Exactly The Wrong Time To Get Proud – As this episode of Warrior begins, Ah Sahm (Andrew Koji) pays a young boy to tell Young Jun (Jason Tobin) that it is time. Ah Sahm approaches members of the Long Zii Tong and complains about them setting up opium dens in Hop Wei territory. He threatens them and asks them to leave. They end up fighting. Young Jun and the others rush to join Ah Sahm. Once they arrive, they help Ah Sahm up and the fight continues. Li Yong (Joe Taslim) arrives with a couple of men. The fight stops when Bill O’Hara (Kieran Bew) and other officers get there. Bill O’Hara stops Ah Sahm who complains about him busting the place up. Bill says he was there during the riot trying to keep his people safe.

Ah Sahm says people are staffing due to these BS ordinances. Bill tells another officer, Stone (Robert Hobbs), that the fight is over and they’re not there to start it up again. The other officer believes Bill is pushing to get the chief of police job now that the previous one is out. Wang Chao (Hoon Lee) makes a delivery of handguns. Mr. Greer comes out and threatens to shoot Wang. He eventually pays him and lets Wang leave. Young Jun removes a sign that says the business is closed by order of the San Francisco Police Department. He complains that they’ve got half of the police force cracking skulls in Chinatown now. Ah Sahm believes they’re playing politics and trying to look tough before the election.

Young Jun says Mai Ling has broken the treaty, but they can’t retaliate because of all of these cops. They’ll need to find a way to dodge the ordinances or they’re screwed. They speak to a business owner who isn’t sure they’re being protected so he doesn’t want to pay. The man says he doesn’t have the money to pay him and his father would’ve understood. Young Jun slaps him. Ah Sahm stops him and says they should let Hong (Chen Tang) handle this. Young Jun leaves and Ah Sahm follows him out. They argue about the way Young Jun handled that. Jun tells Ah Sahm to never challenge him in public again. The leader of the Jiang Yao Tong, Kong Pak (Mark Dacascos), speaks about the Tong’s friendship with the Long Zii.

He says the Jiang Yao Tong are honored to become a part of the Long Zii. Mai Ling (Dianne Doan) is told by Kong that they weren’t given a choice. It’ll be Kong’s honor to sit on the council with the elders. Dylan Leary (Dean Jagger) talks to other politicians about making businesses hire Irish labor. Dylan mentions that he has 30,000 Irish votes and Mr. Buckley is going to need them in the special election. When they’re told they’re going in circles, Dylan says that is because no one ever says anything new. Bill speaks to Lucy about the possibility that he’ll become the new chief of police. Bill says it will happen and he’ll be out of Chinatown for good.

Bill admits he misses his family so he asks her to come home. She tells him they can talk about it if he gets out of Chinatown. Ah Sahm speaks to Ah Toy (Olivia Cheng) about going away. She tells him that Chao will keep an eye on things while she is in Sonoma over the weekend. Ah Sahm says it feels like she is gone more than she is here. They talk about Ah Toy’s shoulder and Young Jun. If Young Jun can’t succeed as a leader, there is nothing Ah Sahm can do about it. Ah Toy says some things are out of his control. Walter Buckley (Langley Kirkwood) meets Mai Ling who asks him about the campaign. Walter says she made a fuss the other day by moving into Hop Wei territory while he is trying to keep the police off her back.

Expanding her operations was never part of their agreement. Walter asks for no more violence until after the election. Dylan buys a round for Killy and the others at the pub. They talk to him about getting rid of the Chinese so they can all work again. Dylan admits he can’t force them to write new laws. Richard Henry Lee (Tom Weston-Jones) helps Abigail (Gaosi Raditholo) deal with troublemakers at the bar. He has an episode and has to take medication. Young Jun takes a hatch to Wang to ask him about it since the Long Zii use them. They talk about the fact that Wang will deal with anyone including the Long Zii. Wang says his father understood the value of an independent contractor with his ear to the streets.

Young Jun values loyalty above all so Wang will have to choose a side at some point. Wang says Zing said the same thing to him. He’ll happily give his help if asked, but he doesn’t want to be threatened. Once Chao leaves, Hong talks to Young Jun about him. Chao tells Ah Sahm that was just the new boss flexing. Wang thinks he is getting paranoid and the business about Mai Ling being his sister isn’t helping. Wang doesn’t see Ah Sahm moving against his sister and neither does Young Jun. He recommends keeping an eye on him. Ah Sahm says they might not have to wait that long because the bulls are bleeding them dry and they can’t pay for the molasses. Wang may be able to help since he saw all that cash on the docks when he was delivering guns.

The Mayor asks Bill for a moment. Walter reveals he isn’t going to make him the police chief. Once they go into the mayor’s office, Bill is introduced to Colonel Benjamin Atwood who is named the new chief of police. Atwood is coming from New York City where he cleaned up their Chinatown. Bill argues that New York City is nothing like San Francisco. When Walter and Bill are alone, Walter explains his decision. Walter argues that the riot happened because Bill failed to transport the man who murdered their mayor. Atwood brought some of his own men from New York. The rest will take their cues from Bill. If he can’t deliver those cues, he can deliver his resignation by the end of the day.

Nellie Davenport (Miranda Raison) is happy to see Ah Toy when she arrives. Lai (Jenny Umbhau) hugs Ah Toy as well. Wang Chao shows a group of women around Chinatown. He takes them to meet Mai Ling who invites them inside for tea. Mai tells them about her past and how she managed to become successful. Before the women leave, one of them invites Mai over so other women can hear her story. Mai Ling says Chao did well, but Li Yong doesn’t like the way the women look at her. Mai thinks she can gain their trust and get them to see that they’re people to do business with. Nellie tells Ah Toy that she may have found another property so they could help more girls. Nellie suggests she could stay there forever, but Ah Toy has business in Chinatown.

Kong talks to Li Yong. Kong thinks it has been too long since they fought on the same side. Li believes the Hop Wei is less of a threat today, but Kong believes Ah Sahm is still dangerous. Li tells him not to worry about Ah Sahm. Kong admits they all thought Li would take over when Long Zii died. Li says Mai Ling has done more for the Tong than he ever could have. Bill visits Richard Henry Lee to say he is holding onto his badge in case he ever wants to come back. He admits he isn’t chief and he doubts his wife is coming back. They talk about Abigail being a good woman. Richard assures Bill that she’ll come back in time. Bill admits that is what she said about him. Dylan meets with the businessman and gives him the new lumber prices after convincing Sanderson to lower them.

They negotiate and agree that 20 of Dylan’s men will be working alongside the Chinese. The Hop Wei attack the men at the docks so they can take Greer’s money. They don’t find any money, but Chao thinks they’ve found something better. Chao says his father used to say that the best way to make money is to make money. They have access to equipment to make counterfeit money.

 

Warrior Review

The opening episode of Warrior’s third season was decent, but it will take some time to get accustomed to the characters again. Ah Sahm’s relationship with Young Jun is a highlight of the series and Hong seems to be a good addition as well. The episode was a little crowded with so many characters and concurrent storylines although these things may come together over the course of the season.

It could be a big loss if Joanna Vanderham doesn’t return this season and there was no sign of her just yet. The fight scenes remain enjoyable so many viewers will like that aspect of the series. It is really too early to say how great the season is, but the opening episode created some promising storylines even if they’re not totally original.

The episode was good enough and effectively created interest for the rest of the season. Fans of the previous seasons will enjoy what the episode offered. It scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of Warrior can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here.