Fresh Off the Boat Episode 3.2: Musclemen flex, Walter is homophobic, Evan finds a new boyfriend, and Eddie is traumatized by d*cks

 

Link to the n*de dudes

Since identifying Hudson Yang as "probably gay," I've been going through his tv series, Fresh Off the Boat, about a "fresh off the boat" Taiwanese-American family in the 1990s.  There are a number of recurring gay characters who interact with the adults, but I'm looking for gay texts and subtexts among the sons, Eddie, Emery, and Evan.  Episode 3.2, "Breaking Chains" (2016) has some, plus beefcake and homophobia.

I'm skipping the A Plot, where Dad Louis (Randall Park) hires a housekeeper, thus insulting his wife Jessica, who thinks that he thinks she is a failure as a woman (because her gender identity is based on her ability to clean up?) 

In the B Plot, Eddie (Hudson Yang) and his friends are about to enter eighth grade, so they'll need either great gear or great stories.

Trent (Trevor Larcom) has great gear: he went to a theme park and got a scrunchie depicting the mascot.

Walter (Prophet Bolden) tells him that it "looks like a gay raindrop." 

 Homophobic comment, buddy.

Brian (Dash Williams) has a great story: he had mono, so he stayed inside watching Cinemax.  Now he knows a lot about lady parts, and wants to become a pizza delivery boy.  Ugh, heteronormative girl-craziness.

Dave (Evan Hanneman) argues they don't need gear or stories, because they'll be eighth graders, practically upperclassmen.  Eddie (Hudson Yang) agrees: "We'll be men among boys!"  Sounds like their middle school covers grades 7-9, and high school grades 10-12.

Cut to a fantasy of the guys as grown-up musclemen flexing and grinning. I count six girls and one boy swooning over them -- but the one boy acknowledges the existence of LGBT people. 

Eddie's brother Emery is also impressed.  He gasps, "Who are those MEN?"

"Nah, son," Adult Eddie answers.  "We're eighth graders."

Ok, two boys are swooning over the musclemen.

In case you were wondering, Trent becomes Chris Kimball; Walter, Cleveland Berto, Dave, Colin Owens (top photo); and Eddie, Chen Tang.  

Chris Kimball and Chen Tang are n*de on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends, and there are shower guy d*cks.

More after the break

The B plot continues:  Eddie's brother Emery (Forrest Wheeler) is starting seventh grade, so they're going to the same school.  Eddie fills him in on the perks he's gotten by lying to the white people about Chinese culture: Every first Friday of the month off; sitting in the back of the room; a nap every day at noon; no green beans at lunchtime; no extracurriculars; and no showering after gym class.  The gym teacher (Dan Cudmore, left) provides a "Romanian shower" instead -- rubbing yourself with chalk.

Emery tries to follow Eddie's scams for awhile, but then he rebels: he wants to join clubs, eat green beans, ask questions, learn, and...shower afte gym class, so he's not sweaty and gross all day.  He "spills the beans" to the white people, and Eddie is forced do all of those things too.  

The showers have four heads, so you have to face each other, as we saw in Euphoria.   Eddie's friends have a strategy where everyone looks to the left to avoid seeing each other's junk, but it doesn't work well.

Later, at home, Eddie reveals that he has been traumatized for life.  "I've seen things that I can't unsee.  Ginger things.  Dark things. Brian's things."

I would not be happy with a shower where I had to see a lot of lady parts, but I wouldn't be traumatized for life, especially if the ladies were close friends. Eddie's reaction veers into blatant homophobia.

But the C Plot returns to gay-subtext.

Emery used to ride the bus to elementary school with his younger brother Evan (Ian Chen, left, recent photo).  Now that he is in middle school, Evan must ride alone.  Of course, he sees Emery every day at home, but the bus ride was their special time together.  He lies on the grass and cries, behaving as if he has lost a romantic partner:   "I'll never love again."  And he won't let anyone else sit in "Emery's seat."

A boy named Zack (Luke Judy) asks to sit with Evan, and is turned down: "I'm in mourning. Go sit somewhere else -- there are lots of empty seats."

The next day he asks again, and is turned down again.

And the third day.

Finally he gives up.  But eventually Evan decides that he's ready for a new relationship, so he approaches Zack.   They end up being best friends through Seasons 3-6.

The intensity of Zack's interest, coupled with the romantic motifs, creates a strong gay subtext. But it's embedded in an episode with both heterosexism and rather nasty homophobia. 

See also: Euphoria Episode 2.3: Two high school boys in love in the 1990s, followed by gay/bi affairs

Hudson Yang: From "Fresh Off the Boat" to Harvard, cooking, dudes, and the best gay comedy of the year. With Hudson and Xu bedroom stuff

Dan Cudmore: Colossus, Felix, fitness model, and the God of War. Plus his colossal Colossus c*ck