Warrior delivers a Godfather moment in gripping Episode 308

Although it’s an action show, Warrior has always been a slow burn, and never more than in season 3. The series has a ton of characters, all of whom have gained layers as time has passed. Warrior has put a lot of new storylines on the stove this year, and it’s taken a while to bring them a boil.

But things are really starting to heat up here in Episode 308, “You Know When You’re Losing a Fight.” Warrior is delivering the kind of rich four-course meal of a TV drama that I love, and if there are knock-down, drag-out fight scenes thrown in there, all the better.

Honestly, I don’t know why this show isn’t a huge success. It’s got a large cast of likable characters, it’s written with love and care, and it’s breathtakingly gorgeous. And then someone stabs a guy to death with a fan. Do I have to door to door to get people to watch this show? Cause I’m considering it.

Celebrations

The episode opens with Mai Ling’s wedding to Li Yong, which I predicted last week would be a Red Wedding moment. I was half right.

The first chunk of the episode mostly passes in silence as we take in a parade through the streets of Chinatown, Mai Ling’s beautiful wedding gown, and various interactions between the many characters gathered for the occasion. I always love when a TV show has an excuse to bring together lots of characters like this, and Warrior doesn’t waste it. I particularly liked Ah Sahm’s little wink to his sister as she passed by him on her way to the alter…well, this was a traditional Chinese wedding of some kind and there wasn’t literally an alter, but you know what I mean. The whole thing is a feast for the senses.

The episode intercuts the wedding with Buckley’s inauguration speech as mayor, where he promises to root out the “insidious insurgents of a deviant alien race” among them. As he says this, we cut back to the wedding and see the faces of characters I realize I’ve really come to like and don’t want to see harmed: Ah Sahm, Young Jun, Ah Toy, Chou, Mai Ling, Li Yong, Hong…There’s something unsettlingly direct about the way Warrior portrays the racism of characters like Buckley, who now have the power to do real damage. It’s honest in a way I feel like a lot of other shows skirt around, if they address the issue at all.

The episode ties the inauguration and the wedding together visually with the falling of red confetti at the former and golden leaves at the latter. The score by Reza Safinia sets the mood well. The whole wedding sequence is great. The show is great. Watch the show.

Warrior goes Godfather

The wedding more or less goes off without a hitch, which surprised me; I expected Mai Ling to have some trick up her sleeve. And of course she did; she just saved it for the wedding night.

During his nuptials, Li Yong learns that the Long Zii elders are still unhappy with Mai Ling’s leadership, and are hoping that he’ll take control now that he’s married to her. Ever the follower, Li Yong is unwilling to do this, but he needn’t have worried: Mai Ling already had a plan to have all of the elders assassinated before dawn.

In another evocative sequence, we see the elders picked off one by one while Mai Ling and Li Yong have sex. It reminded me of the ending of The Godfather, where a christening is intercut with mobsters murdering all of Michael Corleone’s enemies. Obviously the HBO version of that scene has more nudity.

Li Yong vs Kong Pak

The only person to survive Mai Ling’s purge is Kong Pak, an old brother-in-arms to Li Yong. It didn’t seem like Kong Pak was quite ready to overthrow Mai Ling, but she tried to have him killed just to be safe; that’s Mai Ling for you.

Naturally, Kong Pak shows up at Mai Ling’s house the next day hopping mad, leading to a powerful one-on-one fight between him and Li Yong. The fight choreography is brutal as usual, but so are the performances from all three actors. Li Yong defends his wife, but is torn about taking on his friend; Joe Taslim is often asked to present a cool, collected front, but here you can see him being torn apart inside. Dianne Doan is also excellent as Mai Ling, who seems terrified not only that Kong Pak might kill her, but also that she may lose Li Yong’s trust. After all, she made yet another huge move without consulting him.

Of course Li Yong kills Kong Pak (with a brutal backbreaker neck crack move); Kong Pak was introduced just this season, and I always assumed he was brought on to participate in some badass fight sequences and then die. And yet there was still a ton of emotion. When one of our leads dies, it’s gonna be heartrending.

How Bill O’Hara got his groove back

Outside of Chinatown, Dylan Leary is again frustrated with the limits of his political power. He’s unable to spring a pair of young Irish boys from jail before they can be punished in a way that’s wildly disproportionate with their crime. And since Bill is no longer on the police force, he doesn’t have a direct contact there.

But Bill, frustrated for his own reasons, figures he’ll try and throw his weight around anyway. He talks to some of his old men at the station, all of whom are Irish, unlike the fancy new boss Benjamin Atwood. Bill is able to spring the boys from their cell, but Atwood finds them and basically challenges Bill to a duel: if Bill wins, the boys can go. If he doesn’t, Bill and Leary join them in jail.

It’s a gamble that doesn’t pay off. The fight is fun, bloody, and dripping with testosterone. Atwood goes down, which is satisfying because he’s a prick. That said, I realize I’m being manipulated here, because he was clearly brought onto the show this season so we would hate him and then be happy when someone finally socked him in the face. Eh, worth it.

Verdict

I also have to mention Father Jun continuing to lose himself to dementia, despite Young Jun’s best attempts to bring his father back to himself. I’ve seen older relatives slide into dementia, and while none of them ever forgot who I was and held a knife to my throat — this is TV, we have to be dramatic — these scenes felt true to life, and they hurt.

They’re also providing Jason Tobin and Perry Yung with ample opportunities to show off their actor skills, and both are killing it. Tobin in particular is doing a fine job of showing us a more vulnerable side of Young Jun. If this was the kind of series that actually got honored at awards shows, voters would have their pick of actors to nominate.

The directors, writers, production designers and costumers deserve some love too. Really, Warrior just deserves a lot more love than it gets from the general public. So if you enjoy this review, this show, or both, tell your friends! I already know I want season 4.

You Know When You’re Reading Some Bullet Points

• Lee and Chao are a little more chummy since their adventure in Georgia, but they’re still on opposite sides. Chou had the best read of the night when he saw Lee back in uniform. “Is there a cousin you forget to kill?”
• Ah Toy takes a break from the wedding to kill the pimp she had a dispute with last week. Honestly, this scene kind of came out of nowhere for me; it was like the show thought it needed an action sequence and just crammed one in. Fun to see Ah Toy kill a dude with a fan, though.
• I’ll just say it: I’ve never gotten used to the euphemism “sticky.” It always grosses me out a bit.
• Mai Ling: “Not long ago we were at war. You and Li Yong were trying to kill each other. Tonight we’re family.” Ah Sahm: “There’s always tomorrow.”
• Bill gets taken off manual labor at his shitty job, but only because his sister-in-law complained. Then he gets talked down to by a fresh-faced college grad. So he was feeling emasculated, which could explain why he was so keen to throw himself into danger.
• I liked the scene between Bill and his wife, who seems ready to weather the storm with her husband now that she’s returned home. Beating up the chief of police may have been fun, but it will have consequences.
• So Lee (or at least I think that was Lee) is onto the fact that Ah Sahm and Yan Mi are now an item. Did Lee recognize Yan Mi? I couldn’t tell what we were supposed to think of him looking at her during the wedding.
• The episode ends with Lai pretending to be a maid in Strickland’s house, no doubt planning to murder the hell out of him. It’s a weird note to end on since it has practically nothing to do with anything else that happens in the episode, but that’s the risk you take when you have this many storylines going at once.

Episode Grade: B+

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