Interior Chinatown – Season 1 Episode 5 Recap & Review

Chinatown Expert

Episode 5 of Interior Chinatown begins with Willis confiding in Lana about his suspicion that Uncle Wong is hiding something and that his brother may have discovered it, leading to his entanglement. Lana decides to visit Willis’ parents to try to gain access to Uncle Wong’s room.

Meanwhile, Detective Turner shares with Lana his growing belief that the cases seem to solve themselves. Lana brushes it off, attempting to motivate him by saying he and Detective Green make a great team. This conversation occurs against the backdrop of a new case involving a bomb that Turner and Green are trying to solve.

Later, Lana arrives at the restaurant to find the entire family at dinner, joined by Fatty and Uncle Wong. During a karaoke session, Willis overhears Uncle Wong telling someone not to involve the police, which he finds suspicious. After dinner, Lana takes Willis and Fatty to a club, intending to get Fatty drunk so they can steal Uncle Wong’s keys. However, the plan falls apart, and the trio wakes up the next morning back at the house.

While helping at the restaurant later that day, Willis stumbles upon Uncle Wong’s keys while Fatty is busy running the now-thriving restaurant. Seizing the opportunity, Willis sneaks into Uncle Wong’s room and discovers bullets and his brother’s pager hidden inside.

At that moment, Uncle Wong returns and realizes Willis is in his room. Willis narrowly escapes through a series of tunnels connected to Wong’s room, leading to the discovery that Chinatown is interconnected by these underground passageways. Wong chases him through the tunnels, but Willis manages to evade capture.

Meanwhile, Detective Turner becomes increasingly aware of the fictionalized nature of their world. When tasked with neutralizing the bomb, he realizes his theory about cases solving themselves is true—despite not cutting any wires, the countdown inexplicably stops on its own.

The Episode Review

By this point, the series is beginning to feel repetitive and tiresome. Much of the episode is filled with references to stereotypical Asian family dynamics—like Asian moms with their love for Tupperware and sharing food—which, while amusing at first, start to feel tedious after a while in the episode.

On the plot front, the story seems to be treading water. The entire episode revolves around gaining access to Uncle Wong’s room, even though Willis had already found a way in his room by the end of the previous episode. This redundancy makes the narrative feel stagnant.

Detective Turner’s sudden awareness of their fictionalized world is another misstep. The lack of proper build-up to this realization makes it feel abrupt and out of place, rather than serving as a meaningful development in the unfolding “mystery”.