This show has dropped in quality, and the lack of realism and unwillingness to really explore the characters, as evident to an extreme in this episode, is proof of just how far it's fallen.
I started watching Fresh off the Boat at the beginning of the second season, and I was so won over by those early episodes that I not only went back to watch every preceding episode but have also continued watching the show on a weekly basis ever since. Those early episodes blended a refreshing bit of nuance and subversion into the typical ABC family sitcom format, and the way in which the show juggled genuine emotion with well-timed character-driven humor guaranteed that I would become a fan. The relationship that sustained me most of all was the dynamic between Jessica and Evan, and I always cursed each year when they failed to get Golden Globe or Emmy nominations.
In the early seasons, Jessica was a character who was no-nonsense, driven, and strict, but while they played all these qualities for jokes, she was never herself a joke. Her corrective to the other family members' silliness was occasionally excessive, and sometimes it was necessary for the others to check her extreme hardnosed attitude, but just as often she was correct. She had good interests in mind. She predicted what others failed to foresee. She was, in short, a decent but flawed human being.
She is now a joke. Every episode seems to center on how arrogant, self-absorbed, and absurdly humorless she is. It seems like every A Plotline in recent episodes has revolved around the other characters, Louis especially, putting her in her place by showing her that she's out of touch with reality. Even when Eddie moved out of the house in Season 5--Eddie, of all people--it turns out that he's actually a really great homemaker fully capable of living independently, much to Jessica's astonishment. When exactly did she become the full-time fool of the series?
In this episode, her awfulness, cluelessness, and lack of empathy are conveyed at the outset by three anti-Halloween behaviors: 1) she plans to give raisins instead of candy to the trick-or-treaters, 2) she refuses to let Louis to turn the home into a haunted house in order to give the trick-or-treaters a good time, and 3) she harshly criticizes all the elementary schoolers in a costume contest. Because of her inability to properly celebrate a children's holiday, Louis decides that she is deserving of comeuppance. Thus, her husband of nearly two decades convinces her that her book, which was a colossal disappointment, actually has a secret enclave of fans in order to trick her into going trick-or-treating at age 37.
Yes, because Louis wants his wife to agree that trick-or-treating is fun, he lies to her about what would've probably been the most disappointing moment of her life. Jessica invested all her energy into writing a book, and the book was a failure. Nobody bought it. Imagine how devastating that would have been. Now imagine that years later you discover that people actually respect your creative work. How uplifting! How redeeming! Perhaps your imagination is worthwhile! Perhaps you do have something to share! Perhaps your creative genius isn't a complete joke! Imagine how wonderful that would feel in the aftermath of such professional failure. Now imagine that that feeling was all faked by the person you're married to. Imagine reliving your disappointment and failure all over again, all because your spouse was displeased by the fact that you weren't a big fan of Halloween. Would you agree that you had been taught a valuable lesson? Would you focus on the fact that eating candy is in fact kinda pleasurable? Or would you burst into tears and consider filing for divorce?
The B Plot is about the kids trying to figure out their trick-or-treating costumes. Two of them are high schoolers. C'mon now.
I'm not sure why I still watch this show.
I started watching Fresh off the Boat at the beginning of the second season, and I was so won over by those early episodes that I not only went back to watch every preceding episode but have also continued watching the show on a weekly basis ever since. Those early episodes blended a refreshing bit of nuance and subversion into the typical ABC family sitcom format, and the way in which the show juggled genuine emotion with well-timed character-driven humor guaranteed that I would become a fan. The relationship that sustained me most of all was the dynamic between Jessica and Evan, and I always cursed each year when they failed to get Golden Globe or Emmy nominations.
In the early seasons, Jessica was a character who was no-nonsense, driven, and strict, but while they played all these qualities for jokes, she was never herself a joke. Her corrective to the other family members' silliness was occasionally excessive, and sometimes it was necessary for the others to check her extreme hardnosed attitude, but just as often she was correct. She had good interests in mind. She predicted what others failed to foresee. She was, in short, a decent but flawed human being.
She is now a joke. Every episode seems to center on how arrogant, self-absorbed, and absurdly humorless she is. It seems like every A Plotline in recent episodes has revolved around the other characters, Louis especially, putting her in her place by showing her that she's out of touch with reality. Even when Eddie moved out of the house in Season 5--Eddie, of all people--it turns out that he's actually a really great homemaker fully capable of living independently, much to Jessica's astonishment. When exactly did she become the full-time fool of the series?
In this episode, her awfulness, cluelessness, and lack of empathy are conveyed at the outset by three anti-Halloween behaviors: 1) she plans to give raisins instead of candy to the trick-or-treaters, 2) she refuses to let Louis to turn the home into a haunted house in order to give the trick-or-treaters a good time, and 3) she harshly criticizes all the elementary schoolers in a costume contest. Because of her inability to properly celebrate a children's holiday, Louis decides that she is deserving of comeuppance. Thus, her husband of nearly two decades convinces her that her book, which was a colossal disappointment, actually has a secret enclave of fans in order to trick her into going trick-or-treating at age 37.
Yes, because Louis wants his wife to agree that trick-or-treating is fun, he lies to her about what would've probably been the most disappointing moment of her life. Jessica invested all her energy into writing a book, and the book was a failure. Nobody bought it. Imagine how devastating that would have been. Now imagine that years later you discover that people actually respect your creative work. How uplifting! How redeeming! Perhaps your imagination is worthwhile! Perhaps you do have something to share! Perhaps your creative genius isn't a complete joke! Imagine how wonderful that would feel in the aftermath of such professional failure. Now imagine that that feeling was all faked by the person you're married to. Imagine reliving your disappointment and failure all over again, all because your spouse was displeased by the fact that you weren't a big fan of Halloween. Would you agree that you had been taught a valuable lesson? Would you focus on the fact that eating candy is in fact kinda pleasurable? Or would you burst into tears and consider filing for divorce?
The B Plot is about the kids trying to figure out their trick-or-treating costumes. Two of them are high schoolers. C'mon now.
I'm not sure why I still watch this show.
