Nebraska Synod ELCA

Kim’s Convenience

“Kim’s Convenience” is a Canadian import streaming on Netflix. It’s focused on a family that runs a convenience store in Toronto. The parents are Korean immigrants and the young adult son and daughter are Canadian-born. Many of the episodes deal with generational differences as well as traditional/eastern contemporary/western cultural conflicts. It’s a comedy, but one that isn’t afraid to address serious and sometimes difficult issues.  Over the arc of the series, it becomes clear why the son is estranged from the parents, and their interactions are realistic in conveying strong feelings—both anger and longing, both disappointment and hope.

The parents are very involved in their local Presbyterian church and their pastors are recurring characters. The children, like many young adults, are less involved with the church but were obviously raised in the faith. The show isn’t afraid to make the church the setting for conversations about faith and life. Marriage, parenting, illness, death and more are all handled with honesty without becoming especially heavy.

For the most part the language and topics are pretty family-friendly. It’s not a comedy with a laugh track; it’s a more thoughtful show, filled with light moments and clever, realistic dialog. It’s easy to indulge a binge of the show as the storyline ties the episodes together. Watch an episode or two and you’ll likely be hooked—and will probably wonder why there aren’t more shows like this.

Kim’s Convenience is available on Netflix.

December’s Staff Pick was written by Bishop Brian Maas.