Warrior Review: Not for a Drink, a F*ck, or a G**damn Prayer (Season 2 Episode 5)

Plans don’t always go the way you hope, but on Warrior Season 2 Episode 5, “Not for a Drink, a F***, or a G**damn Prayer,” they’re also a form of improvising.

Ah Sahm’s been a little off to the side as we wait for the opium storyline to blow up (to do so literally is a nice little underline), and now it’s the push he needs to finally step forward and look to claim something for himself.

His anger at Mai Ling has been burning inside of him, but it’s the loss of his opium and the need to fill the money-shaped hole that is his great motivator. The large-scale fighting tournament will likely get his anger out, but his talk with Mai Ling at the end of this episode may have set him down a darker path.

It’s clear during their conversation that he cares enough about her still to downplay ever killing her, but the fact that he wants to take everything away from her speaks to a hollowed out fury that can’t be undone.

Mai Ling reaching out as her empire starts to crumble may be read as self-preservation to him, but it’s her quiet conversations with Li Yong that really digs into her mind. She’s been making curious choices all season long, but here we see that the pain of her decision in the Ah Sahm/Li Yong tournament is tearing her apart.

We need these two scenes, as it sets the tone for that final scene where Ah Sahm essentially rejects her last act of kindness. Mai Ling is doing this with the right intentions, but the damage is done with Ah Sahm, and with the Fung Hai essentially wiped out, she will be waging a somewhat one-sided war.

With Ah Sahm looking to make moves and position himself as the architect of the Hop Wei’s future, perhaps the rest of the season will be the full brother against sister fight that’s been brewing. But first, Ah Sahm will need to potentially score back all of that lost money at the tournament.

Speaking of Li Yong, it’s been a little bit since Joe Taslim enjoyed a full action sequence, and this episode doesn’t disappoint. Zing and his men put up an intimidating fight, but Li Yong continues to be one of the most magnetic fighters on Warrior, thanks to Taslim and the choreography team.

Much like Chen Tang’s fight on Warrior Season 2 Episode 3, “Not How We Do Business,” it’s lightning precision and using sheer force to dominate the enemy. Li Yong looks to be losing his connection with Mai Ling, but he’s as great as ever in battle.

Chao is the centerpiece for the episode, as his plan finally comes to fruition. It’s a rather simple plan, to plant evidence and for the cops to clean up, but it leaves so much up to chance. Zing is always looking to gain the upper hand, and so disrespecting him at the last second feels more like ego than a final middle finger to him.

Besides, leaving Zing alive doesn’t feel like the best plan. He’s shown himself to be endlessly slippery, and there’s the distinct possibility Mai Ling will provide him a jail break so that he can officially join her ranks and potentially replace Li Yong, now that he’s betrayed her (in her eyes).

Zing is increasingly arrogant, and the way he treats Chao is not about hurting him but about humiliating him. He plays mind games, and a character like that never just goes away. He will find his way out again, maybe in a similar way that Ah Sahm achieved early during the first season.

Either way, it’s a wild sequence, incredible moves being flattened by Bill and the cops as they fire indiscriminately. There’s a small moment where Lee follows Bill up to find Zing, and there’s this small beat where it feels like Lee may get his revenge on Zing, if not Bill.

Lee is growing into a loose cannon, where he no longer trusts Bill and Zing is the root cause of the pain he feels. While he may not believe the easiness of finding the blade and tying everything up, he goes along with it, which is peculiar.

Is he looking to wait for the right moment to get revenge for what’s happened, or is this Lee accepting that the police are corrupt, and the bow is tied around the Fung Hai situation, thus it’s time to move on? With more of the season to come, it’s possible the former is more likely.

The story with the most impact comes from its most quiet one: Ah Toy as she tours Nellie’s establishment. It’s not only for the fact that it touches Ah Toy to see everyone make something for themselves and thrive, but also because it manages to tie back to a memory for her, of her grandmother.

She can see the potential a place like this can offer those looking for a better life, and she can see the good being done. There’s a sense of community and kindness built into its very foundation, and maybe she will come to view it as an endgame of sorts for her, a place to fall back on.

With Ah Toy against Ah Sahm’s claim for war, maybe she will find herself torn between both sides and she will escape to Nellie’s as a haven with her girls. It’s everything she’s been looking for, more or less, and now that Nellie has shown her affection, maybe the brothel is starting to tick down.

She’s also one of the very few who knows the truth about Ah Sahm and Mai Ling, which may prove a problem once their war picks up and that sort of information could blow everything up.

Some stray thoughts on the episode:

• It’s a shame we do not get to see the scene of Ah Sahm and Hong going to see Happy Jack, as it is surely checkered with colorful dialogue, but since it turns out to be a bust, it’s likely something that can be skipped over anyway.
• Samuel coming to gloat to Penny is definitely one of the lowest things he’s done yet, where his every scene is a form of lowness. Christian McKay evokes Orson Welles’ Kane (someone he’s played before) during the scene in the factory, and it’s a great scene for both McKay and Joanna Vanderham.

 

What did you think of this episode of Warrior? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Critic Rating:

User Rating:

 

Warrior airs Fridays at 10/9c on Cinemax.

 Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram!

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!

Top 10 Moments from ‘The Boys’ Season 2