Bullet Points: Warrior (S2 Ep1) “Learn to Endure, or Hire a Bodyguard”
The second and final season of Warrior has begun on Cinemax (still hoping for an HBO Max miracle that will allow this series to continue) and coincidentally Bulletproof Action’s coverage of Warrior Season 2 has begun as well…
- Pit Fighter: After a spectacular season one recap, we get right into the action of Season 2 with Ah Sahm (Andrew Koji) at a Barbary Coast fight pit. Here not only do we get to see the fighting skills of Ah Sahm, we are also introduced to our first new character of the season, Rosalita Vega (Maria-Elena Laas). Vega is the proprietor of the fight pit and can’t help but take some interest in Ah Sahm and wonder why a member of the Hop Wei tong is fighting for money. Cue the opening credits…
- Family Feud #1: We are re-introduced to more of the central characters, all of whom are dealing with family issues… There’s Penny Blake (Joanna Vanderham), who was involved in a torrid love affair with Ah Sahm in the first season, but as Season 2 begins Penny’s attention is all on the steel mill she inherited from her father. A steel mill that employs Chinese laborers and a steel mill her husband, Mayor Samuel Blake, believes she should sell. Part of the reason Mayor Blake wants his wife to sell so badly, is due to the continued tension between the Chinese workers and the Irish workers and with his wife employing the Chinese, the perception is Mayor Blake has taken a side.
- Family Feud #2: Young Jun (Jason Tobin) is still pissed that his dad and the head of the Hop Wei, Father Jun (Perry Yung), cut a deal with Mei Ling (Dianne Doan), the new head of the rival Long Zi at the end of Season 1 in order to prevent the bloody war between the two tongs to start back up. Young Jun is not afraid to vocalize his thoughts to his father and Father Jun is not afraid to put his impetuous son in his place. Things are probably only going to get worse between father and son if Young Jun and Ah Sahm’s plan to go against the longstanding business practices of the Hop Wei, in order to recoup some of the Hop Wei’s losses now that the Long Zi are permitted to do business on what was once their exclusive turf.
- Family Feud #3: The biggest family feud of them all is the sibling rivalry between Ah Sahm, who is part of the Hop Wei, and his sister Mei Ling, who is the had of the Long Zi. After the two stare daggers at one another on the streets of Chinatown, Ah Sahm manages to speak to Mei Ling privately… it is at that point that Mai Ling pitches the idea that Ah Sahm join her in the Long Zi and how great it would be if they were on the same side. Ah Sahm wants no part of it, especially after he was nearly killed by Mei Ling’s right hand man and lover, Li Yong (Joe Taslim) during their epic confrontation in Episode 9 of Season 1. In fact, Ah Sahm doesn’t just turn Mei Ling down, he tells her she’s going to wish she had killed him.
- Vigilante Justice: Ah Toy (Olivia Cheng) started making life miserable for the police in Chinatown, when she began taking a stand for her people and going after those who targeted the Chinese in Season 1. But the stakes are raised in Season 2, as Ah Toy is no longer dishing out vigilante justice with just her sword, she has back up including Ah Sahm… who is always ready for a fight. Ah Toy and Ah Sahm take the fight to a group of Chinese haters known as the Teddy Boys. Action fans will flip for this scene… it was absolutely brutal… including one of the Teddy Boys getting their hand chopped off! The Teddy Boys massacre only adds additional pressure to the Chinatown police, specifically Bill O’Hara (Kieran Bew) and Richard Lee (Tom Weston-Jones). But trying to find the mysterious vigilante is not the only trouble our two Chinatown cops are facing… Lee is still dealing with the after effects of his head injury and Bill O’Hara finds himself under the thumb of the head of the Fung Hai tong, Zing (Dustin Nguyen).
“Learn to Endure, or Hire a Bodyguard” was a fantastic season opener for Warrior. All of the key storylines were spotlighted and the table was set for what promises to be another wild ride.
Now before I go, how about some question filled Bonus Bullet Points?
- With Bill O’Hara doing whatever he can to get Wang Chao (Hoon Lee) to spill the beans on the identity of the vigilante (including shutting down Chao’s business), can Wang Chao keep his mouth shut the entire season?
- And speaking of Wang Chao, what was the personal secret that he and Ah Toy were talking about?
- Another new character that was introduced in Season 2 was Penny’s sister Sophie (Celine Buckens) and there was more than a little tease that she may end up involved romantically with the head of the Irish union Dylan Leary (Dean Jagger). How much trouble will that relationship cause?
- Is Walter Buckley (Langley Kirkwood) still the biggest weasel and shit disturber on the show? You better believe it!
