Eddie is so desperate for a new video game named after his idol, Shaq, he goes to work at the restaurant. He expects special treatment since he's the boss' son, but is in for a surprise when Louis is determined to make him work hard for the money. Jessica decides to look for a job of her own.
I'm just so relieved that Fresh Off the Boat is doing well for ABC on Tuesday nights. It's a solid family comedy. That is ABC's comedy brand right now. It's what they excel at and it also helps them open the doors of diversity. It was easy for the show to do well during its two episode preview on Wednesday nights earlier this month. But it was a daunting task to be asked to then become a self-starter for the Tuesday night lineup. ABC has been failing on Tuesday nights for a few seasons now. Even earlier this season, the network failed at doing comedies at 8/7c. Granted I enjoy Fresh Off the Boat way more than Selfie or Manhattan Love Story. But that didn't necessarily mean the ratings would be any different. Fortunately though, they are. Fresh Off the Boat is doing solid business on the night. Knowing all of that makes it easier for me to watch it and actually laugh.I laughed frequently during "Fajita Man" from the very beginning with Jessica telling Eddie she can get by with only two sons to the very end with Eddie's friend playing the 9 to 5 video game. Sure, the stuff with Eddie and Louis is all about Eddie learning a life lesson while the Jessica story is just straight-up comedy. But that balance works so often on this show. Eddie is able to learn that it's worth working hard to earn money to get the stuff he really wants - in this case Shaq's kung fu video game - at the same time that the rest of the family is dying from the Orlando heat. Both stories have their important moments for the show. Eddie becomes a part of the restaurant while Jessica finds her new job as a realtor. But both stories are also able to be funny.
The major source of comedy in the Eddie story comes from the frequent cutaways to his new friends at school. Sure, it seems like he got close to these guys all of sudden. Wasn't he still struggling to fit in just a week ago? But it was hilarious watching them all be so excited about getting this game and plotting how they can each afford it. That was the set up for Eddie having to work at the restaurant. His father wanted to teach him this lesson because he hasn't gotten any handouts in his life. Louis has had to work hard in order to get to where he is today. Eddie is a little entitled. Not so much that it becomes annoying. But the seeds were starting to grow and he would become much worse if Louis didn't do something about it now. Sure, Louis went overboard on the exaggerations about his own father and how much he wanted his son to work hard. But it did make Eddie a better person in the end. He eventually got the game but still wanted to work to earn it. He's great at the restaurant serving fajitas. And that's the important lesson for the character to have learned.
Meanwhile, Jessica's search for a job paired with the intense heat was just extremely funny. She steals every scene she is in and so do Evan and Emery. I still don't think that Evan and Emery can carry their own story yet. However, their reactions to the events of each episode are wonderfully funny. This heat is getting to them and making them irrational. That's funny. It's set up that way just to further showcase how much control Jessica has over this family. She doesn't want to turn the air conditioner on until she has the job that can pay for it. Even when she ultimately finds that job, she'll only allow for it to be set on the lowest setting. And yet, that is such a victory because they are slowly moving up in the world, one minor success at a time. That's fun. It also comes with Jessica completely turning the real estate market of Orlando on its head. She initially just wants the free AC during the open houses in order to look for a job. And then, it turns out that she's great at matching people with houses that they'll love. Sure, her not realizing that the two guys she was helping were a gay couple was a little too dim without too much reward. But everything else about this story worked for me. It's so exciting to see a show finding itself in its early episodes and doing so well right out of the gate.
Some more thoughts:
- "Fajita Man" was written by Matt Kuhn and directed by Matt Sohn.
- Jessica paints her mother-in-law's nails even though neither one of them likes it because it's too late to change things now.
- All the jokes about 9 to 5 worked for me because it was just such a random reference.
- I loved seeing Louis interacting with his mother for once. Often, it's been Jessica, Evan and Emery doing stuff with her. He's her son and she gets that great moment of reminding him of what his actual relationship with his father was.
- Eddie makes serving fajitas look easy - as demonstrated during that wonderful sequence of him serving multiple customers and again when Mitch and Nancy are disastrous with it.
