YMMV / Warrior (2019)

• Alas, Poor Scrappy: Sophie Mercer is a somewhat contentious character, but in the aftermath of Jacob's death (which, granted, is to some extent her fault) she has enough trauma piled on her that you start feel sorry for her.
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Young Jun asking Hong if he finds him attractive, then reacting with incredulity when Hong clarifies that he sees Jun as a brother. Implications that Jun is Ambiguously Bi and annoyed that the one gay guy he knows just squashed any chance of them hooking up? Or annoyed that Hong just confirmed to him that Even the Guys Want Him is not in effect for him and it's just a matter of Gay Bravado? For that matter him beating up one Hop Wei member who seemed to have a problem with Hong's sexuality - a way to enforce discipline in his usual, explosive fashion or actually being angered by the latter's homophobia?
  • While on the subject of Hong, in the aforementioned scene the usually fairly level-headed and diplomatic Hong appears to be goading Shen (the guy insulting him) into outright violence, probably so that he can kill him without looking like the aggressor and discourage others from following suit; it's probably how he used to deal with similar situations in the past, and quite frequently at that, given he seems fairly casual about the whole affair.
  • What is Ah Sahm long-term goal? When Ah Toy brings up the possibility of him leading the Hop Wei, he doesn't seem too opposed to the idea; on the other hand, he seems to have plenty of genuine respect and affection for Young Jun and gives the latter advice and support that only serves to strengthen his position.
• Anticlimax Boss:
  • The moment he's up against someone who can actually fight back, Tully, the leader of the mob in "Enter the Dragon" goes down pretty quickly.
  • Shaw, The Dragon to Douglas Strickland, who was borderline Implacable Man in their last fight gets his throat unceremoniously cut from behind by Lai in "All of Death is Going Home"; though granted, this is probably because of what happened the last time she attacked him head-on.
• Awesome Music: the show has an outstanding soundtrack. The main theme is but one of the many examples.
• Catharsis Factor: The show is especially a joy to watch if you're looking to see a bunch of racist pricks get their asses thoroughly handed to them. Even better if Ah Sahm shows off his fluent English and verbally smacks their bigoted, dehumanizing views of the Chinese upside the head.
• Complete Monster:
  • "The Tiger and the Fox": Zan is a particularly vile Human Trafficker who deals in Chinese women and girls. Zan kidnaps dozens of women to be sold into sex work, and as he transports them across the ocean to America, he gives his crew free reign to rape the slaves as they please. After forcing young Lai's father to sell her off to clear an oath, Zan sells her at a higher price to Ah Toy thanks to her virginity, only to then try to go behind Ah Toy's back and let a client rape Lai to make an extra buck.
  • "Enter the Dragon": Tully is a disgruntled Irishman who blames the Chinese for the loss of his job. Tully would rally his fellow Irishmen to attack the police officers holding the Chinese Jacob, where Tully hangs Jacob before having his angry mob rampage throughout Chinatown killing every single Chinese man, woman, and child that they come across; Tully would then try to kill Richard Lee when he sees him saving a Chinese woman.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Going by YouTube comments Hong seems to be pretty popular for a relatively late addition to the cast, due to his quirky yet affable personality, overall level-headedness, a kickass fight theme, and a unique fighting style (which some viewers compared to Jackie Chan, nicely contrasting with Ah Sahm's Bruce Lee-inspired way of fighting).
  • Bolo, the original top enforcer of the Hop Wei, has a fair following as well. Some even lamented his death and wished he stayed involved in the story for longer.
• Genius Bonus:
  • There are several references to the real-life Chinese Exclusion Act, which is still upcoming in the show's timeline.
  • Buckley suggests targeting Chinese businesses by enforcing long-neglected ordinances as an excuse to shut them down. Practices like this would eventually lead to the Supreme Court case Yick Wo v. Hopkins.
  • In the Season 2 finale, Leary name-drops the Workingmen's Party of California.
  • The benediction said by the preacher in The Blood and the Shit^note "May the devil cut the fucking toes off our fucking foes so that we may know them by their limping." is not only an actual toast^note albeit without the profanity, it's an Irish one. Given that the preacher was nothing but friendly and supportive to everyone on the coach, Young Jun and Ah Sahm included, it makes him a nice counterpart to Leary and co.
• Growing the Beard: From writing and cinematography perspective, it's generally agreed upon by critics that season 2 is a notable improvement from season 1. The quality of fight choreography in season 2 also features more diverse fighting styles and situations, as well as the actors getting better at selling the moves. (Not that season 1 stinks or anything, mind.)
• Jerkass Woobie: Mai Ling is, to put it mildly, not a nice person but being married to a brutal warlord, as a compensation for something her brother did no less, explains a whole lot about her personality and attitude.
• Magnificent Bitch: Season 2: Rosalita Vega runs an illegal fighting pit on the Barbary Coast and has been planning her revenge on Elijah Rooker for killing her parents and stealing her family's land. To her wits, Vega has her sister, Marisol, marry Rooker to manipulate him into handing over his land and wealth to Marisol should he die and persuades Ah Sahm and his friends to travel to Rooker's Hill with her when they learn Rooker is hosting a fighting tournament there. Being invited to have lunch with Rooker, Vega uses this opportunity to kill Rooker and has Marisol sneak her, Ah Sahm and his group out of Rooker's Hill on the guise of being captured. When Rooker's bodyguard, Smits, shoots Vega, Vega dies happy having accomplished everything she wanted and hands over the prize money to Ah Sahm and his friends as gratitude for helping her.
• One-Scene Wonder: The judge from John Chinaman who throws a wrench into Leary and Buckley's plans to have Ah Sahm swing for the "Chinatown Swordsman" murders simply because he actually cares about upholding the law and doing his job well, rather than political power plays and indulging the racist mob.
• The Woobie:
  • As of episode 2x09 Jacob, Penny Blake's Chinese valet has clearly reached this category. He kills Mayor Blake to save Penny being killed by him in turn, then has to flee the scene because there's no way he wouldn't hang for what he did; attempts to enlist Wang Chao in trying to leave town lead to Chao and Mai Ling selling him out to the cops to take some heat off the Chinatown. And the kicker is that it doesn't work - an angry mob of Irish workers intercepts the police wagon transporting Jacob to jail, gives him an absolutely hideous beating and then lynches him, then descends on Chinatown and all but tears the place to shreds. Poor Jacob died a gruesome death for basically being a decent human being and, rather than averting further strife and bloodshed, it only brought about more.
  • Officer Richard Lee is a good man and a fair, honest cop - neither of which saves him from getting crap heaped on his head by the bucketful.

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