Fresh Off the Boat, Season 3, Episode 19: “Driving Miss Jenny”
Original airdate April 11, 2017.
Microsynopsis: Louis is uncomfortable with how much independence Grandma is asserting now that she has her power chair. He gets a little protective and follows her around (when lying to her about the insurance not covering her chair doesn’t work). Jessica and Emery confront Emery’s overly sentimental attachment to mementos. Evan hires Eddie to help with Evan’s house-sitting business, cutting his older brother in for half the pay. Eddie then hires Dave to do his work, paying him half of what Eddie’s making.
Good: It’s nice to get the rare Grandma-centered episode. Emery’s confession that his adjustment to Orlando wasn’t as smooth as his family was led to believe is sweet, and Jessica’s response is sweet as well. I was pleased that Grandma’s mahjong friends are stereotypically old instead of stereotypically Chinese. And it’s nice to see Deidre, on whom I’m still kind of crushing.
Bad: Little gripe, but why does Evan give Deidre her orchid slant report in degrees from the horizontal? It seems to me it would be slightly more useful to receive this data in degrees from the vertical, so 18 degrees of slant instead of 72.
Slightly bigger gripe (but still little): Grandma is going to McD’s to collect plastic Dream Team cups. This episode is set in 1997 but those cups were available in 1992. I’m not calling this the anachronism I’ve been looking for (I’m hoping to nail the show for something in an episode that doesn’t yet exist), and it’s not completely inconceivable that Grandma’s got some kind of five-year-old hookup with the local McD’s, but it’s something of a distraction because the show makes reference to the cups twice.
FOB moment: The broken chopstick Emery is hanging onto is from the first Chinese food delivery the family ordered in Orlando: “Remember? You were so mad the Chinese restaurant sent a white delivery guy?”
Soundtrack flashback: “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You” (1987). “Sittin’ on Chrome” by Masta Ace Incorporated (1995).
Final grade, this episode: Perfectly forgettable episode with pretty much no laughs aloud. C+.
