In Chinatown, No One Thinks About Forever

**In Chinatown, No One Thinks About Forever** is the fourth episode of the third season of Max's original martial arts crime drama *Warrior* and the twenty-fourth episode overall. It premiered on July 6, 2023.

## Synopsis

Shaken by the loss of Nellie's land, Ah Toy grapples with a difficult choice. Ah Sahm and Yan Mi think on their toes during a police raid.

## Plot

Lai cries over the bodies of her fallen sisters as the vineyard finally stops burning. Nellie volunteers to go into town for supplies, but Ah Toy intends to return to Chinatown, as neither she nor the girls are safe there any longer. Nellie assures Ah Toy Strickland won't get away with this, but she believes he already has. And so, she intends to take the girl back to Chinatown, where she can at least protect them, adding that their happiness at the vineyard means nothing if they're dead.

Agent Mosely waits for Lee outside the bar, where Happy Jack expresses his dismay to Abigail about the Secret Services' presence, at which point, they're joined by Lee. After Abigail leaves to restock the bar, Happy Jack tells Lee that if he really cares about her, he'd leave her alone. Lee takes a moment to consider Happy Jack's advice before joining Mosely outside, where they discuss their next move, which consists of sweeping Chinatown's local businesses for counterfeit bills.

Mai Ling pays Eliza and Bernard a visit. They chat about horses and how Mai Ling's father used to take her to the Mongolian horse market when she was a girl, where she recalls the gorgeous white stallions. Moving on to business, Bernard has given their conversation at the gallery some thought. Diversifying her assets outside of Chinatown will be tricky, but it can be done. The rules barring Chinese ownership are unjust, and Bernard promises to find a way. If he were to hold Mai Ling's money as part of his portfolio, he could gradually take positions for her across various industries. With this, Mai Ling presents her money upfront and asks when they can start.

Ah Sahm struggles to help Yan Mi with printing the latest batch of bills. He presumed she learned from her father, but he didn't teach her anything. All he ever wanted was a son to teach, so she taught herself, watching him print and later practicing at nights after they closed the shop. And it's a good thing that she did because her brother is incompetent and without her, they would've lost the shop, which her brother will still inherit. Nevertheless, she taught herself because a skill-less Chinese woman in America is either a prostitute or ends up being labeled one and being deported. While her father isn't perfect, he sacrificed everything to bring them to American, and despite how awful it's been, she still believes it's the land of opportunity; people like them just need to try a little harder to find it. Her father is sick, and when he dies, she will search for that opportunity outside of Chinatown, possibly going north to make something of her own.

Lee and Agent Mosely go business to business in search of counterfeit bills. Mosely jokes that he now understands why the other cops didn't like Lee, the reason being that he actually works for a living.

Buckley sits down with Catherine for dinner, where they discuss the article detailing how Thayer's brother-in-law is an opium addict. Buckley remarks that it's surprising to find a woman of her intelligence and background who isn't married, leading him to wonder what she may be hiding. Of course her family expected her to be married years ago, but she was more interested in traveling the world. Now, she's suddenly a woman of a certain age and is expected to entertain a parade of widowers, bachelors, and pitiful eccentrics. Though it was worth it, as she cherishes her freedom, which is why it requires a special man to capture her attention, leaving Buckley shaken. Catherine proceeds to grab his hand and say that she will ensure he wins the election.

Flowers in hand, a broken-hearted Ah Toy watches as the men who killed her girls are taken away in caskets. Later, after tending to her wounds, Ah Toy gets dressed up and returns to her brothel, where Ah Sahm checks in on her after hearing about the attack on the vineyard. He offers to help her go after them, but Ah Toy insists that she's fine. Ah Sahm proposes she take a break and continue to allow Chao to run things for a couple more days, but Ah Toy proceeds downstairs in her stunning red dress and greets her clients.

Marcel takes Hong to an all-accepting private club, where no one is judged for their orientation or preferences. They take a shot of alcohol and head to the back, making their way into a sex den.

As a Hop Wei hatchet man becomes a little too aggressive with one of the girls, Lai approaches with a bottle in hand, though Ah Toy intervenes, sending Lai upstairs and warning the hatchet to respect her girl. Ah Toy then approaches Bill at the bar, where she pays him off for his discretion. Unfortunately, he informs her that the new police chief is coming down on Chinatown, and he may not be able to keep trouble from her door much longer, to which Ah Toy replies: *In Chinatown... no one think about forever... only today, maybe tomorrow."*

Thayer calls a press conference to discuss the article about his brother-in-law, who Thayer admits is in fact an addict. That said, this information becoming public was nothing more than a hit piece from his opponent to bolster a faulting campaign. Thayer's brother-in-law was wounded in battle while serving the country, but his pain didn't stop when the fighting stopped. And it is the intention of his family to love and support him in any way they can.

Lee enters Ah Toy's opium den, where he steals an unconscious customer's money for counterfeit testing, though his presence in the brothel doesn't go unnoticed by Chao.

Kong Pak critiques Li Yong's training and skills, as he's clearly distracted. Li Yong admits that he's worried about Mai Ling, who continues to push beyond the limits of Chinatown. Kong Pak remarks that while Mai Ling is smart, it's often easy to forget how to be wise.

Nellie and Strickland go to court, where his lawyer claims to that they are well within their rights to state eminent domain. Not to mention, they have multiple witnesses who will claim Nellie was housing prostitutes. Unfortunately for Nellie, the court sides in favor of Strickland, who will be allowed to build his railroad through her now destroyed vineyard. Nellie warns Strickland that this isn't over. She always knew he was a terrible person, but she didn't know he was a monster. He couldn't stand not having something he wanted, so he took it, by killing her girls.

Bernard teaches Mai Ling the game of billiards. As Eliza leaves to get them more drinks, Bernard tells Mai Ling that he's looking at providing high interest bridge loans using the capital she provided, but they'll have to move slowly to avoid any unwanted attention. All Bernard asks for in return is 5%, but Mai Ling offers him 10%. Bernard then remarks that Mai Ling is beautiful and tries to kiss her, but she stops him and hopes this doesn't affect their partnership. Unbeknownst to the two of them, Eliza watches from the doorway.

Lee has been through every area in Chinatown. Most of them came up clean, except for one territory, which is primarily occupied by the Hop Wei. Lee suspects the plates are located at their headquarters, much to Agent Mosely's pleasure.

Leary meets with Strickland at his home to discuss jobs for his men. Strickland agrees to hire 40 Irishmen, but doing so won't change Leary's position. As long as he keeps begging wealthy men for scraps, that's all he'll receive. Leary has yet to realize just how powerful he is, given that he can sway the Irish vote in any direction he chooses. Strickland proceeds to explain that the game is rigged and that the ring on his finger isn't worth two dollars, but he values it more than anything he owns because of who he took it from. Money isn't everything, and power comes to those who seize it. Essentially, Strickland is proposing an alliance between the two of them. He has big plans for California but can't realize them without government approval.

At Agent Mosely's behest, Chief Atwood leads the San Francisco Police Department into Chinatown, more specifically into Hop Wei territory, in search of the counterfeit plates.

Bill, Lee, and Agent Mosely barge into Hop Wei headquarters, where they begin their search, but not before apprehending Young Jun, Hong, and several other hatchet men. Chief Atwood then enters and proceeds to antagonize the Hop Wei, angering Young Jun, who says to Atwood: "F\*ck your mother smelly p\*ssy," before spitting at Atwood's feet. Enraged by Young Jun's behavior, Atwood proceeds to attack while Hong is held at gunpoint.

Meanwhile, Bill and Lee search for the plates. They enter inside what appears to be a secret door to a room where the plates were once located but have since been moved, suggesting that someone warned the Hop Wei.

Ah Sahm and Yan Mi attempt to get the plates and printing press out of sight using a wagon, but struggles to do so with the police on the street. Ah Sahm tells Yan Mi to go home, but she refuses to leave him unprotected. She then tells him to take off his Hop Wei jacket as they continue to move through the street.

Bill, Lee, and Agent Mosely watch in disbelief as Chief Atwood nearly beats Young Jun to death. Bill intervenes and tells the chief he's had enough, but Atwood tells Bill to never touch him again and then orders for Young Jun to be arrested for assaulting an officer.

Ah Sahm and Yan Mi find themselves in a precarious situation when they're trapped in a dead end by officers Stone and Harrison. As they slowly approach Yan Mi, who keeps her face hidden, Ah Sahm kills the lights before jumping out of the darkness and attacking the officers. Two more officers follow them to the alleyway, where Ah Sahm continues his assault. Just as one of the officers are about to shoot Ah Sahm, Yan Mi disarms him with a baton and knocks him unconscious.

Young Jun is arrested and placed in the back of a carriage. Lee suspects that Chao must've tipped off the Hop Wei. He then turns his attention to Chief Atwood, who they both agree is a lunatic and that Bill should've been chief. The Hop Wei will likely go underground now, meaning they're back at square one. Bill and Lee are then approached by Harrison and Stone, so says they were attacked up the road by a Hop Wei hatchet man and a girl who were hauling something on a wagon. Lee wonders if Stone would recognize them if he saw them again, but it was dark and all the Chinese look the same to him.

Ah Sahm hides the plates in Yan Mi's room and asks her to look over for them for a while. She fears what will follow now that Ah Sahm has beaten up cops, who likely saw their faces. Ah Sahm argues they had no choice, but Yan Mi counters they could've run or anything else. She blames Ah Sahm for putting her in this position. He slowly approaches and asks if she's okay, at which point, Yan Mi kisses him and they have sex.

Mai Ling is invited back over to the Pendleton estate, where Eliza has accused Mai Ling of criminal solicitation, for which she is arrested by two officers. Eliza claims to have seen Mai Ling with Bernard, who told her everything. Mai Ling insists that Bernard kissed her, but Eliza isn't convinced and slaps Mai Ling as she's being taken away, remarking that she hopes Mai Ling is sent back to China.

## Cast

* Olivia Cheng as Ah Toy
* Jason Tobin as Young Jun
* Dianne Doan as Mai Ling
* Kieran Bew as Bill O'Hara
* Dean Jagger as Dylan Leary
* Tom Weston-Jones as Richard Lee
* Hoon Lee as Wang Chao
* Langley Kirkwood as Walter Buckley
* Miranda Raison as Nellie Davenport
* Chen Tang as Hong
* Chelsea Muirhead as Yan Mi
* Adam Rayner as Douglas Strickland III
* Mark Dacascos as Kong Pak
* Joe Taslim as Li Yong
* Nat Ramabulana as Happy Jack
* Neels Clasen as Chief Atwood
* Telly Leung as Marcel
* Robert Hobbs as Stone
* Nicholas Pauling as Harrison
* Sean-Marco Vorster as Stewart Gumm
* Colin Moss as Thayer
* Gaosi Raditholo as Abigail
* Dominique Maher as Catherine Archer
* Jenny Umbhau as Lai
* Milton Schorr as Officer Graham
* Jazzara Jaslyn as Eliza Pendleton
* Armand Aucamp as Bernard Pendleton
* Steven P. Park as Tu
* Martin Munro as Leonard Raice
* Aubrey Shelton as Judge Hopkins
* Gabriel Meltz as Nellie's Lawyer
* Clyde Berning as State Attorney
* Jason Li as Hop Wei Hatchet
* Tristan De Beer as Rich Man
* Emile Tredoux as Officer

## Trivia

* The episode title was spoken by Ah Toy to Bill in reference to their agreement.

## Gallery

### Videos

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