Nevertheless, the ritual leaves Father Jun feeling unsatisfied, so he orders the Hop Wei to kill the threesome. But Ah Sahm says his piece in defense of Young Jun’s actions and sways the tong to their side. They all stand down as Young Jun tells his father that “We are honoring your long years of leadership and celebrating your retirement,” and then takes the chair as the head of the Hop Wei. It’s a significant role change, something we’ve been waiting for since Warrior began.
Later the Juns have a heart to heart. Father Jun tells his son to kill him because that’s the way power is transferred in the tong, and even offers to do it himself, implying again the Young Jun is too wimpy. But he refuses patricide, claiming he wants to keep his father’s wisdom. Instead, he puts him under constant guard, which is good because Father Jun is too interesting of a character to kill off just yet.
Prostitutes, Cops, Politicians and the Weapon Dealer
Ah Toy (Olivia Cheng) and Nellie (Miranda Raison) get it on in Ah Toy’s bordello, and the irony of their tryst location isn’t lost on either of them. In a moment of post-coital bliss, Ah Toy opens up to Nellie, revealing her tragic backstory. Her husband was a silk vendor who was murdered on the boat when they were travelling to America, forcing Ah Toy to become the captain’s concubine to save herself from being passed around by the whole ship’s crew. She confides in Nellie that she has 200 hectares of land outside of Chinatown but because she’s Chinese, she’s had to hide her ownership using her token white real estate partner, Patterson (Frank Rautenbach). Nellie suggests that she take over as Ah Toy’s Caucasian partner and shares her frustration with one particularly nasty group of sex traffickers who run a sadistic rival brothel. Ah Toy asks Nellie to show her where they are on a map.
In court, O’Hara (Kieran Bew) testifies against Zing (Dustin Nguyen). Zing is sentenced to be hanged at San Quentin. San Quentin is California’s oldest prison, established in 1852. It lies north of San Francisco, only 20 miles away by the Golden Gate bridge, but much farther in the time that Warrior is set because the bridge didn’t open until 1937. Nevertheless, it’s a timely and appropriate reference. Although Warrior is fictional, it reverently references a tumultuous time in American history with ample liberties taken.
After the trial, Leary (Dean Jagger) corners O’Hara and calls him out on rumors he’s heard about him working for Zing, but O’Hara covers quickly by saying that it was a ruse so he could get closer to his target. Later, Mayor Blake (Christian McKay) honors O’Hara and the Chinatown police squad for catching the swordsman. After that, it’s Buckley’s (Langley Kirkwood) turn to corner Leary after the speeches. Knowing Leary has the Irish vote, he tries to sway him into politics.
