Bullet Points: Warrior (S2 Ep6) “To a Man With a Hammer, Everything Looks Like a Nail”
From last week’s preview, it appeared that Episode 6 of Warrior Season 2 was going to be the most action packed in the show’s history.
Was that the case? Let’s find out as our Warrior coverage continues…
- Timing Is Everything: It was early on in Season 2, when Barbary Coast fight promoter Rosalita Vega (Maria-Elena Laas) pitched Ah Sahm (Andrew Koji) on the idea of a big money tournament that she felt he’d be perfect for. Ah Sahm was not interested at the time, but that was before all the opium he and Young Jun (Jason Tobin) invested in burned up in the fire at Mercer Steel and now Ah Sahm is in need of a cash influx, so the big money tournament suddenly sounds more appealing.
- Enter the Dragon: Vega, Ah Sahm and his boys Young Jun and Hong (Chen Tang) take a train to the border town known as Rooker’s Mill, where the tournament is taking place. Shortly after arriving, Ah Sahm almost has a non-tournament fight with the physically imposing Dolph Jagger (played by UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping). I immediately got the feeling that we’d be seeing Ah Sahm and Dolph in the tournament finals. That feeling got even stronger as the tournament began and Dolph just decimated his opponents, but then it happened…
- Enter the Dragon: Ah Sahm’s first fight in the tournament is Dolph! And with one kick Ah Sahm knocked Dolph the eff out!! From here, we got to see Ah Sahm in action against other fighters… including a guy with long nails giving Ah Sahm some scratches on his chest, not unlike Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon. Ah Sahm is so impressive, the tournament host, Elijah Rooker, invites Ah Sahm and Vega to lunch the next day.
- Mixing Business with Pleasure: The tournament was not the only thing teased in the early episodes of Season 2, there seemed to be potential for an Ah Sahm/Vega romantic relationship… well it happened in Episode 6. Ah Sahm and Rosalita Vega share a night of passion.
- Revenge: The next day Ah Sahm and Rosalita Vega have lunch with Elijah Rooker, his wife Marisol and his bodyguard Smits. Rooker pitches the idea of Ah Sahm sticking around after the tournament so he could teach his men kung fu… then something completely unexpected happen… the most surprised was Elijah Rooker, who found himself shot in the head by Rosalita! We eventually learn that Rooker’s Mills was once land owned by Rosalita’s father and Rooker took the land by force and then killed her parents. Ah Sahm quickly realizes that this whole thing was an elaborate plan by Rosalita, but there’s not much time to discuss that considering they have to fight their way out of Rooker’s compound! And there were still more shocking moments to come in the closing minutes of the episode.
“To a Man With a Hammer, Everything Looks Like a Nail” was in fact the most action packed episode of Warrior ever. Seriously, if you have yet to check out the series and you are an action fanatic, I’d suggest starting here. Getting hooked and then going back to the beginning.
In addition to all the fight scenes, I liked that by “taking the show on the road” we really got to focus on the friendship between Ah Sahm, Young Jun and Hong… plus we got Maria’s back story.
Next week, the story will head back to Chinatown as we head into the home stretch of Season 2. But first, let’s head to these question filled Bonus Bullet Points…
- Does anyone have the Rooker’s Mill tournament bracket? How many competitors were in this tournament? Did Ah Sahm receive a bye into the semi-finals?
- Am I the only one who believes Hong is the best new character in Season 2? The guy is fiercely loyal to Ah Sahm and Young Jun and they have become the Three Musketeers at this point. And Hong knows how to realize his goals. Hong wanted some ugly cowboy boots and by the end of the show, he had some ugly cowboy boots.
- The cliffhanger ending was really well done and I can’t help but wonder what is going to happen to Young Jun and Ah Sahm after their explanation to Father Jun next week?
