As the finale begins, Mai Ling (Dianne Doan) walks through the streets of Chinatown and looks at the chaos left behind. She looks up and sees a mural of Ah Sahm (Andrew Koji) on the side of a wall and doesn’t like what she sees. Ah Toy (Olivia Cheng) finds Ah Sahm admiring the artwork and tells him it is a good likeness but he is more interested in knowing what happened to her. Ah Sahm doesn’t think she should be out but Ah Toy says she needed to be outside after the events of yesterday. She believes the painting is an opportunity since Ah Sahm is a symbol to his people now. She suggests people will follow him and he could win the war but he says Young Jun (Jason Tobin) calls the shots. Ah Toy isn’t sure since Young Jun’s face isn’t painted on the wall.

She nearly falls over so Ah Sahm decides it is time for her to go home. Along the way, Ah Toy tells Ah Sahm about Mai Ling saving her and her having done some terrible things. She is worried that Mai will do more terrible things too. Ah Toy goes on to say that they’re too busy trying to survive to be their best selves. She believes they need a hero to remind them of who they could be and Ah Sahm might be that guy but he says he isn’t anyone’s hero. After the intro, Bill O’Hara (Kieran Bew) tries to stop Richard Lee (Tom Weston-Jones). Richard doesn’t think they’re meant to succeed and are only bagging flies for politicians. Bill believes there is still a chance to do some good and keep the peace. Bill tells Richard that he might be a better person than him and they need him here for that reason.

Richard questions whether he is cut out for this anymore. Bill stops him and says you can teach a pig to hunt but that doesn’t make him a dog. Richard doesn’t understand so Bill says it means he is a cop. Father Jun (Perry Yung) confronts his son and says it is easier when it is another tong. He wants his son that you can’t fight an entire city or country. Young Jun admits you can’t but says it is hard not to want to though. His father says the ones you choose not to fight are just as important as those that you do. Young Jun apologizes and says he didn’t want it to happen that way. Father Jun believes they had their heads so far up their arses that something had to give. Young Jun says he is glad to have him back but Father Jun reminds him it is his show now. He tells his son he’ll have to learn to deal with that worry he can’t pinpoint.

Next, Walter Buckley (Langley Kirkwood) tells Oswald (Norman Anstey) he doesn’t think the Chinese belong in this country. If captains of industry like Oswald and Mrs. Clemmons continue to build their fortunes around Chinese Labor, they’ll be in for a terrible reckoning when the federal government finally expels them. Leland Clemmons (Deon Lotz) doesn’t like that and warns Buckley he will lose a lot of friends but Walter says they’re not friends. Buckley wants to make a deal and tells them that they’ll be among the first to support his position. He intends to offer them a handful of financial incentives to mitigate their increased labor costs in exchange for their support. Penelope (Joanna Vanderham) enters and complains to Buckley about Jacob’s demise.

Walter tells her to keep her voice down unless she wants people to hear her grieving the wrong man but Penny believes Walter could’ve told the truth. She blames Walter for Jacob’s death but he says he is looking track since she has left a trail of bodies in her wake. He says Jacob ensured she wouldn’t be on trial for murdering her husband. Before Penny leaves, she makes it clear she intends to pull Walter’s strings. Ah Sahm meets with Young Jun and they discuss Chinatown and Father Jun saving Young Jun. He confesses he knew he was dead when he was staring down the barrel of that guy’s gun. He says his father was there like he has always been pulling him out of the fire. Young Jun questions whether he’ll ever be the leader his father was before revealing that Mai Ling reached out to him.

Jun explains he is going to tell her exactly how it is going to be here from here on out before Ah Sahm decides to go check on Ah Toy. Ah Sahm checks on Ah Toy and learns she took care of the person who did this to her. He tells her she isn’t alone in this. Ah Sahm is surprised when Nellie Davenport (Miranda Raison) climbs the stairs. Ah Sahm watches as Nellie tells Ah Toy she wants to take her to her house. Ah Toy doesn’t want to cooperate so Nellie decides to stay there with her. They’re formally introduced to one another seconds later and Ah Sahm leaves after that. Mai Ling and Li Yong (Joe Taslinm) meet with Young Jun and Ah Sahm.

Mai Ling believes they can all make more money if they work together but Young Jun doesn’t want to end up like the Fung Hai. They go back and forth until Mai Ling says she just doesn’t want to be at war with her brother anymore. Young Jun and Hong (Chen Tang) are surprised to find out about Ah Sahm’s relationship with Mai Ling. Hong escorts them out so Young Jun can talk to Ah Sahm in private. Outside, Li Yong tells Mai Ling she could’ve warned him but she admits she didn’t know she would do it. Ah Sahm tries to convince Young Jun that he is his brother and Hong believes he means it. They want Ah Sam to explain himself. Meanwhile, Penelope visits Leonard Raice (Martin Munro) and tells him that she reads his column. She wants to give him an exclusive about what happened.

Young Jun wonders if Ah Sahm has been playing both sides all along and threw the tournament for Mai Ling. Young Jun knows that isn’t the truth though. He knows Mai Ling was counting on this to be the end of her brother. Young Jun wonders if Ah Sahm will make the right choice when it comes down to him or Mai Ling. She was ready to watch him die but he wonders if Ah Sahm is willing to watch her die. Jun wants some time to think about this but Ah Sahm tells him not to take too long. When Ah Sahm leaves, Jun asks Hong about it. Next, we see Dylan Leary (Dean Jagger) in his pub. He sits down and plays the piano before getting upset and smashing it a bit. Bill enters and says he was looking for a drink. Richard Lee goes to the pub and meets with Abigail once again.

He tells her he is no longer a cop before asking for a drink. Bill tells Dylan about his mistakes and Dylan admits you have to make allowances sometimes. Leary is convinced Bill’s wife will come home but Bill isn’t sure about that. Dylan drinks while Richard and Abigail drink together. Richard tells her about his decision not to be a cop. He tells her about killing men and Abigail admits some men need to be killed. He admits he wouldn’t do anything different. Dylan confronts Bill about collecting for the Chinese and only bringing down the gang because he got in over his head. Dylan tells him that bill is going to come due. Abigail tells Richard she killed men too and would do it again. They end up having sex seconds later. Next, Raice meets with Buckley and tells him about Penelope’s claims.

Buckley gives him money to bury the story before Raice asks what he should tell Penelope. Buckley tells him to tell her he scared him off. Ah Sahm visits The Banshee and the Irish are surprised to see him. He asks them who is buying before a bunch of men are taken down. Dylan finds him in the pub drinking alone at a table so he sits down with him. Dylan warns him that it wasn’t a good idea for him to come there but Ah Sahm isn’t worried. Ah Sahm says he is going to finish his drink before beating Dylan up in front of all of his buddies. Dylan says his people bled for this country and the Chinese are bleeding it dry. Ah Sahm says they came for the same reasons. They needed food and needed to feed their children. Dylan is asked about his children but he wants to know if they’re going to talk or fight. They step outside and prepare to fight.

Ah Sahm is knocked to the ground and Dylan celebrates. However, Ah Sahm gets back up and the fight continues. This time, Dylan goes down and gets back up. They exchange punches until Ah Sahm goes to the ground again. He gets up and knocks Dylan to the ground. Dylan gets up before Ah Sahm punches him in the chest and dropkicks him. Ah Sahm tells them to stay out of Chinatown or he will be back with an army at Dylan is helped up. Ah Sahm struggles back to Chinatown and stands in the rain covered in blood. He struggles through the streets and passes by the mural in his honor. In the morning, Father Jun goes for a walk and runs into Wang Chao (Hoon Lee). Wang is up late since he hasn’t been able to sleep much these days.

Wang tells him he went out strong and Father Jun admits it felt good to scrap again. Father Jun says he is going to go to the big country and he’ll know when he gets there. Wang promises to tell him for Father Jun and he agrees to keep an eye on Young Jun. Penelope storms into Walter Buckley’s office and calls him a bad name. Buckley tries to deflect the blame and insists he had nothing to do with Jacob’s death. Penny gets mad and slaps him. Buckley grabs a pair of scissors, jabs them into his shoulders, and begins calling for help. Authorities arrive and arrest Penelope after Buckley says she stabbed him. Bill returns home and finds Lucy (Emily Child) there waiting for him. She says she isn’t coming back right now before Bill says he never meant for this to happen.

He believes he is still capable of being a better man. He pleads with her and promises he can be a good man again. Sophie (Celine Buckens) enters and finds Buckley waiting for her. He tells her that her sister had a mental collapse and stabbed him. He says he won’t press charges and he hopes she can come home with sufficient rest. Sophie asks where Penny is and we see that she is locked in an asylum. After that, Mai Ling meets with Buckley and shows him the picture of himself as a Confederate soldier in Tennessee. She confirms she has two more and they’re for sale. She wants the same as Buckley which she says is blood in the streets. Seconds later, Buckley tells authorities about the Hop Wei but Russell Flannagan (David Butler) doesn’t want to send his men to fight the Hop Wei on their streets.

Buckley says they own the streets and they’re going to fight with laws. He wants to shut down all surrounding businesses because they’re the lifeblood of the Hop Wei. He says they can use ordinances to make arrests and shut down the businesses in question. Dylan enters and says it is empty promises. He says as long as there is a buck to be made with Chinese labor nobody is going to put Americans back to work. He introduces himself and says he is with the Workingmen’s Party of California. Young Jun goes outside and looks at the mural of Ah Sahm before spitting on the ground. Seconds later, we see Zing (Dustin Nguyen) at the prison. He is given his lunch before he potentially finds a way to escape the prison.

 

Warrior Review

I am guessing this will be the final episode of Warrior since Cinemax has decided to stop all original programming projects. It doesn’t help that the show’s viewership has dropped a lot since the first season which was a lot better honestly. The second season had a lot of potential but dropped the ball by adding unnecessary political correctness to the equation. Warrior was a kung-fu drama but the writers lost the plot at the start of the 2nd season and made so many decisions that missed the mark honestly.

The best things that happened were Young Jun taking over and his father coming to accept his departure. I appreciated Buckley but his rule was short-lived. The writers should’ve focused on what made the show great in the first place and less on trying to stuff irrelevant ideologies into the show just for the sake of inclusion. It was almost as if the writers didn’t bother to look into the history of the United States and went with their agenda from the get-go.

I won’t get into specifics but the show really transformed into a social soap opera. Finally, the last fight scene between Dylan Leary and Ah Sahm was a bit pointless and weak. Am I the only thought the characters looked robotic during that fight? It had some good moments but little cohesion and a weak main storyline that change completely every 2nd or 3rd episode.

It is easy to love the characters and the character development but the story strayed too far from what made the original season successful and memorable. It is sad to see Warrior go especially on a sour note like this. The finale scores a 7 out of 10. Previous recaps of Warrior are available on Reel Mockery.