Disney Plus’s original series American Born Chinese season one, episode seven entitled “Beyond Repair,” kicks off with Jimmy Liu’s Wei-Chen and Ben Wang’s Jin Wang as they try to figure out what to do about Wei’s father. This is due to Leonard Wu’s The Bull Demon King taking him and holding him in exchange for Jin’s family pendant. Unfortunately, as they seek help from Michelle Yeoh’s Guanyin she refuses to help them. In her mind, she sees that Wei has chosen this path he is going on and she can’t get involved. She only ever wanted for him to find his own path in the world. However, she will not help him deal with the consequences of his actions as that would be enabling him instead of watching over him. Deep down she knows that he must learn the lesson of how actions have consequences.
Additionally, Ke Huy Quan’s Freddy Wong gives an emotional speech during the reunion for the show that Jin got made fun of earlier on in the series. The interesting part about this is how the series uses this scene to bring attention to the issue’s regarding Asian Americans in the entertainment industry. This is demonstrated by how Freddy talks about how he only got secondary roles as a nobody or a ninja. Also, it goes further and mentions that there is hardly any actual work for Asian actors for serious roles compared to white actors. By far the best part about this is how Freddy inspires Jin to be the hero for once. From the look on Jin’s face, it seems as if Jin will now fully take his role as Wei’s guide seriously as that is his way of being a hero.
Towards the end of episode, the viewer sees Jin’s father ,Chin Han’s Simon Wang, and Jin’s mother ,Yeo Yann’s Christine Wang, as they deal with Jin being sent to the principal’s office. This is a result of him shoving someone into a locker when he was mad. From here things take a turn in a very good direction with Jin’s father calling out the principal for being offensive to them. For the first time the viewer sees Jin’s father stand up and speak out and lets his voice be heard. In his mind, he sees that the principal was offending his family with her remarks. Usually, he would not say anything, however, when someone messes with his family he will not stay silent and instead fights for them. From this interaction the viewer can see the man Simon used to be before life slowly beat him down.
At the end of the episode, Wei sees his father possibly die at the hands of The Bull Demon King. In his mind, he blames himself for causing this entire situation to happen. He probably wishes he never took the staff from his father as that would have prevented everything from happening. Now he sees that it is too late to do anything as his father could be dead all for nothing. This is due to the fact that Jin’s pendant is not the object he sought after. The surprising thing about this is how Ronny Chieng’s Ji Gong has a change of heart and saves Wei from The Bull Demon King as he does not support killing a child. From what the viewer can tell he might end up helping Jin and Wei find what Wei is searching for.
Rating: 9.5/10