For those who are not familiar with Kim’s Convenience, here’s a quick overview. This Canadian series is just one of many that Netflix has purchased from CBC in the past, but this trend seems to be slowing. This comedy centers on a family-owned convenience store and its antics. Season 4 was released on Netflix USA (and other regions) on April 1, 2020.
Kim’s Convenience was a corner shop that sold soda pops seven days a week and charmed wholesomeness for five consecutive seasons. After Simu Liu, an actor in the drama about a Korean Canadian family, expressed disappointment at the decision of the producers to cancel the series. Instead, he is moving on with a spinoff series that focuses on Shannon, a non-Asian character in the cast.
Kim’s Convenience Season 5 Review
The finale’s setup is a clear indication of the producers’ plans for a Nicole Power spinoff series. The stage for action in this season’s finale is just as Handy Car Rental as the title convenience store. Shannon makes more appearances and is transformed from a bossy, pushy woman to one who has agency and empathy. Shannon’s story is the highlight of the episode, and the finale. You can’t help but be proud of the progress Shannon has made in the final episode.
This shift changes the show’s scope and what you can expect from it. Handy employees occupy a large portion of the show’s run-time. This means that the Kim family’s interpersonal dynamic is not getting enough attention. The trajectories of Janet and Jung take a big hit, especially. Both Jung and Janet look uncertain and less interesting than Shannon. In contrast, Jung was absent for several episodes of the thirteen-episode seasons, as Liu stated in a recent interview.
It is obvious that the show rushes to finish up its storylines. The show’s slow pace picks up around the last quarter of the episode. Despite attempts to keep the resolution organic, the contrivances are obvious. The show’s fun-ness suffers as a result. Some scenes feel like they are just an addendum to the main narrative. Does the humor work? Most of the time, yes. Is it effective? It doesn’t.
Liu, who accuses “overwhelmingly white producers” of failing to allow the Asian-Canadian cast to include their lived experiences in the show, is hard not to notice the divine humor. Despite criticisms that Kim’s Convenience simplified concepts of race or identity, it quietly occupied its place amongst flashier projects. It was groundbreaking in putting an Asian immigrant family front-and-center — Mr Kim or Appa, Mrs Kim or Umma (Jean Yoon), and their two grown children, Jung (Andrea Bang). Korean culture has never been presented with such authenticity before. The norm has never been set for Asian experiences and lives.
Kim’s Convenience, despite its humorous humor and key social issues, dispelled harmful stereotypes. It showed Jung as someone who lacks ambition in academia, or Janet as someone who studies photography, rather than a more traditional subject. It successfully straddled comedy and social issues with equal ease, earning praises.
The show also highlights some very serious issues, such as the need to have personal space, medical marijuana, and fluidity of gender. Kim’s Convenience, however, avoids discussing sexuality or identities. This is a sign that Kim residence isn’t ready to have a discussion. It’s smart and fits Appa’s conservatism. It could also be possible that the makers kept the arc for a future series, but didn’t get to flesh it out.
Final Verdict on Kim’s Convenience Finale
The fifth season of Kim’s Convenience is a success, regardless of its flaws. It’s always uplifting and the bittersweet banter and heartfelt reconciliations of the family are the most clever sucker punches to your gut. The family engages in their trademark cross-generational repartee and leaves you very ill-prepared for letting go of your pandemic support television.
