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Emery Huang is the second of Louis and Jessica's three children, the younger brother of Eddie and the older brother of Evan. He is portrayed by Forrest Wheeler.
Biography[]
Emery Huang is born in 1985, the middle child of Louis and Jessica's three children. He has an older brother named Eddie and a younger brother named Evan, the latter of whom he is very close with. Along with their paternal grandmother, Jenny Huang, the family lived in the Chinatown district of Washington, D.C.
History[]
Season 1[]
In 1995, Emery, along with his entire family, were uprooted from Washington, D.C. to Orlando, Florida after his father Louis opened Cattleman's Ranch, a Western-themed steakhouse. Unlike his siblings and mother, Emery took the move exceptionally well, becoming instantly popular and well-liked in his school on his first day, making many new friends and even getting a girlfriend. Very quickly, he amassed multiple girlfriends, citing that the girls were all okay with sharing him.
Emery was soon forced to relocate from his room with Evan to the pantry, when the Chu-Chen family came to visit and his room was given to Grandma Chu.[1] Sometime later, Emery builds a volcano for his school's science fair, with the winner receiving a pizza party for his class. However, when Evan builds a contraption that breaks down Dr. Pepper into its 23 individual flavors, Emery gives up, only for Evan to contract the chickenpox. With Evan being bedridden and unable to participate in the science fair, Emery believes that his volcano would cinch a victory. Wanting to prevent him, Evan attempts to pass on the chickenpox virus to Emery, successfully managing to do so. After Eddie realizes that he had learned about the chickenpox while attempting to contract it as well, as a way to avoid going to school in order to miss the science fair, Emery and Evan use poster boards, glitter glue and markers to create a quick project; while Eddie loses, he brings home a box of pizza for him and his brothers as a form of gratitude to them for helping him out and as consolation for missing out on their pizza parties.[2]
Emery, along with his brother Evan, were chosen to act in a school play. Jessica was soon called into Principal Thomas' office at Palms Elementary School to either volunteer after-school or donate money, with her choosing the former. She was then assigned to supervise the students during their rehearsal of their play, "The Sunflower Gang Goes to Yumland", designed to represent cultures equally and to not offend anyone. While Evan and Emery loved being in the play as it was fun, Jessica was against it, claiming that growing up, she wanted a Sparkle Time Beauty Horse for fun, a knock-off of "My Little Pony" that had a human face that burned you, but that her parents refused to get her one, instead imparting on her a strong work ethic. Jessica eventually rewrote the play, eliminating the other students except Emery, Evan, and the one child who played "Gumdrop", with the character becoming "Bumdrop". Jessica's new play sends the message that being or wanting to be an actor is a failed career path, while Evan and Emery's characters pursuing academic and medical interests in order to become successful. Evan and Emery no longer wish to participate in the play, instead preferring to study, much to Jessica's joy. However, Louis asks her if it would be so bad for the kids to have a strong work ethic and have fun, claiming that it wouldn't have been bad for her parents to get her a pony while also giving her a strong work ethic. Jessica then reverts the play back to its original format, much to the children's glee.[3]
Evan and Emery both bring home projects and assignments from school in hopes Jessica would pin them on the fridge, although she does not, with the brothers reminiscing how easy getting up on the fridge used to be. Meanwhile, Jessica urges Louis to purchase a membership for them at the North Orlando Country Club after the Huangs were invited, believing it to be an ultimate symbol of their success. While Louis is reluctant to spend that much money, Jessica urges him to give it a chance and he is eventually won over. However, when Marvin Ellis responds to the Huangs' statements of them being the first Asian-American members that he forgot they were Chinese, this upsets Jessica, who fears they are losing hold of their ethnic identity. Upon realizing that she eats chip-wichs, watches Melrose Place, makes macaroni-and-cheese dinners and allows shoes to be worn in the house, along with the fact that her children cannot speak or understand Mandarin as well as Eddie's love for Jamaica, Jessica overhauls the entire family to be more culturally Chinese. She tells Louis to cancel the club membership, claiming that they cannot surround themselves by white people and attend country clubs if they are to maintain their cultural identity. This affects Eddie, who had chosen Jamaica as the country to represent for his school's "World Culture's Day" event, which Jessica forcing the principal to switch him to China. Jessica also dresses in a more Chinese manner at home and sends her sons to Chinese school in Tampa, two hours away, to learn Mandarin.
At Chinese school, Evan and Emery struggle to understand Mandarin, although they come to the understanding that whatever would impress their mother and get them on the fridge would happen here. Emery paints a Chinese village while Emery writes the Chinese word for "refrigerator" through calligraphy, although the boys decide to combine their projects into one. Later, Jessica laments that she likes the show and she likes making macaroni-and-cheese dinners and that she hates that she likes American culture, although Louis tells her that it is okay to like it and that they don't have to give up American culture to maintain their Chinese identity. Giving up, Jessica allows the children to revert to their original lifestyle. Eddie brings home the "F" he got on his school's "World Cultures Day" project. The boys believe Eddie's failure would boost their artwork, although Jessica, proud of Eddie's defense and pride over China, hangs his F on the fridge and verbally announces her pride in him. Shortly after, they all head to the country club, with Louis finally swapping out the family minivan's Washington, D.C. plates with Florida ones; custom ones that read "SO CHINEEZ", with a bumper sticker that claims Jessica is proud of her kid; having received it from their elementary school, Evan and Emery both believe their mother is proud of them before exclaiming at the other.[4]
Season 2[]
At the end of summer vacation, Emery informed Evan that he had good hand-me-down clothing for him and congratulated his brother on joining the "big kids club" after upgrading from velcro to laced shoes and having his last baby tooth. He tagged along with his family to their trip to the Gator World hotel, where he learned about room service from his father. During the trip back, he asked Evan if the story about him slipping and losing his tooth was true, only for Evan to reply that Jessica had taken out the tooth herself.[5] Shortly after, Emery witnessed Louis ask Jessica for a daughter. He then rushed to the bedroom he shared with Evan to inform him of the predicament, believing that if they had a sister, she would have their room for herself and the boys would all be forced to share one room, namely Eddie's room. Emery and Evan first presented their father with a drill and later a puppy, although they took the puppy back when they overheard Louis say he didn't want a daughter anymore.[6]
Emery joined Eddie in selling Evan's Beanie babies in order to use the money to purchase the Hot Dogger, a home inflatable waterslide, although he was disgusted and appalled when he realized that Eddie had merely imagined Evan giving them permission to sell the toys. Seeing Evan upset, Emery told Eddie that the latter made him so mad he would have to meditate. This eventually prompted Eddie to sell his autographed shoe of Shaquille O'Neal in order to buy back Evan's Beanie babies.[7]
The day before Halloween, Emery and Evan witnessed their father buying decorations for the next night, prompting Emery to notify Louis that their street was considered a dead street on Halloween as no one trick-or-treated on their cul de sac. He later did a collaborative costume with Evan of Silence of the Lambs and went trick-or-treating with Eddie and his friends, and was later enlisted by Louis to head to Jessica's investment property to throw eggs at heckling teenage boys. The week after, Emery witnessed Eddie having girl troubles, as Eddie and his friends could not tell which of the girls were their girlfriends. Emery suggested simply asking the girls, citing that honesty was the best policy, although Eddie rebuffed him, claiming it was a "big kids problem." After Eddie mishandled the situation, Emery walked into his room and coyly asked how his "big kid problem" was, before asking Eddie what was wrong. He advised Eddie to merely talk to Alison Olsen, and when Eddie responded that they didn't do that in the seventh grade, Emery rhetorically asked him how that was working out for him. After Emery's advice caused Eddie and Alison to repair the rift in their relationship, Eddie's friends visit the Huang house to receive relationship tips from Emery, who tells them that they should listen to their girlfriends and that the number one rule of dating was to listen to a woman.[8]
On November 10, 1995, Emery and Evan woke up in the morning to give Eddie a birthday present. However, walking into the kitchen and beginning to sing "Happy birthday", they stopped abruptly when they realized there were no birthday celebrations. Jessica explained that Eddie chose to forego a party this year, prompting Emery to ask why they weren't notified, and Jessica replies that parents don't have to tell their children things and that she also forgot to tell them. Emery tells Evan that the reason their parents didn't tell them is because they forget about them due to their good behaviors, instead focusing their attention on Eddie.
Emery puts oranges in his shirt at the breakfast table, proclaiming he has "shirt boobs", and even watches the PG-13 Ace Venture: When Nature Calls with Evan, despite them being both under 13, although their parents do not care. Evan and Emery then untuck their shirts and mess up their hair respectively before eating Nutella with their fingers, dumping food and toys on the ground and leaving the fridge door wide open for their parents to see; when Jessica walks in, Evan even calls her by her first name, although she and Louis don't notice them. As Louis and Jessica focus their attention once more on Eddie, who has gone out for a sleepover, Emery and Evan decide to pack their bags and leave the house for good. After Louis and Jessica go to Honey's house, the two brothers walk outside the house with their suitcases, although they get spooked and return home. They go downstairs in the early hours of the next morning and see that Eddie, Louis and Jessica are eating birthday noodles, despite Eddie's birthday having passed. Jessica punishes the two by grounding them for being up so late, much to their joy, although she tells them to join the family in eating their noodles before going to bed and being grounded.[9]
Emery was soon informed by Louis that their family would be hosting Thanksgiving this year. Emery and Evan were tasked with handling the table decorations, with Emery opting for a "harvest hoedown" theme. Emery took the job seriously, shutting down Evan's "polar bear pilgrim" theme and berating Evan for adding an acorn to the theme. The pair then witnessed Honey take their decorations off and place them on wine bottles and later use them during dinner as a hand puppet, much to his surprise and Evan's ire.[10]
The Christmas season begins and Eddie witnesses Emery create a replica of the bakery set that Jessica always wanted. Emery asks Eddie what he plans to get Jessica for Christmas, and Eddie shrugs it off, citing that he doesn't know. Emery responds that thoughtful presents are always appreciated, citing an example of him writing his own novel "A Pearl For God" which he gave Grandma Huang last year. However, Eddie then calls their grandmother into the room and asks her what Emery gave her last Christmas, which she doesn't remember. When Emery reminds her, she replies that she uses it make the orange bowl seem more full. Eddie then asks her what he got her last Christmas, and she replies that he gave her a Nerf boomerang, which she still has and uses. The next day while attending breakfast at Cattleman's, Emery is angry when he witnesses Honey present Jessica with the actual bakery set, rendering his replica gift useless. Eddie imparts him with the philosophy of "letting it ride", followed by a kick, citing that it means to simply allow things to run its course and that they usually end up working out in the end.
Unwilling to follow that mindset, Emery attempts to create another gift for his mother, and Eddie presents him with a "poem he wrote", which are actually the lyrics to 2Pac's song "Dear Mama", although Emery is unaware of it. Emery then uses calligraphy and parchment paper to write out "Eddie's poem", but when he finishes, hears his grandmother listening to the song and realizes it was plagiarism. Emery then makes film canister earrings for Jessica but laments that this isn't the type of gift he gives; Eddie then has Grandma Huang use the boomerang to destroy the original bakery set Honey gave Jessica and presents his mother with the replica, telling his mother that Emery built it for her, which deeply impresses her. In gratitude, Emery stealthily passes off his film canister earrings to Eddie, which Eddie presents to Jessica as something he made on his own. Eddie tells Emery that perhaps there is something behind giving thoughtful gifts after all, while Emery replies that he was just thinking that there might be merit behind "letting it ride"; the pair then do the kick associated with the catchphrase, although Emery follows it through with several acrobatic kicks, which Eddie reacts to by claiming that it is like looking into a mirror. The two brothers then witnessed Evan open his Christmas gifts; Emery asks Evan about Santa delivering the gifts and the pair share a smile as Evan responds, as Evan still believes in Santa.[11]
Emery and his family prepared to fly back to Washington, D.C. for Chinese New Year, with Emery being excited to received red envelopes full of money, wanting to buy a fedora and reinvigorate railway travel. As he and Evan packed, Eddie entered their room and informed them that he would not have enough even if he received money from every adult, and offered to trade them a broken toy in exchange for three envelopes from each of them, although they refused. However, after getting to the airport, the boys discovered that their flight was in fact yesterday; to make matters worse, Louis notified them that the only red pockets they would receive would be from their parents and their grandmother, and since their parents only wrote messages on the envelope, their grandmother was their only hope for money. They attempted to be nice and sympathetic to Grandma Huang, although she informed them that she would not be giving them any envelopes.
Emery then accompanied his family to the Asian-American Association of Orlando, only to find out that it contained no Chinese members and mainly consisted of Caucasian people who had no idea what Chinese New Year truly was. Shortly after, he and the rest of the family went to Cattleman's for dinner, where they were surprised by a makeshift Chinese New Year celebration. Marvin gave Emery and his brothers red envelopes, which excited them briefly until they discovered there was no money inside, as Louis had told Marvin that the envelopes were just to have a message on them. However, after dinner, Grandma Huang presented each of the boys with a hundred dollars each; as Eddie thanked her, Emery told her that she didn't have to do that and that while it was generous, all they needed was her love. This prompted Eddie to declare that he would take Emery's money while Emery retorted that it was merely a sentiment; nevertheless, Eddie tackled Emery to the ground and attempted to wrest the money out of his brother's hand as Grandma Huang watched on, hoping the strongest one would win.[12]
As the Huang family were preparing to go Marvin and Honey's house for dinner, Emery was hanging all the Valentines cards he got on his wall, which he dubbed his "love wall". Louis and Jessica walked into his room and praised his wall, with Jessica wondering where he got his romantic side from. Emery explained that he got it from them, and that he found nothing more romantic than meeting the love of one's life and living happily ever after, although his parents pointed out that they met at a seafood restaurant while waiting in line to go to the bathroom as they had food poisoning. The family then headed next door for dinner, where Emery ate alongside his brothers in front of the television. As the next day was Valentine's Day, Emery discussed Eddie's plan of taking Alison to the Janet Jackson concert, only to be shocked that he hadn't actually bought the tickets but was merely hoping to win them through a radio contest.
The next day, Emery and Evan were sent to Honey and Marvin's house for the night as the latter wanted to give Louis and Jessica alone time for Valentine's Day. As they were dropped off, Louis and Jessica spoke about how they would go out for dinner and then dancing, which Emery was happy of. Marvin then wished to play "Dare or Dare" with the boys and dared Emery to return home and mess up his father's sock drawer. Emery agreed and rushed home, but was surprised to his parents' giggling; confused as his parents were meant to be out on the town, Emery witnessed them doing their taxes at the dinner table instead. He confronted them on their actions, surprised that this is how they would spend a night alone and stormed up to his room, where he dismantled his love wall. His parents headed up to his room and witnessed this, and he explained that they were his template for love and that he thought he wanted what they had, only to now think otherwise. Emery then added that he had never even seen them kiss romantically before; in order to assuage him, Louis and Jessica attempted to kiss in front of him but failed to do so a handful of times, much to Emery's displeasure.
Since Evan had outed Marvin's first marriage to Honey, Marvin wished to use the boys as a shield and convinced Louis to allow him to watch over Emery and Evan again. While at Marvin's house, Emery wished to listen to a blues record, and noticing his mood, Marvin asked him what was wrong, prompting Emery to divulge what had transpired. Marvin then told him that romance was not in the big gestures but in the small, loving ones. As Emery returned home, he witnessed Louis talking about how he had the minivan serviced as Jessica was driving clients around and wanted her to make a good impression. Smiling at Louis' gesture, Emery went upstairs and reassembled his love wall, creating a tax rebate coupon as well. As his parents walked by his room, they noticed the restored love wall and he apologized to them for his behavior, presenting his mother with the coupon as a token, although she pointed out that he had used the wrong tax return form.[13]
After their father purchased a computer and added Internet access, Emery was present as Evan searched up Cattleman's Ranch Steakhouse and pointed out the B-minus review that the website "Phil's Phaves" had left Cattleman's. The next day, Emery listened to Eddie's failed conversation with Alison on the phone. Eddie explained to Emery that he found it troubling to talk on the phone as he was mostly body language, and announced that he would make Alison a mixtape. As Emery declared that it was a great idea, Eddie shut his bedroom door in Emery's face. The following day after school, Eddie went to Emery's room to discuss the situation he was having with Reba, a girl who had a crush on him who got the mixtape he intended for Alison. Emery suggested that he call and explain things to Alison, although Eddie refused. Eddie then decided to make an anti-mixtape for Reba and told Emery to get out, although Emery pointed out that it was his room. After Eddie's plan failed and Alison got angry at him for making a mixtape, Emery paid Eddie a visit in his room and told him to call Alison and talk to her, and Eddie decided to heed his brother's advice.[14]
Emery took a career aptitude test at school which announced his future career as being a flight attendant, which he was happy with, informing his mother that he liked travel, snacks and being helpful and that a flight attendant checked those three boxes. Jessica was upset with his career desire, but after the family sat down to watch Michael Chang on television, Emery became interested in tennis, which Jessica wanted him to pursue when she found out Michael Chang made millions of dollars. While on the tennis court at the country club, Emery displayed an innate skill for the sport, citing that he was just copying what he saw Michael Chang do on television. He was then praised by Billie Jean King, who informed Jessica and Louis of Emery's natural skill. As a result, Louis and Jessica wished to foster this skill and had Emery take over Eddie's room, forcing Eddie to share a bunk bed with Evan. As Emery trained and won matches, his mother would make him victory dumplings and his parents would rub his legs. Jessica created a training schedule for Emery, which involved tennis, school, tennis every day without a break. After Louis responded to her actions that he was just ten and that she was going overboard, Emery was instructed by Jessica to fire Louis as his coach citing his need to develop and improve his tennis career, although Emery fired Jessica as well, instead taking on Billie Jean King as a coach, who decided to do it for free.
Emery was put through intensive training, including playing tennis and running laps at night. His continued victories led to him winning the Round Robin Tournament. However, following his win, Billie Jean King wished to enroll him in a tennis academy at Coral Gables, which was four hours away, adding that he would have to move. He then informed his parents that he did not want to do so and that he would miss them a lot, to which Jessica responded that they would support whatever decision he made, although she regretted saying so after Emery added that he still wanted to travel the world as a flight attendant. Jessica then gave him a brochure for space camp, telling him that astronauts were the flight attendants of space; Louis reminded Jessica that they had agreed to support Emery as he was, although Jessica claimed that if her son was going to be a flight attendant, he would have the best kind. With his tennis career having come to an end, Emery was to switch rooms with Eddie again, although Eddie told him to stay in his old room for one more night.[15]
After school, Emery watched DuckTales with his brothers, and the trio discuss how they would fare surviving on a deserted island and who would eat who. The three were elated when Louis returned home, telling them jokes, pulling off a dance move, and presenting them with chocolate cake they could eat in their rooms. After Louis breaks his knee that night, Louis is forced to stay at home. In order to entertain them, he allows the three boys to draw on his cast and even cut it off for fun, prompting them all to go to the hospital so that Louis can get a new cast. Wanting to be the fun dad, Louis gives his sons $50 to buy snacks from the vending machines; as they return, Louis tells them that he isn't really a fun dad and that he can't always entertain them as they like, only for Emery and his brothers to confess that his entertainment can sometimes be overbearing and that all he needs to do is be present and spend time with them, and that they were content with simply hanging out with him eating snacks.[16]
Emery returns home from school to find his two brothers out on the lawn and asks them what is going on, and takes a step backwards when they tell him they have lice. Just then, a girl comes up behind him, and Emery reminds her about the discussion they had about boundaries, and she replies that she would not peek at him through his window anymore. While this admission does not faze him, he is visibly affected by her passing remark of "I love you" as she leaves.[17]
Following the season finale of Melrose Place, Jessica, on Honey's suggestion, purchased an above-ground pool for the Huang house. Louis, Eddie and Emery went into the pool, where Louis did a handstand underwater. He then suggested his two sons try and see who can hold their breath underwater the longest. However, as they went under, Louis shifted his attention to that of a neighbor, admiring his vest and wondering if he could pull it off, all the while unaware that Eddie was constantly resurfacing for air. As he turned around, Eddie and Emery resurfaced, and Emery asked who had won. Louis then admitted that he had not been paying attention, and coupled with Eddie's blatant cheating, prompted Emery to fly into an uncharacteristic rage and exit the pool.
The next day, Louis returned home with the vest he had idolized, and Eddie asked him how he could shrug off Emery's bout of rage from the day before. Louis then explained that when Emery was younger, he would simply bottle up his negative emotions until bursting at the smallest thing. After Louis brings home Wolfgang Chang's for dinner, Emery is taken aside by Eddie and told that he should express his frustrations instead of bottling it up. Emery lashes out at Louis and insults his vest. Louis, upset, goes to his room and begins to pack the vest back in its box so that he could return it, and Eddie talks to Emery about how he had hurt Louis' feelings. Emery enters the room and apologizes for his outburst. Louis mentions how Emery hasn't had those moments in a long time, and Emery explains that it is due to his screaming jars.
Confused, Louis follows Emery to his room where Emery reveals that he has empty jars underneath his bed, which he screams into whenever he gets angry; additionally, he carries a travel-sized jar on him at all times, but because he was unable to do so with his swim trunks, could not use a jar to unleash his anger at the pool. Slightly disturbed, Louis suggests they find another outlet to channel Emery's rage and suggests using the pool, although when they go outside, they find that the pool has been removed due to HOA by-laws. Jessica then insults Louis' vest, which infuriates him; Emery then asks him if he needs a scream jar, and Louis responds tat he knows where the jars are as he storms into the house.[18] Some time after, Emery accompanied his family to the bank so that Evan could open a new account and receive a free toaster, and listened to the stories his parents told about how they had picked their American names.[19]
Louis and Eddie play a game at the kitchen table, with Louis proclaiming that he loves spending time with him, although he immediately drops the ruse and cites it to be boring when Evan and Emery locate the television remote. As Louis pays the two for finding the remote, Eddie asks Louis to buy him a watch, which Louis refuses to do so believing Eddie would use it temporarily and discard it. In order to give Eddie a chance to prove his worth, Louis gives his own watch to Eddie to see if he could take care of it for a week. Eddie does so, but takes it off and leaves it on his bed before taking a shower. Seeing the watch on the bed, Louis believes Eddie has just left it out and takes it back, only to lose it himself. Louis and Eddie each enlist the "Huang Boys" (Evan and Emery) to find the watch, and Eddie wakes up at the end of the week to find the watch on his night table. As he walks into the living room, Evan and Emery come in with the identical watch and claim they have found it, and then Jenny herself also wheels into the room with the same watch in hand. It is revealed that Jenny, not liking the fact that Louis had taken the watch from Eddie, took the watch from him; believing he had lost it, Louis purchased a replacement watch and left it in Eddie's room, while Evan and Emery used their own money to buy the same watch to 'solve the case' as they had never failed to solve one before.[20]
After the boys at his school began to go through puberty and suddenly started talking about cars, making fart jokes, and throwing things at other things, Emery took his father's video rental card to secretly rent movies with Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jean-Claude Van Damme in an attempt to learn and be guided through how to act and be around his friends. Louis, tipped off about the upcoming due date for the tapes by the video stores, finds Emery retrieving the cassettes from under Louis' bedroom mattress. Louis, seeing the various cassettes with shirtless men on them, initially believes Emery to be gay before Emery states that they were research material for school, although he clarifies they were not for homework and explains the dilemma to his father.
Emery decides to write a poem to prove that brains are better than brawn, although Louis shuts the idea down, instead suggesting that he become more like them. Emery then goes to school and insults his friend Chad to his face, which results in Chad punching him, and the principal calls Louis in. Emery is upset at the assault and blames his father for it, but tells his mother he got the bruise from looking at a telescope too hard. Louis then comes to see Emery in his room and apologizes for telling him to change who he is, informing Emery that while the other boys in school are still trying to find out who they are, Emery is already ahead of the curve as he knows who he is and is proud of it. Emery then writes a poem and submits it to his teacher, but signs the poem with Chad's name, causing their teacher to praise Chad while the other boys ridicule Chad for writing poetry. Emery relishes in his victory but becomes upset when one of his classmates, who initially loved the poetry, suddenly has a deeper voice and decides to spray paint turtles.[21]
Emery, who is graduating from the fifth grade at Palms Elementary and attending middle school starting from the sixth grade, is picked as fifth-grade valedictorian. To celebrate, Louis informs his sons that they would be having a post-graduation all-you-can-eat chicken dinner at Cattleman's, and that each of them would be allowed to bring a date to the dinner. Meanwhile, Emery works on his valedictorian speech only to have Louis rip it up; Louis suggests ripping up a paper speech in front of the crowd and reciting a speech "from the heart" would work better, when in reality writing the "heartfelt" speech on his hand and reciting it.
Emery meets "Alison" at dinner that night and is confused, as he had met Alison before and knew her to be Caucasian, although Eddie clarifies that the Chinese girl pretending to be Alison is her friend, Audrey. Emery and Audrey get along very well, sharing similar traits and personality. At graduation, Emery prepares to give a speech but rips up the paper, instead giving an unscripted speech thanking his family, electing to be truly spontaneous and not write it on his hand like Louis suggested. As Emery's speech caused Eddie and Jessica to come clean with one another, which led to Eddie introducing the real Alison to Jessica and Jessica approving of her, Emery asked Audrey to be his date to the graduation dinner, although Louis and Jessica disapproved of her.[22]
As the summer vacation began, Emery and Evan were watching educational television with Eddie wished to use the television, wanting to watch Chris Rock's Bring the Pain special on HBO. HBO had a free preview running that weekend and Eddie attempted to take advantage of it, although Evan and Emery's scuffle with Eddie led to Louis breaking up their right, declaring that as brothers they shouldn't fight; at that moment, Jessica notified Louis that his brother Gene Huang had called, whom Louis had had a fight with. Evan then told Jessica that it was Rated R and Jessica then replied that Eddie could not watch it, claiming that she had heard about the special on the Nightly News and believed it would instigate a race riot.
Knowing that Eddie would try and tape the special, Emery and Evan wished to honor Jessica's edict of not allowing Eddie to watch the show by taping over his special with their own pre-recorded video made with Louis' camcorder. Around the same time, Louis' brother Gene came to visit, inviting them to his wedding back in Taiwan and taking them out to a restaurant. After witnessing Louis and Gene fight, Eddie entered Emery and Evan's bedroom and told them he didn't want to end up like them, and that while Jessica had divided them, he wanted to watch the special with his brothers. The three brothers then stayed up at night to secretly watch Bring the Pain in the living room. However, Louis came into the living room and revealed that Gene had left to Taiwan and had taken Grandma Huang with him, and had also disinvited them from the wedding. As a result, Louis declared that they were all going to Taiwan.[23]
Season 3[]
In Taiwan, Emery was given Baby Dramamine by Evan as he hadn't slept at all on the plane. While meeting his paternal relatives, one his aunts praised his handsome looks, to which Emery responded that he valued inner beauty over outer beauty. His aunt then decided to introduce him to her boss' daughter at Gene's wedding, citing it would be a good match. However, while in Taiwan, Emery was constantly bitten by mosquitoes, with Emery likening the bites to kisses. Emery was plagued by the bites and could not get them to stop. At Gene's wedding, he was glad to meet the girl his aunt was trying to set him up with, although she screamed and fled upon seeing the various mosquito bites on his face. Upon his return back home to Orlando, Emery rushed inside the house, yelling that he wanted his outer beauty to return.[24]
Emery was ecstatic to begin middle school; however, his first day at Abraham Lincoln Middle School was hampered by Eddie, who presented him with a binder filled with the lies he had told the school. Emery discovered that Eddie had been citing Chinese culture to his white teachers in order to make his life better, such as not eating vegetables in the cafeteria due to Chinese bodies being unable to process chlorophyll, getting the first Friday off the month off due to "Harvest Day", taking a nap at 11:00am every day to "check if China is coming for Taiwan", not participating in extracurricular activities, not sitting in the front of the class especially if the teacher is female, and not taking a shower with the other boys. Fed up, Emery eventually outed Eddie's deception to Bogdan Dragomir, a Russian Olympian who was their new Phys. Ed. teacher.
Back at home, Eddie confronted Emery in his room, after having forced to take a shower in the nude and having glimpsed his friends' anatomies. Emery declared that he no longer wished to carry on Eddie's lies, only for Eddie to state that his first day was horrible and that his actions made Emery's first day better. Emery responded that his first day was horrible as all he wanted to do was to learn, join clubs such as karate and violin, and eat his green beans, but that it was ruined by Eddie. However, Eddie retorted that white people were ignorant of them and where they came from, citing that he had been blazing trails and breaking chains by shattering Asian stereotypes, and feared that Emery, with his karate gi and his violin and his eagerness to learn, would undo the work he had done and would set them back. Emery then stayed on his bunk bed when Evan entered the room, surprised that he did not thank their maid, Mary, for cleaning up the room. Emery told Evan that his first day at middle school was horrible and that Eddie was the problem, before sharing the full story in detail with his younger brother.
Emery went to school the next day and solemnly looked at the extracurriculars board when he was shocked to see his name listed on the karate sign-up sheet. Emery then spotted Eddie and, realizing his older brother had signed him up, asking him why he would that, citing that he didn't want to embarrass Eddie. Eddie, however, told Emery that what he thought shouldn't matter to Emery and that Emery should just be himself. Eddie then asked Emery if they could at least keep Harvest Day as a lie, and Emery reluctantly agreed so long as he didn't miss any tests, although Eddie responded citing that it wasn't up to them but to the moon, and the two brothers shared a laugh as they walked away together.[25]
Emery and Evan began to work on Halloween costumes, with Emery dressing up as Dr. Alan Grant from Jurassic Park while Evan was meant to be dressed up as Barney the Dinosaur to complement Evan's costume, as Dr. Grant was a paleontologist. However, Evan did not wish to be Barney, which led to Emery updating their costumes to Indiana Jones and Short Round respectively. Evan became upset at the fact that he always had to be Emery's sidekick when it came to Halloween costumes, and a result Emery decided to let Evan pick their Halloween costumes. Evan dressed up as Lance Ito, the presiding judge from the O. J. Simpson murder case, with Emery slated to be dressed as Kato Kaelin, one of the witnesses. Emery did not like the costume, causing the brothers to decide to not wear collaborative costumes and instead have independent costumes, with Evan as Lance Ito and Emery as Indiana Jones.
Their plans to go trick-or-treating were ruined when they had lost time trying to find a costume and lost the remainder of the time heading to the police station to pick up Eddie, who had been at Nicole Ellis' house without adult supervision. Realizing how much Halloween meant to her family, Jessica decided to take them trick-or-treating on November 1st, waking them up using a fan to waft the smell off a history book. However, Evan decided to dress up as Short Round while Emery dressed as Barney, much to the other's surprise. The two had wanted to collaborate with the other, regardless of who was the "sidekick" or not, and the two hugged it out. Since the houses had stopped giving out candy, the family were instead invited into Honey's house.[26]
Season 4[]
To be added
Season 5[]
To be added
Season 6[]
The Huangs, along with Marvin and Honey, have gathered around the television to watch the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup. Honey is feeding Maria while Marvin groans about the game. Honey has also given birth to her second child, a daughter named Liza, who sleeps. Louis announces that while he would forget about the game in 24 hours, this is his current focus, with him, Eddie, and Evan wearing USA jerseys to support their country while Jessica wears a jersey representing China. Emery, unable to pick whether to support his native ancestral home or his country, decides to support them both by wearing half of both jerseys. The game concludes 45 minutes after going into overtime when Brandi Chastain successfully shoots a penalty goal against China, granting the United States team the victory.
The next day, Emery arrives at the breakfast table to discuss his electives for ninth grade, although Jessica offers no suggestions. Shortly after, Jessica is working on assignments when Emery walks by, muttering about his indecisiveness to pick an elective. Jessica states that she wishes Emery would just pick an elective so that she could concentrate on her work without distractions. Sometime later, Jessica is approached by a loud Emery, who explains that he is projecting as it is a technique used by actors, revealing that he picked the Drama elective after speaking with Honey. This infuriates Jessica, who disapproves of the Arts, leaving Emery to wonder if she took Drama as well since she too is projecting.
Emery later enters his parents' bedroom looking for Louis' pomade, rehearsing to be Danny Zuko from Grease. Emery then heads to Honey's house, where Honey is dressed as Sandy Olsson from Grease as she is helping Emery rehearse his lines. Emery, wearing a Letterman jacket, asks Honey for help sewing a Rydell patch on it; both Jessica and Honey rush to help him and rip off the sleeves as a result, causing Emery to storm off. After Honey and Jessica make amends, Jessica deems Drama good enough for Emery after Honey informs her that Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon took the elective.[27]
At home, Eddie is regaling tales to his family, imagining the Y2K situation to be similar to the movie The Matrix, placing himself as Neo and Louis as Morpheus. Louis states that Y2K would not be like that, while Emery believes that the world truly may end as a result of the Millennium Bug. As a result, Eddie states that they should do as much as possible during summer vacation as it may be the last summer of their lives. However, his plans are dashed by Jessica, who enters the room with a stack of PSAT books and tells Eddie that he will study them alongside her in preparation for college.
Emery later returns to the living room, where Evan and Jenny are watching Twins, Evan watching it for Arnold Schwarzenegger, as he is going into politics and Jenny watching it because she is attracted to Danny DeVito. Emery chastises them for watching television when the threat of Y2K looms on the horizon, suggesting that they should purchase supplies and rations to bargain with other survivors. Evan replies that they would need cash in order to do so, spurring Emery to suggest that they get summer jobs. Evan agrees, citing that they could be organized while the rest of society becomes chaotic, while Emery retorts that alternatively, they could "live it up."
Evan and Emery gain employment at a yogurt shop and, wearing their uniforms, inform Jessica about their newfound occupation. Just then, Louis informs the family that they would be taking a trip to California to a pay a visit to UCLA, which Jessica initially shuts down due to financial reasons and Emery and Evan adding that they cannot go as they just got jobs. Louis tells them to just use their sick and vacation days and notifies Jessica that his brother, Gene Huang, has gotten them free airline tickets to California as he works for Delta Airlines and that they would not have to spend money on a hotel since they would be staying with Justin at his dorm. Louis then adds that if Eddie paid a visit to UCLA and then turned it down for Harvard, Jessica could then rub it in Connie's face, which causes Jessica to immediately notify the family to pack their bags.
The Huangs arrive in California, with Louis, Jessica and Eddie heading to the dorms to pay Justin a visit while Jenny, Emery and Evan pay a visit to the campus ATM. Emery warns his grandmother against signing up for a credit card, although Evan informs him that they tried to be responsible but that it didn't work, and that should just embrace Y2K and live it up. Agreeing, the trio rent a limousine and cruise through Los Angeles while standing up through the sunroof, exclaiming that they were rich. While touring the streets of Los Angeles, Jenny meets a Danny DeVito impersonator, although she believes him to be the real Danny DeVito. She then tells Emery and Evan that she is taking "Danny" in the limo to do adult things and bids them farewell, abandoning them in the city.
Emery and Evan make their way to the Hollywood sign, and Emery tells Evan that he wishes to attend a live studio audience taping as he wishes to be an actor. Evan shuts him down, telling Emery that he doesn't want to do that and that he instead wants to go the beach where Arnold Schwarzenegger got his start. The two brothers argue, with Emery making fun of Evan for wanting "some Arnold" while their grandmother got with "Danny DeVito", insulting Evan, who responds that Arnold was a better actor than Emery would ever be. Hurt, Emery tells his brother that with Y2K coming, he doesn't need anything or anyone, and leaves Evan alone as he storms off.
Emery heads to a live studio audience taping, although he finds the experience boring and exhausting. Emery regroups with Jenny and Evan in the limo, and tells them that Hollywood sucks and that he finds the excessive lifestyle and lack of consequences to be unsustainable. Jenny agrees, citing that even Danny DeVito could not handle it; Emery clarifies once again that the man she was with was not the real DeVito, although Evan convinces him to let Jenny have it since she may have kissed him. Emery then tells the two that if the world does end with Y2K, he would want to spend his last moments on the family couch with them as he usually does. Evan then mentions that if the world does not end, they would not be able to pay back the credit cards, although Jenny replies that she faked her death once before and that she could do it again.[28]
Marvin has decided to retire from dentistry and is given a retirement party at Louis Huang's Cattleman's Ranch Steakhouse, with his friend from the Navy, Clyde Roses, in attendance. Clyde owns a scrapyard and gives his business card to Eddie, who wishes to purchase a spoiler for the Cattleman's station wagon. Honey gifts Marvin with a flagpole he wanted, which prompts Jenny to state that she too is now retiring, much to the confusion of her family, who wonder what she would be retiring from. The next day at breakfast, the family discuss Jenny's retirement. They witness as Jenny gives Louis a list of things she wants as a retirement gift, although Louis decides to throw her a retirement party instead.
Eddie and Emery retreat to Emery's bedroom, where they playfully slap the other's hands for fun. Evan enters the room and notifies his brothers that, while at Marvin's retirement party, he overheard Marvin gossiping about his patients and revealing their secrets. Evan reveals that a month ago, while undergoing a dental procedure, he admitted something to Marvin and his assistant Queenie, and that while he cannot remember what it is he told them, Marvin did say he would keep his mouth shut due to Dentist-Patient confidentiality. However, with Marvin having retired, the confidentiality agreement no longer exists. Eddie attempts to dismiss Evan's worries, citing that none of Evan's secrets are major, until Evan reveals that the dental procedure happened the day after the boys had met "Reggie", prompting Eddie and Emery to become fearful.
At Jenny's retirement party, Eddie, Emery and Evan overhearing Marvin mentioning Carol-Joan's lip injections out loud, and they realize he really will spill their secret. Returning home after the party, the three boys sit around the kitchen table. The "Reggie secret" they wish to hide from their parents is that they had taken a trip across state lines without permission to visit Reginald VelJohnson, and read his memoir at the Georgia Tech Student Union. Eddie believes that since Evan was the one who informed Marvin, he should be the one who informs their parents and takes sole responsibility, with Evan countering that he would not do so since they weren't certain whether he told Marvin about the trip or not. Eddie then decides that they need to get leverage on Marvin by finding out a secret of his own, and that their best chance to do so would be by paying Clyde Roses a visit.
At Clyde's scrapyard, Eddie, Emery and Evan attempt to pry secrets out of Clyde by asking about stories. Clyde initially attempts to talk about them, but cannot bring himself to tell the stories as they involve women and he deems the boys too young to hear about it. Eventually, Clyde tells them that Marvin is like his brother and that he would not disclose his secrets.
Eddie, Emery and Evan decide to pay a visit to Queenie, Marvin's assistant, to find out what Evan said under the effects of the gas. She reveals that Evan did not reveal any secrets and only said things in a funny manner, but reveals that Eddie, who had a similar dental procedure done shortly after Evan, did in fact reveal that he and his brothers took a drive to Georgia to see Reginald VelJohnson.
The trio then head to Marvin's house and ask him not to reveal their secret trip across state lines to Georgia, but he admits that he is a chatterbox and cannot keep secrets. This confuses Evan, who reminds him that he served in the US Navy and should be able to keep secrets, although Marvin rationalizes that Navy men can keep secrets on the ocean but not on land. Hanging their heads in defeat, the three boys prepare to leave, and Evan tells Marvin that Queenie sends her regards. Marvin interprets this as a threat and asks them if they've spoken to Queenie about his secrets and if Queenie has told them about "Angela."
The Huang boys reply that Queenie did not tell them, but interpret "Angela" as being a woman that Marvin is cheating on Honey with. Marvin then explains that Angela is the name of a boat he secretly bought that Honey disapproved of, and explains the boat he had just "bought" for his retirement was the same boat that he had simply given a wax job. The Huang boys then broker a deal with Marvin in which they'd keep each others' secrets, and Marvin agrees.
Later that night, the Huang family don their bathing suits and use the hot tub, now installed in Jenny's room, to perform a silent synchronized dance while Jenny sleeps, being careful not to wake her up.[29]
One morning at breakfast, Emery talks about his Drama class while Louis mentions the love between Eddie and Tina at breakfast, causing Jessica to point out the word "love"; while she was aware he was in a relationship, she did not know it had progressed to love. Eddie attempts to deflect the situation by asking Evan and Jenny if they are doing anything, and Evan responds that he and his grandmother have decided to take up meditation. Eddie then asks Louis what he is up to, and Louis reveals that he is designing new napkins for the restaurant. The family then all leave the kitchen and exit the house, leaving Louis alone in the kitchen.
At Louis Huang's Cattleman's Ranch Steakhouse after school, Trent and Louis peruse their new napkins, which feature various Orlando landmarks. Louis notices Emery observing them and writing down notes, and Emery explains that he is shadowing Louis for a hero's journey character study for drama class. While Trent is gushing over the napkins, Louis replies that he feels restless, citing that he is now 40 years old and with Cattleman's is running itself, he wants to find something else to do. Emery suggests that Louis takes an aptitude test to determine a new career path.
Louis has decided to become a barber and has begun cutting hair at Cattleman's. Marvin initially agrees to have his hair cut by Louis, but after seeing Brian Pew complain about how Louis messed up, decides to leave his hair as-is, thanking Louis for the 'cut' and even tipping him. Dejected, Louis states that barbarism isn't as fulfilling as he hoped, citing that he has the talent but not the will after Trent praises him for giving him a shave. Louis adds that Orlando already has a high number of barbers per capita, to which Emery replies that Louis knows a lot of Orlando facts.
Louis then decides to try being a tour guide driver, giving a tour of Orlando in his minivan to Emery, Marvin, Honey and her two kids. Honey and Marvin are not interested in the tour, although Louis persists, refusing to pull over when Honey states she needs to pee and even asking her to keep her babies quiet when they start crying. In his fervor to finish the tour, Louis even runs a stop sign and continues to issue facts until Honey swiftly tells him that no one cares and orders him to pull over.
With his sojourn as a tour driver coming to a halt, Louis ventures into becoming a motivational speaker, although telling a crowd at the Orlando Recreation Center about his accomplishments at Cattleman's does not give them any positive encouragement. Bored and finding the speech pointless, the crowd begins to disperse while Louis laments that he cannot be a motivational speaker and help others find the next chapter in their lives if he cannot even find his.
Emery heads to Cattleman's Ranch where he finds a dejected Louis pondering over the napkins. Louis sadly informs Emery that he wanted to try something new only to fail. Emery then tells Louis that he quit Drama class after being unable to secure a part, much to Louis' shock. Louis tells his son that he cannot quit something just because it didn't work out the first time and that he should stick to it, adding that if he quit prematurely, he would be missing any opportunities that would arise in the future. Emery replies that it is good advice and that Louis should heed it himself, adding that he did not actually quit Drama but merely made up the story to inspire Louis to not give up on finding his passion, and Louis thanks Emery for his support.
Louis and Emery are then approached by a man named Tom, who has come in search of Louis, having been inspired during Louis' motivational speech at the Orlando Recreation Center. Tom tells Louis that he is starting a new business, a website where a person has their own space to post pictures and notes that they can share with friends and family, and asks Louis if he'd like to invest. However, Louis and Emery scoff at his idea, Louis adding that no one would look at pictures of other people on the computer and dismisses him, chuckling with Emery afterwards and referring to Tom as an idiot.[30]
On Halloween, Emery sits on the couch with Evan as the two peruse photos of the family's previous Halloween costumes. Evan believes that they have exhausted all the couple's costumes, with Emery wondering if this is the year they can finally go as Frasier Crane and Niles Crane. Evan replies that he doesn't want to argue with Emery over who would be Niles, and the two began to speak in affected tones before laughing snobbishly.
Just then, Eddie walks in through the front door and Emery asks him if he has any plans for Halloween. Eddie responds that he is too old to celebrate Halloween but bids his brothers luck on their plans, advising them not to do drugs. As he heads to his room, Evan is flabbergasted that Eddie would consider himself too old to celebrate Halloween. Emery then gets the idea that perhaps the three brothers should go in costume together for Halloween, referring to a photo where the three dressed up as the "Three Amigos." While discussing potential trios, Emery tells Evan that they can work out the specifics later but that the first step would be to convince Eddie to join them.
Emery and Evan head to Eddie's room to convince him to join them, stating that neighborhoods give out much bigger candy now. Eddie considers it but declines, stating that he would just stay home and eat whatever leftover candy Louis bought that he didn't hand out. However, Emery and Evan mention that Jessica bought the 'candy' this year and that she bought raisins, Eddie decides to join them trick-or-treating, deciding to use Jenny's sleeping bag as his candy bag. He attempts to blow dry the smell out of the sleeping bag, although he finds the endeavor fruitless.
Eddie heads to his bedroom only to find Emery and Evan inside, dressed as Snoopy and a doctor respectively. Wearing a gold chain and holding a boombox, Emery declares that he is "Snoopy Dogg" while Evan stated that he is "renowned physician Dr. Dre", and Emery tells Eddie that he can be "Iced Tea." Eddie corrects him, telling him that it is "Ice-T", and wants to know what his brothers are up to, mentioning that he was not kidding when he told them to abstain from drugs.
Emery states that he wants to do a brothers costume, which Evan refers to as a threesome, and Eddie, telling Evan not to use that word again, tells his brothers that he would be down to doing a collaborative costume with them. Evan wonders who they could go as since the stores are closed and it's already Halloween, and Eddie states that he would think of something on the fly. When Emery mimics him, Eddie praises him and suggests that they dress up as each other for Halloween.
Eddie dresses up as Evan, only for Emery to enter the room dressed as Evan as well. Emery berates Eddie, telling Eddie that he was supposed to be Emery. Just then, Evan walks in, confused as he notices his brothers dressed like him. Eddie asks Evan who Evan is supposed to be, and Evan explains that he was dressing up as Eddie but changed back to his original clothes, thinking that Emery was not dressing up as one of them and therefore would feel left out. Eddie and Emery assure him that they are fine with it, and Eddie tells Evan to change into "Eddie" while he changes into "Emery"; however, Evan states that he thinks three "Evan's" would be cute and suggests that he go as himself for Halloween while Eddie and Emery both go as him as well, and they agree.
Eddie, Emery and Evan head next door, where Marvin and Honey are on the porch giving out candy to trick-or-treaters, Marvin dressed as an angel while Honey is dressed as Buffy Summers. Marvin asks who the boys are supposed to be dressed as, and when Evan answers him with Eddie and Emery imitating Evan, Honey correctly deduces that all three of them are Evan. Eddie and Emery then make fun of Evan, Eddie mentioning that Evan's waistline goes to his nipple line and that "Mommy" would love three Evan's, which upsets Evan. However, when Eddie adds that Evan discovered sports through Brandi Chastain and Emery clarifies that by "sports" he means anatomy, referring to Evan gaining his first erection when he saw Brandi Chastain, Evan becomes humiliated and insulted. Admonishing his brothers for ruining Halloween, he storms off. Emery mocks his walk until Eddie stops him, telling him that the joke is over.
Eddie and Emery return home, where Jenny is dressed as Eric Cartman from South Park. Jenny tells them that Evan is his room and admonishes them for mocking them, referring to Eddie as "goofy" and telling Emery that he has fragile hands. As Eddie tells Emery that they need to make up with Evan, Jenny begins to quote Cartman, whom she stated she liked because he was always noticed when Kenny was killed. Eddie and Emery, dressing as each other, go into Evan's room and apologize. Evan smiles at their impersonations of each other and tells them that he overreacted, and apologizes to his older brothers for ruining Halloween.
Eddie then tells Evan that he did not ruin Halloween, and that a perk of being older is that they can celebrate Halloween and go out trick-or-treating much later than they previously could. Emery then wonders who they would even dress as, and Evan brings up the photo of the three of them dressed up as "The Three Amigos." Eddie, Emery and Evan don their outfits as the Three Amigos, but Eddie and Emery have outgrown the outfits, with it being a little tight on Emery while Eddie's midriff is exposed. Evan walks in, claiming that his outfit still fits. The brothers then strike a pose only for a ripping noise to be heard. Eddie then tells his brothers that he ripped something but isn't sure what it was, and asks his brothers to look away.[31]
Emery is reading The Vagina Monologues on the couch complaining about the sexism in manufacturing women's pants when Evan approaches him and asks why he is reading a book on "V-word speeches." Emery explains that he is reading the book in order to identify with women so that he could be more believable in his role as Lady Macbeth in the school play.
Honey then enters the Huang home to ask the boys for a babysitting favor. While Evan initially assumes they would be taking care of Maria and Liza, Honey clarifies that she wants them to babysit Marvin, citing that since Marvin's retirement, his constant presence at home has become a bit much for her. Emery commends her for not conforming to the traditional maternal role, which confuses her, and she asks if they would go on a boat ride with Marvin, and Evan agrees.
On the "Angela" boat, Marvin is telling sexist jokes to Evan while Emery vomits into the sea, claiming the insensitive jokes in conjunction with being seasick is making him hurl. Marvin talks about catching a big fish so that Honey can make fish tacos for him while Evan adds that his girlfriend Sicily can microwave a mean fish stick, and that they should meet. This upsets Emery, who asks whether they think it's the man's job to bring home the bacon while the women's role is to cook it. Marvin replies that Honey handles all the food and groceries for the household and that all he wants to do is catch a big fish. As Emery throws up once more, Marvin tells him to 'man up' while Evan adds that he should 'grow a pair', and Emery becomes infuriated at their sexist remarks.
In their bedroom, Evan is discussing Jane Austen while objectifying her with antiquated, sexist terms when Emery calls him out for talking akin to a 1945 radio show. Evan does not find a problem in his language, in using terms such as 'baby doll' or 'man up' or talking about women's "peepers," but panics when Emery retorts that if it isn't such a problem, he would call Sicily and discuss her peepers. Evan then admits that perhaps the language is problematic but that he cannot help himself, claiming that it just comes out of him after spending time with Marvin but that he does not wish to stop spending time with Marvin. Emery then declares that they would just have to change Marvin and modernize him, which Evan states is a tall order as he still refers to Germany as Prussia.
Emery and Evan head to Marvin's house to notify him of his antiquated notions towards women. Marvin tells them that he treats women with class and respect, but that he's from a different generation and believes he's earned the right to tell people to 'grow some balls.' Maria then echoes the word "balls", and the boys see that she is wearing a bikini shirt while playing in a toy kitchen.
Evan points out that she's too young to be focused on a bikini and having a nice summer body while Emery notices that her kitchen has been outfitted with a digital clock, claiming that it is to make sure the woman would have dinner ready when the husband came home. Realizing he needs to be a more sensitive father, Marvin asks the boys to teach him. Retreating to Emery and Evan's bedroom, the boys talk him to him about a doctor who has a son and a husband, asking him to solve it. When Marvin is confused, they tell him that it's because the doctor is a woman, which leads to Marvin asking who the nurse could be, much to the boys' chagrin.
The boys continue to coach Marvin, reminding him to keep his eye above women's chests, and instruct him to not open doors for women. However, Marvin does so anyways. He tells them he failed and that they should just give him a construction hat and teach him to wolf-whistle, but Emery tells him that he can open doors for any woman he wants so long as he does it out of kindness and not because he thinks they're too weak to do so themselves. Evan adds that the mere fact that Marvin is questioning his behavior is a win in itself, only for Marvin to ask whether the doctor scenario they presented earlier could in fact be two gay dads instead of a female doctor.
Marvin, Emery and Evan return to the Ellis house, where Honey thanks the boys for returning her 'jar opener' and holds out the jar for him to open. Coached by the boys, Marvin tells Honey that she is a strong, independent woman who doesn't need him to open a jar. However, Honey tells him to 'reach into his purse' and 'find his testicles' so that he could open her jar, and when he struggles to do so, adds that he should 'hike up his prom dress', asking Marvin if he is on his period when he fails to open it. Emery and Evan are shocked that the the sexism came from Honey and not Marvin himself.
In their room, Emery muses how he knows nothing about women and how he made an assumption that the sexism in the Ellis household came from Marvin because he was an older male, and expresses his worry about judging books from their cover. Evan, adding that men such as Harvey Milk, Elton John, and Freddie Mercury, were great men who never understood women, and that sometimes one must judge a book by its cover, claiming that Emery would not have picked up The Vagina Monologues otherwise.
Emery agrees, citing that it was a good thing he read the book as he learned valuable lessons. Evan tells him that the mere fact that he is questioning his behavior is a win in itself, asking him if that sounds familiar, echoing back to what they told Marvin. Evan then tells Emery that his feminism has managed to spread throughout the house, having seen a magazine on vaginas in Eddie's room, albeit covered in plastic.[32]
One morning, while enjoying his breakfast, Emery witnesses Eddie presenting Jessica with breakfast and wishing her a good morning in Mandarin. Realizing that the unprompted Mandarin means that he wants something from her, Jessica asks him and he replies that he would like to skip a half day of school in order to get an autograph from his new favorite basketball player, Allen Iverson. Jessica refuses, telling him that he was not allowed to leave school early under any circumstances.
Eddie then asks Louis to chime in, and while Louis states that he should run if there's a fire, he tells Eddie that he is siding with Jessica and is against him skipping school. Eddie proclaims that Jessica is being unfair; Jessica replies that what is truly unfair is Peter Sampras and Denzel Washington having to wear a shirt and her having to complete an academic practicum. Emery, having listened to the entire ordeal, asks her what a practicum is, and she explains that a practicum involves her shadowing a teacher for 100 hours.
As Eddie storms off, Emery tells his mother that 100 hours is a lot for everyone involved. Jessica agrees, but states that one must keep their head down and stay the course if they wish to achieve their goals. She mentions Evan, claiming that he is predictable, reliable, and has never veered from his path, only for Evan to pop up with an 'aloha'. Noticing that Evan is wearing a puka shell necklace, Jessica lets out a scream and demands to know what he has done to his neck; he explains that his friend Geoff got him into them.
Wearing his backpack using a single strap, Evan bids them farewell, announces that he has to hurry if he wants a seat at the back of the bus. Jessica claims that this behavior is unlike Evan and asks Emery what is going on at school with Evan, only for Emery to remind his mother that they don't go to the same school anymore, as he is in ninth grade in high school while Evan is in eighth grade in middle school. Emery tries to convince Jessica that Evan wearing puka shells is not a bad thing at all, although Jessica believes that wearing them will lead to shady friends, distractions and bad grades, which would ultimately prevent Evan from becoming Doctor-President.
At school, Emery is notified by the school that Evan is calling him due to a family emergency. He rushes into the office and picks up the phone, only to find out that the 'emergency' is Evan complaining that "Mommy" is ruining school for him. Emery suggests that Evan stop calling her 'Mommy' and that he should ask her to pick a new school for her practicum, but Evan refuses, claiming that he is not a saboteur. Emery then advises that he avoid Jessica since it is a big school and asks Evan not to tell Jessica that they spoke regarding the matter, claiming that's he already too involved.
In class, Emery is taking a test when Jessica enters the classroom and asks Emery what is wrong with Evan. Mr. Kopelow, Emery's teacher, asks Jessica who she is, and she replies that she is a concerned parent before sitting next to Emery. Jessica addresses her fear that Evan is not himself anymore and is ruining his dream of becoming Doctor-President, while Emery disagrees, notifying her that Evan held a model U.N. with his Beanie babies the night before. He tells Jessica that Evan is just getting older and trying new things, that it doesn't make him a difference person, and adds that if Jessica wants to help him she should give him space. Just then, Mr. Kopelow announces that time is up and Emery rushes to fill in the remaining answers on his test.[33]
As the Thanksgiving season approaches, Emery and his brothers head to the grocery store to witness a turkey fight. Returning home in smiles, Jessica asks them why they are laughing, and they tell her that they had gone to the grocery store to watch people fight over Thanksgiving turkeys. This upsets Jessica, as "Turkey Tango" was an annual shopping fight she had attended with her sons, and that they had gone without her.
As Eddie, Emery and Evan put on their shoes in preparation of heading out to the newly built piazza, Jessica interrupts them, wanting them to spend one hour of concentrated family fun time with a chore wheel, where she observes the boys doing chores. The boys refuse, informing Jessica that they wish to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the piazza, with Evan adding that Marvin would be teaching them bocce since Carol-Joan is diving into the Italian theme, and they leave the house.
Jessica discovers that a grocery store in Sanford has just received turkeys and tries to invite her sons to go witness a 'turkey tango' only to see that the three boys are dressed in European garb, with Eddie sporting a toga. As Emery states that he has caught the bocce bug, Jessica wonders how spending time at the piazza is more fun than spending time her. Evan then notices that Carol-Joan is scooping gelato and the three try to leave when Jessica intercepts them, claiming that the piazza is racist towards them as they are Asians and suddenly the neighborhood needs a median to solve driving issues. Eddie points out that they did not move here suddenly but six years ago while Emery reminds her that the Huang family have had their fair share of driving incidents. Evan then points out that "Meatball" is singing "Ave Maria" and tells Jessica "Ciao bella, mamma mia," which Eddie proclaims is racist as they head to the piazza.
Eddie, Emery and Evan head out the piazza only to find Jessica there in a lounge chair. They ask her if she could move so that they could play bocce but she refuses, telling them that she had gotten there first. The neighborhood gathers around the piazza, with Deidre asking Jessica to move so that they could continue with their bocce finals, although Jessica remains put. Marvin then announces that the finals have been postponed and that they should refer to Jamie for a refund on any bets they placed. As the crowd disperses, Jessica tells her sons that they now have the piazza to themselves and can have family fun time, only for them to respond that they were already having fun before she showed up and ruined it.
Eddie, Emery and Evan enter the latter two's bedroom where Eddie mentions how bocce is just adult marbles. Just then, Jessica walks in with an apology lasagna for ruining their "dumb bowling" although Eddie points out that the lasagna is still frozen. Jessica responds that it would've taken an hour to make and that she didn't need that much time to reflect, and tells them that with her studying and job hunting, she just missed them and wanted them all to herself, but that she would be happy if they were just all together. Evan then tells her that she would like bocce as Eddie adds that it would be perfect for her as it involved precision, competition and violence, and asks her to play with them, to which she agrees.
Out on the piazza, Jessica wins the bocce finals. Just then, George Bryson and the police show up to destroy the median, as it has been constructed without a permit. When Deidre asked who snitched, Bryson responds that he was alerted to the matter through an anonymous op-ed in the paper, and Jessica publicly announces that she suspects Carol-Joan to be the culprit. Emery and Evan lament how bocce was fun while it lasted, and Jessica replies that they can continue this in their backyard. As the crowd cheers, Jessica clarifies that she meant the Huang family only.[34]
While the family watches Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Louis correctly answers, picking "C" despite believing the answer to always be "C" but because he actually knew it, and Eddie tells him that he should be on the show. Louis replies that he would never be chosen to be on television, while Evan points out that Jessica had been selected for a game show in the past, having appeared on Wheel of Fortune. Jessica tells Evan not to compare her accomplishments to Louis', and Louis himself states that in order to be on the show, he would have to call in, pass the screening process, and then out of thousands and thousands of applicants, be one out of only ten to be chosen; he tells his sons there would be no chance he would make it on the show.
However, Louis applies and is selected to be on the show, meeting host Regis Philbin. Regis tells Louis to introduce himself to the audience before they begin, and Louis tells them his name and occupation. Regis asks Louis if he's ready to play and the game begins. In the audience, Emery idolizes Regis, informing Jessica that Regis had spent more time on camera than anybody else in history.
Jessica scoffs that being in front of a camera is not an achievement and that the same feat is accomplished by newborns and safari animals, whom she labels as lazy. Eddie takes offense to her remark, stating that safari animal stalking their prey through the Serengeti for three nights is not lazy, leaving Emery impressed at his knowledge and use of the word "Serengeti." Jessica tells her sons to quiet down so that she could signal Louis the answers in order to prevent Louis from losing a million dollars, and mentions that security had confiscated her purse snacks because Regis could not focus if there was a crunch in the audience. Emery tells her that, as a fellow actor, he understands since silence is necessary to focus on one's craft, causing Jessica to scoff that Regis reading words out loud is not a craft.
Regis asks Louis his first question of the game, and Louis answers it correctly. Jessica, who was unable to answer the question, blames it on her lack of snacks and decides to go out to the vending machine when Regis calls for a break. Emery decides to tag along with her so that he can distribute his headshots around the studio. Jessica gets a bag of nuts from a vending machine while Emery drops off some of his photos, but the pair are notified by a security guard that they are not allowed to re-enter the stage once they have left.
Needing to find a way to get pass the security guard so they can make their way back inside, Emery suggests they act their way in. Jessica scoffs at the idea, claiming that she would not be acting as she is not a monkey, only for Emery to respond that he is surprised she is not on board with acting as it is a form of manipulation where one lies and controls the audience, and Jessica agrees to act. Having obtained the security ID tags of two employees named Gary and Esther, Emery and Jessica prepare to act their way back in, with a new security guard named Ronnie being posted outside the door.
Speaking in a slightly deeper voice, Emery claims to be a light technician who needs to fix a spotlight for Regis, and Ronnie believes him. However, when Ronnie asks who Jessica is and Emery replies that she is his colleague, Jessica tells Ronnie that Emery is lying and that she is the boss. Emery then takes Jessica aside and asks her what she is doing, and she responds that it would be unbelievable for her to be his colleague, adding that acting is a waste of a time. Hurt, Emery walks back to Ronnie and makes his way in, but adds that Jessica is not with him, leaving her stranded outside.
Outside, Jessica tries to tempt Ronnie with snacks, and while he is tempted, he whispers that he cannot let her in. Emery emerges, informing Ronnie that he is needed inside to bounce a guy in Section G, assuring the security guard that he would temporarily cover for him. As Ronnie leaves, Jessica thanks Emery for coming back for her and tries to enter the stage, but finds her entry blocked by Emery, who tells her that he would only let her in if she admits that acting is not a waste of time, as it means a lot to him. Jessica tells him that she doesn't like acting because to her it is just lying, which her father did a lot of growing up, disappearing for months on end and returning smelling like women's perfume and cheap booze, and choking up, wonders how her father could have done that to her mother.
Touched, Emery replies that he never knew that, only for Jessica to claim that it was because she just made it up and was just acting. She tells him that the reason she is against him acting is because she knows many people try to become an actor and fail, and that she doesn't want him to go through that. However, she adds that she will act like she's okay with him acting if that's what he really wants to do, and accepting this, Emery allows her to enter and the two make their way back to their seats. Emery watches as Louis asks Eddie what the answer to his current question is, and Eddie reminds Louis of his prior assertion that the answer is always "C.' Louis answers with C for hard drive, but is informed that he has gotten it wrong and therefore has lost the game and the money he accumulated.
Sometime later, the Huang family watch the game at Cattleman's, watching Louis lose on television. Evan remarks that he can't believe Louis wasted the lifeline on Eddie instead of him, and Louis apologizes for losing out on the million dollars, although Eddie points out that he was nowhere close to a million. Jessica tells Louis that it's okay and that money isn't everything, and Emery asks her if she is acting, to which she confirms she is.[35]
A few hours after Thanksgiving, Jessica wakes up early and begins to set up her "Jessica Town" model, singing "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" out loud at the top of her lungs, waking up her family and causing them to head downstairs. As she tells them it was about time they got out of bed, Evan points out that it is 5:00 am while Emery reminds her that Thanksgiving was just last night, and Eddie, claiming to be more turkey than man, asks her if she could put her preparations on hold until daytime; Jessica declines, notifying her family that with Thanksgiving being over, the Christmas season has officially begun and that there was no time to waste.
At the breakfast table, Eddie tells his brothers that he ate his pancakes with leftover turkey gravy, causing them to leave the table in disgust. After washing their dishes, Louis asks the boys what they would like for Christmas, and all three unanimously respond that they want a gift card. Eddie and Evan join Jenny and Emery on the couch helping the latter practice his lines. When Emery asks them to read it again, Evan whines in frustration, and Jenny tells them that they shouldn't whine since Emery needs their help, stressing the importance of family. Emery thanks his grandmother for defending him and the two relocate elsewhere in the house to rehearse on their own.
Emery later sits at the table reading an acting book when Jessica walks in and asks if those are her Christmas cards on the table. Emery then informs her that Louis had decided to write them on her behalf and seemed quite happy to use his tuba hippo stamps, having gone on a rant regarding postage stamps.
Emery is relaxing in his room when Eddie and Evan enter, presenting him with an application for him to work as a Christmas elf at the mall. When Emery asks why he would do such a thing, Evan replies that it would be great character work that would help his acting career, claiming that Brendan Fraser from The Mummy had been a mall elf as well. Additionally, Eddie mentions that Emery's 30% mall discount would allow them to get something that is $400 for $280, and Emery immediately realizes that they broke Honey's nutcracker. Eddie states that even with his job at Cattleman's he would not be able to afford a new one, with Evan adding that he is too short and young for elf duty, noting that the requirement seems backwards to him. Emery politely declines as it is not his problem, but Evan reminds him what Jenny had said about family, and Emery agrees to help them out.
Emery applies for the position and is successfully hired, and heads to the mall for work for his first day. Returning home after work, Emery enters Eddie's room where his brothers are talking. Evan asks him how his first day was, and Emery responds that it was awful, having to deal with an endless line of people, shoving parents and crying babies, with a rude Santa Claus as well; he then tells his brothers that he hates himself and is going to bed
Eddie, Emery and Evan head to the Orlando Galleria shopping mall, where Eddie is helping Emery get ready for work. Emery moans that he cannot go back out there, but Eddie assures him that his suffering is almost over as he has picked up another shift at Cattleman's and that Evan was closing a deal as they spoke, and tells him that they're all in this together and that he is doing it for the family. Emery agrees to do it for the family, but has a miserable second day as well, resulting in him crying and wiping his tears on a paper snowflake.
Emery is then informed by Eddie and Evan that the latter had stolen a nutcracker from the mall, and enlist Emery's help in returning the nutcracker. Emery returns home and informs his brother that it was a success, explaining that he notified the vendor that he had taken it to clean at Santa's workshop and that the vendor had believed him. Just then, Honey enters with navy blue wrapping paper to wrap the nutcracker. Eddie plans to come clean, but Jenny wheels up to Honey and presents her with the nutcracker. Playing with it for a bit, Honey commends the boys for resisting the urge to play with the nutcracker, telling them they have greater willpower than her before leaving. Eddie asks Jenny why she bailed them out, and she replies that she overheard them and decided to help them for the family, although she adds in Mandarin that she plans to hold this over them for a long time.
A month later, on Christmas morning, Eddie, Emery, and Evan unwrap their Christmas presents to find gift cards, only for Jenny to demand that Eddie and Evan give their gift cards to her in order to pay back their debts. Evan then points out that Emery still has and they could split it three ways, although Emery declines, intending to spend his at a spa in order to relax from the stress of being a mall elf.[36]
Eddie and Emery are in the living room watching television, where Emery gives his pizza crusts to Eddie, who refers to them as "Emery Sticks." Evan then walks into the room and tells them to turn on ESPN, which he refers to as "ESS-PEN," as he claims to now be a high school athlete. He informs his brothers that he would be attending their high school a few times a week as he was recruited to be a Mathlete, and states that all three of them can now hang out together at school.
Eddie drives himself and his brothers to the high school, reminding Evan that he would have to call shotgun. Emery claims that it is tough for him to call shotgun due to his pacifist nature, but that he does so since sitting in the back makes him carsick. Evan states that his dream of all three Huang brothers together at high school came a year early, while Eddie tells Emery that he would see him after school and not to be late or else he would leave him behind. Evan asks Emery what Eddie meant, as he believed that they hung out together at school; Emery responds that doesn't want to cramp Eddie's style and that was just the way high school is, and exits the van.
The next day, Eddie invites himself to hang out with Emery and his friends at lunch but is admonished for ruining their imaginary piano. Eddie tells Emery that he would hanging out with him today, only for Emery to decline. Taken aback, Eddie claims that his desire to hang out with him should be perceived as a gift from God and that he should be thrilled that his older, cooler brother is hanging out with him. Emery informs him that while he appreciates the offer, he would rather Eddie not join him and means no offense, although Eddie takes offense. Eddie then states that it must be because Emery can't bring himself to leave his "dweeb" friends, and an insulted Emery fires back at Eddie's friends, which results in them yelling at each other and culminating with Eddie storming off.
Eddie and Emery are sitting in the living room that evening watching television when Emery offers Eddie his pizza crusts, only to toss them into the garbage bin that he had brought over in advance. Evan then walks in apprehensively and address his brothers, and Eddie pretends to warn Evan that he is about to walk into Emery's imaginary drum kits. Emery brings up Eddie crashing his lunch table, and Eddie explains he didn't want to but only did so because he felt bad for Emery after Evan told him that Emery wanted to hang out with him.
Emery responds that he never said that, to which Evan reminds him that he said he didn't hang out with Eddie at school out of fear of cramping his style. Emery iterates that he only said that because he didn't want to admit out loud that he just didn't want to hang out with Eddie at school, a sentiment Eddie says is harsh albeit agreeing with it as well. Evan tells them that he is bummed that the three of them don't hang out together at high school, especially since Eddie only has a year of high school left, and adds that brothers should hang out whenever they can.
As he leaves the room, Emery tells Eddie that Evan just does not get it, and Eddie coyly responds that perhaps they should give Evan the quality brother time that he wants. Realizing that Eddie has a plan, Emery smiles and retrieves one of his pizza crusts from the trash. He holds it out for Eddie as a peace offering, stating that it is symbolic and not meant to be eaten as it was in the trash, only for Eddie to take a bite out of it and remark on the trash orange juice tang.
Eddie and Emery dress in Mathlete uniforms and join Evan's club, much to Evan's protest. Eddie and Emery inform him that they are merely hanging out together at school like he wanted, despite Evan's assertion that the Mathletes is his thing. As a round of questions begin, Emery and Eddie give out false answers, prompting Evan to call for a time-out and take his brothers aside, telling them that he now gets what they meant. Eddie iterates that having brothers interfere in personal business is not fun, while Emery asks Evan if he loves their grandmother. When Evan replies that he does, Emery asks if he would like to spend all of his time with her, even when she is sorting out her bras. Evan uncomfortably replies that he would not, and that he once had to sort out her thongs, and admits that he has much to learn about high school.
Sometime later, the Huang men are on their couch eating pizza and discussing pies when Jessica walks in with a rabbit named Mr. Buns, informing her family that the rabbit is now her assistant and would be staying with them while Principal Reed has a window installed in her office. Emery then hears Louis express relief that Mr. Buns is a rabbit after having heard so much about a Mr. Buns whom Jessica referred to as cute and whom she shared an office with.[37]
While in the kitchen, Louis tells Emery that his shirt's pits are yellow, and Emery bemoans that he cannot keep wearing Eddie's hand-me-downs due to the holes, stains, and smells, and that he would have to update his wardrobe. Louis, who is wearing one of Eddie's old jeans, tells Emery that Jessica would not pay for that but adds him that he would be happy to add Emery to the payroll at Cattleman's, although Emery declines, citing that the food industry was more Eddie's thing. As Eddie puts Pop-Tarts in the toaster, he mentions his upcoming spring break plans on South Padre Island, with Emery claiming that he still cannot believe their parents agreed to let him do that and Louis states that he could not believe it either, but that the ship had sailed.
Eddie, Emery and Evan are sitting at the table when Evan tells them to reduce their volume, notifying them that he is attempting to complete the Academic Iron Man, and that while he's won the math and science fairs, spelling is the only subject he's gotten a regular A in. As the Florida State Spelling Bee is around the corner, he tells Eddie that he needs his help: he wishes for Eddie to introduce him to his former middle school classmate Simryn Patel, who won the spelling bee three years in a row.
Eddie refuses on the basis that he has bigger problems of his own, since his SAT scores coming in the mail this week and he is worried about Jessica's reaction. Eddie adds that he blacked out during the first half of the test and mindlessly circled in the remaining ovals, and is therefore afraid that he failed, which would result in Jessica revoking her permission to let him go to South Padre Island for spring break. As he gets up to leave, Evan tells Eddie that had he put in the work, he would not be so worried, leaving Emery to state that Evan got the worst traits of both Jessica and Louis. Eddie tells Emery that if he bombs the SATs, it would be considered worse than when Jenny used Jessica's credit card by purchasing Madonna bras, ruining Jessica's credit score in the process, and Emery recalls that Jessica was so mad she bled from both sides of her nose. Eddie wonders how Jenny returned to Jessica's good graces afterwards, and Emery informs him that they became on good terms when Jenny helped Evan get an A in P.E. Eddie then realizes that if helps Evan with his spelling bee, Jessica may forgive his SAT failure and still allow him to go to South Padre.
Emery commends Eddie's plan as being good, and as Eddie sets out to seek Evan, Emery heads into the kitchen to get some ice cream. He is ambushed by Jessica, who asks him if he has found a job yet, and Emery responds that he couldn't since he was helping Eddie before admonishing himself for using the wrong brother's name to get out of his situation. Jessica takes the ice cream out of Emery's hands and tells him that he could only have some once he finds a job, and Emery leaves to go to the mall.
Emery returns home with various shopping bags, and Louis exclaims that he must have gotten his first paycheck. Emery explains that he did not get a job since Louis wanted him to find his own thing and he couldn't, and clarifies that the clothes he had purchased came from his Christmas gift cards. Jessica points out that Emery is happy being unemployed while Louis berates Emery for being a "ding-dong" and proving him wrong to Jessica. Jessica then takes Emery's shopping bags from him, telling him that he would have to get a job by tomorrow if he wanted his clothes back. Emery returns to the mall, where he applies at "Abernathy & Fitz" and is hired. Emery returns home and announces that he has just been hired at "Abernathy & Fitz" and Jessica tells Emery that he can have his clothes back, with Emery thanking Jessica for the push.
The next day, Jessica drives Emery to work, and parking at the mall, tells him that she can have Eddie's room when she makes Eddie disappear as a result of his low SAT scores. She then asks him if his law firm is next to the mall, and Emery clarifies that "Abernathy & Fitz" is a clothing store. Jessica asks if it is a clothing store for lawyers, and when Emery informs her otherwise, she admits that while it isn't as prestigious, it is still a job. Emery replies that "his thing" turned out to be whatever job got him to his new wardrobe the quickest, and announcing that he needs to put his uniform in, takes off his shirt. Jessica asks him why he did so, and Emery reveals that his job is to a shirtless male greeter outside the store who entices customers, and exiting the car, tells his mother that they would apply oil on his torso.
Emery is standing outside the store shirtless when he notices his parents in the food court. As he walks up to them, asking them what they are doing there, Louis asks Jessica why he has come face-to-face with Emery's nipples. The trio return home, with Emery informing his parents that he has to go take a shower so he could wash the oil off of his torso. The Huangs later attend the Florida State Spelling Bee, where Emery tells Eddie that he can't believe that he has yet to inform Jessica of his high SAT score. Eddie replies that he held off on it since he figured it was Evan's day; Simryns adds that it was nice of Eddie to do so, only for Eddie to divulge that he also wishes to keep the scores a secret in case things go south during spring break.[38]
Personality[]
- "I'm done trying to live up to your low expectations."
- ―Emery Huang to Eddie Huang
Emery is a romantic, smooth-talking Casanova, who seems to have a different girlfriend in every episode. He can be both a womanizing macho and an soft-willed, emotional heartthrob, who's in touch with his feminine side. He enjoys talking about his feelings and the beauty of love. Emery is a proud male feminist, who stands for social justice and the suffrage of women. In "Chestnut Gardens", Emery was shown reading The Vagina Monologues. He later educated Eddie in feminism. In "Lou Wants to Be a Millionaire", Emery gained a hobby for acting. When it comes to life at home, Emery is a bit of a picture-perfect model child. Although not to the same extent as Evan, Emery is a well-behaved and obedient son, who lives up to Jessica's expectations and follows her rules down to a T.
Relationships[]
Family[]
- Evan Huang - Emery and his brother Evan work as a power duo.
- Eddie Huang - Emery and Eddie are good friends and they get along pretty well. They will usually have conversations with each other and sometimes have fun doing things together.
- Louis and Jessica Huang: To be added
Emery's Girlfriends[]
- Kim - Kim was Emery's first known girlfriend in the series. She appeared in "Pilot". Not much of their relationship was seen in the time it lasted but a fair amount of things were shown. Emery and Kim got together when they first met on the first day of school and he introduced her to his mom. The next day, Kim nicknamed him "Boo" and also gave him a soda. This relationship lasted for at least two days.
- Blonde Haired Girl - At the beginning of the episode "The Shunning", Emery was seen sitting on a bench and holding hands with an unnamed blonde haired girl. Emery told her that his favorite movie was Gremlins. Emery was seen in a relationship with two other girls later in the same episode.
- Simone and Bianca - In "The Shunning", Emery was seen with two girlfriends at a party. He was walking with both of them with his arms around them at the same time and one of them said "Don't worry, we support each other". Later, they were seen in the swimming pool with him. In "License to Sell", Emery mentioned that he was still dating Bianca.
- Autographed Yearbook Girls: In "Family Business Trip", Emery had multiple fans who are probably just fans, but likely, ex-girlfriends of him that he had over the course of the year, who are all lined up at an autograph signing table for him, waiting for him to autograph their yearbooks.
- Girl who'll miss him - In "Family Business Trip", there were three girls who lived in the neighborhood who were very sad about him leaving for vacation and were bidding a "farewell to him when he got into the car". One of them was holding a plate of cookies and told him that he would write to him every day, another was holding a balloon and a teddy bear, and one was holding a goodbye card that read "Miss U" with his picture on it.
- Audrey - In "The Manchurian Dinner Date", Alison uses Audrey to gain the likes of Jessica. Audrey is very similar with Emery and share a similar personality, and Emery ends up asking Audrey as his date for the Cattleman's graduation dinner.
Trivia[]
- Emery was named after an emery board.
- While Emery is fully Chinese, his actor, Forrest Wheeler, is half-Caucasian.
- Emery does not have a middle name.
References[]
- ↑ Success Perm
- ↑ Blind Spot
- ↑ Dribbling Tiger, Bounce Pass Dragon
- ↑ So Chineez
- ↑ Family Business Trip
- ↑ Boy II Man
- ↑ Shaquille O'Neal Motors
- ↑ Good Morning Orlando
- ↑ The Big 1-2
- ↑ Huangsgiving
- ↑ The Real Santa
- ↑ Year of the Rat
- ↑ Love and Loopholes
- ↑ Phil's Phaves
- ↑ Michael Chang Fever
- ↑ Tight Two
- ↑ Week in Review
- ↑ Jessica Place
- ↑ Hi, My Name Is...
- ↑ Rent Day
- ↑ Gotta Be Me
- ↑ The Manchurian Dinner Date
- ↑ Bring the Pain
- ↑ Coming from America
- ↑ Breaking Chains
- ↑ Louisween
- ↑ Help Unwanted?
- ↑ College
- ↑ Grandma's Boys
- ↑ S'Mothered
- ↑ Hal-Lou-Ween
- ↑ Chestnut Gardens
- ↑ Practicum?!
- ↑ TMI: Too Much Integrity
- ↑ Lou Wants to Be a Millionaire
- ↑ Jessica Town
- ↑ A Seat at the Table
- ↑ The Magic Motor Inn