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Alison Herman
TV Critic
aherman2006 See All
Courtesy of Hulu One of the more baffling mysteries in modern entertainment is why the 2018 blockbuster “Crazy Rich Asians,” a rom-com that grossed $239 million worldwide on a $30 million production budget, didn’t get a sequel. We maynever know the answer, but eight years later, the Hong Kong-set soapy drama “The Season” offers a spiritual — if not literal — successor to that film’s escapist cosmopolitan fantasy.
“The Season,” which was created by Yalun Tu and will air on Hulu in the United States, is not based on any underlying IP. Nevertheless, the plot recycles many tropes familiar from not only “Crazy Rich Asians,” but countless stories about the wealthy and their insular, corrupt worlds. Our designated audience surrogate is token outsider Cola Pierce (Jessie Mei Li), an aspiring banker from Michigan taken under the wing of self-made financial adviser Carrie Shen (Celina Jade), who sees a kindred spirit in a fellow interloper. Once Cola has a foot in the door of Hong Kong’s inner sanctum, Carrie introduces her to an array of familiar archetypes: Andrew Fung (Chris Pang), the boorish playboy; Madeline Wong (Yvonne Chapman), the young widow plagued by rumors about her husband’s death; most importantly, Christopher and Fiona Hext (Toby Stephens and Karena Lam), the golden couple who act as the dual suns around which their many satellites revolve.
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