Interior Chinatown
I have no idea what I just watched. But I have theories. Theory one; this is about a background character on the procedural show, Black and White, who is able to temporarily break out of the stereotypical Chinatown background actor trope that many are living on a perpetual loop and rise to be someone else only to be villainized when he gets too far from his humble origins. This theory is supported by how the show within the show evolves from an eighties cop drama to a Dick Wolf wannabe procedural to an almost True Detective search for inner truth. But then it's negated by the Painted Faces revealing that the show isn't the point, the point is to use the surveillance state to push a certain narrative. Which doesn't align with what came before, but, this show isn't about explaining anything in the end. Theory two; hell loop or limbo, your choice! While only broadly hinted at by a mural and Chinese mythology before doing a confusing infodump in the last episode this technically makes the most sense, especially with regard to the characters who die and come back in a container down by the docks with their memories wiped and then take up the same roles with no memory of having done this before. If this is the case, then how do you "level up?" Is it dying and starting over on another show? If so, well, then this is Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes but done in the most confusing way possible. And I do think Interior Chinatown wants to be Life on Mars with a focus on the Asian experience but ends up being a confusing mess that ironically does a disservice to the amazing acting on display. Because in the end the only thing you can be certain of is that this is about the Asian experience and how Asians are represented in the media and how there are so many amazing Asian actors out there who have never been given the chance to shine. And here Jimmy O. Yang and Ronny Chieng in particular show they are formidable talents. But then I've been a fan of Jimmy O. Yang since Silicon Valley so I feel like the rest of the world is finally catching up to what I already knew. Which is why the ending to this series felt like a personal insult. The Asian characters' stories are in the end negated. They are left behind. Which is irony at the top of it's game. The point of this series seems to have been about giving these characters their story, their time in the spotlight, to rectify the wrongs of what television representation did to them over the years and then Interior Chinatown did them dirty. This show should have known better. This show should have done better. This show did what every show before has done but added insult to injury by saying that they understood. They obviously understood nothing. Except for that delightful crab rangoon joke. That I will allow.
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