Bullet Points: Warrior (S3 Ep2) “Anything Short of a Blow to the Head”
Season 3 of Warrior started off strong with Episode 1, reminding us of where all the major players stand and laying the groundwork for the season. Episode 2 really gets the ball rolling and I can already feel that momentum starting to build…
- Funny Money: After their discovery at the end of Episode 1, the Hop Wei start dabbling in the counterfeit money business… but after some failed attempts, Chou suggests they call in an expert. Young Jun (Jason Tobin) is reluctant at first, but Ah Sahm thinks if they can keep it local, they’ll minimize the risk of bringing in an outsider. So Ah Sahm goes to the local printer in Chinatown (the same guy Young Jun was trying to shake down for protection money in Episode 1) to see if he could swing by and take a look at their new printing press… the owner wants nothing to do with gangsters and even the promise of never having to pay protection money again won’t sway his decision. His children on the other hand think differently. Later in the episode the printer’s daughter, Yan Mi, offers her services in a unique fashion as she runs down their amateur hour attempts at counterfeiting. Her cut is to for Young Jun and the Hop Wei to do what Ah Sahm promised… leave her father alone, no more protection money, no more collections visits. We even get a counterfeit printing montage and Yan Mi’s bills look as real as can be. But little does the Hop Wei know, trouble is right around the corner.
- Enter the Mosley: A new character is introduced in the form of Secret Service Agent Mosley. Mosley’s arrival in San Francisco really shakes things up. Mosley is on the case of the missing plates from the United States Treasury that the Hop Wei are now in possession of… at the start of the episode Mosley stops the wagon transporting the counterfeit money out of San Francisco, he then takes one of the transporters into custody and forces him to take him to the place he picked up the money. which has at this point been cleared out by the Hop Wei. All that is left when Mosley arrives is the dead bodies of the counterfeiters, but Mosley’s prisoner mentions that there was also a Chinese fella there when he picked up the cargo… That tip leads Mosley to Chinatown. Mosley attempts to show the new chief of police Atwood some professional courtesy and Atwood returns that with nothing but attitude. Mosley pulls the fed card and puts Atwood in his place and gets all that he asked for… including the files of the Chinatown Squad of the SFPD. Which leads him to seek out Richard Lee. He knows Richard quit the police force, he also knows that Richard is wanted for murder in Georgia… he offers Richard a chance to have that murder charge erased, so he can live the peaceful life he wants with the woman he loves, but first he has to help him with his investigation since he knows the lay of the land in Chinatown.
- Union Strong: It is a busy episode for Dylan Leary… at the end of the last episode he had negotiated 20 jobs for the Irish workers he represents. Now he finds that some of those 20 are causing trouble at the job site and costing the guy paying them, Mr. Merriweather, a days work because they beat up some of his skilled laborers just because they were Chinese. So Leary gets in the rabblerousers’ faces, tells them he has plenty of other guys who would gladly take their spots and sends them packing. He also issues an open challenge to anyone else who has a problem with the arrangement, telling them they know where to find them. And that results in some bare knuckle boxing at Leary’s bar later that evening with Leary taking on the guy who stepped up AND the guy’s brother… Leary also pays acting Mayor Buckley a visit, reminding him of his promise to outlaw Chinese labor. Buckley reminds Leary that there’s nothing he can do until he is officially mayor and reminder that if he doesn’t get the votes that Leary promised him, his opposition in the mayoral race is pro-Chinese labor.
- Merger Talks: The biggest action scene in Episode 2, takes place when Mai Ling sends Li Yong (Joe Taslim) and Kong Pak (Mark Dacascos) to negotiate with another tong about officially joining up with the Long Zi… this is the same tong that Zing belonged too before he was jailed and they are nowhere near as cooperative as Kong Pak and his tong, which leads to a massive and bloody battle with Li Yong and Kong Pak coming out on top and basically sending the message “join or die”.
Warrior‘s biggest strength is being able to perfectly marry drama and action. It’s a turf war, it’s the dirty game of politics and it’s brutal fight scenes all blended together each and every week… I absolutely love this show!
Now how about I ask some questions in the Bonus Bullet Points?
- Will Zing Make His Return in Episode 3?: I asked this question last week and there’s a good chance I will ask it every week until he does return. But now I think I can add, will Zing return and how pissed off will he be when he finds out that Li Yong and Kong Pak wiped out his brothers?? And for that matter, what is Mai Ling’s reaction going to be to the slaughter? Or is she going to be too busy with her new high society friends outside of Chinatown??
- How Long Can Big Bill and Chief Atwood Coexist?: Bill O’Hara questions Chief Atwood’s excessive force tactics when it comes to “cleaning up” Chinatown. And Atwood reminds Bill it is not his job to question, just do as ordered. Bill really does want his family back and he has other job offers… but I can’t see him willingly leaving the police force. I can however see him kicking the shit out of Atwood and getting his ass fired. I give them to Episode 5 and it’s all over.
- Has Hong Found Love?: Out on the town with Young Jun, Hong (Chen Tang) can’t take his eyes off a singer at nightclub and it looked like the singer had eyes for Hong too!
- Somebody Actually Likes Buckley?: After a mayoral debate between acting Mayor Buckley and his challenger Mr. Thayer, the family man… Buckley is approached by Catherine Archer, who made it known that she was ready to support Buckley’s race for the mayor’s seat and felt any voter with a brain can see that Buckley is the right man for the job, while Thayer is all show. I can’t believe that anyone would actually like Buckley. Politics shouldn’t be a popularity contest, I can agree with that but to actually go up to a weasel like Buckley and publicly praise him seems crazy to me. It makes me wonder what Archer is really up to?
- Vineyard vs. Railroad, Who Wins?: For Ah Toy and Nellie Davenport, Sonoma has been like heaven on earth. But that may change soon, Nellie is paid a visit by her old friend Douglas Strickland III, who lets her know his company has been awarded the contract to extend the railroad right through the middle of Nellie’s vineyard. Douglas offers her a fair price for the land, something she won’t get if the government steps in and declares eminent domain… but Nellie is not giving up without a fight and has the money and the lawyers to do it!
