As this episode of Warrior begins, Ah Toy (Olivia Cheng), Nellie Davenport (Miranda Raison), and others clean up after the fire. Nellie wants to go into town to get supplies, but Ah Toy thinks they should return to Chinatown. Nellie promises that Strickland will not get away with this. Ah Toy believes he already did. She wants to take them back to Chinatown because she can protect them there. Abigail (Gaosi Raditholo) speaks to Jack who isn’t happy about cops being around. Richard Lee (Tom Weston-Jones) enters. When Abigail says she is going to restock the bar, Jack asks Richard if he really cares about her.

Richard says he does although it isn’t any of Jack’s business. Jack says he’d take himself back to where he belongs if he really cares about her. Richard goes outside where he joins Edmund Moseley (Nick Cordileone). They discuss their plans for the day before Richard recommends meeting at the station from now on. Eliza Pendleton (Jazzara Jaslyn) is glad that Mai Ling (Dianne Doan) came by. Bernard speaks to Mai Ling about horses. Mai Ling asks if they’ve thought about their conversation at the gallery. Bernard has. He admits that diversifying her assets outside of Chinatown will be tricky although it can be done. She should be able to conduct business like other Americans. Bernard believes the rules barring Chinese ownership are political posturing.

He suggests he could hold her money in a proprietary account at the bank as part of his personal portfolio and gradually take positions across various industries. Mai Ling puts several rolls of money on the table and asks when they can start. Ah Sahm (Andrew Koji) works the printing press with Yan Mi (Chelsea Muirhead). Yan tells him that her father didn’t teach her anything because he had a son to teach. Her brother turned out to be an idiot so they would’ve lost the shop if she hadn’t stepped in. She learned because a Chinese woman in America without a skill will either be a prostitute or labeled one and deported. They discuss the possibility of going back to China and America being the land of opportunity. Yan doesn’t plan on being in San Francisco forever.

Her father is sick. Once he is gone, there won’t be anything keeping her there. Yan explains that she might travel north. Richard Lee confiscates counterfeit money. He tells Edmund and suggests they split up and work the rest of the block. Walter Buckley (Langley Kirkwood) has lunch with Catherine Archer (Dominique Maher) who read an article about Thayer’s brother-in-law being an opium addict. Walter is surprised to find a woman of her intelligence and background who isn’t married. She asks if he is wondering what skeletons are lurking in her closet. Catherine explains that her family expected her to be married years ago, but she was more interested in traveling the world. Now, she is expected to entertain a parade of sad widowers, fading bachelors, and pitiful eccentrics.

Catherine admits that she cherishes her freedom so it takes a special kind of man to make an impression on her. Walter wonders what she’ll think of him if he loses the election. Catherine would think no less of him although she isn’t going to let him lose. Ah Toy uses makeup to cover up her bruises. Ah Sahm tells her that he heard about Sonoma. He offers to go after them, but she believes it is too late for that. Ah Sahm says Chao can handle things until she is feeling up to it. Ah Toy isn’t going to waste the dress though. Marcel (Telly Leung) takes Hong (Chen Tang) to a private club without boundaries. Hong thinks he is going to like it there. Lai nearly intervenes when a guest harasses one of the women at the brothel.

Ah Toy interrupts and tells her to go upstairs. Then, Ah Toy says hello to Bill O’Hara (Kieran Bew) and gives him a little extra for last week. Bill believes she may wish she hadn’t come back since the new police chief is coming down hard on Chinatown. Thayer holds a press conference to talk about the article about his brother-in-law. He calls the article a hit piece and claims it was planted by his opponent in an attempt to bolster his faltering campaign. Thayer doesn’t deny the report. He is only sorry that Howard’s private struggle has been made public because of his candidacy. Richard goes to an opium den where he finds what could be more counterfeit money. When he flees with the money, Wang Chao (Hoon Lee) watches him leave. Li Yong (Joe Taslim) trains with Kong Pak (Mark Dacascos) who believes he is unfocused today.

Li Yong eventually complains about Mai Ling spending more time in the pond. He says she won’t let him protect her. Kong says Mai Ling is very smart, but it is sometimes the smartest ones who forget to be wise. It is a good thing she has Li Yong to remind her. Nellie attends a hearing in which the State of California attempts to assert eminent domain over her property. It is alleged that Nellie was housing prostitutes. Judge Hopkins rules that the state has just grounds to exercise its constitutional powers. Charles tells Nellie that he did what he could. She runs over to Douglas Strickland (Adam Rayner) to tell him this isn’t over. Nellie didn’t know he was a monster. Douglas insists he only wanted to make sure she was taken care of. Nellie yells that he is sick and a murderer.

Mai Ling plays pool with Bernard and Eliza. Bernard reveals he is looking into providing high-interest bridge loans using the capital Mai Ling provided. When he offers to take 5%, Mai Ling wants to make it 10. She wants it to be a long and fruitful arrangement for both of them. Bernard tells her she is quite beautiful before trying to kiss her. Mai Ling stops him but says he hasn’t spoiled things because they all make mistakes. Eliza has been watching them from another room. Richard shows Edmund where he found the counterfeit bills. All of them were found in Hop Wei territory. Richard suggests the plates are kept at the Hop Wei headquarters since it is their most fortified spot. They agree to tell Bill and Atwood. Dylan Leary (Dean Jagger) speaks to Strickland about Mr. Pierce and other things.

Dylan says he took care of his problem, but Pierce promised to hire 40 of his men. Strickland agrees to hire 40 Irishmen, but he thinks Dylan will be right where he is right now. Strickland believes Buckley takes Dylan’s votes for granted and Thayer supports Chinese labor. Dylan already knows the game is rigged. Strickland says he values his ring because of who he took it from and money isn’t everything. He would like to create an alliance with Leary. If Leary works with him, Strickland will show him how to win this game. He has big plans for California, but he can’t realize them without government approval, laws, and workers. He believes Leary can help him with that. Strickland tells Judge Milton Hopkins that Dylan is his guest of honor this evening.

The police prepare to raid Hop Wei headquarters. Young Jun (Jason Tobin) plays cards with his gang. Once the police storm the building, Benjamin Atwood (Neels Clasen) speaks to the Hop Wei. Young Jun curses Atwood. Eventually, Benjamin headbutts Jun and beats him up. Bill and Richard notice that they’ve moved something heavy so they suspect someone warned them they were coming. Yan and Ah Sahm try to hide the printing press. Richard and Bill see Atwood beating Young Jun. When Bill stops him, Atwood tells him to never lay another finger on him. He has Young Jun arrested for assaulting an officer. Yan and Ah Sahm get stopped by cops. Ah Sahm jumps down and begins fighting with them. Richard believes Chao tipped off the Hop Wei.

He tells Bill that he should’ve been police chief. Bill believes he deserves it for trusting a snake like Buckley. Richard thinks the Hop Wei will go underground and they’ll be back to square one. Stone comes over and tells them about being jumped by a couple of Chinese. He says they were hauling something on a wagon. Ah Sahm asks Yan to watch over the plates until he figures out what to do. She worries what the cops will do now that they saw their faces and she hit one of them. Yan ends up kissing Ah Sahm and they have sex. Mai Ling asks Eliza where Franny and the others are. Eliza has her arrested for criminal solicitation. She tells Mai Ling that she saw her with Bernard and he told her everything. Mai Ling denies everything until Eliza slaps her. Eliza hopes they send her back to China.

 

Warrior Review

This episode of Warrior was watchable and mostly good with the story being pushed forward as Richard and Edmund attempt to find the plates being used by the Hop Wei. The episode expanded on multiple side stories as well, including Ah Sahm’s relationship with Yan and Mai Ling’s relationship with Eliza and Bernard.

Nellie is on the verge of losing her land unless she can pull out a miracle at the last minute while Dylan and Strickland are teaming up to take over San Francisco. The series has juggled a lot of concurrent storylines with some of them being more interesting than others. With so much going on, the season seems to have a problem in terms of direction.

Through four episodes, there isn’t a major conflict that stands out as being more important than others. The Hop Wei and Long Zii are doing separate things so there is no real conflict between the gangs or Ah Sahm and Mai Ling. At some point, more focus will need to be placed on one of these stories to create more meaning and impact.

Some of the dialogue and accents can be a little weird, but that is to be expected. Truthfully, the fact that the series feels a little all over the place may not be so bad if it was released all at once instead of weekly. The season has been fine other than that. The fight scenes are still good and the characters are deep enough to keep things interesting. The episode scores a 6.5 out of 10. Recaps of Warrior can be found on Reel Mockery here.

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