Disney Plus’s original series American Born Chinese season one, episode eight entitled “The Fourth Scroll,” kicks off with Ben Wang’s Jin Wang as he has a dream that Michelle Yeoh’s Guanyin tells him of a coming threat. This is due to her knowing that his moment to be a hero is coming. In his mind, he knows that what he experienced is too real to be just a dream. Deep down he knows that it was not a dream as everything he experienced is coming true. From what the viewer can see Jin is worried about Wei as he knows that he had failed him before. Now he wants to redeem himself as in his eyes he feels responsible for Wei losing his father. The surprising part about this is how he ends up asking his best friend for help.
Additionally, the viewer sees Chin Han’s Simon Wang, and Jins mother ,Yeo Yann’s Christine Wang, as their search for their family’s pendant leads them to Wei’s father Daniel Wu’s The Monkey King as he apparently survived his encounter with Leonard Wu’s The Bull Demon King. The interesting part about this is how Jins father seems to act like how he used to before life beat him down. This is demonstrated by how he decides to investigate a door he sees without hesitating. His lack of hesitation is something that the viewer hears a lot from his wife and finally the series shows exactly why she seems so disappointed with who he has become. In her mind, she is shocked to see him act this way as so far, he has lost his fearlessness in their everyday life. Now that she sees him acting this way, she seems to remember why she fell in love with him in the first place.
Towards the end of the episode, things come to a grand climatic battle between Wei, The Bull Demon King, and Jin. During this the viewer sees how Jin tries to reason with The Bull Demon King as he sees a bit of himself in him in the sense that they both were too afraid to be themselves. In The Bull Demon King’s mind, he knows that Jin is right however, he has come too far to back out at the last minute. Deep down he knows that he is still afraid of being himself and prefers to do evil as that seems to be easier than being himself. The viewer can argue that The Bull Demon King is too far gone as he tried to kill his former best friend and everyone else on earth. Also, it would seem as if he tends to blame others for his own shortcomings in life. This is demonstrated by how he keeps saying that Wei’s father ruined his life when he could have moved forward and done something more than just sit around and be bitter.
At the end of the episode, the viewer found out that Jin is the fourth scroll that everyone was looking for. The series does a fantastic job at creating a sense of shock due to this realization. This is demonstrated by how the viewer thinks the pendant is the fourth scroll as it is a symbol of the prophesied union of two warring families. However, as Jin is the son of the two family members, he is the living embodiment of the union between both families. The best part about this is how he ends up risking his life to put an end to the battle and succeeds. Unfortunately, as a result of this he now is going to be hunted by those in heaven who want to use him for evil purposes.
Rating: 9.5/10