Fresh Off the Boat, Season 4, Episode 12: “Liar Liar”
Original airdate January 9, 2018.
Synopsis: Louis finds a new group of friends through his Kenny Rogers rep, but as always, he goes overboard in making himself likable. Honey’s getting-ready habits take their toll on Emery and Evan’s planned activities with her, so they help her find a new look, beginning with the maternity wear store. Nicole has difficulty asking her crush for a date. Eddie tries to help out as wingman but he’s dismayed by Nicole’s willingness to lie about her tastes in music and movies so she can seem more compatible.
Snaps up: Nicole and Eddie have been the strengths this season. If an episode has a story for them, it’s not all bad. I’m impressed with how resilient they’ve both been in handling rejection. It’s cute to see Evan and Emery play with Honey as if she’s their Barbie. And probably the best laugh comes right in the teaser, when Louis says he has to consult “the old ball and chain” and in jump cut, he’s asking Marvin if it’s okay for him to go bowling with his new friends. Funny! Jessica is unusually and pleasantly nice this week.
When Louis brings his buddies home after bowling, one of them reaches into the freezer. I found myself saying, “Bagel Bites! Make it Bagel Bites!” It was pizza rolls. Which are fine, but I have a weakness for Bagel Bites.
Some lines I liked:
“I don’t know. These outfits are a little—ooh! You can wear that one in the shower!” (Honey)
“You can’t handle having friends!” (Jessica)
“It always starts with pizza rolls.” (Jessica)
Snaps down: Except for the Nicole-Eddie story, it’s too easy to let this whole episode kind of slide right by without soaking anything in.
FOB moment:
“Hello Hooter. I’m looking for my husband.”
“Oh. What’s he look like?”
“I’m sure to you he looks like me in a boy wig, but if you could take off your Anglo glasses for just one minute, he’s about five-nine. Hairless but still manly.”
Soundtrack flashback: Coolio’s “Rollin’ with My Homies” (1995) from the Clueless soundtrack. I never thought enough about Brittany Murphy to think I might miss her, but this song made me remember her wistfully.
Final grade, this episode: Almost a completely forgettable episode, but rescued by Eddie’s wingman identity, Nicole’s awkwardness, and both teens’ niceness and resilience. B-minus.
