As the second season begins, Ah Sahm (Andrew Koji) participates in a fight against a big brute in the pits of the Barbary Coast. Rosalita Vega watches from above as the man has his way with Ah Sahm. When he is tossed to the ground, he recalls his devastating fight with Li Yong (Joe Taslim). The big man tries to stomp him but Ah Sahm rolls out of the way and takes control of the fight. When all is said and done, Sahm wins the fight and many in the crowd aren’t happy with that. Vega approaches and gives Ah Sahm the money he has earned. She finds it funny that he never counts the money but he explains that she doesn’t seem to be the type of person who makes a lot of mistakes. She wonders why he is there and he says the same as everyone else but she doesn’t believe that.

He claims he is there to just stay sharp. She offers to help him but he claims he doesn’t need her help. After the intro, we join Dylan Leary (Dean Jagger) at the cemetery where he visits a grave. Sophie Mercer (Celine Buckens) approaches and finds out that the grave belongs to Dylan’s wife and his two boys. Dylan explains that he lost them to smallpox eight years ago. They had moved to New York when it started spreading. Sophie places flowers on the graves and says her father is buried on the hill and they refresh the flowers every week so there is enough for others. Dylan finds it funny that Sophie curses but she doesn’t think he hangs out with many proper women.

Then, we watch as Ah Toy (Olivia Cheng) walks down a set of stairs wearing a fancy dress. She steps into one of the back rooms and finds Lai (Jenny Umbhau) caring for a banged up Ah Sahm. Ah Toy sits with him, tends to his wounds, and says she thought he was done with the coast. She claims he isn’t going to find what he is looking for there but he says she doesn’t know what he is looking for. Ah Toy suggests he is searching for the flaw in his technique that allowed Li Yong to beat him. He tells her about the guys he saw at the fight that were wearing cut-off queues on their jackets. Ah Toy reveals that they call themselves the Teddy Boys and they collect Chinese scalps. She is worried that leaving a trail of dead white people will lead to them becoming a threat to themselves and Chinatown.

She tells him that he is looking for a fight that is already over before he says he is going back tonight and she can come or not. Next, we see that Bill O’Hara (Kieran Bew) is still shaking people down for the Chinese. The man claims they rigged the machines and that the Chinese shouldn’t even be there to begin with. The man doesn’t have any money but Bill asks about the ring which belonged to the man’s father. He takes it on his way out. After that, we join Mayor Samuel Blake (Christian McKay) and Penelope Blake (Joanna Vanderham) as they talk about Penelope’s father and their close relationship. Samuel claims he tried to be supportive when she decided to run the factory on her own.

Now, he doesn’t like that she has a hundred coolies working for her because it looks bad on him. He explains he is trying to be impartial but Penelope says she is trying to save her business. Samuel says he has heard that Merriweather (Andre Jacobs) has made a generous offer to buy her out but Penelope says Mercer Steel is her father’s legacy. They argue until Sophie enters and interrupts. Sophie quickly gets on Samuel’s nerves and mine by calling him by his name over and over again. When he leaves, she begins eating his food. Penelope tells Sophie that she should be more respectful since she is living in his house. Then, Penelope reveals she heard from Mrs. Thornhill the other day and her son Spencer would like to call on Sophie. Penelope says Sophie manages to disqualify every man who comes her way.

As for Sophie, she wishes Penelope would stop trying to take care of her all of the time. Mai Ling (Dianne Doan) and Li Yong walk together before stopping at a store and learning that the man’s wife is ill but refuses to go to the doctor. Mai Ling decides to buy everything on the stand so the man can take his wife to the doctor. Ah Sahm talks to Young Jun (Jason Tobin) about fighting in the pits. Young Jun says it doesn’t sound like a lot of fun unless knives are involved. They spot Mai Ling and Young Jun says he cannot believe Father Jun (Perry Yung) agrees to this. He spits on the ground before Ah Sahm encourages him to move on.

Walter Buckley (Langley Kirkwood) talks to the Mayor about the problem with his wife hiring coolies. Buckley suggests coming down hard on Chinese labor so the public will know exactly where he stands but Samuel worries that move will make him look more like a hypocrite. Buckley says that ship has already sailed thanks to Penelope. Samuel contemplates adjusting her pricing so she can afford the Irish labor but Buckley says it would look bad if the press knew he was giving his wife favorable pricing. The mayor reminds Buckley that it was his idea to pressure Mercer into hiring coolie labor to begin with. Young Jun returns to headquarters and complains about Mai Ling walk all over Chinatown and the Fung Hai being all over them. He argues with his father who says he is worried too much about public perception.

Young Jun is worried that they’ll look weak and the other tongs will get ideas. Father Jun says the Long Zii’s alliance with the Fung Hai will be her undoing and he claims somebody will break that treaty. Then, they will be able to strike with full support of the six companies. Young Jun doesn’t care about the six companies because they’re not the ones going to war with them. His father explains that you can’t hold Chinatown without having the six companies on your side but Young Jun doesn’t get it. He gets angry before being slapped across the face. Bill takes the family heirloom and claims he has paid his debt. He wants to stop collect debts but Zing (Dustin Nguyen) doesn’t want to let him quit just yet. He tells Bill that he works for him before handing him money and Bill takes it.

Ah Sahm meets with his sister and they speak about their parents. She tells him she did everything she could to keep him out of the tournament but he says she ordered his death. He says she made her choice and he made his. She wonders who will lead the tong when Father Jun is gone and he suggests it might be him. She reminds him that they tossed him out like he was nothing but he is wearing their colors again. Li Yong enters before Ah Sahm tells his sister that she is going to wish she had killed him before she says there is always tomorrow. Ah Sahm returns and trains until Father Jun interrupts and says he admires his focus. Father says his son could use some of that focus but Ah Sahm says he is only looking out for the tong.

Father Jun wants to know if they’re going to have a problem. Ah Sahm says no before being asked to keep an eye on Young Jun because he is too itchy for his own good. Bill returns home with steak for Lucy (Emily Child) and the kids once again. Bill makes up a lie about the old man at the slaughterhouse and claims that is why he has steak. Dylan checks on the boys and makes sure the lumber job is working out for them. He tells them that he has another engagement so he wants to collect their dues and be on his way but the men know nothing about dues. Dylan says they’re all in this together before the men pay their dues. Once Dylan leaves, he meets with a man and purchases what looks like dynamite.

He is told it is stable enough to move as long as you don’t mess with the blasting caps. Dylan pays the man and tells him that he was never there. After that, the Teddy Boys hang a Chinese man. They cheer Petey as he raises the man from the ground. Lai arrives and cuts the rope before killing one of the gang members. Ah Sahm approaches and the fight begins. Ah Toy gets involved as well. The Teddy Boys are dealt with pretty quickly. Ah Sahm returns to Young Jun in the morning and says he was fighting on the boat again last time. Young Jun tells him about the molasses and says it isn’t from China so the Long Zii has been paying less and charging less for it and this is causing them to lose customers.

Ah Sahm wonders if Father Jun would know since Young Jun is the one who places the orders and they could set up a local source. Young is worried because he thinks his father would eventually find out. Sahm says they lost a lot by cutting Mai Ling in and they could make up for some of it by stop importing. Young Jun says they’ll need to find a local source they can trust and Ah Sahm says they need to find one. Moments later, Richard Lee (Tom Weston-Jones) checks out the Teddy Boys crime scene and realizes it was more than one person this time. He gets angry and leaves before the boss tells Bill that he is getting a lot of crap from above and he’ll find someone else if they can’t do their jobs. Bill tracks down Lee and tries to find out what is going on with him.

Bill admits he enjoyed it before Lee reveals he is still having headaches and the drug isn’t helping. The doctor doesn’t understand a lot about head injuries. Lee says they should return to Wang Chao (Hoon Lee) and find a way to make him talk. Moments later, a group of Chinese workers is stopped and beaten by likely the Teddy Boys. Bill and Lee try to convince Chao to help them find the swordsman responsible for the murders. Chao knows about Bill working for Zing and he alludes to that during their conversation. That is enough to convince Bill to end the conversation and pull Lee away too. Next, Penelope gets a visit from Mr. Merriweather who claims he is checking on up Byron’s daughter. He also suggests his offer to buy the company is in Penelope’s best interest.

Penelope lets him know that she isn’t interested but Merriweather isn’t ready to give up. She reminds him that the business belongs to her and not her husband before confirming again that the business isn’t for sale. An injured Chinese man is brought in and Penelope learns about the attack. She asks for Claudia to help check the man’s injuries. Merriweather asks if she hired a good security firm before Ah Sahm meets with Chao at the pub. He pays Chao to help him find a local source for the molasses but Chao warns him that changing sources will have political ramifications. Chao tries to convince him not to do anything because it might bring the whole tong down. As Chao walks away, he asks Ah Toy if she can talk for a minute. He tells her that her little hobby is starting to cause him headaches.

She apologizes but Chao says an apology isn’t going to help him cover his losses and that he may need to turn in the mysterious swordsman that the cops are so eager to find. Ah Toy isn’t worried because she doesn’t think they’ll believe it and Chao would never do it. She says she might need to lay low for a little while and Chao says that would be a good idea. She asks Chao if he has gone to see his secret and he admits he is going tomorrow. After that, Ah Sahm takes part in another fight and wins easily. After the fight, he hangs out with Rosalita (Maria-Elena Laas). He claims he was sloppy and should’ve finished the man faster. He tells her about the time he lost badly. She pays him before he asks her if she would be able to help him find what he is looking for.

Later that night, Buckley picks up a prostitute while Mai Ling talks to Li Yong about the hate Ah Sahm had in his eyes. He understands she is worried and she says Father Jun might be losing his control over the tong. Li Yong says Ah Sahm is a fighter but not a leader. An explosion takes place in the city and badly damages a building as Dylan watches everything go down from an alleyway nearby.

 

Warrior Season 2 Review

I really liked the first season of Warrior and think the second season has the potential to be very good as well. However, I have a few things that I don’t like about the new season so far. First and foremost, I think there is a bit too much going on at once. During some scenes, I found myself not caring as much as I did during the first season.

The second issue is directly related to that. With too much going on, the show doesn’t have time to fully develop the main tongs and gangs. Dylan’s gang is mostly just him running around, bullying people, and blowing stuff up. The Teddy Boys don’t look like they’re going to be much different.

Only Ah Sahm’s gang has any cohesion whatsoever. We hear the names of the tongs but we really don’t know much about them. What are they doing? Who are their leaders? The town isn’t that big so I am sure they’d run into each other from time to time. Finally, I hope we don’t have to put up with Sophie being annoying the whole season. I was glad that they moved past the whole spat between her and Samuel pretty quickly.

Despite these issues, I still enjoyed the episode. I think it can get very interesting as long as they let Ah Sahm and Young Jun make some drastic moves this season. I hope they don’t go on and on about the Teddy Boys unless they’re actually going to develop that gang better than they did Dylan’s group. The episode scores a 7 out of 10. Previous recaps of Warrior are available on Reel Mockery.