Interior Chinatown Bites off More Social Commentary Than It Can Chew

Interior Chinatown is an ambitious series that attempts to tackle and subvert the classic tropes of Asian characters in television and film. However, it spreads itself too thin, resulting in a story that touches on lots of symbolism but does not give us enough meat in the characters themselves to make it a compelling narrative.

Willis Wu (Jimmy O. Yang) and the titular Chinatown only belong in the background of the show within the show, Black & White, and the show is basically Law & Order with a different name, down to the iconic dun dun in each new scene and the font of each title card.

Once Willis begins to question his belonging in the background, it disturbs the very reality within Interior Chinatown, leading to a spiraling series of events that draws in his entire community. The lighting shifts every time we switch from Interior Chinatown to Black & White, a plot device that does much of the heavy lifting to distinguish between the two different stories.

Each cast member brings a necessary emotional layer to the story, and Yang especially does well in putting Willis’ vulnerability and anger with his lot in life on full display.

As a second protagonist, Chloe Bennet is very good at projecting the shaky confidence that Lana so wants her colleagues to see. Ronny Chieng is also excellent as a supporting comedic relief character who has his occasional moments of honesty, but he should have been given more to do.

Diana Lin as Mrs. Wu, Willis’ mother, who seeks to put the pieces of her life together by starting a new career after the loss of her son is particularly convincing, and gives the series some much-needed emotional weight.

For as long as they have been present in mainstream TV and film in the U.S., Asian characters and actors have almost always been relegated to very specific roles on the sidelines, which is exactly what Willis wants to change.

The show’s central mystery is the unexplained disappearance of his brother, who was the prodigal son and Willis’ idol. The brother remains unnamed until the latter half of the show, adding yet another layer to the discrimination and disrespect experienced by his community — the police apparently never cared enough about Chinatown or its people to pursue the case further.

The gradual unveiling of the extent to which the people of Chinatown are ignored is a particularly compelling aspect of the series and makes for a very good buildup of anticipation to the end, but it fizzles out as the series loses its way, burdened by too many storylines at once.

Some of the tropes are dealt with well, but some are drawn out for a little too long, like Fatty becoming a stereotypically mean Chinese restaurant waiter, eventually profiting off of the very tropes that are projected onto him.

The series itself follows a solid episodic structure with each episode’s story representing a new trope that Willis has to combat. Despite this, the story starts to drag around the series’ midpoint.

There are some interesting moments, but the more the reality around Willis is questioned, the more and more we lose sense of the stakes. If this is all a show, and the people who are being killed in the crime spree throughout Chinatown aren’t actually alive, then where is the real danger?

This is a question the series particularly struggles to answer towards the end, as it seems Willis gets closer to the answers he seeks.

The emotional gravity of Willis’ brother’s loss becomes lost in a conspiratorial mystery that seems to have no end. The stages of stereotypes that Willis wades his way through eventually make it to Interior Chinatown Season 1 Episode 7, “Detective,” implying that Willis has “made it,” but he is held back yet again by a system that refuses to let him be anything more than a background character.

The problem with a show that seeks to subvert as many stereotypes as Interior Chinatown does is that it struggles to balance that many stereotypes with actual character development.

While Willis gets a good amount of time to shine even as he is working through the roles projected onto him, some of the other members of the cast do not get that opportunity, especially Willis’ brother, Jonathan.

The same goes for Lana, who can’t quite break out of her sidekick/love interest trope, despite much of her time on screen being dedicated to her attempting to do exactly that.

With the strange mystery engulfing the show and its characters, its conclusion does not quite live up to its beginning.

We end up in a confusing conspiracy that leaves us with few answers, which could work well, but there was so much build-up to the conclusion that it ending with just a big emotional speech from Willis about his refusal to fit the boxes given to him does not feel like enough.

We did not get any concrete answers about his brother’s disappearance, and the big reveal that they are all being watched within a show does not hit as hard. The mystery is bound to make viewers want to watch a second season, but without a good resolution, this season’s plot feels unfinished.

Interior Chinatown is an enticing commentary on Asian characters and stereotypes on screen, but it does not quite live up to its promise.

What did you think of this episode of Interior Chinatown? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Critic Rating:

User Rating:

 

Interior Chinatown is now streaming on Hulu.

Follow us on X and on Instagram!

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!