37/45
At the beginning of the series, Willis (Jimmy O
Synopsis
Willis Wu, a background actor on the procedural cop show Black and White. Relegated to the background, Willis goes through the motions of his on-screen work, waiting tables, and dreaming of a whole world outside of Chinatown. When he inadvertently witnesses a crime, Willis begins to unravel a web of criminals in Chinatown, figuring out what… Read all.
It’s a mystery, you’ll have to watch it to find out
Yang), Fatty (Ronny Chieng), and Carl (Chau Long) see Detective Lana Lee (Chloe Bennet) on television and discuss her possible ethnicity: Carl declares that “she looks Thai,” while Fatty asserts, “Dude, she’s definitely Korean. Know your Asians.” In reality, Bennet is the child of a white mother and a Chinese father. Earlier in her acting career, she changed her last name from Wang to Bennet (her father’s first name) after meeting with casting agents who said they couldn’t cast her in Asian or Asian-American roles, but her name ruled out consideration for white characters as well. This is a show that goes against the grain in a way that can be a little uncomfortable or can occasionally make the plot feel awkward.
I can’t say it’s beautiful or perfect, but it has some fantastic qualities
The acting is fantastic, the actors vary the quality and style of their acting depending on the genres of the individual scenes, constantly shifting between parody and existential mystery. The direction style, camerawork, writing/dialogue, and even the color grading vary depending on what type of police procedural any given scene is parodying, though most of it focuses on a more general dose of bland, low-budget, blue-tinted police television. It feels cheesy at times, the visual effects/direction of some scenes seem weak and distracting, some of the b-plots aren’t particularly engaging and seem to conflict with the tone of the show, and sometimes some of the jokes or plot twists are a little obvious before they happen. The positives do a lot to make it a still fun watch, but they don’t really go anywhere very far.
The characters are fun to watch on screen
The chemistry between the main characters is very high, the comedy is fitting for anyone who’s been through a lot of crap. It’s a cop drama parody, a cop drama, a period piece, a touching family story, a coming-of-age adventure, and an existential allegory, but the end result is less than the sum of its parts, no matter how nice those parts are. The bottom line, though, is that it sacrifices its own satisfaction and entertainment value to serve its many intertwined, painfully obvious allegories. It was made to be and end up a little uncomfortable and unsatisfyingly on purpose to serve a point, but that point was pushed so far over the course of the show that it was just…
And at the cost of enjoying the thing I’m watching?
pointless. Wasteful. There’s a lot to like about Hulu’s streaming offerings this month—look forward to brand-new series premieres and beloved movies to watch at home.
