Fresh Off the Boat 4×19 Review: “King In The North”

Fresh Off the Boat season four has come to an end. The finale did a good job at ending a chapter of the Huangs lives. However, as much as they’ve changed, some things remain the same.

Jessica finally got her book published… after stalking Steven King. As smart and logical as that woman is, she still sometimes goes off the deep end. What made her adventure funny was how much everyone knew about Steven King. They knew where he would be at any given time and they made him seem like a pretty down-to-earth guy even though he didn’t make an appearance in the episode. A small joke was that Honey kept gaining a new piece of clothing at each location. She wasn’t used to the temperature and, more importantly, she didn’t pack for it. What was confusing was why Honey kept up with the whole plan for as long as she did, but it’s also a testament to how good a friend she is. In the end Jessica got her quote, but it was ironically through a restraining order, but that didn’t keep Jessica from being excited. If there’s a fifth season hopefully they’ll explore how the book did.

As for Louis, he was dealing with his mom moving out. There was a space open at the nursing home and she felt it was time to move on. This was a big change for Louis, and everyone insisted that she was leaving because she didn’t feel appreciated. He tried to give her a better living situation, but she still wanted to move. Even though the conflict was set up well, it was too easily dealt with once Jessica had one conversation with Grandma. That took away from the entire issue and it would’ve been better if Louis had made a breakthrough. Overall, it felt like a touching conversation was missed out on.

Meanwhile, Eddie and Nicole were making big waves at the school dance. The group decided to dress in all orange and blue tuxedos like in Dumb and Dumber, but the school board was not happy about it. They said that everyone had to dress a certain way. This, of course, made Nicole upset because it was gender conformity. Eddie wasn’t going to let that happen. He put on a skirt and brought his friend her tux and they went to the dance. It was great that all the friends stood together on the matter and when they were denied they made their own fun. It was also funny how neither Nicole or Eddie knew what to say to those two girls. It added an element to their friendship.

Last, but not least, were Evan and Emery. They thought they wanted to have separate rooms, but it turns out they were wrong. They care about each other too much to be separated. I wonder if that will be explored in a potential future season. What was good about this conflict was that it felt like it had the right amount of screen time. It didn’t drag on at all. In fact, the problem brought us that funny scene of the two of them and Louis all singing out the window. The awkwardness between them really sold that moment and the fact that they deepen their voices to seem more manly.

It’s unclear if the show will be picked up for another season, but this one was definitely the best. It dealt with some big social issues and the characters are really moving along in their lives. Hopefully we’ll get to see the Haungs in their future adventures.

Fresh Off the Boat airs on ABC.