Warrior Review: Enter the Dragon (Season 2 Episode 9)

There’s an ugliness that coats over the events of Warrior Season 2 Episode 9, “Enter the Dragon,” where the powder keg of the previous episode has finally erupted.

This not only causes the onslaught of violence that engulfs the episode, but it also finds the very best episode of Warrior yet. While a large chunk of the runtime is certainly focused on the fights and violence, it’s the moments in between that also have something powerful to say.

But first, it’s time to pay respects to Jacob. Changing the opening to his perspective gives a sense of scale to his fear over the final day or so of his life, the absolute desperation he must endure after doing the right thing and saving Penny.

Kenneth Fok isn’t on Warrior a lot, but he’s shown a kindness during his brief scenes that carries over to his visit with Jacob’s mother (and handing over most of Penny’s cash) to placing his hopes on Chao. It’s a subtle character and performance, but one who holds enormous impact.

His hanging is meant to make your anger boil over, and it rightly does so. There’s no humanity in the act of it, just pure animal rage. It’s a tough scene, because it’s happened so much over the course of history to so many different cultures and peoples.

But what’s also upsetting is that he is left like that for the course of the episode, no one giving him respect beyond death. Until Ah Sahm and the Hop Wei appear, at least. But that’s for later.

The frustrations of the work force leads to this explosion and murder, but it benefits no one by the end of the row. It’s mayhem, pure and simple.

Warrior does make sure to keep humanity involved throughout, like children placed in danger and the innocent being attacked, as this is not just a fight, but a slaughter. These are people’s homes that are getting destroyed at the end of the day, being placed in harm’s way because of income inequality and rampant, fanned racism.

It’s punctuated by the awesome and powerful fighting styles of our main characters, but it’s important not to forget the larger message this episode holds.

There’s cruelty buried deep down behind the pretty words and dreams that Buckley and Blake have been peddling at the top, but this rising up is a product of their failed leadership than an indictment on the Chinese just trying to make their way in America.

The attack becomes about the Irish taking out their frustrations, but on another class who suffer just as much as they do. It’s a tale as old as time, where both sides must suffer while Buckley is completely absent.

Even Bill and the other cops see how futile it is to stop, where Lee is the only one willing to dive in to try and do something, anything, to stop the bleeding of the city. He suffers a great many blows for it, but he’s standing up to injustice, one of the very few on that side of the city to do so.

There are also the quieter moments, which help speak to the mindsets of Mai Ling, Ah Toy, Leary, and Sophie.

With Mai Ling and Ah Toy, we get to see two women titans away from the chaos, but speaking on the larger themes of what has brought them to this point. There are hints of another excellent episode, Warrior Season 1 Episode 7, “The Tiger and the Fox,” which delves deep into both characters and their worlds, but now come together.

It’s a moment for Mai Ling to center herself, really, as she’s become far too transaction-based with everyone she deals with. And in both her case and Ah Toy’s case, they are women in a man’s world (at least for the moment) where they have ascended to the very top, and now find themselves not quite recognizing the world they inhabit outside those walls.

There’s also a quiet moment between Sophie and Leary, where it further cements how far apart they are not only in life but with their morality. Sophie is rightfully upset at Jacob’s murder, but Leary sees it differently. He doesn’t outright say it’s justified, but that it’s bound to happen with how tightly everything is wound up.

It’s the wake-up call Sophie needs to realize she’s not in a good place, and also for Leary to see that she’s not full to his cause as she may let on. To be fair, though, Penny’s factory getting destroyed is the moment to see this, but at least now it’s underlined for them both.

On a less dire note, though, is the absolutely beautiful fight choreography, which is above and beyond here. With so much chaos on screen, it must have been a nightmare to keep everything perfectly aligned, but the episode manages to capture some of its best battles yet.

We get Ah Sahm and Li Yong battling alongside each other, we get Young Jun being saved by Father Jun, we get Hong devastating foes with his chain. Even Chao gets to take on some challengers in Ah Toy’s brothel. It’s pure action nirvana.

But it’s when Ah Sahm dons the nunchaku, and calls back to the 1973 Bruce Lee film Enter the Dragon, where the episode becomes both a wonderful homage and a glorious fight achievement. Andrew Koji does so much decisive damage with them, and in quite succession, where they hopefully become a mainstay, as they’re one of the most fun weapons the show has used so far.

That Ah Sahm, Young Jun, and Hong choose to come and cut down Jacob is a touching way to close out the episode. It’s barbaric that he’s been left up like that the entire time, and so the Hop Wei coming to do the decent thing is the right way to close things out.

But there are lingering issues still for the finale to delve into. There’s the matter of Chao selling out Jacob, as justified as Mai Ling may make it. It’s hard to tell if there’s more to come from this, or if this will be moved on from, but it does lead to an issue where Chao’s word is starting to crumble after betraying Zing (justifiably) and helping out the cops multiple times.

There’s also Leary, who observes his wounded comrades not out of a lesson being learned, but rather as though it’s now come to war, and any in the way will be decimated.

That’s what makes that final staredown between Leary and Ah Sahm so ominous, because it’s the fight the show has been teasing and promising for so long. Will we finally get it during the finale? One can hope, as it’s a necessary moment to lighten the tension both sides have afflicted on each other.

Warrior Season 2 Episode 9, “Enter the Dragon,” gives us everything we want and then some, but it does so with morality and humanity in its sights the entire time.

This creates the massive action setpiece that the show has always been building towards, but with stakes and emotions instilled to its every frame. This is the very best Warrior can offer, and it does so with marvel and intelligence.

The next episode may be the last (unless Cinemax changes its direction or HBO Max considers picking it up), and so if this is the penultimate journey, it’s the highest of high notes to go out on.

 

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

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Warrior airs Fridays at 10/9c on Cinemax.

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