It's 1995, and the Huangs are moving from Washington DC to Orlando, Florida. Father Louis is excited to show off his new restaurant, Cattleman Ranch, while the younger boys Emery and Evan adjust to their new life happily. Eddie Huang, the oldest son, and his mother Jessica are having more troubles; Eddie as the only Chinese kid at his school finds his homemade lunches mocked, while Jessica tries to fit in with the neighborhood wives and fails miserably.
Tropes for this episode include:
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Eddie when his mother tries to haggle over food at the grocery store.
- Bait-and-Switch: At the end of the episode, it seems that Jessica and Louis are disappointed that Eddie picked a fight with another boy. Actually, they're upset with the school principal (and Jessica even makes a Bait-and-Switch Comment about it) for not punishing Walter for using a racial slur.
- Culture Clash: Chinatown in Washington DC is very different from a mostly-white Orlando neighborhood, and Emery and Evan are the only ones in the family really adjusting. Eddie notes how they've never seen this many white people before, instead of markets you have clean grocery stores, and every kid eats Lunchables.
- Deadpan Snarker: Walter points out how a white kid and a Chinese kid bonding over a black rapper is ridiculous.
- Hope Spot: At first it seems that Eddie's love of hip hop will win him friends with the most popular white kid in school. Then he opens his lunch . . .
- Mama Bear: Jessica gets furious with the school for only punishing Eddie when Walter instigated the fight.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Eddie beating up Walter after the latter calls him a chink.
- Papa Wolf: Louis threatens to sue the school if the principal suspends Eddie, with a smile and cheerful tone.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Eddie, a head shorter than Walter and fairly small, managed to knock him down offscreen.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Louis and Jessica, surprisingly enough. When they bust Eddie for not eating his lunch, they listen to his legitimate points that he's not making friends in school and Jessica buys him the Lunchables from the grocery store, at night.
- Stepford Suburbia: Played for Laughs with the Orlando neighborhood, and it comes complete with a set of wives that get together. Jessica tries to fit in, but though she can keep up with them rollerblading, she can't handle their inanity.
- Supreme Chef: Jessica is one. The problem is that her lunches smell bad by the time Eddie can eat them, so the other kids at school make fun of him about it. She notes that he loves her cooking, as shown by him wolfing down dinner the one day he throws away his lunch.
