Pimp My Stereotype: The Racialicious Roundtable For Flashforward 1.15
Hosted by Special Correspondent Arturo R. García
When did Tim Kring start working on this show?
Yes, Byron Balasco and Timothy J. Lea are listed as the writers for “Queen Sacrifice,” but the mind-numbing absurdity of Keiko’s subplot in the episode stank of Heroes-level caricature. Here’s the recap:
So, newly-arrived Keiko is looking for a job around L.A. when she happens upon an auto shop. As she ventures in, we see several people dancing to generic “hip-hop” like rejects from a Kid Frost video and cars randomly going all LowRider Magazine. That’s the opening image. From there, Keiko – who has never shown either professional or personal interest in cars – talks herself into a job at the shop. After speaking to my ex-mechanic flatmate, I’m thinking this is also wonky; her degree doesn’t exactly translate into this career path. Later, Customs raids the place and busts seemingly everybody for being undocumented workers. Well of course they do. Gang, anything I missed?
Mahsino: Don’t forget the “Ninja” comment.
jen*: How come all the brown people have sad flashforwards or their future changes to make it not come true? I’m not dying for Keiko and the intern to get together, but if that’s what she wants, why does she end up in a paddy wagon while the intern gets a candy striper??
Arturo: To be fair, there’s plenty of angst to go around: Mark’s getting stalked in his office; Nicole’s getting choked to death; Lloyd is taking crap from Mark and can’t even enjoy the afterglow with Olivia; I think Bryce and Keiko are among the few principal players with happy FFs.
jen*: Ok, so the Benfords split, and Lloyd is hopelessly Lloyd. (is Steve hopelessly Steve in every role?) I get that part. I guess this episode’s focus just seems a lil heavy on the misfortune for Keiko and Emil, while Bryce gets a Nicole-shaped consolation prize.
Arturo: “Is Steve hopelessly Steve in every role?” made me smile. And yes, he is.
Diana: Didn’t we see Emil on the bus with Lloyd’s kid way back when? Is this the writers’ lame attempt to fit characters back in when they had been forgotten? The Keiko storyline popping up like that was just odd. She could have been in LA a long time ago.
Arturo: Actually, that was him! Good eye, D!
And then we get the speech where she’s “part of the family.” Seriously, I know Emil meant well, but I’m surprised we didn’t get a “La Cucaracha” ringtone in the middle of the scene.
Mahsino: Hey, I’m just surprised they didn’t have him wielding a knife. That whole storyline from the Asian-ish sushi restaurant to the Car Shop was full of stereotype-fueled headdesk
jen*: Mmhmm. At least they didn’t end with Keiko pulling out some martial arts to get away from the ICE – that would have blacked out the bingo card. On a completely different note – why does Emil only have half of a goatee? I noticed it and then I couldn’t stop looking at it.
Andrea: The goatee didn’t bother me at all. I thought Emil was full of rawr, and I like that he and Keiko dug each other–seeing a Latin@/Asian American pairing is about as rare as seeing an African American/Asian American pairing (I see you Demetri. Keep it in your pants ’til you see Zoey.) Unfortunately, the rawr and the sparks were in service of, as Mahsino wisely stated, “stereotype-fueled headdesk.”
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