For a long time, Asian representation in Hollywood has been terrible or supremely lacking. This series, created by Charles Yu, based on his 2020 novel, is critiquing that representation. Decades ago, there was either yellow-face or whitewashing. However, for the most part, like with other minorities, Hollywood would reduce Asian or Asian-American characters to stereotypes or one-dimensional figures that have no depth, no nuance or no being fully fleshed out. In fact, the title of each episode here is a reference to the stereotypical role with which Asian actors often get saddled. The first episode is titled "Generic Asian Man," which might be the least or worst offensive, depending on how one views it.
The series is about a young Asian American having an identity crisis. That identity crisis is based on the stereotypes that Hollywood has churned out. Of course, there is a toll that the bombardment of stereotypes has on not only Asian actors but the Asian audience. These stereotypes have the effect of making Asian actors think they can't be more. It's the same for the protagonist here. He thinks he's limited to a lowly station and can't be more. As a result, the series is also about how or what it takes to rise out of this lowly station and push oneself out of their comfort zone.
Jimmy O. Yang (Silicon Valley and Crazy Rich Asians) stars as Willis Wu, a busboy and janitor at a restaurant in Chinatown, which seems like it's in Manhattan or might be in Los Angeles. The restaurant is run by his uncle, and his best friend is his co-worker. By the objects around them like the cars, phones and clothing, it's clear that the time period is either the 1980's or 90's. By the 2010's and 2020's, the Asian representation in Hollywood started to get somewhat better, but Willis is living in a time where things were still on the cusp. He's feeling a little frustrated as a result but at the same time the stereotypes are his only guide-posts.
The main plot involves Willis wanting to solve a missing person's case. The missing person is his older brother, Jonathan Wu, played by Chris Pang (Joy Ride and Crazy Rich Asians). Willis and his parents have been heartbroken and rather devastated for 12 years, ever since Jonathan disappeared without much of a trace. After all this time, the police have made it a cold case and aren't doing anything about it. He's shocked when out of the blue someone approaches him with a lead about what happened to his brother.
Chloe Bennet (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Nashville) co-stars as Lana Lee, a police detective who is the one that approaches Willis with that aforementioned lead. That lead reveals that his brother's disappearance might have been part of a police cover-up. She and Willis then have to turn the magnifying glass on the police. The problem is that Willis can't just walk into the police station. In order to get access, Willis has to pretend to be various people. Those people are the various Asian stereotypes that Hollywood has perpetuated over the years. As such, the show is able to satirize and deconstruct those stereotypes, but, it's also revealed that Lana has also tried various identities, as she too has felt like a stereotype in her own life and particularly while working for the police force. Her stereotype is the "main character in waiting" or sidekick.
Turning the magnifying glass on the police is done not only in a narrative way, but it's also done in a metaphorical way. Just as Yu's show is satirizing and critiquing Asian stereotypes in general, it's also satirizing police procedural programs, such as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999) or even older ones, as well as even later, more serialized cop shows. The way that the satire manifests itself is arguably similar to Last Action Hero (1993) or Pleasantville (1998). It's also similar, possibly to Stranger Than Fiction (2006). All of those films deal with the idea of fictional characters entering the real world or real characters entering a fictional world.
As the series progresses, there's a mystery over whether any of the characters are real and what parts of the world are fictional or not. Whatever barriers existed between reality and fiction seems to be breaking down. There was a barrier of color schemes, but eventually those start to blur. It gets to be like WandaVision (2021) where the characters might be living or trapped in a TV show.
Sullivan Jones (The Gilded Age and Harlem) plays Miles Turner, one of the police detectives who might be trapped in a cop show. Lisa Gilroy plays Sarah Green, the other police detective who might also be trapped in a cop show. The difference is that Miles is starting to wake up to this possibility. Sarah, even if she knows she's in a fictional world, wants to remain in that world. Both begin to have identity crises of their own. It's like both of them realizing they're in The Truman Show (1998) or The Matrix (1999).
Shout out to Tzi Ma, legendary Hong Kong actor who plays Willis' father. He has a very minor role. Diana Lin who plays Lily Wu, the mother to Willis, has a larger role as a woman trying to become a real estate agent while pushing against gentrification. However, it's always nice to see Tzi Ma, even if it's a tiny role.
Rated TV-MA-LV.
Running Time: 30-40 mins. / 10 eps.
Available on Hulu.