“The Brother’s Sun” is a dark comedy action about a Triad from Taiwan. Things go haywire when the head of the Jade Family is in danger, and this leads to the eldest son taking charge and protecting the family. He visits LA and reunites with his mother and brother. Things start to escalate, and they have to protect each other and get rid of all their enemies. There are twists and turns throughout but with a lot of dark Asian humor. This article contains spoilers.
The Brother’s Sun (Season 1) Recap:
Episode 1: Pilot
The episode begins in Taipei, Taiwan. Charles is baking with perfection while watching a baking show. As he puts the cake in the oven, three masked men attack him. Charles showcases his fighting skills by taking down the men with a rolling pin. The juxtaposition of his fighting movements and the ups and downs on the baking show is in harmony. Once he kills them all, he is most upset about burning his cake. A duo arrives to clean up the bodies.
One of them is nicknamed the “Blood Boots” and does not like to clean up after other people’s mess as he used to be the killer. Charles comes from a rich family and is the head of the Triads in Taiwan. His father is in hiding, but he visits Charles after his killing spree. The first thing he asks Charles is if he has burned something. In fact, he is upset that Charles is reckless and jumps to conclusions.
He tells Charles that he should have kept one alive to know who was behind the attack. Charles is sure it is Sleepy Chan, who is the Sun family’s biggest competitor. They are discussing what to do, and a bullet hits his father’s stomach. Later, Charles’s father is in a coma, and his father’s assistant reminds him that he must take care of his family as it is a priority. Charles’s mother and brother are living in LA. In LA, Eileen Sun and Bruce are living a quiet life.
Bruce is earning extra money by being a driver. Eileen is not supportive of his passion for improv. Bruce is soft and sensitive, unlike Charles. He had spent his semester’s tuition fee on improv and is now finding ways to make that money. He is hesitant but takes up a job selling drugs at a club because of the insistence of his childhood friend.
Charles is now in LA and visits his mother’s house. The same masked men group from Taiwan follow Charles. The masked man attacks Charles, and they get into a fight. Charles tries to get information out of this man and asks if Sleepy Chan has sent him. The man laughs and says, “Riddance of evil must be thorough.” The man dies, and Charles waits in the house. Eileen Sun returns home and is happy to see Charles. She updates him with everything and says Bruce thinks his father is a gambler, and his brother is in Antarctica studying penguins. The dead body in her house doesn’t surprise Eileen. She instead asks Charles to clean up. Bruce is hesitant in the club as he is not a criminal and is unsure if he can sell drugs. But he agrees to do the job anyway.
Charles comes looking for help to keep his family safe in LA at a club, and in the same club, he finds Bruce. As he is taking him away, the ones who have employed Bruce are furious. The lady in charge, May, recognizes Charles as a legend in Taiwan but asks her men to beat him up. They fight, and Bruce, Charles, and May are the last three standing. The masked men manage to track Charles down, and the wall behind the trio blows up.
Subsequently, the masked men enter the building but don’t see Charles. Bruce helps Charles up, and they get out. Although Charles is hurt, TK shows up to save them. Bruce brings Charles home and is shocked to see his mother cleaning up a dead body. Eileen asks Charles to freshen up and help her and orders Bruce to sleep as he has school the next day.
Episode 2: Favour for Favour
The episode begins with Charles chopping up the dead man in the house like a butcher. Bruce wakes up and is horrified to see a dead man chopped up in his living room. Charles asks Bruce to step up and help him. But Bruce is confused and lost with everything that is happening. TK, on the other hand, loves the fact that Bruce is from a gangster family. He respects Charles like he is his boss.
Eileen asks Charles to get rid of the chopped body and drop Bruce off at school as he has a test, which would be taken into account for the final grades. Charles, however, does not take Bruce to school but to a warehouse to dispose of the body. Bruce is put to this task and comes out with an Asian water Minotaur. Charles confronts the man and is informed that it is a favor for a favor. They have to deliver the animal to a man called Spider.
Charles shows the dead assassin’s head that he is carrying around to find out who the man is. Charles reaches Spider’s house and asks Spider about the dead assassin. Spider is terrified as he seems to know what gang the man is from. However, Bruce distracts them, trying to inform them that there are assassins on the way to kill them. The assassins attack, and Charles fights them, saving Bruce as well. The assassins kill Spider.
The brothers escape, and Bruce seems to remember the time spent together with Charles as a child. Charles had stolen their mother’s vehicle to buy Bruce something. Eileen calls Charles and tells him that he did not need to do any favors and had to only dispose of the body. Obviously, Charles is scared of his mother and drops Bruce off at school to take his test. Later, Bruce meets a girl called Grace in school. Charles sees Churros and can’t help but eat one.
Cops are investigating the club that was blown up. They find CCTV footage, track down TK, and ask him about Charles and Bruce. The cop, Alexis, finds Bruce and finds out everything about him in school. Alexis and her partner run into Charles, and they recognize each other. Alexis and Charles were childhood friends in Taiwan. As her partner approaches Charles, the water Minotaur enters the campus.
Bruce saves Charles, and they rush home. At home, Eileen is mad at Charles for taking Bruce along to do the dirty work. She reveals to Charles that she knows who the dead assassin is and how she has tracked him down. Bruce has questions about his family and asks Eileen, and she tells him that they had to come to LA to hide and keep him in the dark to protect him. He tells her that he wasn’t that sensitive and that he had run towards danger that day and not away from it.
Charles makes an effort to get close to his brother and tells him that he does remember the time he had stolen their mother’s car. He tells him that it was the night before they had left for LA. Alexis finds Eileen’s house and talks to him. He is not very comfortable sharing his number or talking to a cop, but she reminds him that she always knew about his family. She asks him to call her so they can catch up and leave. The next day, Bruce is at school, and Grace is interested in watching Bruce perform. As they converse, Bruce sees an intimidating girl outside the window and is scared. Consequently. he sneaks out of the classroom to run away from the girl but sees her walking towards him in the corridor.
Episode 3: Whatever You Want
The episode begins with Bruce getting kidnapped by June (the intimidating girl), May’s sister. June is also the person who kidnapped TK. Charles is on a call with his father’s assistant, who is giving him an update about his father. Subsequently, Charles asks him to find a way to get a face-to-face meeting with Sleepy Chan. Charles and Alexis meet for lunch, and they can’t seem to meet halfway with anything, as Charles does not want to be associated with cops, and she is insistent she isn’t one. Eileen calls Charles and informs him about Bruce’s kidnapping. The duo visits the school, and Grace fills them in about June. Eileen seems to have an idea of who June is.
Eileen and Charles play Mahjong, but Charles thinks it’s a waste of time. During the game, Eileen manages to get some Intel. The information leads them to Tony Tang, who owns the #1 seafood restaurant in Alhambra. He also sells drugs to the White Crane Gang. Charles and Eileen have a different approach to getting information on Bruce. Charles beats the drivers who work for Tony Tang outside, whereas Eileen enters the restaurant to deal with him face-to-face.
She directly asks him about the drugs, and he refuses to know anything of that sort. Charles finds out the location of the warehouse Bruce was in. Bruce, on the other side, is tortured by June. She asks Bruce to give information on Charles, but Bruce refuses to do so. Therefore, June blackmails him that she will draw a penis tattoo on his forehead if he does not cooperate.
Luckily, Charles finds them, and June and Charles prepare for a fight. Bruce stops them and tells June the truth about May’s death. June lets it go. Charles takes June, Bruce, and TK to the new place Eileen had found as a hideout. Eileen comforts and takes care of Bruce and TK. June comforts Charles by saying the older ones are respected. Eileen and June discuss the situation, and June agrees to kill Tony Tang as he is responsible for May’s death.
June also informs Charles that a giant had visited her for a tattoo and gets this phrase: “Riddance of evil must be thorough.” The gang that uses the red ribbon is new, but everyone is terrified of them already. The spectacle June creates by killing Tony Tang will force Sleepy Chan to reveal himself and come to LA. June follows through, and Charles asks Alexis to visit Tony Tang’s restaurant as she will get a big scoop. In fact, one of the cops turns out to be the giant with the red ribbon that Eileen met in the giant’s house.
Episode 4: Square
The episode begins with the Sun family and extended family’s small reunion. Xing and Blood Boots have come to LA as Sleepy Chan had sent a sign that he agrees to meet with Charles. The group also has Bruce and TK having a meal together. Eileen asks the younger boys to leave as the others can discuss serious issues. Charles still believes Bruce should be a part of the discussion, but Eileen stands her ground. Drowsy Chan, Sleepy Chan’s son, has informed Blood Boots that Sleepy Chan is now in LA.
With TK’s help, they decide to have the meeting at a Korean Spa. TK says it is his turf and his boys, and he will set up the appointment. Charles and the group arrive, and Drowsy Chan is waiting for them. It turns out TK knew the owner because of his brother, but he has a reputation for being a dumbass. The owner had agreed to meet only to pay respect to the Jade Family.
Drowsy Chan tells Charles that he agrees to all the conditions except one. Charles returns home with the bad news that Eileen could not come to the meeting as Sleepy Chan did not think it was right. Eileen is upset but carries on with her duties. Meanwhile, Alexis is digging into who the masked men or the Red Ribbon gang could be. She notices a QR code hidden inside the red ribbon. She manages to use the dead man’s fingerprints to get inside the phone. Furthermore, she scans the QR code, and it opens a group chat. She learns that there is a meeting that night at the spa and asks her partner for help, but he refuses to help. When getting into the car, a masked man attacks her. She manages to escape after blinding the man with spicy noodle powder. The Sun family prepares for the meeting.
Bruce decides to join and help his brother out. Charles is thrilled to see him and promises him he will not let him die. Xing, Blood Boots, Charles, and Bruce walk in, but Bruce is taken away silently. Drowsy Chan lets Charles inside a room and gives him a phone. On the other end, it’s Bruce in front of Sleepy Chan. Sleepy Chan is talking in Mandarin, and Bruce is barely able to understand. As the conversation proceeds, Sleepy Chan tells Bruce that they have a common enemy and they have to fight together. Suddenly, two masked men get out of the pits behind Sleepy Chan and kill him.
The whole group is fighting these men. Drowsy Chan joins in and informs Charles that they aren’t his men. Charles and Drowsy join forces and fight these men. They keep one alive, and it turns out he is the cop and the same giant Eileen had met. Drowsy is fighting him, and he shows something in his hand, and the room blows up. Charles barely makes it out alive and sees police car lights.
Episode 5: The Rolodex
The episode begins with Charles in bed, waking up to a loud noise. Disoriented, he doesn’t know where he is. Alexis saved him, and though Charles is uncomfortable talking to a cop, he’s grateful and asks her to retrieve his phone from the spa. Eileen instructs Blood Boots to find Charles while she investigates the unfolding situation. Xing is assigned to keep an eye on Bruce. In class, Xing realizes the significance of Sleepy Chan’s words—the new gang is after Eileen. Bruce, worried about his unresponsive mother, seeks Grace’s help to distract his improv team lead so he can find her.
Grace catches Bruce and Xing on campus and notices Bruce’s distress. Bruce learns that his mother’s life is in danger. Eileen meets Lao Hong for information on the masked men but is betrayed as they bribe Hong. Moreover, she walks into a trap, leaving Bruce and Xing desperate to find her. Bruce and Xing successfully track down Hong in the Mahjong room. Bruce resorts to violence, revealing his gangster side to extract information on Eileen’s whereabouts. Eileen, captured by the Boxers, is coerced into revealing secrets about the Triad heads.
Blood Boots, disobeying Eileen’s order, follows her instead. He informs Bruce and Xing to meet him later under the laundromat sign. Bruce comes up with a plan to save his mother without resorting to violence. Unfortunately, the Boxers find Blood Boots, putting Eileen at a disadvantage. They demand information, threatening to kill Blood Boots. Eileen and Blood Boots reach an understanding, but the Boxers shoot him. Alexis retrieves Charles’s phone, and they talk about their past before sleeping together. Charles asks for another favor, and they discuss the recent deaths of businessmen.
Suspecting Alexis is using him, Charles refuses to share information. A fight ensues, revealing Alexis had put a tracker on his phone. Bruce’s plan works brilliantly. He gathers the ladies from Mahjong to rescue Eileen, only to find Blood Boots dead. Charles arrives home, and they catch up on the events. Eileen decides to give Bruce crucial information to save himself, but Bruce is reluctant. Eileen insists it’s the only way to ensure his survival.
Episode 6: Country Boy
The episode begins with Bruce memorizing all the information given by Eileen. Eileen tells Bruce that he has to go into hiding as his life is in danger, and she is going away for a while and won’t tell him where. Charles and Bruce hide in a famous person’s house. They get there and find Xing and June. June had killed Tony Tang, but it turns out he hadn’t killed May. Alexis has sent two people to keep an eye on Charles. Meanwhile, Eileen is visiting Taiwan and gives presents to various people. She is also visiting her mother, whom she has not met for several years. Her mother tells her that her only sister had passed away because of pancreatic cancer. Eileen is furious as she had requested her husband to contact her only if her family was in danger or something happened to them.
Charles and Bruce try to bond. They play games and get to talking. Everyone watches as Charles bakes and appreciates his talent. Charles permits Grace to visit them in the hideout. They all have a great time. Charles and Bruce get talking, and Charles reveals how he got his nickname, Chairleg Sun. When Charles was 14, his family was in danger as someone was trying to kill them in a restaurant. His father had asked Charles to protect the family, and Charles had murdered the man.
Charles gets a text that TK was found. Bruce asks him to promise him to use his words and not use violence while getting TK back. Charles makes his promise. Grace tells Bruce about her childhood and how her parents had immigrated to America and were mistreated. She asks him to go with her to the volunteer center, and he agrees. The men Alexis had sent were murdered, and a red ribbon was kept in front of their bodies. Charles visits the location and calls Alexis. He tries to smooth things out, but Alexis is cold as her colleagues are listening to the conversation.
Her coldness triggers Charles, and he goes on a violent spree. In the end, when one man asks him to spare his life, he is met with the memories of his first murder, and he lets the man go. He saves TK and leaves. Grace takes Bruce to the volunteer center, but he soon realizes that it is filled with Boxers. She promises that her feelings for him are real, but the bigger plan for Boxers is to stop oppression.
At first, she does not agree to let Charles go but would not harm his mother. Bruce tells her that Charles could change, and after getting her word, he decides to reveal the information. In Taiwan, Eileen visits her husband in the hospital. She pricks his nail to check if he is faking a coma, but he does not react. She tells the man that she is furious he hadn’t called when her sister died, and now she is going to take away his precious empire and do whatever she pleases. Once she leaves, he opens his eyes.
Episode 7: Gymkata
The episode begins with Eileen back in LA. She tells the group that she has warned the ghosts, a.k.a. the other triads, about the threat they face from the Boxers. The ghosts take the warning and kill the Boxers who have come to attack. The ghosts are now coming to LA, and Eileen wants to be the Dragon head in charge of all the Triads. Charles supports his mother. They wonder how the Boxers knew about the remaining ghosts, and Bruce is worried.
TK wants to join the Jade family and be a gangster, but Bruce insults him so he can be spared from getting hurt again. Eileen and Charles are planning the meeting but are interrupted by Charles’s friends visiting from Taiwan. Eileen is surprised to see her husband, Big Sun, and is scared. Big Sun gifts Bruce his dream car and spoils him. It turns out Xing knew about Big Sun’s fake coma and was sent to LA to keep an eye on the family.
Alexis gets information about the Triad heads meeting in LA, and she is tracking Charles’ movements. Big Sun confronts his wife and tells her that she will not be running for the Dragon Head, but it should be Charles. Charles does not want to do it. However, he will not disobey his father. Bruce tries to talk to Eileen and Charles, who don’t give in to his requests. He takes a big decision and meets Grace.
He informs her about the Triads meeting and expresses that he really wants his family out of this mess. At first, Grace does not trust Bruce, but she gives in and agrees to attack the Triads at the meeting. Big Sun insults Eileen for wanting to take the lead. He asks her to admit that she has lost and move on. He tells her he has sent her to LA to serve his purpose and nothing else. Eileen is upset and agrees that she has lost.
It’s the day of the meeting, and Charles is prepared. Eileen and Bruce are not allowed to be at the meeting. Naturally, Bruce is scared and calls June to help him out. He tells June the truth about Grace being the Boxers’ leader and what he had done. June agrees to help him for two reasons. Grace had killed May, and Jade’s family was the only family she had. As they are leaving, TK stops them.
TK tells Bruce that he knows why he pushed him away, but he still wants to help. They let him in, and the trio sneaks into the meeting. The FBI is tracking Charles’s movements. Alexis’s understanding of the Chinese belief system helps them keep track of the Triads. Big Sun nominates Charles to be the Dragon Head but is interrupted when Eileen shows up. Eileen comes prepared and starts to address the group, but Bruce stops her. A Boxer member has planted a bomb in the dessert cart, and he takes it away.
The bomb he throws blows up in front of the FBI. There is chaos when FBI and Boxer members walk in. The Triads’ men are fighting. Bruce and Eileen manage to escape, thanks to June and TK. June and Grace Duel, and June kills Grace. Grace doesn’t mind, as the Triads are dead. TK sits on an FBI officer and helps them escape. Charles gets an opportunity to bring the Chairleg Sun out. Charles and Big Sun escape. The FBI and Alexis count the bodies and watch the bloodbath. Alexis seems to be worried about Charles. Big Sun is humiliated, feels betrayed, and wants to punish Eileen. Charles refuses to kill his mother. Big Sun does not want her to die but suffer every minute of her life. He asks Charles to kill Bruce, which shocks him to the core.
Episode 8: Protect the Family
The episode begins with Alexis trying to get information from Frank Ma, who is arrested. Frank Ma agrees to cooperate only if Big Sun is arrested. Bruce and Eileen find a motel to hide out for a couple of days. Eileen still wants to be the Dragon Head, but Bruce tries to tell her that she isn’t a crime boss. Eileen, for the first time, loses her temper and tells Bruce that nobody has ever asked her what she has wanted, and this is what she wants. Charles finds Bruce and attacks him, but he is unable to pull the trigger.
Eileen stops Charles, and he tells her that Big Sun has sent him to kill Bruce, but he is unable to do it. Charles also won’t be able to go back without killing Bruce. Bruce tries to convince Charles to stand up to Big Sun for once in his life. Eileen and Charles think it won’t be easy. Bruce asks Charles to kill Big Sun, but Charles is furious. Having grown up with his father’s ideologies, killing his father is difficult for Charles.
Charles, however, takes Bruce’s advice and confronts Big Sun. Big Sun tells him America has made him weak, and it was a good thing he had sent his mother and brother away. He also informs him that he had Xing follow him in case he failed to do the job. Big Sun asks Xing and the others to finish the job. Charles is furious and kills his friends. He follows Xing out and shoots, but she drives off.
There are cops in the area who hear the gunshot and arrest Charles. Xing asks Eileen to move away as she wants to kill Bruce. She also insults Eileen, telling her that she does not have what it takes to become the Dragon Head. Eileen shows her combat skills and fights Xing. Eileen kills Xing. Bruce comes home with canned milk and is confused about the situation. Eileen is upset as Bruce has brought the wrong kind of milk.
Charles is in the police station, begging Alexis to let him go, but she does not comply. She wants to know where Big Sun is, but Charles refuses to answer that. Alexis finds Bruce’s number and calls him to the police station. Bruce puts up a performance to win Alexis’s sympathy and get a private meeting with Charles. Bruce tells Charles that he will kill Big Sun, and this is the only way to protect the family.
Charles gives Bruce the location. Bruce walks out and tells Alexis that the Brother’s Sun doesn’t work with cops. Bruce finds his father and takes out his gun. Big Sun is impressed and starts praising Bruce. He also offers Bruce to go back to Taiwan with him and take Charles’s place. Bruce, however, shoots Big Sun. He tells Big Sun that he didn’t want to kill him but only hurt him enough for the cops to show up. Later, Big Sun is taken to the hospital and under police watch.
The Brother’s Sun (Season 1) Ending, Explained:
Will Bruce protect the family?
Alexis lets Charles go unscathed. Bruce, Charles, Eileen, and TK have a great time together as a family. Eileen tells Bruce that she is going to Taiwan to lead the Jade Dragons but in her own way. Bruce tries to stop her as he has done everything to protect the family. Eileen thanks him but tells him that’s what she wants. Eileen also has one last thing to do.
She visits Big Sun in the hospital and gives him insulin even though he doesn’t have diabetes, and this will ensure a slow and painful death. Charles perfects the churro recipe and gives it to Bruce as a going-away present. He is leaving with Eileen and June to Taiwan. Alexis gets promoted. There is a post-credit scene where we see Big Sun’s assistant Yuan plotting something against the Triads or the Jade Family. They are using Frank Ma to testify for them at the trial.
The end is clear: the Jade Family story does not end, and there is so much more to come. With new heads in Taiwan and more enemies made, there will be a lot more challenges going ahead if there is a season 2. The series has dark, stereotypical Asian humor as a running gag and how Hollywood usually portrays Asian immigrants. From the beginning, Eileen pushing Bruce to study despite life and death situations makes you laugh, as Asians are infamous for pressuring their children to get good grades. Bruce’s keeping things in place also comes from the fear of being yelled at, another stereotype of being clean and tidy.
Charles, with the nickname Chairleg Sun, defeats everyone easily but is scared of his parents. He also cannot kill his father despite the trauma he had to endure because of him. The Asian stereotypes continue, as Asian kids are known to obey, respect, and fear their elders. Until the end, we see stereotypical humor after Eileen kills Xing; she is mad about Bruce bringing the wrong milk over the situation at hand. It feeds into the idea that Asians are particular with their cooking.
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