Figures of Light

Beef 1×10

Danny Cho: Why'd you make me do that?!

Amy Lau: Hey! Hey, come back here.
Danny Cho: No. Use nice words!

Amy Lau: Next time someone honks at you, maybe let it go.
Danny Cho: Maybe next time, think twice before you honk. How about that?
Amy Lau: Why are you angry all the time?
Danny Cho: I could ask you the same thing.

Danny Cho: Can I get you anything else? Tea? Dessert?

Danny Cho: You know what your problem is? You only think about yourself.
Amy Lau: Your problem is you only bitch about everybody else.
Danny Cho: Let's just stop talking, okay?

Danny Cho: You know, you're born, you make choices, then suddenly... you're here.
Amy Lau: Great summary.

Danny Cho: What the fuck did we eat?
Amy Lau: Something poisonous.
Danny Cho: I thought you were a plant expert?
Amy Lau: I just Google shit and pretend I am.

Danny Cho: You know, everyone born in the '80s got fucking screwed, like, fast food, candy, fucking secondhand smoke... Look, just think about it. We hit puberty right when they invented the Internet. And then when we left home, that's when ethernet became a thing.
Amy Lau: Right.
Danny Cho: All that porn.
Amy Lau: Uncharted territory.
Danny Cho: Yeah, it was like Wild, Wild West shit. I didn't even have to search. I grabbed whatever was available. You know what, we were the guinea pigs, right? We got used.

Amy Lau: What if our generation started copying the porn that they saw in real life? And then real life became the porn. Like digital... Like a digital-analog bridge.
Danny Cho: Oh, whoa.
Amy Lau: Right, like... we're the reason choking is mainstream now.
Danny Cho: It is?
Amy Lau: Yeah, all the kids are doing it. They don't even know that it used to be less common.

Danny Cho: I think [Paul] just wanted to feel seen. I mean, we all do, right?
Amy Lau: I don't want anyone to see who I really am.

Amy Lau: Why is it so hard for us to be happy?

Danny Cho: Yo, by the way, what's up with your tattoo?
Amy Lau: It's the number 22.
Danny Cho: Right, but why 22?
Amy Lau: Did you know Joseph Heller titled his book Catch-18 but his editor arbitrarily changed it to Catch-22?

Danny Cho: Maybe we're not normal. Maybe we're too fucked up.
Amy Lau: Or maybe normal people are just delusional fucked up people. Either way, that's why I don't believe in God.
Danny Cho: What do you mean? Why would a God make it like this?
Amy Lau: Well, if God is everything, then we're God. That means God is just like us. Maybe that's why everything is the way it is. God's just trying not to feel alone in nothingness.

Danny Cho: Wow. There's really nothing after this.
Amy Lau: We should have done this more often.
Danny Cho: What a waste.
Amy Lau: At least we did it once.

Danny Cho: We're still here?

—
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The Great Fabricator

Beef 1×9

Jordan: She's so attentive. Is that a cultural thing or...?
Amy Lau: No, Jordan, it's not a cultural thing.

Jordan: I get it. Really, I do. Divorce is tough. But... Everything fades, Amy. People, things, experiences. You just gotta keep... grabbing what you can. Right? That's what makes life so wonderful. There's always something.

Jordan: Have you ever heard of zugzwang?
Isaac Cho: What the fuck you going off about?
Jordan: It's the point in chess where you have to make a move, but every move is a loss.

Isaac Cho: It wasn't supposed to be like this.
Amy Lau: If you let me go now, there's a chance you'll get out in, what, like... five years? Maybe? And you can start over. You can...

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The Drama of Original Choice

Beef 1×8

Amy Lau: Fumi, why are you helping me?
Fumi Nakai: I'm a helpful person.
Amy Lau: You know, if we get divorced, he's gonna get half of everything. You're not gonna need me for these shopping sprees anymore.
Fumi Nakai: I've heard you say my son is the anchor you've been missing your whole life, and that may be true. But without you, he'd be sitting at the bottom of the ocean, dull and gray. He's no artist.

Bruce Lau: You act like we're so evil. What did we ever do, huh? We provided. We sacrificed. We moved here just for you. What do we get in return?
Amy Lau: You didn't even wanna have me.

Hanh Trinh Lau: What's going on? Tell me.
Amy Lau: More and more when I look in the mirror, I see you and Dad... and I hate it. I know that sounds ungrateful, okay, and I don't know, maybe you felt the same way about your parents too at some point. You know, just generations of bad decisions sitting inside you.
Hanh Trinh Lau: You'll realize this as you get older, but if you look back all the time, you crash. Whatever's going on, put it behind you.

George Nakai: I... I don't understand how you could hate this guy so much. Are you obsessed with him?
Amy Lau: I don't know. I don't think it's him. It... I've been like this my entire life. I want to blame my parents... but I think it's just me.

Danny Cho: Did you say arson?!

Danny Cho: Dude, if she really did this, man... it's over. It's over. There's no holding back. I'm going all out.

Danny Cho: Why...? Why did you...? That... What you did was not nice! It's not nice to do that!

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I Am a Cage

Beef 1×7

George Nakai: We love that Mommy gets to work whenever she wants. Right, Junie?
Junie: Yep. Thank God the deal closed.
Amy Lau: Oh, my God, we probably talked about that way too much. Junie, there's more important things in life than deals and money, okay? There's love, sweetheart.
Junie: Okay!

Amy Lau: Hey, Dr. Lin, um... Do you, uh...? Do you really think it's possible... to love someone unconditionally?
Dr. Lin: What do you mean?
Amy Lau: Well, uh... You know, there must be some point where... where we all, like, fall outside the reach of love, right? Like, the mistake is so big and then... And then the love has to stop.

George Nakai: You know who you should talk to?
Danny Cho: Ah. Western therapy doesn't work on Eastern minds.
George Nakai: No, you should talk to my wife.
Danny Cho: What?!

Naomi: I just wanted her to be happy, and, um... we know how it sounds.
Jordan: Sister-in-law turned fiancée. My brother is pissed, but, you know, this was meant to be.
Danny Cho: Jurassic Park. "Life finds a way."
Jordan: Yes! That's right.
Naomi: Wow, I love that!
Danny Cho: I just watched that, so... Right.

Amy Lau: What do you need?
Danny Cho: I just want to know if... you're like, I don't know, happy and shit.
Amy Lau: What?
Danny Cho: All your hard work paid off, right? You're fulfilled?

Danny Cho: I just want to know if I've got to get to where you are.
Amy Lau: Everything fades. Nothing lasts. We're just a snake eating its own tail.

Danny Cho: Remember that road rage shit I was telling you about?
Paul Cho: Yeah.
Danny Cho: That's Amy.

—
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We Draw a Magic Circle

Beef 1×6

Danny Cho: All right, I let that plant lady get the best of me. Okay, psychologically, but it's all over now.

Isaac Cho: It's fucked up. I'm using my connects to get you free materials. I set up all this church shit while you fucking idiots are playing Ocean's 9-11... Hey, that's a joke.
Danny Cho: I got it.
Isaac Cho: Fucking laugh when something's funny.
Danny Cho: Okay.

Paul Cho: Yo, that girl got me fucked up, man. Got me thinking it's all easy.
Danny Cho: Yeah, man. I mean she's white, right?

Paul Cho: You know what I realized? I'm realizing, like, money is really important.

Danny Cho: We don't have to talk about Kayla. But when a door closes, just lock that shit, you know? Then she's outside. You walk upstairs, open a window, watch her wander the streets. Easy.
Paul Cho: I mean, yeah, like, it's fine because I broke up with her. So... I'm the trash man.
Danny Cho: That's right. That's what we do. Cho bros.

Amy Lau: I'm not threatening you. A threat would sound like, "Do as you're told or I will motherfucking bury you."

Danny Cho: What the fuck? Can you see me?

Amy Lau: Are you sure you're done? We can keep shopping. Anything you want? It's on me.
Fumi Nakai: You've always been so generous, and I'm sure you'll continue to be.

Amy Lau: Fumi, I wanted to address the elephant in the room.
Fumi Nakai: Elephant? I don't see an elephant. I see shapes and swirls and patterns.

Fumi Nakai: Haru and I loved each other deeply. We wanted the same things out of life. We achieved so much together. But financial stability was not one of them. There was a time when we worried over money, but he taught me something very important. The moment you begin to worry, the moment you acknowledge the worry, you solidify it into existence, which is why we chose to ignore, and ignore we did.
Amy Lau: I'm not sure I follow.
Fumi Nakai: Well, look at me now. Buying everything I want...

Fumi Nakai: Amy, all you have is perception. There is no objective truth. You create the truth you want to inhabit. So, what do you want for your family? What do you want for yourself?

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Such Inward Secret Creatures

Beef 1×5

George Nakai: There's no bad way of interpreting art. Say whatever comes to mind.
Danny Cho: I mean, you know, I don't know if it's right, but... Uh, I don't know, it kind of makes me... feel sad. Gives me like a... a sticky feeling inside, I don't know, like in my chest, in my legs.

George Nakai: I don't know, sometimes I just feel like a fraud, you know?
Danny Cho: Hmm.
George Nakai: When my dad passed away, my first thought was, "I wonder if he died disappointed." No one ever told me otherwise, so, um...

—
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Just Not All at the Same Time

Beef 1×4

Danny Cho: Yo, I don't fuck with that type of white woman. They act like they got no power, they got all of it.
Isaac Cho: You met her?
Danny Cho: I don't need to, I just know. When Paul is cleaning his room, white devil pulling strings.

Danny Cho: Yo, we should take this too, man. It's Daewoo. Support Korean manufacturing.
Isaac Cho: Hey, you know who you are? You're Korean Robin Hood.
Danny Cho: Oh, yeah?
Isaac Cho: And I'm Korean Aladdin.

Amy Lau: Wait. You don't go out in Vegas?
Jordan: Honey, most of our employees are middle class. They don't like to see me enjoying myself. That's why I have to dress down for conferences.
Amy Lau: Smart.
Jordan: You have to keep up the illusion, people always prefer it to reality. That's just the way it is.

Isaac Cho: That's why you smack them maknaes or they turn out like this. They never get disciplined like we do.
Danny Cho: Parents are too tired after the first one. Their oldest always gets it worse. Every time.

Amy Lau: Now, I say that... It's not all about you.
Paul Cho: You sound like my brother. ... He works so hard for everyone but himself, and I see how unhappy he is.

Paul Cho: I just wish he'd leave me alone. I don't need that kind of energy around me, you know? It is selfish for broken people to spread their... brokenness.

Paul Cho: You know how in video games... like, when other people die, the game keeps going, but then when you die, it's game over? I think life's like that.
Amy Lau: Mm. Deep... So then are you the main player? Or me?

Jordan: Yes! Yes, yes. Amazing. Welcome to the family. Great job with the hecklers, by the way. That's typical Vegas riff-raff. Pains me that that's the average Forsters consumer.
Amy Lau: Well, hey, nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence... of the American public, right?

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I Am Inhabited by a Cry

Beef 1×3

Amy Lau: I've found ways to manage my stress.
Dr. Lin: What have you found works for you?
Amy Lau: Well, you know, I just close my eyes and clear my head, and focus on my breathing... My mind wanders to some silly places sometimes but it's okay. The human brain, wow, right?
Dr. Lin: That's great, Amy.
George Nakai: I've been telling her to meditate for years! I've sent her so many links.
Amy Lau: And thank you for the links, George.

Dr. Lin: Now, Amy, when he says that and you hear him saying that, what does that make you want to say?
Amy Lau: Cards on the table? I wanna say he's right.

Amy Lau: It's hard to admit, but... I think growing up with my parents taught me to repress all my feelings.
George Nakai: Breakthrough moment, babe.
Dr. Lin: Amy, that's very... self-aware.
Amy Lau: Thank you.
Dr. Lin: You know, when we're stressed, we revert to the pathways we created as children.
Amy Lau: No. Yeah, I mean, it all comes down to parents and I'm excited to dig into that.

Danny Cho: I almost lit a baby on fire!

Paul Cho: So who made your day so shitty and where do I have to go to beat them up?
Amy Lau: Um, it's just my boss. I hate having to put her feelings before mine all the time.
Paul Cho: Old people are stupid like that, taking it out on us because they regret their life decisions.
Amy Lau: Totally.

Paul Cho: What else do you hate?
Amy Lau: Uh, gosh, you know, it's a... No one's ever asked me that before. Um... Well, to be honest, uh... I hate pretending that I don't hate things.
Paul Cho: Like what?
Amy Lau: Mm. Like work. I... I hate work. I wish I could just, like, do nothing all day. Not have to worry about money.

Isaac Cho: See, that's your problem, man. You're too nice. I live by four words only. "Pro bono? No bono."

George Nakai: ... I get down too. Like, I never pictured myself being a stay-at-home dad, you know. I never thought my art would be secondary to anything. But I embrace the sadness. I mean, since we're both being vulnerable, I admit, sometimes I think about what my life would have been like had you and I never met.
Amy Lau: Wow. I never knew you felt that way.
George Nakai: Yeah. I guess I'm just sharing, because I want you to know you're not alone. You can share anything.
Amy Lau: Yeah, I know. Thank you. Thank you for sharing, George.
George Nakai: You're welcome.

Jordan: So many toys... This is why we have wives.

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The Rapture of Being Alive

Beef 1×2

Amy Lau: Honey, you shouldn't be cleaning up another man's piss.
George Nakai: You never know what someone's going through in life. Might be bladder issues.
Amy Lau: What?
George Nakai: Why else would he urinate on the floor?

Danny Cho: I was thinking we should start a new contracting company. As brothers.
Paul Cho: Why? You call me lazy like 14 times a day.
Danny Cho: That's just tough love.

Naomi: Did you see the road rage thing on Nextdoor? ... Oh, my gosh, look at this. I mean, can you believe that? I can't understand what those people are so angry about.
Amy Lau: Ah, you know, I mean, most people don't understand that... anger is just a transitory state of consciousness.

Jordana: So tell me, is all of that true or made up?
George Nakai: I'm sorry, what?
Jordana: A good story drives the price, as we know.
George Nakai: I have photos of my mom sitting naked on the mold!
Jordana: Really? How much?

Danny Cho: Hey, man. When you're 40, 50, you're gonna wanna come home to your girl making kimchi jjigae.
Paul Cho: Maybe I want her to come home to me making chicken parm.
Danny Cho: What?!
Paul Cho: I want her to come home to me making her chicken parm!
Danny Cho: It's okay to mess around with white girls now, but when you settle down, listen to Mom and Dad, bring home a nice Korean girl, you know? You think they'll want their grandkids looking up at them with huge round eyes, like fucking bugs?

Paul Cho: Yo, you waste way too much time following arbitrary rules. Why you talking all weird? "I gotta build my business before I start a family." "I gotta listen to Mom and Dad and bring home a nice Korean girl." Bro, just... just live.

Amy Lau: You ever notice how it's only people who have money that think money isn't important? The Buddha is only the Buddha because he was a prince first, right? He had stuff to renounce.

Amy Lau: Now you listen to me, Daniel. I would love to let this go. .... But here's the thing. Actions have consequences. So I'm gonna find you and take what little you have.

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The Birds Don't Sing, They Screech in Pain

Beef 1×1

Danny Cho: That's what's wrong with the world today, man. They want you to feel like you have no control. You know? Like you're gonna eat shit with a smile on your face or some shit. Fuck that, dude. Fuck it, man! I don't wanna... I'm so sick of smiling, dude.

Amy Lau: It was 4:00 a.m. and the whole city was silent. No meetings. No e-mails. No pretending. It was just you and me. And there was nothing wrong anywhere in the entire universe. I wish we could've stayed there...

Amy Lau: Hey, you're not some kind of weirdo, right? 'Cause if you are, you should know that I own a gun.

Amy Lau: Fuck. There's always something.
Danny Cho: Yes. There's always something.
Amy Lau: It's, like, you work so hard for so long just to provide for your family, right?
Danny Cho: Yeah. If not you, then who's gonna?
Amy Lau: Yeah, exactly.
Danny Cho: Yeah.
Amy Lau: And then at some point, you think you'd get to relax, but no. There's too much moisture, so now I gotta redo these fucking cabinets. I gotta redo the roof probably, and then by the time I'm done, I'm running out of money, the kitchen's out of style, and the whole time, all I wanted was a fucking hot tub.
Danny Cho: You have a timeless kitchen. So I think you're okay.

—
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