Willis Wu is a background character stuck in a police procedural called Black and White. One day he accidentally witnesses a crime, and as he investigates, he starts to uncover family secrets and a Chinatown criminal underground while learning how it feels to be in the spotlight.
Cast
Main
Jimmy O. Yang as Willis Wu, a waiter at the Golden Palace who feels trapped and wants to see the world
Ronny Chieng as Fatty Choi, Willis' best friend and co-worker at the Golden Palace
Chloe Bennet as Detective Lana Lee, a detective who recruits Willis to investigate the disappearance of his brother
Sullivan Jones as Miles Turner, a detective who leads the investigation of several crimes scenes in Port Harbor
Lisa Gilroy as Sarah Green, a detective who leads the investigation of several crimes scenes in Port Harbor
Archie Kao as Uncle Wong, the owner of Golden Palace
Willis Wu is a waiter at the Golden Palace, who sees himself as a background character in a television show called Black & White. He resents his father who trained his missing older brother in kung fu, and purposely trained Willis to fail as a way of protecting him. After witnessing the kidnapping of a young woman, later learning she was murdered, he becomes convinced that he is destined for something greater. He falls for the detective assigned to the case, Lana Lee, who visits the restaurant and informs her of the kidnapping. Lana recruits him to help take down the gangs in Chinatown and after some digging, reveals that his older brother was working with her unit before he disappeared. Motivated to find out what happened to his brother, Willis agrees to help Lana. Shortly afterwards, Willis sees the murdered kidnapped victim alive.
Willis begins to duck out of work, forcing his friend and co-worker Fatty Choi to take over his duties. Lana takes Willis to the precinct, but he is somehow unable to enter the building. When Lana tries to introduce Willis to her superiors, Turner and Green, they seem incapable of noticing him. This allows Willis to overhear a very personal conversation about their opinion of Lana. Even after helping to solve a murder, a supernatural force prevents Willis from entering the precinct. A neighbor of Willis's passes away and Chinatown grieves his loss. Willis's mother, Lily, learns that he broke up an animal smuggling ring and now there is a vacancy in the former hideout building. Lily, having gained a realtor's license decides to buy the space. Inspired by a comment from Fatty, Willis feigns a food delivery and finally manages to enter the precinct.
3
"Tech Guy"
Jaffar Mahmood
Matt Okumura
November 19, 2024 (2024-11-19)
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Lana gives Willis a tape from his Older Brother where he says that he thinks he is being watched by someone. Needing more information, Willis begins feigning more deliveries and ends up befriending members of the precinct. Audrey Chan, a girl who has a crush on Willis, helps him by determining the amount of food he needs to bring. Fatty begins to grow frustrated with dealing with customers, which has the effect of people wanting to come see him. Lana tries to get closer to the ever suspicious Green, who later approves of a recent bust. Willis learns that the files of past cases are now on digital. Realizing that no one notices the "tech guy" in charge, the precinct help Willis replace the tech guy where assuming his role allows him to master use of the computers. He opens up the files of his brother and finds hundreds of files about him.
Willis and Lana sit down and watch the files, presented as film clips, and learn that older brother was the "kung fu guy" for former cops McDonough and Carrey. Lily gets hired by realtor Betty Chan who comments how her husband Joe is always reflecting on his past. Fatty learns that he has become a viral sensation for his rude service, which his boss Uncle Wong fully supports, much to his chagrin. While Lana is away, Willis begins to dig further into the files and learns that older brother was the leader of the Painted Faces, a criminal gang. When Willis sees footage of older brother killing McDonough, he deletes all the footage. He tells Fatty to tell Uncle Wong that he quits, leaving him dejected. Suddenly, Willis realizes where older brother made his call and follows a hidden tunnel that leads him into the office of the Golden Palace.
Willis and Lana suspect Uncle Wong, the owner of the Golden Palace, of being involved with Willis’s brother’s disappearance, and resolve to steal the keys to his office to investigate. To get him to drop his guard, Lana poses as Willis’s girlfriend during a family dinner. Willis gets into the office, and finds his brother’s pager, given to him by Carrey and McDonough, hidden behind a painting. Willis flees, discovering that all the stores are connected, but is caught by Uncle Wong who takes him somewhere. Meanwhile, Turner begins to become self-aware of their world and tires of the monotony of constantly solving cases the same way, though Green tries to dissuade him. When disarming a time bomb in the precinct, Turner’s disaffection leads him to let it explode, yet the bomb’s countdown stops as if he had successfully disarmed it.
Uncle Wong reveals that he helps people who have been trafficked in crates, though he doesn't know where they came from. Lana solves a case quickly so that Turner and Green can come and rescue Willis, impressing Turner. Soon, the detectives begin to notice that some of their cold cases are still unsolved, reigniting Turner's passion. Wong refuses to talk and Willis tries to get his money to bail him, but a dejected Fatty prevents him from doing so. Willis encounters the original tech guy who is happy in his new life at a tech store and helps him with the pager. Willis poses as a translator to get Wong to open up about Older Brother. Audrey comes and has him bailed, and Willis breaks down in front of Turner and Green who finally acknowledge him and agree to help him. Lana tells Willis that she was working with Older Brother.
Willis gets paired with Turner while Lana gets paired with Green. Willis and Turner manage to locate a series of leads that have them running into Carrey who reiterates that Willis's older brother was the leader of the Painted Faces. Green realizes that Lana was dating older brother, who is finally identified as Jonathan, and the two head to the docks where Lana and Jonathan used to go all the time. After capturing a perp, they find that the boat had been destroyed and sunk. Willis and Turner finally open up to one another about their respective lives with Turner revealing that he didn't want to become a cop and did so so that he can feel closer to his dad. He announces he is quitting the force and has Willis inducted as a detective. Believing that this is where he belongs, Willis embraces his new life.
8
"Ad Guy"
John Lee
Alex Russell
November 19, 2024 (2024-11-19)
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Presented as a series of commercial breaks, three months have passed and Willis has become a famous detective. He stars in a string of commercials where he has an assistant named Josh who seems to interrupt him whenever he is about to have a meaningful moment. Lana is put on leave so that her background can be checked as she continues her search for Jonathan. She joins Carl in going to the docks. Lily has become a successful realtor, but Betty promotes a gentrified presentation as opposed to something cultural, damaging her relationship with her daughter Audrey. Willis films a commercial for Fatty's hot sauce, apparently becoming rich himself, and the two get into a fight about their respective lives. Realizing that this was the life Turner warned him about, and admitting that he misses Jon, Willis finally patches things up with Lily.
Willis and Green become partners, and discover that McDonough is still alive. Lana now works at the Golden Palace to stay close to Wong. After an elder of the community supposedly dies, she awakens at the docks with no memory. Lana realizes that citizens are getting "recycled". Willis begins missing with the precinct now convinced that he is behind the Painted Faces. The chief orders Green to capture him or she is fired. Green slowly admits that she misses Turner, who is now a mangaka, and gets in touch with him, trying to ask him back on the force. Willis confronts McDonough who confirms that Jonathon was framed. Willis goes into the tunnels and realizes that his world is a TV show controlled by a large company. He then runs into the Painted Faces who proceed to tell him what is really happening in Chinatown.
10
"Willis. Willis Wu."
Stephanie Laing
Charles Yu
November 19, 2024 (2024-11-19)
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The Painted Faces were friends of Jonathan and reveal that their lives are being watched. Willis flees when police arrive and calls upon Turner and Lana. Lana confirms that the company called Hulu is behind the strange events. An event honoring Lily's work is being held at the Golden Palace and the gang race there with Green also arriving. Lily quits Betty's team after suffering a moral dilemma. Turner and Green make amends and resume partnership, while Willis also makes amends with Fatty who started a relationship with Audrey. As the police close in, Willis and Lana race to the roof with cameras on them. Willis decides to tell his story, accepting that he is just a regular guy. Lana, who realizes that Jonathan was communicating within an arcade game, pushes herself and Willis off the roof where they both fall into a dumpster. Willis ends up in a purgatory where he happily reunites with Jonathan. All the events are revealed to be a script that Willis is writing. He is introduced to his new assistant, Lana, as this reality is revealed to be a show as well.
Production
Development
Development of a television adaptation of Interior Chinatown began in 2020.[5]Hulu ordered ten episodes of the series in October 2022, when Jimmy O. Yang was announced as the lead and Taika Waititi would direct the pilot episode. The series is created by Charles Yu who also serves as the showrunner.[6]
Golden Palace Restaurant setting[14] is inspired by the real-life Doyers Street and the real-life Doyers Street tunnels[15] in Manhattan’s Chinatown.
Release
The series premiered on Hulu on November 19, 2024.[1]
Reception
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 89% approval rating with an average rating of 6.9/10, based on 27 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Adapting its satirical source material to imperfect but thrilling effect, Interior Chinatown is freewheeling entertainment with plenty to say about Asian-American stereotypes in media."[16]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 67 out of 100 based on 4 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[17]
Notes
^Tzi Ma is credited as "Special Guest Star" but is a recurring cast member.[2]
