Summary

Charles Sun’s unfair upbringing shapes his character arc, as he is groomed to be a gangster while his brother enjoys a normal life. Charles is manipulated by his father and used as a pawn in a criminal plot, causing him emotional distress. Despite being mistreated throughout the series, Charles finds redemption and a chance to pursue his dreams in the end.

Created by Brad Falchuk, Amy Wang, and Byron Wu, The Brothers Sun is a Netflix original series that premiered on Jan. 4, 2024. The highly entertaining series follows Bruce (Sam Song Li) and Charles Sun (Justin Chien), two estranged brothers who reunite in Los Angeles when their father, Big Sun (Johnny Kou), is nearly assassinated by a rival gang. Although both siblings were born in Taiwan, Bruce grew up in Los Angeles with his mother, Eileen (Michelle Yeoh), while Charles was raised by his father in Taipei. As such, the two siblings come from completely different backgrounds, which must be reconciled as they reunite and attempt to find their father’s attempted killer, Sleepy Chan.

Apart from the intense gangster drama and visceral martial arts action featured on the show, it’s the heartfelt family dynamic that resonates most. For Charles Sun in particular, his journey from Taipei to Los Angeles comes with many injustices that prove he deserved better treatment from his loved ones. A baker at heart who wants nothing more than to pursue his love of creating culinary delights, leaving a life of crime behind proves much more difficult in theory than in practice. From his upbringing in Taiwan to his father’s manipulation in Los Angeles and unjust arrest, here’s why Charles Sun deserved much better in The Brothers Sun.

3 Upbringing in Taipei
The Brothers Sun Release Date January 4, 2024 Creator Brad Falchuk, Amy Wang, Byron Wu Cast Michelle Yeoh , Justin Chien , Sam Song Li , Joon Lee , Highdee Kuan , Alice Hewkin Seasons 1

Charles Sun’s undeserving character arc in the superb Netflix crime show stems from his upbringing abroad. Along with his younger brother Bruce, Charles was born in Taipei. When the siblings were little, Eileen “Mama” Sun vowed to keep Bruce away from the family’s criminal past by relocating to Los Angeles, California, where he could live a more normal life. As Bruce assimilates to the lifestyle of an American teenager in Southern California, Charles is forced to remain in Taipei and train to become a gangster like his father, Big Sun, who trains the boy to be a coldhearted assassin.

Although it’s not uncommon for the eldest sibling to be groomed to take over the family business, Charles’s hardened upbringing has given him a mirthless, detached, and hyper-violent personality. It’s completely unfair that Charles was groomed to be a professional killer with the weight and responsibility of his family’s legacy on his shoulders, while Bruce gets to enjoy the laid-back life in sunny Los Angeles and pursue his dreams of becoming an improv comedian in Hollywood’s Groundlings theater. It’s this precise disparity that ultimately brings the Sun brothers closer when Bruce realizes how unfairly Charles has been treated and encourages him to leave the family business behind and pursue his dream of opening a bakery.

2 Manipulation in Los Angeles

When the series starts, Charles is told that a hit has been put on his father, Big Sun, that puts him into a medical coma. As such, Charles is summoned from Taipei to Los Angeles to find Big Sun’s attempted assassin, Sleepy Chan. Left in emotional ruins as he waits to see if Big Sun will die, Charles is tasked with confronting several deadly triad members in Los Angeles to find Sleepy Chan, putting him in direct danger with several ruthless gangsters who are out for blood. While this all sounds fairly standard given his background, a huge plot twist comes in Episode 7 that proves how unfairly Charles was treated and how much better he truly deserved from his father.

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Apart from risking life and limb to find Sleepy Chan, Charles goes to incredible lengths to honor his father’s assignment. Charles saves Bruce’s life several times, rescues Bruce’s friend TK, and manages to keep the triads from harming Eileen. Yet, for all his heroic sacrifices, Charles discovers that Big Sun faked his medical coma the entire time. Worse yet, Charles realizes his father completely manipulated his arrival in Los Angeles as a means of propping him up as the head of the Jade Dragons, the triad family the Suns work for. Given the code of honor and integrity he operates with, Charles did not deserve to be used as an unwitting pawn in a high-stakes criminal plot masterminded by his own blood.

1 Unjust Arrest and Ultimate Resolution

Even after he learns about his father’s masterful ruse in the underrated Netflix crime series, Charles continues to be treated unfairly. A gritty showdown between the Triads and Boxers takes place in a warehouse, with Charles and Big Sun escaping together in the nick of time. Just when it seems like Big Sun might apologize for everything he’s put Charles through, Big Sun doubles down and orders Charles to kill Bruce for betraying the family to the Boxers. Of course, Charles neither wants nor deserves to kill Bruce, forcing him to choose between his own father and brother in a profound Shakespearean-style tragedy.

In the final episode, Eileen admits to Charles that he was manipulated as a child by Big Sun and trained to be a ruthless assassin, which is why she relocated to Los Angeles with Bruce years ago. This emotionally devastates Charles and leaves him in a brief state of shock. Adding insult to injury, Charles is unjustly arrested by the police when he fights off Xing (Jenny Yang), an assassin hired to kill him by Big Sun. That not only means Charles had been lied to and manipulated by his father since his childhood in Taipei, but when Big Sun’s dastardly plan failed in Los Angeles, his father tried to kill him as well.

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At nearly every turn, Charles was coerced into a life of crime and kept in the dark as a means of keeping the Sun’s standing in the Jade Dragon alive and well. Fortunately, the very end of the show offers Charles a modicum of redemption when Bruce helps him distance himself from the Jade Dragon and open a pastry shop in Los Angeles. It may have been a bittersweet arc, but at least Charles Sun rekindled his relationship with Bruce and finally got a chance to pursue his lifelong dream at the end of The Brothers Sun. Hopefully, for fans’ sake, Charles will enjoy a more deserving arc should the underrated gangster TV show be renewed for Season 2.

Stream on Netflix