Not For A Drink
Episode 5 of Warrior Season 2 begins within the smouldering ruins of the warehouse, back-dropped by Penny walking through and checking the devastation before her. As her right-hand man Jacob arrives, he shows her evidence of the opium and reveals that Hop Wei were there. Mai Ling contemplates whether her relationship with Ah Sahm can ever be fixed. Bill riles up the officers at the police station and means business, intending to stamp his authority that evening. Lee returns to the station late and looking the worse for wear. He blames Bill for what’s happened to him but the officer looks at his colleague square in the face and tells him to be sober this evening. Penny confronts Ah Sahm with disdain and bitterly tells him to leave. When he does, Samuel shows up and looks over the damage. They’ve got 6 weeks worth of rebuilding but Samuel is worried (that term is used very loosely here) for her. She needs to deliver on time but if she doesn’t then it could cause serious problems. Penny pleads with her husband to help but he scoffs at the notion and tells her it’ll be good to see her at home again. Ugh. There’s a war brewing and O-Leary is well aware of that, stoking the fire and readying himself for the war to come. He’s not the only one either – Young Jun and Ah Sahm sit together and contemplate their next move. Ah Sahm decides to visit Happy Jack but Hong shows up and tells them he’s in. Eventually they agree to work together. Meanwhile, Ah Toy is taken out into the countryside and shown Nellie’s winery. As they both talk, she leans forward and starts kissing her. It’s an interesting development and one that takes her character in a very different direction. Back in town, Chao heads to see Zing who threatens him. When Chao tries to leave, Zing has his men wait by the doors, refusing to let him leave. Holding him down, Zing pours milk down his throat until he’s sputtering and choking. After this initiation, he toasts with the others…until evidence that the Long Zii are there spills out. On the back of this, Chao is beaten down to the ground until Li Yong shows his face and fights his way through. As a solitary gunshot pierces the air, which the police outside take as their cue and storm Zing’s complex. While the fighting breaks out downstairs, Zing and Li Yong go one on one upstairs. Despite everything simmering down on the ground floor, Li Yong and Zing continue to trade blows until Bill eventually breaks everything up. Li Yong manages to slip away though while Zing receives a shotgun shell through the shoulder for his troubles. With Zing captured and this amazing fight sequence over, the investigators show up and start taking the bodies away. Although they have the sword and watch, Lee still believes there’s more to this story. Meanwhile, a battered and bruised Li Yong returns home and believes that the police will leave them alone now that Zing is gone. He was out of control and needed to be taken down. Mai Ling is not happy that he’s defied her though and walks away. When Ah Toy returns from the winery, she’s not happy either. With Mai Ling growing in power, Ah Sahm defends his position though and tells her this is what they needed to do. She scoffs, telling him he’s more like Mai Ling than he knows and needs to stop. Ah Sahm heads back to the fighting pits soon after where his sister shows up and propositions him. She wants her brother back and apologizes for mistakes in the past. Ah Sahm is done listening to this though and wants nothing to do with her, instead putting his name forward to being the fighter for the upcoming tournament.
The Episode Review
What a great episode! With all the moving parts running parallel for most of this season, everything builds up to this big fight at the end. There’s some great camera work too and it feeds into the choreography which is strong and well rehearsed throughout. The bubbling feuds between the Tongs continues to be the dominant force of this season though, with the police serving as the wild-card entry to the ongoing feud. That’s to say nothing of the racial tension that simmers under all this fighting, helping to give this series a lot of depth. After a season that’s delved more into drama than action, this episode is another reminder of everything that’s great about Warrior. With the ending promising more fighting to come, and this sequence arguably one of the best of the show’s 2-season run so far, who will come out on top at the end?
