Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for American Born Chinese Season 1.American Born Chinesewraps up its first season with an epic battle that leads to new revelations and leaves an aftermath that can be cleared up in a second season.American Born Chineseis a series adaptation ofGene Luen Yang’s 2006 graphic novel of the same name. The series is thestory of Jin Wang(Ben Wang), an American teenager whose hopes for improving his social life are derailed by the arrival of a new foreign student, Wei-Chen Sun (Jimmy Liu). However, as Jin gets to know Wei-Chen more, he finds out that the new kid is the son of Sun Wukong (Daniel Wu), the legendary Monkey King. Wei-Chen is on a quest to find the Fourth Scroll which will stop the Bull Demon (Leonard Wu) and enlists Jin’s help, while Jin endures his own trials and tribulations as he discovers his identity. The series had several small plot devices which eventually coincided to circumvent the Bull Demon.
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As the Autumn Equinox approaches, the Bull Demon has the Monkey King’s staff called “Jingu Bang,” to enact his plan and lead an uprising against heaven. Jin has a dream where Guanyin (Michele Yeoh) warns and instructs him on how he can help Wei-Chen stop it. Jin confides in Anuj (Mahi Alam) about Wei-Chen and the Monkey King in order to get his help. Jin is able to convince Anju of the reality of this fantastic situation, based on a predictive aspect of his dream (the color of Anju’s mismatched socks) coming true. Thanks to Anuj’s comic and Manga knowledge, and a message in Jin’s dream (that the soccer game will have epic consequences) the trio determines that Bull Demon’s plan is to use the staff to attack heaven by drawing on the Earth’s power from the high school soccer field, where the portal between the two worlds will appear.
Simultaneously, while searching for their missing jade necklace, Jin’s parents find an injured Wukong and help him recover. As the portal opens over the soccer field, Jin comes up with a plan to lure out the shape-shifting Bull Demon and Wei-Chen shares that the staff has the power to annihilate all of their loved ones in attendance at the soccer game. Wei-Chen engages in a spectacular battle with the Bull Demon but is not able to stop his plan. Jin jumps in front of the staff’s blast, nullifying it, and saving everyone. Wukong retrieves his staff, stops the Bull Demon, and confirms to Wei-Chen who conveys to Jin, that Jin is the Fourth Scroll. The crowd cheers believing the battle to be a performance. Jin says goodbye to Wei-Chen and then returns to his home to find a mysterious woman threatening him to come with her if he wants to see his parents again.
Two Journeys Leading to One Destination
Throughout the season, Jin has been on his own adolescent journey of understanding who he is in relation to his peers, friends, parents, and himself. Jin is able to stop the Bull Demon’s plan afterbeing empowered by Jamie Yao’s(Ke Huy Quan) statement on heroism and with the love of his parents. Before the climactic battle, Jin admits to his own fears and insecurities about being himself and being mocked or ignored by his peers. In the penultimate episode, he watches a video where Yao inspires Jin with his personal story and says that a hero is someone who goes on a journey, fights for what matters, and helps others. As the staff is about to launch an attack against heaven and possibly annihilate everyone on the soccer field, Jin recalls his parents' words of encouragement and takes a chance to do whatever it takes to save his family and friends, launching himself on top of the staff.
Similar to Jin’s story arc, Wei-Chen is on his own path of self-discovery. The Monkey King wants to protect his son by having Wei-Chen stay in heaven and work for him. Wei-Chen, true to a character in a coming-of-age show, wants to find something different for himself. He shares many similarities with his father through his training, shape-shifting abilities, as well as his impulsive and reckless tendencies. Many of the celestial entities, including his father, doubt Wei-Chen’s actions of chasing a dream and stealing a powerful relic. However, as the child of an important, well-known figure, Wei-Chen has been sheltered and had many powerful mentors helping him. It is not until he loses Guanyin and Wukong, that he has to rely on himself and his mortal friends. He is left as the only one possibly powerful enough to stop the Bull Demon. The battle demonstrates that Wei-Chen’s quest has helped him become who he wanted to be and proved to those more powerful and experienced than he that his quest was not in vain.
Everything Is More Connected Than You Think
Aside from Jin and Wei-Chen, other characters have an opportunity to help in the final battle and develop their respective story arcs. One of the facets of Jin and Anuj’s friendship was both their love of comics and Manga. The friendship was strained as Jin was ashamed of this interest while Anuj embraced it. Upon finding out that characters like the Monkey King are real, they discern that the stories they have loved may help them in this conflict that has come to life right from the pages of a story. Their familiarity with stories helps them in the analysis of ‘an uprising’ and predictions as to how supervillains enact such a plan. The trio finds a story similar to what the Bull Demon might do next and formulates a plan around it for the final battle.
Around the same time, Jin’s parents aid in this conflict. During Wei-Chen’s journey to find the Fourth Scroll, he and others assumed that a pair of orange and green jade necklaces, belonging to Jin’s parents, were the Fourth Scroll. However, this was not the case, and the necklaces were never returned to them. Jin’s parents backstory is about a couple that married from warring factions. This continues to play out in their ongoing bickering and communication difficulties. Most recently their conflict is over Christine (Yeo Yann Yann) starting a herbal tea business with their savings, and her disappointment with Simon (Chin Han) being hesitant to ask for a promotion at his job.
For Jin’s birthday, Wei-Chen gives a gift of a jar of herbal tea from Christine’s business that has been blessed by Guanyin. On the day of the final battle, Christine finds the blessed tea and takes it with her as she and Simon search for the jade necklaces. Upon investigating they come across an injured Wukong and give him the tea to help him recover. He is then able to arrest the Bull Demon after the battle. The series of events involving Jin’s parents led them to saving Wukong and ending the Bull Demon’s uprising.
The season ends with the appearance of Princess Iron Fan (Poppy Liu), who based on her threats to Jin, is likely the antagonist of the show’s next season. It is possible that she had been working with the Bull Demon based on their previous encounter where she invited him to her home on Flame Mountain. In addition to these identified characters, the show may explore other entities fromJourney to the Westwho are interested in the discovery of the Fourth Scroll.
