Bullet Points: Warrior (S3 Ep3) “No Time for F*cking Chemistry”
Our Warrior Season 3 coverage continues with a recap of Episode 3. I am presuming going forward that Max will be releasing one new episode every Thursday and not three at a time like they did for the premiere, but who knows… anything can happen in the streaming world.
Dropping three episodes was a nice bonus for pre-existing Warrior fans who have been waiting a long time for Season 3 and for newbies with multiple episodes to sample and binge, there is probably a higher probability that they are hooked for the rest of the season. At least that’s my theory…
- They’re Back Baby: With an influx of cash thanks to their new counterfeiting operation, the Hop Wei are able to pay off their debt to Happy Jack and get back into the molasses business too. Things are going so well that Young Jun (Jason Tobin) even has a pep rally of sorts at the brothel, where he encourages his soldiers to get drunk and get sticky Ah Sahm can’t help but question Young Jun’s tactics and spending their new found wealth on whores and booze instead of buying more soldiers… but leave it to Chou to bring up a good point, will there be any soldiers left? What’s left of the Three Brothers tong has now joined the Long Zi too… Mai Ling is building an army and doing so with no interference from the Chinatown Squad. That makes Ah Sahm (Andrew Koji) think a bit it and it is no surprise when later in the episode he makes his way to Long Zi turf to get an audience with his sister.
- Sparks?: I was more interested in Ah Sahm’s numerous interactions with Yan Mi, who as you will recall is doing the printing of the counterfeit money for the Hop Wei, in order to keep her family free of Hop Wei interference going forward. There definitely seemed to be some sexual tension between the two, maybe Ah Sahm likes Yan Mi’s sharp tongue. Yan Mi (Chelsea Muirhead) does not hold back with her comments. Like when Yan Mi walks in on Ah Sahm practicing with his nunchaku, to let him know she is finished working for the day and after he frisks her to make sure she is not stealing any of the product, tells him “you have fun playing with your wood. I have to admit I find Yan Mi’s smart mouth endearing. I would not be surprised to see these two hooking up sooner than later… Ah Sahm hasn’t hooked up with anyone yet and we are three episodes in. Maybe it it is the fact that the show is now a Max Original and not a Skinemax Original anymore, but thus far the sexual content has definitely been toned down from previous seasons. Although Hong did hook up with that singer that he was making eyes at in Episode 2, so good for you Hong!
- Deputy Lee: Agent Mosley’s offer at the end of Episode 2 to former SFPD officer Richard Lee (Tom Weston-Jones) was one that was too good to pass up, Lee is deputized and joins Mosley when they meet with the SFPD’s Chinatown Squad and brief them on their investigation and ask for their cooperation specifically testing some of the money exchanging hands in Chinatown. That request leads to one of the officers uttering the line that was used as the title of the episode, basically with all they have to do in Chinatown they really have “no time for f*cking chemistry”. Lee is more than happy to clap back at his former co-workers, before leaving and turning his attention to Chou (Hoon Lee)… Lee and Mosley then turn their attention to Chou (Hoon Lee), Chou is asked if he knows anything about any counterfeiters, but Chou doesn’t have anything to say… shortly after Lee’s visit, Chou exits his place of business and is tailed by Mosley… however Chou realizes it and manages to lose him in the hustle and bustle of Chinatown.
- Burn Baby Burn: Early in the episode Douglas Strickland returns to Sonoma to see if Nellie had reconsidered his offer to buy her land. She tells him she thought she made it clear when she stands on the issue and then he starts playing a little dirty… bringing up what he thinks the public and politicians would think of her sharing a bed with Ah Toy! Nellie immediately tells him to get off her land. Nellie still seems confident that her lawyers will be able to run interreference and eventually they’ll figure out another route for Strickland’s railroad… Nellie was not prepared for what would happen at the end of the episode, when some guys show up and start setting fire to the entire vineyard… not surprisingly Ah Toy and Lai go right into fight mode with their blades of choice and start taking out the guys looking to destroy the vineyard. Nellie grabs her shot gun and starts blasting, there’s a bad guy with a bull whip, Nellie’s girls come to her aid and there’s fire everywhere!
The hot finish to Episode 3 (both literally and figuratively) has me anticipating Episode 4 this coming Thursday.
Check back here for my Episode 4 recap, but until then let me ask a few questions in the Bonus Bullet Points…
- Have We Witnessed the Start of Dylan Leary’s Mayoral Campaign?: Leary paid Douglas Strickland a visit, just like Pierce had asked him to in the last episode. But the meeting does not go the way Pierce probably imagined it would. Strickland told Leary he isn’t like his peers… he earned his fortune, they were born into it. And unlike them he sees Leary as a political powerhouse. They exchange war stories and some of the tragedies they had to endure and I could see this meeting turning out quite well for Leary.
- What Does Archer Want?: Last week I wondered how anyone could actually like acting Mayor Buckley. It turns out that even Buckley couldn’t believe it, he had yet to take Ms. Archer up on her offer to help his campaign because he thought she was just being polite. When the two bump into each other again at an art gallery, Archer assures him once he gets to know her, he’ll realize she is seldom polite. Does she want to be the wife of the mayor? The power behind the throne? Both? Neither? What’s her game??
- Will Zing Return in Episode 4?: I have been asking this question since my Season 3 coverage began and it remains a valid question because Dustin Nguyen’s Zing is going to cause a great deal of trouble for possibly everyone when he does reemerge. I should point out though, that Nguyen has been behind the camera as the director for both Episodes 2 and 3.
