As the episode begins, Bill O’Hara (Kieran Bew) falls while chasing a suspect. He catches up with the man and drags him to the ground. The man complains that Bill might’ve broken his ribs but Bill says the Fung Hai will do much worse to him. Bill searches the man until he finds the money needed to repay the gang. After the intro, Young Jun (Jason Tobin) and Ah Sahm (Andrew Koji) discuss the arrangement they’ve made and Jun realizes they’re going to be in big trouble if it falls through. Jun asks why Ah Sahm has been pushing so hard lately and says it feels like he wants it more. He says he’d like to know if there is an agenda behind it. Ah Sahm reminds him that he lost the fight and let Mai Ling in. Ah Sahm says he guesses his agenda is to kick her back out.
Young Jun agrees and says Father Jun should’ve never agreed to the fight in the first place. They meet with Rosalita (Maria-Elena Laas) who says Happy Jack doesn’t like waiting. They follow her and see Jack’s operation before being introduced to Happy Jack (Nathaniel Ramabulana). Rosalita asks him to hear them out before Ah Sahm offers 200 a crate and says they need a dozen to start. Rosalita agrees to vouch for them and Ah Sahm asks Happy Jack to store it for them in a place where they can pull it out in pieces. Ah Sahm agrees to increase the price to 210 a crate but Jack wants 300. Ah Sahm offers 250 since Happy Jack will be storing it too. Ah Sahm says the orders will get bigger if everything works out. Ah Sahm has half of the money so Jack says to leave it and come back with the rest tonight.
In Cantonese, Ah Sahm tells Jun that Jack recognizes the suits and he won’t mess with them so they agree to leave the money. Richard Lee (Tom Weston-Jones) approaches Bill in the locker room and discusses his theory that the two victims Morgan and Davis had a history of harassing the Chinese but Bill doesn’t want to hear it so early in the morning. Then, they have the Teddy Boys and they have also been known to attack the Chinese. This convinces Lee that they’re dealing with a Chinese vengeance scenario but Timmons and McCormick don’t fit because they were businessmen and capitalists who likely approved of coolie labor. Before his death, Timmons sold a piece of property in Spring Valley to Leonard Patterson for $5,000 but the property was originally listed at over just $2,000.
The deal was signed on the same day Timmons and his partner were killed. Richard believes there is something fishy about that deal and that they should have a chat with Patterson. Penelope Blake (Joanna Vanderham) walks into the room as Samuel (Christian McKay) talks about the explosion. Samuel believes they can find Leland some financial assistance to lessen the blow and Penelope asks if that offer extends to everyone in the room. Samuel changes the subject and says he wants to make sure this type of attack doesn’t happen again. He spoke with Chief Flannagan this morning and his men have started searching the city for the people responsible. Penelope blames Dylan Leary (Dean Jagger) and some of the others agree with her.
Penelope wants to know if Samuel’s office will do anything to protect the city’s industries from Leary and his thugs. Next, Wang Chao (Hoon Lee) confronts Claire and gives her a little money before saying it is light because work has been a little hard. She tells him about the dress and says a lady cannot come up in the world unless she has a proper dress. She denies that she has been entertaining. He tries to give her something else before she calls Hannah over. Chao gets onto one knee and gives the girl a little toy before she thanks him. Richard and Bill sit down with Patterson (Frank Rautenbach) who says all of the business was conducted through the bank and he was shocked when he heard about the murders. He claims the property was listed low and there were multiple bidders but Richard doesn’t buy that.
Bill asks if he does any business with the Chinese. Patterson says no because you never know what those people will use the buildings for. The conversation ends seconds later. Outside of the room, Bill admits he thinks Patterson is bluffing. Lee says they need to find the Chinese connection before he noticed something is off with Bill who says it is nice to do actual police work. Ah Sahm visits Penelope at her business. She tells him about Leary’s men harassing her workers and her guards quitting. She hasn’t been able to find anyone to replace them so she wants Ah Sahm and his associates to take that job. Ah Sahm reminds her that she called him a criminal and he doesn’t believe her father would approve of it.
Ah Sahm learns about her father’s death so he apologizes. She offers to pay them a fair wage but he says she should just hire the Irish. He leaves without offering to help. The San Francisco police conduct a raid seconds later. The raid gives the widow a chance to find her girl. Ah Sahm and Young Jun prepare to meet with Happy Jack and pay him the rest of the money but Jun is second-guessing that decision now. Father Jun catches them walking by and says his son carried on from the day he was born. When he saw his son’s stubbornness, he knew he was a born fighter. He says the stiffest tree cracks easiest and Mai Ling will learn that the hard way. He explains they need to pick their moment before rushing into a fight before saying he needs his son to trust him.
When they visit Happy Jack’s place, they learn that he doesn’t want to store the opium for them. Ah Sahm wants the money back but that isn’t going to happen. He tells Young Jun they’ll need to find another place to hide it. That leads to a fight. It ends with Jack holding a gun to the back of young Jun’s head. He tells everyone to calm down. He says he has the stuff but the cops have been cracking down and have raided two shops in the area today. He says they can leave without anything or tell him where to deliver the opium. Meanwhile, Walter Buckley (Langley Kirkwood) meets with Mai Ling (Dianne Doan) and tells her the truce with the Hop Wei is beginning to take a toll on his patience. She explains that the truce has allowed them to increase their share of the molasses trade.
He reminds her that this arrangement doesn’t make them partners. He explains it could be a different story tomorrow. Richard Lee wakes up with a headache so he takes laudanum and heads onto the street. He goes to a pub and purchases whiskey with a little something extra. He gives her money and lets her keep the change before she asks his name. She warns him that he doesn’t want to be walking around alone out here when that stuff kicks in. She offers to let him sleep it off in the back or they can talk. She introduces herself as Abigail and they quickly go into the back and get frisky. Richard begins freaking out and calling her Nora before he falls to the ground. A man appears and seems to look through Richard’s pockets. Bill has fun with his wife at home.
She threatens to kill him if he puts another baby in her. He gives her a necklace and she quickly wants to make sure he hasn’t been playing poker again. She doesn’t believe he has been working enough shifts to cover the cost either. She tells Bill what she needs and doesn’t need. Richard wakes up in the alleyway with a man urinating a few feet away. Li Yong learns that the Suey Sing has decided to start selling opium. Li says that gang is too small to take on the Hop Wei and Long Zii and he doesn’t think they would risk it. Mai Ling thinks other gangs will step up now that they’re dealing and getting away with it. She knows they’re not a threat but sees an opportunity to send a message that the Long Zii will protect what it theirs.
Li Yong tells her that their leader, Lao Che, is young and reckless but not stupid. She agrees to let him speak to Lao Che. He is told to bring Zing with him. After that, Penny finds Ah Sahm at her business and wonders if he is going to reconsider her offer. He asks her why she is running the business when she could sell and go back to painting. She admits she is only running the business because she doesn’t want to depend on her husband’s money. He says he can offer her protection but he wants to know what she can offer him. She says 8 guards should do it and she is willing to pay $4 a week for each man. Ah Sahm wants seven though. He is convinced nobody will do anything as long as they’re around before she offers $5.
He says he’ll be back in an hour to start the first shift. Dylan and Sophie (Celine Buckens) listen as Crestwood (Patrick Baladi) speaks to a small crowd alongside Samuel. The crowd begins shouting to send them back and Crestwood encourages. Bill and his boss don’t understand why they would vote for a millionaire and get screwed for that decision. Bill is told to find a swordsman. Crestwood calls on his supporters to use their privilege to send him to Washington so he can draft laws to send them back to China. Richard joins Bill moments later. Sophie enters the Banshee and talks to Dylan. She says her father was in here once to hire workers to lay track for the cable car. Dylan learns that her father was Byron Mercer. She sits down and plays the piano.
She tells him about dropping out of class. She drinks and thanks him for letting her play before leaving. Meanwhile, Samuel complains about Crestwood to Walter who thinks he was trying to motivate him. Walter tells him about Penelope hiring coolies again. Mai Ling goes to a fancy restaurant so she can talk to Mr. Nichols. She knows he worked for the Pinkertons and she wants him to work for her. She explains that she wants him to perform research on Walter Buckley. Li Yong and Zing chat with the Suey Sing about dealing drugs but Lao Che denies it. Li tells him that it needs to stop. Zing believes Li Yong has been lied to and he makes La Che pay for it. This leads to a fight and several killings. Li Yong reluctantly gets involved.
When it is finished, Li strikes out at Zing before being surrounded by Zing’s men. Next, Ah Toy (Olivia Cheng) finds Mrs. Davenport outside of her brothel. She says she thought she had finally given up but that wasn’t the case. Ah Toy says her girls choose this life but Davenport doesn’t believe that. Chao steps outside and asks Davenport if she is there to save the world again. Ah Toy says she owns no one and the girls can leave whenever they want before allowing Davenport to see them. Next, the Teddy Boys try to attack more Chinese workers but Ah Sahm’s men get involved and the Teddy Boys step aside. Dylan spends the night at The Banshee. We see what everyone is doing as Ah Sahm and Young Jun find a place to hide the drugs. The drugs will be hidden away at the Mercer Steelworks building.
Warrior Review
I really enjoyed the first season of Warrior and I think the second one has a lot of promise. However, I am seriously concerned that there is too much going on at once. I am already getting tired of the Teddy Boys since the gang is a moot point right now. I am not sure what Dylan is going to do but he has been put on the back burner as well. I am worried that we’re getting too many characters and too many unnecessary storylines.
I also thought it was a bit cheesy that Crestwood was pretty much a replica of Donald Trump. I am sure this was no accident. I try to avoid politics. I was just hoping for a little more originality but Warrior has always been a bit political so it should’ve been expected. I wish some of the fat would be cut off and we could focus more on the main characters and their relationships.
I guess we’ll have to wait to see whether or not the additional characters are going to overshadow what made the first season so great. This episode was okay but a little long-winded. It scores a 7.5 out of 10. Previous recaps of Warrior are available on Reel Mockery.
Jay Skelton is a fan of all television shows and movies. He tries his best to keep up with the latest foreign television shows and movies. Jay loves skinny dipping in the dark too.
