At first of Deli Boys, the brand new Hulu collection from author Abdullah Saeed, brothers Raj (Saagar Shaikh) and Mir (Asif Ali) are having one hell of a foul week: First, their dad dies in a (freakishly comedic) golf accident. Then, they discover out that their late father Baba (Iqbal Theba), a Pakistani immigrant who based a series of profitable delis, was additionally a drug kingpin, a growth that comes with some main penalties — and raises some main questions — for the Dar brothers. Now that they’ve tenuously inherited this drug operation, what occurs subsequent?
The one assure? Pure chaos. The very first thing viewers see is a principally bare man, bloodied and with a paper bag over his head, working out of the ABC Deli. We rapidly be taught that Baba immigrated to america with simply $3 in his pocket, constructing an empire of ABC Delis in Philadelphia and past on the again of the Mega Glug, a gallon-sized, reusable mug that may nonetheless match right into a automobile’s cup holder. All of the whereas, Baba was constructing an equally giant unlawful enterprise, importing cocaine from Peru, and fascinating in an entire host of fraudulent actions in pursuit of the American dream.
His sons, after all, couldn’t be extra totally different from their father — or one another. Raj is a pot-smoking, shaman-dating bon vivant, and Mir is a neurotic over-achiever who can’t cease speaking about his Drexel College diploma and his want to be named CEO of his father’s firm, DarCo. They’re each spoiled brats completely unaware of their father’s illicit enterprise, making them ill-prepared to step up into his position as a fearsome drug lord. Thankfully, they’ve received their tough-yet-glamorous auntie Fortunate (Poorna Jagannathan) to point out them the ropes, though she thinks they’re each idiots and has her sights set on taking on Baba’s enterprise herself. It’s this tenuous, and unsubtle, ally who reveals them how their father got here up with the ingenious thought of stuffing kilos of cocaine into pungent jars of achaar, or South Asian pickles, to confuse the noses of drug-sniffing canine.
Issues get much more difficult when the FBI busts into DarCo headquarters, arrests Auntie Fortunate, and accuses the late Baba of partaking in many years of fraud and tax evasion, shutting down the delis completely. That’s all earlier than the brothers discover out about “darkish DarCo,” the hidden aspect of the enterprise wherein the delis are used as a entrance for a complicated cocaine operation.
With the delis out of fee, Fortunate, Raj, and Mir are tasked with creating a brand new distribution route for his or her cocaine. Mir has the good thought to run the jars of achaar by means of an Indian restaurant, which he says wouldn’t elevate suspicion. Nevertheless, he rapidly runs into his household’s personal anti-Indian racism — and a very shrewd restaurant proprietor — as they attempt to negotiate the deal. From there, the hijinks solely go additional off the rails because the brothers Dar attempt to dodge rival gangsters with a watch on their territory, the cops, and their very own incompetence.
All through its 10 episodes, Deli Boys proves itself to be a deeply Philadelphia present, regularly going effectively past the TastyKakes on the cabinets of ABC Deli to make use of meals for instance its love for town. There’s a philosophical meditation on the cheesesteak (an argument asserting it because the true exemplar of one thing that’s greater than the sum of its elements), and it’s surprisingly profound. At an Eagles-watching occasion in one other episode, followers of the reigning Tremendous Bowl champions will discover a delicate pretzel sculpture within the likeness of Nick Foles, the quarterback who helped the franchise win its first Tremendous Bowl in 2018. Consistent with different Philly-set reveals like It’s All the time Sunny in Philadelphia and Abbott Elementary, Deli Boys revels a bit in its residence metropolis’s gritty, rough-around-the-edges status.
Should you love the breakneck depth of The Bear, which additionally airs on Hulu, Deli Boys will possible be proper up your alley. It’s decidedly a darkish comedy with no scarcity of gore and violence, most of that are performed for laughs. Stabbings, shootings, and even dismemberment will encourage a chuckle or two in most individuals watching, however anybody who’s a bit extra squeamish will most likely be turned off by its gratuitous use of faux blood. What the 2 reveals obtain, although, is an exploration of sibling dynamics and household expectations in opposition to the unrelenting chaos of working the household enterprise. It’s simply that on this case, the household enterprise additionally includes working medication.
The present additionally takes an irreverent have a look at the expectations heaped onto the shoulders of the kids of immigrants, who’re typically anticipated to dwell a model of the “American Dream” that simply doesn’t really feel potential anymore. It in some way manages to deftly navigate turning heavy points like racism, assimilation, and Islamophobia into the butt of many jokes. There are not any flat “mannequin minorities” or different stereotypes right here, only a bunch of difficult (often horrible) folks attempting to determine the way to promote a bit cocaine.
What actually sells the slapstick jokes and gratuitous violence, although, is the present’s solid. For all of the violence, that is actually a meditation on what it means to be household, and there’s an entire lot of coronary heart between the gunshots and cocaine-cooking. Poorna Jagannathan is great because the tough-as-nails aunty whose backstory with Baba is extra difficult than Raj and Mir know. A feat solely achieved as a result of the on-screen interaction between Raj’s stoner sensibilities and Mir’s neuroses is simply that good. I may consider that Saagar Shaikh and Asif Ali have been truly brothers in actual life based mostly on the nuances of their seemingly long-simmering grudges and ill-timed spats. Even its temporary performances, like Queer Eye trend professional Tan France’s shocking flip as a gun-wielding gangster and the hopeless bumbling of FBI Director Simpson (Tim Baitz), are equally compelling.
Whereas Deli Boys will not be explicitly a meals present, which truly feels a bit refreshing on this context. It doesn’t use platters of biryani to convey its cultural competence, as an alternative using inside jokes and “if you understand you understand” references to discover the layered identities of its characters. There are nonetheless some nice meals moments, although — the aforementioned pretzel sculpture really is a marvel — to get you thru the remainder of the mayhem and violence.
Deli Boys is streaming on Hulu on March 6.
