The Checklist: Warrior (S1 Ep1) “The Itchy Onion”

When you capture the hearts and minds of so many people around the world the way that Bruce Lee and then pass away at such a young age… there is going to be a huge void.

One of the things that helped fill that void with Bruce Lee fans were the legends of Bruce Lee. There were countless theories on his death… some say he was murdered others that Bruce actually faked his own death and would one day return. There were also stories about some of the projects Bruce had been working on before he passed… like a television series called Warrior.

The Warrior legend did have some truth to it… while Bruce did not have an entire television series written… he did have an eight page treatment about the story of a martial artist named Ah Sahm who found his way to America and those eight pages ended up being the launching pad for the Cinemax series, Warrior.

Now I am putting the first episode of Warrior, entitled “The Itchy Onion” to The Checklist test…

#1 – Does the show’s premise have legs?

The show opens with our protagonist Ah Sahm (Andrew Koji) literally getting off the boat from China and stepping foot in 1878 San Francisco. Ah Sahm immediately sees a world where the Chinese are not welcome as the Irish laborers vehemently protest the arrival of the Chinese immigrants. The immigration officers aren’t much kinder and after using some racial slurs to describe the latest crop of immigrants from China, the officers find out the hard way that Ah Sahm is bilingual and that he can kick some serious ass.

Ah Sahm’s scrapping abilities gain the attention of “local businessman” Wang Chao (Hoon Lee, Banshee) and he delivers Ah Sahm to the most powerful tong in Chinatown, the Hop Wei… a group Ah Sahm soon finds himself being initiated in. But Ah Sahm did not come to America to join a gang… he came to America to find his sister who was forced to flee their native China two years prior.

I thought Ah Sahm’s quest for his sister would be a long running story arc for the entire season if not the entire series… but instead he finds her in the latter part of “The Itchy Onion” so does this mean the show is over before it started?!? Hell no… his sister Mai Ling is actually in deep with Long Zii, the leader of the rival tong that the Hop Wei are about to go to war with. So there is no happy reunion between the siblings and they now find themselves on opposite sides.

Throw in the Irish/Chinese conflicts and the political corruption going on in San Francisco and you have a lot of meat on the bone for at least several seasons of compelling television. 1/1

#2 – Can you emotionally invest in the characters?

We’ve established Warrior has done a great job creating a tension filled world for our characters to live in, but what about the characters themselves? Are they interesting enough to want to watch every week? Can a viewer emotionally invest in them one way or another?

Let’s look at some of the key characters starting off with Ah Sahm… dude has a chip on his shoulder which is likely a bi-product of being able to fight the way he can fight. Ah Sahm has no fear and does not run. These are qualities that could very well end up getting him in trouble (if not killed) in the powder keg he finds himself in.

Bill O’Hara (Kieran Bew) is the cop who has been given the unenviable task of heading up a Chinatown squad to patrol the hotbed of activity and do his best to keep the peace between the Chinese and the Irish… and we get a glimpse that Big Bill won’t necessarily go “by the book” all the time in order to do his job.

Ah Toy (Olivia Cheng, Deadly Class) plays the madame at the whore house of choice for the Hop Wei and seemingly becomes Ah Sahm’s love interest at the end of episode one… and we also get a glimpse of a potential vigilante side of her character, which got my attention and the attention of the two Irishmen she killed violently with her sword!

Finally, Mai Ling (Dianne Doan, Vikings)… here is a young lady who had a rough life in China, one where she was almost powerless… now she’s in Chinatown and she finds herself in a position with some power and she is intoxicated by it. My first impression is she is going to be the straw that stirs the drink in this show. 2/2

#3 – Is there quality martial arts action?

If you are going to attach Bruce Lee’s name to a project that features martial arts action, then you better be damn sure you have some high quality martial arts action.

I am happey to report that Warrior delivered some quality fights. Ah Sahm mixes it up several times through out the show, but the fighting highlight is when his character has an encounter with Long Zii loyalist Li Yong (Joe Taslim). 3/3

#4 – Were there any notable guest stars?

Speaking of Joe Taslim… after his attention grabbing performance in the delightfully violent The Night Comes For Us, Joe Taslim more than qualifies as a notable guest star. I was actually a bit letdown that Joe was not going to be a series regular. 4/4

#5 – Was there any skin?

I know that over the years Cinemax has evolved, but for many the channel will always be known as Skinemax… well Warrior upheld the classic Skinemax standards with several erotic and revealing scenes in the whorehouse making full use of their premium cable home. 5/5

Final Score: 5/5 (100%) Warrior has my buy in… it featured a great mix of action and drama with plenty of sex and violence on the side.