The final three episodes of the season will be very compacted together, I'm guessing. The subplot with Penelope's father and his desire to build a cable car track had more focus and progression in this episode, and not to mention, Leary and his men are already in-line to be hired to do the work for it; an agreement was made with Leary and him four episodes ago. That means, in the next episode or the one after, that subplot will reach the point of the building process beginning, and Leary will be a focal aspect and brought into the spotlight.
Lee's backstory has been fully established. It was delved into a tiny bit four episodes ago, but now, it's seemingly complete. So, that's another subplot that was progressed a lot in this episode; one that was completed, too. It won't require more focus. Now, there's more room to focus on everything else. Of course, there's still something besides being in the Chinatown squad that will give him more spotlight, and that's getting attacked by the Fung Hai, specifically Zing. I remember something along those lines, but it still hasn't happened; I don't remember the specifics. I assume it will have something to do with Bill, whose debt to the Fung Hai is still not paid, after all - it's still on-going.
The war between the Hop Wei and the Long Zii has finally started. You could argue that it has already been occurring, that it was started with the assassination attempt on Father Jun, or even before that. But I think that it has truly been started with the ending of this episode. I guess that there will be a bigger focus on the plot with the Hop Wei and the Long Zii moving forward. I'm expecting that the subplot with the cable car track will have a bigger focus moving forward, too. I think those two plotlines will be the main focus in the final three episodes of the season, that they will have the spotlight.
I find it interesting that Ah Sahm went to save Mai Ling from being killed by Bolo, and he did save her, yet she saved him, too - again. If she didn't kill Long Zii, the news that made its way to the Hop Wei would've been that Bolo was killed, and both Long Zii and his wife are still alive. Father Jun, Young Jun, or someone of the Hop Wei likely would've had the thought that one of their own must've interfered; Young Jun, especially. He was the one who went against his better judgment, I'd imagine, by telling Ah Sahm about Father Jun's order. It was avoided, regardless of Bolo's death, all because Mai Ling killed Long Zii, and by doing that, she was able to save and protect Ah Sahm. Considering the scene of them in the carriage a few episodes ago and the impression I got from it about their sibling dynamic, I'll bet that Ah Sahm is annoyed that she saved him again. It's almost as if there's this unspoken, back-and-forth competition between both of them to see who can save the other the most, in typical and entertaining sibling fashion.
The plotline with Penelope's father and his cable car track seems to be coming to a culmination, and the plotline with clues hinting at Lee's past is seemingly finished. And with those two things being the case, there was another plotline that was started. I'm not sure what it entails, but there seems to be more to it; the plotline with the girl that Ah Toy bought. It could involve the place in China where the girl is from, and that may also relate to Ah Toy's past and backstory of which hasn't been explored yet. But it could just be a look into how Ah Toy acquires girls and how she probably acquired every girl in her brothel.
And I guess there are two new plotlines because Ah Toy also seems to be making plans to buy some land. Her business partner is likely a factor she needs if she's going to buy land since I'm guessing it's against the law for the Chinese to do it, or at least the ones doing the selling wouldn't allow it. And honestly, I haven't the remotest clue to what the purchase of the land is going to be for - if it even happens. I don't remember if they manage to obtain it, but if they do, I have no idea where the writers will go with that plotline. It could be to show that Ah Toy knows her way around the business world and only that. I'll have to wait and find out.
As far as the two new plotlines with Ah Toy are concerned, I don't remember whether either one is wrapped up by the end of the season. But if I had to take a guess, I'd say that the plotline with the land will be wrapped up or postponed due to something or other, and the plotline with the girl will be resumed in the second season. I feel like Ah Toy may train her to fight and properly take care of herself. And that relates to something I previously mentioned in my comment on one of the previous episodes - which is that Ah Toy is training all of her girls to fight, and it's still my theory.
Anyway, it's been four episodes since Ah Toy has had relevant significance, I think. There was that time where she gave Bill some money, but that was still three episodes ago. That wasn't as relevant as the scene where she killed those two Irishmen, Morgan and Davis, or when she brought up the prospect of revolution in that scene with her and Ah Sahm. The latter is something that I think has been paused for the time being and will be continued in the second season. All of that aside, her character is relevant again. I'm interested to see where her two new plotlines are going to go.
I don't think Bolo's death was as impactful as it could've been. Don't get me wrong, there was a slight feeling of disappointment when he died, but that's it. His character wasn't that developed, and his Yellow Demon backstory felt incomplete, so his death hardly had any impact. If anything, that's the true disappointment. But despite the lack of character development and the lackluster backstory to his character, I liked him, I guess, specifically with Young Jun and Ah Sahm. They were an appealing trio. Unfortunately, it's now a duo, and even then, that may not last. If Young Jun finds out that Ah Sahm is the reason that led to Bolo's death or that the girl that Ah Sahm came to San Francisco for and told him was dead is alive and Mai Ling, no less, or that he's hooking up with Penelope behind the scenes, specifically behind his back, their duo may crumble.
All-in-all, this episode was decent and enjoyable. There were a few details that I noticed that didn't make sense or went unnoticed by the director and those who edited the episode, like Mai Ling's lip getting cut from top to bottom after Bolo kicked her into the wall, yet he didn't hit her face or cut it; the fight scene between Bolo and Ah Sahm that wasn't filmed well enough because some punches or kicks are a little obvious that they don't hit, with the actor reacting as if they did - that could be on the choreography director or the actors, too; the ridiculous writing decision of giving Bolo the perfect opportunity to kill Mai Ling with the hatchet but swinging it into the wall right next to her on the way to her face, and then choking her instead, running out the clock enough for Ah Sahm's arrival, of course, and before she dies from being choked, and lastly, Ah Sahm's miraculous recovery from his fight with Bolo where his head was bleeding, yet he didn't look to even have lacerations at the end of the episode when Bolo's dead boby was brought in, presumably the next day. But I don't think those details were bothersome, not to me, nor that they had a significant impact on the episode and its enjoyment value.
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