Fresh Off the Boat, Season 3, Episode 22: “This Is Us”
Original airdate May 9, 2017.
Microsynopsis: Michael Bolton offers to buy Louis’s restaurant. It’s tempting because it would allow the Huangs to buy their home, but since it’s not part of the Louis-and-Jessica “life plan,” Louis rejects the proposal. Jessica tries to get Evan admitted to St. Orlando’s, the city’s most selective private school (where Dr. Johnny Fever is headmaster). Eddie and his friends celebrate their graduation from eighth grade but when a silly videotape they’ve made of their ceremony gets into an older step-sibling’s hands, they’re worried that they’ll begin high school as losers.
Good: A lot really depends on how things play out in the second part of this season finale next week, but so far I kind of like some new character growth stuff, such as Evan’s possible move to a private school, Louis’s becoming a business partner with Michael Bolton (another stupid cameo, but one that doesn’t irk me for some reason), and Eddie moving into high school. The return of Eddie’s pimp-walk. Good soundtrack flashbacks.
Bad: I want the MythBusters to come out of retirement and either confirm or bust the TV myth that you can throw a rock through a typical bedroom window without shattering the entire pane of glass. While I like the idea of Evan’s applying to get into a private school, and while it makes sense for Jessica to want this for her child too, I’d like to see some of the subversion that courses through the veins of this show. Here’s hoping Evan gets in and then the Huangs give the whole school a big middle finger and decline his acceptance.
FOB moment: “We’re doing it, Jessica. We’re living the American dream. Just like — the landlord! Hide your grandmother!”
Soundtrack flashback: “Step Into a World (Rapture’s Delight)” by KRS-One (1997). “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You” (1990). “Mo Money Mo Problems” by the Notorious B.I.G. featuring Puff Daddy and Mase (1997).
Final grade, this episode: Joz says “not enough Emery.” I say not enough Honey, Alison, or Nicole, although I’m grateful for a double dose of Deidre. You know what would be great? You know how some shows have a consistent gimmick in their episode titles? What if Fresh Off the Boat for the remainder of its run (if this isn’t the remainder of its run) named all its episodes after existing TV shows, like this one? I’m totally going to rename every episode this season this way and offer the list in next week’s review. Tempted to give this one a C, but it is really part one of a two-parter, even if the episode’s not designated a two-parter. Next week’s episode, “This Is Not Us,” is the conclusion. Incomplete.
Microsynopsis: Evan learns that his school has a debate team, and the prospect of “extra homework” combined with impressing his mother are enough to get him excited about joining. When he emerges as (seemingly) a better arguer than Jessica, their relationship is tested, and Jessica goes through another identity crisis. Eddie and Emery stop talking to one another when an agreement to work together on a comic book contest turns contentious.
Bad: This is clearly one of those sorta rare sitcom episodes where the B plot will be remembered while the A plot fades away. The Jessica-Evan story is alternately a drag and kind of lame. The Eddie-Emery story really plays thoughtfully with their characters (Lazy Boy and Nice Man? Funny! And very cute).
