‘American Born Chinese’ Ending Explained: Why Did Wei-Chen Stole the Staff and Went Down to Earth?
Welcome to the Ending Explained for American Born Chinese Season 1, a new family fantasy show that is coming to Disney+ this week. Disney+ has released all eight episodes of the fantasy adventure on the streaming services, and the show is just a perfect binge-watch for those weekends, as each episode runs for just over half an hour. The series is created by Kelvin Yun and stars Ben Wang, Yeo Yann Yann, Chin Han, Ke Huy Quan, Jimmy Liu, Sidney Taylor, Daniel Wu, and Michelle Yeoh. Without knowing it at the time of its production, it now has two Oscar-winning actors in its cast.
American Born Chinese takes a lot of inspiration from one of Chinese literature’s most fantastic tales, that of the Journey to the West, the legend of the Monkey King. The show does a great job of mixing elements from this astounding saga with more American elements often seen in teen movies, such as a boy asking a girl for a date or trying to find themselves through doing activities at school. The mix shouldn’t work, but it doesn’t, and it manages to be quite entertaining. Some situations presented on the show are quite a cliché but not less effective as a result.
The following paragraphs contain spoilers for American Born Chinese, Season 1. Read at your own risk.
Why Did Wei-Chen Stole The Staff And Went Down To Earth?
The series begins by introducing us to one of the main conflicts in the story. This conflict is magical and involves characters from the famous Journey to the West tale, one of the most well-known and important legends in Chinese culture. The legend’s protagonist is Sun Wukong, the Monkey King. Have you ever wondered why Goku had a tale and a magical staff when he was a kid? Where did the flying cloud come from? Well, all the answers are in the Journey to the West story. It has been quite influential, and American Born Chinese is just one of those influenced stories.
However, this time we are not following Sun Wukong but his child, Wei-Chen. Before the show starts, Wei-Chen has a dream so powerful that he feels forced to act before anything happens. He steals his father’s staff, one of Heaven’s most powerful artifacts, and goes to Earth. Wei-Chen believes that by stealing the staff, he can keep it from the hands of the Bull Demon, who is set on destroying Heaven. Wei-Chen just stole the staff before the Bull Demon could. However, as expected, this gets him into trouble with his father, Sun Wukong, who descends to Earth to look for him.
Wei-Chen descends to Earth and begins searching for another element of his dream. The dream told him he was supposed to meet a powerful and wise guide. He calls his guy “the Fourth Scroll.” He doesn’t know who this scroll is, but he needs to find him if he is going to save both Heaven and Earth. When Wei-Chen descends, he sees a crane, another element from his dream, in the school windows, so he believes this is where he should look. There he meets another protagonist, a normal human named Jin Wang. Wei-Chen attaches to Jin to see if he can make him his Fourth Scroll.
Wei-Chen receives help from Guanyin, another famous figure of Asian culture, one of the few humans who achieved the same enlightenment level as Buddah. Here on the show, Guanyin takes the form of a woman who passes for Wei-Chen’s aunt to keep his cover. When his father, Sun Wukong, descends to bring the staff back to Heaven, Guanyin intercedes and placates Wukong’s anger. He believes that Wei-Chen’s dream is just that, a dream. However, that is not the case. When the Bull Demon finally makes his move, everyone suffers from the inaction.
Why Is Jin Having Problems Finding Out Who He Is?
One of the main themes of the show is identity. Jin is the son of parents who came from China looking for a better life. Jin’s parents, Simon and Christine, have succeeded in their own way and given their son a good life. However, Jin still feels like something is missing here. He is in that strange limbo, where it is just too Asian for an American to recognize him in any other way, and he is also not Asian enough for his Asian friends and classmates. So, who is he? Where does he belong to? This is a question that Jin will answer as the series progresses.
When Jin meets Wei-Chen, he meets someone who knows exactly who he is and what he needs to do. There is no doubt in him. Jin, on the other hand, doesn’t know what to do and, at times, stops himself from getting what he wants. Following Wei-Chen’s advice, he asks Amelia, a girl he likes, out, but he is rejected. However, as the series progresses, the two spend more time together, become lab partners, and just start sharing more and more experiences as friends. At some point, Amelia realizes that she also likes Jin and wants to be more than just friends. However, the timing is bad as Jin, Wei-Chen, and Jin’s best friend, Anuj, are in the middle of saving the world from the Bull Demon.
Sun Wunkong fights the Bull Demon and is defeated. He ends up being thrown behind a mall, where he is found by Jin’s parents, who help him. Jin and his friend research many mangas to learn more about defeating the Bull Demon, and on the night of the most important soccer match of his life, Jin discovers that it is the same day the demon will launch his attack on humanity. He will destroy Earth to destroy Heaven as well. Amelia confesses her feelings for Jin, and they kiss. Jin also learns that he will have to draw the demon out before he uses the staff to do his dirty work.
Wei-Chen, Anuj, and Jin hijack the cosplay club’s presentation, and Jin taunts the Bull Demon until he unveils himself. Wei-Chen starts fighting with the demon, and everyone in the audience believes it is just part of the presentation. The demon sets up the Staff and stops Wei-Chen from getting it. In the last moment, Jin sacrifices himself by taking the staff’s power, avoiding tragedy. Sun Wukong arrives and defeats the Bull Demon. Everyone applauds, as the presentation was quite impressive, not knowing the kids saved the world. Wei-Chen says goodbye and promises to visit Jin.
However, when Jin gets home, his parents are not there. Instead, a mysterious woman says she has kidnapped his parents and that Jin must go with her if he wants them to be safe.
