Disney Plus’s original series American Born Chinese season one, episode five entitled “Abracadabra,” kicks off with Jimmy Liu’s Wei-Chen and Ben Wang’s Jin Wang as they search for a lead to acquire the item that Wei needs to complete his quest. In Wei’s mind he is really happy that Jin is going with him to help search. He sees that now Jin is starting to take his role seriously when it comes to being Wei’s guide. Deep down he knows that it probably will not last as Jin has shown that he does not care much for Wei or for his quest. This is shown to be true as Jin leaves Wei hanging as he sees their lead hit a dead end. Meanwhile, Wei keeps looking and finds out the lead is still fresh without Jin. The viewer can argue that Jin still has a life he wants to live, especially when he has a shot with Sydney Taylor’s Amelia. This is due to him being paired up with her for a school project. The series does a fantastic job by establishing moments where the viewer can relate to the characters. This is a result of how no one would pass up the opportunity to work with their crush and hopefully achieve a relationship.
Additionally, the viewer sees Wei talk to Ronny Chieng’s Ji Gong as he tells him a clue to find what Wei seeks. The interesting part about this is how Jin’s family is directly involved in the clue. This is due to his family being at war with each other for years until they united and made a pendant that signifies their union. This is how the viewer knows that Jin really is Wei’s guide on his quest as his family holds a key to accomplishing Wei’s quest. However, Jin’s life keeps getting in the way of him and Wei. The surprising thing about this is how the series lets the viewer get to know Amelia as an actual character. This is shown by how she is shown to have her own issues with her mother. In her mind, she hates how nice she is to others all the time. She sees it as her mother being falsely nice when she should be more skeptical of people. Deep down she feels as if her mother sees her as being perfect when she herself does not.
Towards the end of the episode, Jin’s dad Chin Han’s Simon Wang and his mother Yeo Yann’s Christine Wang, have their unresolved issues finally clash. This is a result of Simon telling her that he did not get the promotion at work much to Christine’s dismay. In his mind, he feels as if he let everyone down with him not speaking up for consideration. Deep down he is afraid of standing out as he probably has had some trouble in the past because of him being an immigrant. Meanwhile, Christine is also having issues due to her using all of their savings to support her new business venture without telling her husband. In her mind, she believed that it would not matter as her husband was going to get his promotion. Unfortunately, now she sees that she should have talked it over with him as he is extremely upset with her.
At the end of the episode, Wei and Jin go their separate ways as Wei wants to use Jin’s family pendant against his wishes for his quest. Not to mention that Wei was planning on taking it without asking Jin. In his mind, he knows that what he planned to do was not right. This is demonstrated by the look of shame he has as Jin confronts him about the pendant. Deep down he blames Jin for making him resort to stealing as he keeps leaving him when he needs help. In Jin’s mind, he is mad Wei is willing to take something that belongs to his family. For him this was a serious line he crossed that leads to Wei hitting him as he tries to take it back. Now deep-down Jin wants nothing to do with him anymore as he feels like Wei is a jerk. The viewer could argue that Jin’s feelings go much deeper as he sees Wei is also someone who keeps messing his life up and wants to him leave him alone.
Rating: 9.5/10