Fresh Off the Boat has ruined Constance Wu's brilliant Jessica Huang character

Slate

Wu has followed her big-screen success in Crazy Rich Asians with a disappointing Season 5 for her scene-stealing character. "The actress is as nimble as ever, but sometime last year, the writers seem to have forgotten what makes Jessica such a brilliant character," says Inkoo Kang. "She still gets to throw flames, but now she’s forced to apologize for them, repeatedly. Her self-possession coarsened into self-absorption, Jessica has become yet another immature character in need of life lessons, alongside her middle- and high-school-age children. It’s a humiliating (and groan-inducing) turn, with insulting implications for the immigrant culture she represents." Kang adds: "In other words, Fresh Off the Boat has made Jessica into something that was unimaginable just two years ago: a petulant, off-putting idiot. And since Jessica was by all accounts the show’s most interesting character, her decline has correspondingly tanked the show’s watchability."