Interior Chinatown – Season 1 Episode 2 Recap & Review

Delivery Guy

Episode 2 of Interior Chinatown opens at a construction site murder, where Lana is reduced to being a mere sidekick to Detectives Green and Turner. She’s also treated as an outcast, with Green completely ignoring her.

Later, Lana picks up Willis, and together, they cross the underpass that separates Chinatown from the other areas. Here, she reveals that there was a cover-up surrounding his brother’s disappearance. Since the relevant files are in the precinct office, Lana asks Willis to help her retrieve them.

At the headquarters, Willis tells Lana that he saw the dead nail salon woman. In response, Lana shows him the mortuary reports, affirming that the woman is indeed dead. While Lana enters the precinct, Willis is inexplicably unable to get past the office doors, no matter what he tries. Inside, Lana becomes entangled with Green and Turner, who repeatedly refer to her as the “Chinatown expert” while seeking her help with the construction site case.

Green later expresses her view that Lana is an obstacle outside the precinct. Meanwhile, they fail to even notice Willis, who is standing right next to them, desperately trying to get their attention. It’s as if he’s invisible.

Eventually, Lana finds Willis, and the two follow Green and Turner to an exotic pet shop, where the owner is a suspect in the construction site case. While investigating, the detectives question Lana about the animal black market in Chinatown. The pet shop owner claims that venomous snakes were stolen from his store, which led to the victim’s presumed death. Off-camera, Willis whispers an answer for Lana, pointing to a black market allegedly operating out of a laundromat.

Meanwhile, Fatty reluctantly takes over Willis’ job at the restaurant and struggles as a waiter. Frustrated, he snaps at two customers, exclaiming, “You’re not the center of the universe…eat what I give you!” Surprisingly, the customers find him amusing.

Back in the investigation, Green and Turner raid the laundromat but find no incriminating evidence. Lana and Willis return to the construction site to search for more clues, as Green continues pressuring Lana for her “Chinatown expertise.” They discover the pet shop owner’s footwear, prompting Willis to remark, “Hippies hate yuppies,” and conclude that the pet shop owner staged the crime to implicate the animal black market.

Later, Lana tries to help Willis enter the precinct again, but he remains barred from entering. Dejected, Willis returns to the restaurant, lamenting that he doesn’t belong in the precinct. Meanwhile, the pet shop owner is arrested and confesses to the murder, while an enraged Turner laments the “innocent snakes” sacrificed in the process rather than the Asian victim.

Inspired, Willis devises a way to enter the world he’s excluded from. He takes on the role of a delivery guy, asserting, “Kung-fu isn’t the only way out of Chinatown,” and successfully gains entry to the precinct disguised in his new role.

The Episode Review

This episode continues the show’s focus on satirizing the representation of Asian-American characters in Hollywood. It highlights how these characters are often pigeonholed into roles shaped by exotic stereotypes, such as martial artists, or relegated to secondary roles, as seen with Lana’s position as a mixed-race “sidekick” or Willis’ status as an invisible Chinese food delivery guy.

The murder mysteries in the show are largely superficial, functioning as a backdrop to address hate crimes against the Asian-American community and critique Hollywood’s typecasting of Asian characters.

From a cinematic perspective, the episode cleverly employs lighting to differentiate between the main procedural plot, portrayed in a vibrant blue hue, and the personal lives of the characters, depicted in a warmer yellow hue.

However, the metafictional elements of the show create a sense of detachment, making it difficult to empathize with the characters. Additionally, the weak character motivations and lack of compelling plot direction diminish the emotional engagement needed to keep viewers invested in the episodes.