The Olympics can be incredibly inspiring to watch, which the Huangs found out in Season 4 of Fresh Off the Boat. Michelle Kwan was competing for gold in figure skating, and Jessica Huang got into it; however, Kwan losing the gold medal to Tara Lipinski threw Jessica into a tailspin, so much so that she put together a convincing conspiracy theory.
In 1998, the Winter Olympics were taking place primarily in Nagano, Japan though a few other nearby mountain communities were also locations for some events. Naturally, sports like hockey, luge and skiing were hot tickets, but figure skating often takes center stage. The 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano were no exception.
Kwan and Lipinski were both competing on behalf of the US, and each of them was expected to place, with one of them assumed to take the gold. Those assumptions were correct, as Lipinski won the gold while Kwan got silver. Both competitors were potential gold medalists; although, a lot of figure skating fans believed Kwan was the most likely to win. Jessica Huang was one of those people.
To Jessica, Kwan was an example of someone working hard and that work paying off. Kwan was also a great role model for Emery and Evan, which was why Jessica went into the conspiracy well in Fresh Off the Boat, Season 4, Episode 14. Despite the fact Kwan won silver, Jessica saw it as a loss and did her best to explain it so her hard work narrative still made sense, thus leading to an impressively coherent conspiracy theory.
Essentially, Jessica's theory was Kwan had been replaced by an inferior double to make sure Lipinski won. It was an impressive theory that took into account Kwan's different travel schedules, off-site accommodations and training arrangements. From Jessica's point of view, this all added up to a plan to pull the real Kwan from the competition. She even managed to rope Emery, Evan and Honey into the mix, but they needed confirmation.
That's when Nancy Kerrigan, who was nearby signing books, stepped in. Few people know as much about figure skating and skating-related conspiracy theories as Kerrigan. If Jessica wanted confirmation of her theory, this was the person to go to. Instead, Kerrigan explained why Kwan's travel and accommodations were different from those of the rest of the American Team, but that didn't sit well with Jessica. It also didn't dissuade her from her double theory.
The strange thing about this Fresh Off the Boat episode was that even people who know the history of the 1998 Winter Olympics might have found themselves questioning reality. It was a compelling theory, one that Jessica thought through clearly, and that's what Fresh Off the Boat fans have come to expect from Jessica. She wasn't one to admit she was wrong and this definitely wasn't the time she was going to start.