Jessica Huang Insecure in the Face of Successful Real Estate Agents
In Fresh Off the Boat Episode 9, “License to Sell”, Jessica Huang (Constance Wu) experiences a moment of vulnerability when she sees more successful real estate agents than herself. Eddie, in his quest to impress Nicole, takes on piercings and tattoos as her test subject for beauty school.
Jessica Becomes Insecure When Confronted with Successful Real Estate Agents
Fresh Off the Boat Episode 9, “License to Sell” starts with Eddie’s mom, Jessica. Jessica (Constance Wu) realizes that she has to get a real estate license in order to sell houses, but when she goes to take the license exam, an extremely successful woman intimidates her into deserting the exam.
Jessica spends the rest of the episode hiding from her family and friends. To her annoyance, Honey (Chelsey Crisp), her neighbor and friend, jogs around the city and frequently comes across her eating lunch.
Jessica Huang is usually very confrontational, but here, we see her avoiding situations because of her vulnerability after discovering that she’s not the best and can’t compete in terms of experience with other real estate agents who have been selling homes for ten years.
Young Eddie Gets Piercings and Tattoos for Love
Meanwhile, young Eddie (Hudson Yang) is still trying to impress Nicole (Luna Blaise), his next-door neighbor who is a few years older. He goes to his dad, Louis (Randall Park) for advice. Louis advises Eddie to spend time with her by showing up in places where she goes. Eddie takes his advice and this leads to the boy getting piercings and henna tattoos from Nicole, who is practicing her beauty school skills. Ultimately, despite initial shock, his parents are supportive and tell him to be himself.
Better a Loser than a Quitter
Eventually, Louis finds out from Honey and confronts Jessica about not taking the real estate exam. She admits that she didn’t, and that it’s hard to not be the best especially when she pushes her sons to be the best. However, Louis points out that she can set the example for her sons by trying her best and not quitting.
“I like quitters even less than losers,” Jessica admits.
Today, we learned: Try your personal best, and don’t sacrifice your sense of self when chasing a mate.
My Thoughts:
I didn’t like this episode as much as the previous ones, partly because there were no memorable lines. Overall, this Fresh Off the Boat episode came across as trying to impart a moral lesson to the audience, which is fine, but is shallow compared to other episodes which have mixed humor with societal commentary. While the Huang family continues to be very likable, this episode wasn’t as entertaining or as witty as the previous ones.
