Warrior Series Review

Warrior (2019-2023)
Season 1 - 10 episodes (2019)
Season 2 - 10 episodes (2020)
Season 3 - 10 episodes (2023)

Rent Warrior on Amazon Video (paid link)
Created by: Jonathan Tropper
Starring: Andrew Koji, Olivia Cheng, Jason Tobin, Dianne Doan, Kieran Bew, Dean Jagger, Tom Weston-Jones, Hoon Lee, Langley Kirkwood, Joe Taslim, Joanna Vanderham
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer

Plot
Ah Sahm, a martial arts prodigy from China, immigrates to San Francisco and becomes a hatchet man for the most powerful tong in Chinatown during the Tong Wars in the late 1800s.

Verdict
This is a violet battle between various groups as they try to survive and scrap by any means necessary, often trying to take each other out. There are no good characters, just those moved by money and power as situations permit. Ah Sahm is the 'good guy,' who happens to be the fiercest fighter. He wins almost every fight, always has a witty response, and gets the girl. Through the series we see him gain status and influence as he tries to maintain order. The fighting is exhilarating, but this does fall victim to a few soap opera type subplots.
It depends.

Review
Season one feels a bit generic other than the setting. Ah Sahm (Andrew Koji) is a great fighter and that skill takes him far as a new immigrant in Chinatown. This becomes a bit of a soap opera with interconnections between characters bordering on ridiculous, but this is never anything less than entertaining. The fighting may be the best part.

Andrew Koji plays Ah Sahm

Ah Sahm is never one to simply weather an insult. Even right off the boat he starts a fight with a cop. There doesn't seem to be anyone Ah Sahm can't defeat. Those skills will serve one of the local gangs well. He's always the coolest guy in the room, and he's here looking for his sister. I like the setting and the action is great.

Everyone wants to profit off San Francisco, the cops, politicians, and gangs. There is a lot of racism in the show with backwards thinking people, but the show is quick to point out the gaping flaws in their logic. We see that through how cops treat the Chinese and how the local Irish labor union doesn't like another group 'taking' their jobs. The common people hate because they're told to. The upper class stoke that hate to  make a dollar.

Ah Sahm meets the mayor's wife Penelope Blake (Joanna Vanderham) and that subplot is completely predictable. The show made it clear her marriage was one of convenience only. It's too much like a soap opera, present just for the drama.

Ah Sahm finds his sister Mai Ling (Dianne Doan) much quicker than I anticipated. She's a fun character, leader of the Long Zii gang.

Episode five features Ah Sahm and Young Jun (Jason Tobin) at a bar preparing for a shootout. That seems very fitting as Ah Sahm fits the stoic, always ready with a one liner Clint Eastwood mold.

The season concludes with a face off between the Hop Wei and Long Zii with Ah Sahm as their representative. It's one heck of a fight

Joe Taslim, Andrew Koji play Li Yong, Ah Sahm

Season two expands on the season one plot lines. Ah Sahm starts on the outside, having to work his way back to the inner circle of the Hop Wei. Penelope takes over her father's business and faces all of the persecution you'd expect in this time period. The mayor has a giant issue with his wife doing this. Elsewhere Mai Ling is taking over the town.

This season, like the first, also has to introduce an unlikely romance arc. I don't know why. The second season definitely kicks it up a notch with tensions rising between every group. This season culminates with chaos in the streets as a mob set on revenge invades Chinatown and Ah Sahm makes a name for himself as he defends his people.

Season one started with Ah Sahm's arrival, but now in season three he is the legend of Chinatown. Ah Sahm and Young Jun expand their gang's business while Mei Ling finds a foothold in high society. Mei Ling's venture falters, and I was waiting for her revenge which eventually comes. It takes a while as she's busy consolidating her power.

Ah Sahm manages to get every girl. It makes sense as hee is the local legend. He's always going to step in to save everyone in need and almost always wins the fight. Ah Sahm's desire to save everyone compromises the gang. It's no surprise this season has a violent ending. That's how the entire series has operated. Season three is the conclusion of the series and it definitely seems planned.

This is a fun series, a world of rival gangs, corrupt politicians, and a lot of violence. This is a town at the bottom where everyone is desperate. The Chinese and Irish are desperate for jobs with the Irish thinking the Chinese don't belong. The why of that is simply they don't want to compete for work. This is all while the government pits them against each other. Ah Sahm is the one kicking button through all of it.