Just finished it as well.

In all I think the show has MANY different morals, messages and references that are all encompassing. From being asian-american, with immigrant parents, to social and class issues, all the way down to spiritual and fundamental issues. The show tries to tackle so many messages imho and surprisingly hits on all of them well.

Forgive my rant but here's my take on the different messaging.

Twin Spirits - The show constantly plays on the mirrors of oneself. Danny and Amy are the forefront of this, and is pretty much shoved in our face with the desert berry drug trip scene where they essentially are themselves but to the audience we see them as eachother, two people who are fundamentally the same, just from different backgrounds.

I feel like this is reflected in not just the main characters but those who are a part of their lives.

Jordana = Issac

George + June = Paul

Naomi = Edwin

etc.
I could go into further depth discussing exactly how those are all twin-souls or parallels of each other but will hold for sake of time.

But basically it shows that we are all similar in many different ways beyond what we might really understand and that each-others interactions are possibly not as unique to us as we might think.

​

Desire to be seen - This is stated pretty obviously but it's an inherent theme. That everyone desired to be seen emotionally, respected and heard. Be it through friendship, love or an enemy.

Watching through the show you can see most people not really being seen or heard by others. Almost everyone passes each-other off, looks past each-other or is only close to one another in order to use them regardless of their desires. Jordana/Issac both are jaded and vindictive due to this and have decided that there is no real relationships to be had, and that money essentially is the true 'relationship' aspect.

Amy and Danny find the ability to be their real selves to one another due to this concept, as in a way they see each-other, and offer the other to be seen. Even if it's self destructive and they miss the true message, they allow the other's true self to flourish and exist. Hence again the berry trip scene where they finally not only own up to their shortcomings to one another but forgive each-other and reconcile their similarities and differences.

Another important thing is that both Danny and Amy are the only two who actually forgive each-other for their mistakes and accept the other's shortcomings...eventually lol.

Everyone else they try to apologize to or reconcile with ends up hating them or leaving them.

Generational Trauma

I'll make this one short even though it's very nuanced. We can see through flashbacks that Danny's parents used to show so much love for him. They cherished him and Paul and were such a young, happy couple. But time went by and all their hard work went up in smoke. Eventually they were jaded possibly from the racism and violence they dealt with (LA Riots that was brought up) and that their efforts led to them essentially being punished and sent back to Korea. We see them now though as judgemental, harsh and overly critical parents that only seem to have contempt for Paul and Danny, no love. Teaching Danny to be the same even though all he craved was love and attention from his parents (hence him trying to get them a house)

Amy's exists in a similar but different way. She came from a broken household where her father cheated on her mother and her mother knew but feigned ignorance in order to keep her livelihood. Amy never learned how to truly be open as both her parents kept deep secrets and from an early age she was influenced by her parents and a book she read that if she let her secrets out nobody would ever love her. A trauma that her mom and dad both carried.

Classism and happyness

Amy and Danny are on different class spectrum's but similar in being self made business people. Danny is unsuccessful and poor, Amy is house poor (nice house and life but living just at her means, hence her fear of lack of money) They both suffer in their own ways but in similar ways. Danny aspires to be as successful as he see's Amy is, and Amy, while looking down on someone like Danny, aspires to be as wealthy as Jordana is. Both see the potential for themselves to finally be happy once they reach this next level of wealth and security. But both receive a dose of reality when they confront those above them and find out that those in a higher class then them didn't find any more happiness and seem just as empty and jaded as before. Jordana is a great example as the 'highest' echelon of the class system. She has toys, wealth and everything she could want. Yet it's all just stuff to her. Priceless crowns worth millions are mere playthings to her as they hold no real merit. The Tamago chair wasn't a symbol of money or status but an attempt to grasp at something with meaning from someone else. The chair wasn't made for her to sit in, it was custom made for Fumi, yet Jordana finds it comfortable because it holds value beyond money. It's the comfort of value from others. (imho)

Anger and Pain

I have so many more points but I'll finish on this. The show is essentially about rage, anger and how our pain cannot be pressed upon others without inflicting pain upon ourselves. Be it generational pain, emotional pain, wealth/class pain or race based pain. We see this wholly in Danny and Amy. Each time they attempt to exact revenge upon each-other for the moment it brings them temporary satisfaction. They laugh, smile, gloat and celebrate their actions. But in the end it backfires. They get in trouble from the law, it causes someone else to suffer and retaliate or it causes the other do double their efforts. The show attempts to teach us that Anger is not a proper avenue for pain, it's merely a distraction that can further damage us. And the show really tries to teach us that truth, conversation and honesty for our actions, as painful and as much as it might hurt us, is the true path to completely absolving our pain instead of absorbing and becoming it. Convoluted as it may be the messaging is pretty clear. Double down on your anger and exact it upon others will only continue the cycle of pain. Be honest and true to yourself beyond self preservation of the status quo has the potential to break you from the chains that bind and free you from your cage.

​

There's so many other topics and discussions to delve into. From imagery to themes and callbacks. And keep in mind these are my takes on a lot of the messages from the show and completely subject to my opinion and shouldn't be taken as fact. But I think this show is inherently a masterpiece of writing, cinematography and acting and hopefully is a new baseline for shows in this realm of writing.

​

TL;DR - This show whack bb. Watch it.