Why are Evelyn and Waymond being audited by the IRS? 

Though Evelyn has spent much of her adult life operating the laundromat that she owns with her husband Waymond, she has not yet fully given up on her other goals and ambitions. As a result, she has a tendency to pick up hobbies that, as Waymond explains to Deirdre at the IRS office, she “confuses” for businesses. She lists a karaoke machine, for example, as a business expense, because she is still holding onto her dream of being a successful singer. Deirdre, however, is skeptical of many of Evelyn’s business expenses and informs her that she will have to complete additional paperwork for each of her different “businesses,” including her attempts to work as a novelist, a singing coach, and a masseuse. As a result of these various irregularities, the IRS has the right to repossess the Wang’s personal and business assets on behalf of their creditors.

Why is Evelyn reluctant to introduce Gong Gong to Becky, Joy’s girlfriend? 

Earlier in her life, Evelyn was estranged from her disapproving father when she decided to marry Waymond. Though she later reconciled with Gong Gong, she still seeks his approval, despite his demanding nature. She is reluctant to introduce Joy’s girlfriend, Becky, to Gong Gong because she continues to fear his disapproval and feels that, because he belongs to an older generation, he will not understand or accept Joy’s same-sex relationship, even though Joy and Becky have been together for three years. Joy feels stung by her mother’s reluctance to introduce Becky to Gong Gong, and she is deeply hurt when Evelyn presents Becky to Gong Gong as Joy’s “friend.” Later, Joy suggests that Evelyn does not accept her relationship with Becky and is merely using Gong Gong as an excuse to hide her own disapproval. By the end of the film, however, Evelyn helps to integrate Becky into their family, demonstrating her changed attitude.  

Why does Joy become a villain in the Alphaverse?  

When Evelyn first begins verse-jumping, Alpha Waymond warns her against growing too attached to any of her alternative lives, as this could have severe consequences for her life and the multiverse. Verse-jumping, he explains, causes a person’s consciousness to crack, as the human mind was not designed to experience multiple different universes simultaneously. Here, Alpha Waymond is thinking about tragic events that transpired in the Alphaverse after Alpha Evelyn encouraged Alpha Joy, her most skilled protege, to push her verse-jumping abilities beyond their limits. Alpha Joy experiences a countless number of different worlds and lives simultaneously. She becomes vastly powerful as a result of her verse-jumping, but she also loses all sense of reality and objective truth, losing her own identity among the infinite number of alternative versions of herself and becoming Jobu Tupaki. When Jobu fights the security guards at the IRS office, her constantly shifting appearance and wardrobe reflect this loss of stable identity, as she is no longer grounded in any specific version of herself. Jobu, then, becomes a villain when she experiences “everything everywhere all at once” and no longer feels that life has any meaning or value. As Jobu, she embodies a deeply nihilistic attitude, creating the Everything Bagel in order to destroy herself because she finds no value in her own existence.  

Why does Alpha Gong Gong attempt to persuade Evelyn to kill Joy?  

When an individual verse-jumps into another alternative universe, they assume control of that universe’s version of themself. When Evelyn first verse-jumps, for example, she controls the body of another version of Evelyn who, after separating from Waymond, becomes a famous martial artist and actress. Similarly, when Jobu Tupaki enters Evelyn’s universe, she assumes control of Joy’s body, because Joy is that universe’s version of Jobu. Alpha Gong Gong comes from the Alphaverse, where Alpha Evelyn, another version of Evelyn, first discovered the existence of alternative universes and where Alpha Joy became Jobu Tupaki after mentally “cracking” under the strain of verse-jumping. In the Alphaverse, Jobu becomes a powerful villain responsible for the deaths of many, and Alpha Evelyn loses her life in the ensuing conflict. When Alpha Gong Gong travels to Evelyn’s universe, controlling the body of Gong Gong, he encourages Evelyn to kill Joy so that Jobu cannot assume control of her body. If Joy is dead, then Jobu cannot verse-jump to Evelyn’s universe, sparing it from destruction. Ultimately, however, Evelyn refuses to kill her daughter and instead attempts to save Jobu from her despair and nihilism.  

Why does Deirdre decide to help the Wangs? 

When Evelyn and Waymond meet with their IRS agent Deirdre to discuss the audit of their laundromat, Deirdre presents herself as an imposing and stern figure who will not allow sympathy to compromise her duties. She is merciless in pointing out the discrepancies and irregularities in the Wangs’ paperwork and suggests that it “doesn’t look good” for them. Surprisingly, however, she offers the Wangs until the end of the day to complete their paperwork. She is by no means obligated to offer them this additional time, but notes that she was moved by the cookies that Waymond has baked for her. Later, when Evelyn fails to submit the paperwork, Deirdre arrives at the laundromat to authorize its repossession. Though Evelyn responds in a wild and erratic manner, she is shocked when Waymond once more speaks to Deirdre about their marital problems and buys them extra time to submit their paperwork. Deirdre responds to Waymond’s unexpected vulnerability, revealing a more human, empathetic side that contrasts sharply with her earlier bureaucratic severity. This moment highlights how Waymond’s quiet philosophy of kindness doesn’t just defuse tension—it actively reshapes the dynamics between characters, offering a glimpse of emotional connection even within Evelyn’s unraveling world. 

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