Warrior Review: All Enemies, Foreign and Domestic (Season 2 Episode 8)
Once things start moving, they snowball and it can be near impossible to set them to stopping. But on Warrior Season 2 Episode 8, “All Enemies, Foreign and Domestic,” that’s exactly how some like it, and they take advantage of the chaos to retain control.
Warrior hasn’t focused too hard on Buckley, and so it’s great to have an episode where he’s more or less front and center. As chief string puller, it’s going to be difficult for him to assume the control he’s used to controlling, but so far, he has shown his great love of fascism is alive and well.
The pressure campaign he places on the police and Chinatown amounts to a lot of shock and awe, but to say there’s nothing underneath that would be to sell Buckley short. He may be petulant and near to whiny at times, but he appears to know the game better than most, and looks to take advantage of that.
Leary can attempt to threaten him, but Buckley has no use for him, not yet at least. Mai Ling can attempt to soften the deal between them with the embarrassing photo in her back pocket, but Buckley’s newfound power trip will not take kindly to that if and when it does happen.
Because the thing about Buckley is that we don’t entirely know what he’s capable of. We know a little more about his leg and how it’s been amputated during what is assumed to be the Civil War, but beyond that and the pain he likely endures, we know next to nothing about him.
That could be a detriment, but on Warrior, that’s likely an asset. We don’t know what he’s capable of, other than that he is more than happy to pit sides against one another in the name of politics, and that he doesn’t rest until he gets his way.
He’s the kind of enemy Chinatown, and now Ah Sahm and Young Jun if Mai Ling’s offer is upheld, will come to fear.
That the police response essentially turns into terrorizing and antagonizing the Chinese just goes to show that the interest isn’t entirely in finding Jacob, but living out what they have wanted to do for a while anyway. Even Chao faces it, when he clearly looks nothing like the sketch.
The scenes, showing food stands knocked over, innocent people going about their day being dragged about and treated awfully, really sets apart the class and race disparity that Warrior has smartly made its backbone. Underprivileged, all the Chinese on the show can do is hope for a better day.
But this is also felt by Leary as his people turn on him about the broken promises he keeps making. The unrest is starting to pour over, even onto people who are normally free of it due to their intimidation, like Leary. His attempt to steer Buckley falls apart, which, given the state of Chinatown, will probably lead to a powder keg situation.
It’s the best way to describe the episode: a powder keg. We’re witnessing the explosion, even if we don’t realize it yet. It’s a slow moving one, where the repercussions are the smoke and the fire. While Ah Sahm and Young Jun have wiped the Fung Hai off the map, they have only placed a larger target on their back.
The same can be said about Lee, whose loose cannon tactics may not end well for him. Bill won’t put up with being questioned in front of the other men for long, especially as Lee exposes, quite loudly, what he’s done to put Zing away.
Two wrongs may not make a right, but Lee is reckless in his way of going about it. With his head full of agony and anger, though, there may be no hope for him beyond wildly swinging in any way he can. The way things are left between the two, their friendship looks to have finally reached a close.
But the issue now becomes: what will Bill do about it?
The latter part of the episode, which focuses on Ah Toy, is this moment of clarity where her world catches up to her and affects Nellie. She’s not yelling at Nellie to send her away but rather to protect her, as she knows Nellie has no role in this world. She is meant to save people, not be involved.
It’s one of the hardest moments for Ah Toy, as it’s hurting someone she cares deeply for, but it’s necessary as the violence hits too close to home. Now that she’s rid of the assassins and has the signatures she needs, will this be her chance to step away and join Nellie, or will this only drive her deeper into the underground world she now holds a lot of stock in?
The two possibilities give Ah Toy a lot to work with. She can use these properties to help save more girls alongside Nellie, and potentially move on to a better life, or she could use this to grow an empire of her own, to see out where it can lead.
One sounds more promising and lovely, but the allure of the latter option may prove too hard to pass up for her.
Jacob turning to Chao is certainly a surprise, as I expected him to turn to Ah Sahm instead, though perhaps there will be a brokerage of some sort between the two for that to happen anyway. Chao has sent his daughter away before, and with Nellie and her property, maybe there will be some movement in that direction.
This is a fantastic episode of Warrior, one that is about the ascension of power and its chilling effect on those who helped you get there. Young Jun respects and admires Ah Sahm and looks to have accepted that he is the brains of the operation, while Buckley looks to look down on those who got him where he is.
It will be fascinating to see both dynamics and how they play out over the last two episodes of the season.
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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Kevin Lever
Kevin Lever has been following television closely for most of his life, but in starting to cover it, he has grown a further appreciation. He strives to give the blockbusters their due, and give the lesser known shows a spotlight to find more fans.