest of the episode into the usual Huang family hilarity, where Jessica dominates every body standing in her way. In this case, that’s a revolving door of car salesmen trying to pass themselves off as “managers” in order to keep this dangerous, angry shopper away from the One, True Manager, Shaq-Fu himself. Smartly, the episode delays Shaq’s actual involvement, containing it to a single scene at the end where he admonishes himself for putting his name on something like Shaq-Fu (which Fresh Off the Boat dedicated an entire episode to in Season 1’s “Fajita Man”), and then spends a hilarious two minutes negotiating with Jessica and Louis, until they reach the magic price on the 1995 Honda Accord, and Jessica gets to have the anniversary Louis was hoping she’d get to have.
Their story, while lighthearted, is touching in how it reaffirms the strength of their relationship. There’s no disillusionment on Louis’s part when Jessica becomes anxious about buying a car, and his fake purchase of the Accord to spurn Jessica’s passion for saving money is as endearing a moment his character’s ever had. And it pairs well with the episode’s parallel B-story, where Eddie and Emery sell Ethan’s Beanie Babies to buy a hot-dog themed water slide. Both tap into the essential ’90s references that have given Fresh Off the Boat pop culture cache, and both isolate the generations of the Huang family to reinforce the rhythms of their relationships in endearing ways (after realizing he wasn’t supposed to sell the Beanie Babies, Eddie sells his autographed Shaq shoe to buy them back).
As a whole, “Shaquille O’Neal Motors” might not be the most memorable, poignant episode in the show’s brief history, but it’s a standout episode nonetheless, a half hour that stands as a wonderful, hilarious counterpoint to the cruelty and sarcasm that drives much of family comedy today. “Motors” is a genuinely heartwarming episode, one that reaffirms the lasting bonds of marriage and brotherhood in simplistic ways. If you haven’t noticed Fresh Off the Boat becoming one of the best comedies on TV, this week’s episode is a perfect example of what you’ve been missing.
Other thoughts/observations:
- What kid doesn’t write dirty words with his alphabet cereal?
- I nearly jumped with glee when Eddie expressed his disappointment with Shaq-Fu; I really wasn’t expecting that callback, especially with Shaq scheduled to appear in the episode.
- I could watch a comedy that only consisted of Jessica’s reactions to gifts and lavish products.
- Evan and Eddie’s individual party invitations speak volumes about their characters. “Get yo butt outside!”
- “Is this set of testicles bothering you?” The lesbian bartender was a little too broad to be funny, but that line – as well as her persistent bowl-filling techniques – were great bits.
- This is a funny episode throughout, but my loudest laugh came from the sight of that tequila bottle falling off the table. Shaq really nails that moment.
[Photo credit: Tyler Golden/ABC]
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