Season 1

**Season 1** of the Cinemax original martial arts crime drama *Warrior* was picked up for a 10-episode season order on June 7, 2017. It premiered on April 5, 2019.

## Synopsis

WARRIOR is a gritty, action-packed crime drama set during the brutal Tong Wars of San Francisco's Chinatown in the second half of the 19th century. The series follows Ah Sahm (Andrew Koji), a martial arts prodigy who emigrates from China to San Francisco under mysterious circumstances. After proving his worth as a fighter, Ah Sahm becomes a hatchet man for the Hop Wei, one of Chinatown's most powerful tongs (Chinese organized crime family).

Befriended by Wang Chao (Hoon Lee), a fixer and profiteer in Chinatown, Ah Sahm is taken under the wing of Young Jun, the hard-partying son of the Hop Wei's leader, Father Jun (Perry Yung), who is facing an imminent opium war with a rival tong. As he is indoctrinated in the rules of Chinatown gangs, Ah Sahm wins the confidence of a canny brothel madam, Ah Toy (Olivia Cheng), revealing to her the true intentions of his journey to America.

Over the course of the season, Ah Sahm crosses boundaries inside and outside Chinatown, bringing him into contact with tong rivals Mai Ling (Dianne Doan), a beautiful and ruthless Chinese woman who has achieved a position of power in one of the tongs, and Li Yong (Joe Taslim), a tong lieutenant and Gung Fu master. As violence erupts, Sergeant "Big Bill" O'Hara (Kieran Bew) and Richard Henry Lee (Tom Weston-Jones), a transplanted southerner and rookie cop, are tasked with forming a Chinatown squad.

Meanwhile, working-class leader and tough Irishman Dylan Leary (Dean Jagger) is fighting for all Irish laborers by trying to inflict as much damage as possible on the Chinese immigrants he says are stealing their jobs. Amidst the strife, power-hungry San Francisco Mayor Samuel Blake (Christian McKay) and Deputy Mayor Walter Buckley (Langley Kirkwood), who has his own political aspirations, engage in widespread corruption, while the mayor's young wife, Penny (Joanna Vanderham), finds herself trapped in a loveless marriage.

## 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
* Joanna Vanderham as Penelope Blake
* Tom Weston-Jones as Richard Lee
* Hoon Lee as Wang Chao
* Langley Kirkwood as Walter Buckley
* Christian McKay as Samuel Blake
* Perry Yung as Father Jun
* Joe Taslim as Li Yong
* Jenny Umbhau as Lai
* Henry Yuk as Long Zii
* Kenneth Fok as Jacob
* Dustin Nguyen as Zing
* Emily Child as Lucy O'Hara
* Graham Hopkins as Byron Mercer
* David Butler as Russell Flannagan
* Brendan Sean Murray as Jack Damon
* André Jacobs as Lymon Merriweather
* Patrick Baladi as Robert Crestwood
* Frank Rautenbach as Leonard Patterson
* Gaosi Raditholo as Abigail
* Nicholas Pauling as Harrison
* Robert Hobbs as Stone
* Jacques Bessenger as McLeod
* Warrick Grier as Seamus O'Shea
* Andrew Jones-Davies as Paul O'Shea
* Christiaan Schoombie as Harlan French
* Erica Wessels as Billie
* C.S. Lee as Lu
* Andrew Stock as Father Flynn
* Craig Urbani as Mason
* Rachel Colwell as Wankeia
* Bianca Amato as Nancy
* Ashley Dowds as Shepherd
* James Lew as Sifu Li Qiang

## Production

* On August 30, 2016, *Warrior* received a pilot order from Cinemax.
* A year later on June 7, 2017, *Warrior* was given a series order.
* On October 11, 2017, Andrew Koji, Olivia Cheng, Jason Tobin, Dianne Doan, Kieran Bew, Dean Jagger, Joanna Vanderham, Tom Weston-Jones, Hoon Lee, Joe Taslim, Langley Kirkwood, Christian McKay, and Christian McKay were cast.
* Production began on October 22, 2017, in Cape Town, South Africa.

## Gallery

### Videos

Warrior - Official Tease - CinemaxWarrior - Season 1 (2019) - Official Tease 2 - CinemaxBecoming Warrior - Part 1- The Student - CinemaxBecoming Warrior - Part 2- The Teacher - CinemaxBecoming Warrior - Part 3- The Sidekick - CinemaxBecoming Warrior - Part 4- The Super Actor - CinemaxBecoming Warrior - Part 5- The Warrior - CinemaxBecoming Warrior - Part 6- The Script - CinemaxBecoming Warrior - Part 7- The Series - CinemaxBecoming Warrior - Part 8- The Legacy - CinemaxWarrior - Season 1 - Drum Tease - CinemaxWarrior - Season 1 - Opening Credits (Cinemax)Warrior - Season 1 Recap - CinemaxWarrior - Full Episode- The Itchy Onion - HBO Max
## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Bruce Lee-Inspired Tong Wars Drama ‘Warrior’ From Justin Lin & ‘Banshee’ Co-Creator Gets Cinemax Series Order - Deadline
2. ↑ Tong Wars Drama Series "Warrior," Based on the Writings of Martial Arts Legend Bruce Lee, Debuts April 5 on Cinemax - The Futon Critic
3. ↑ Bruce Lee-Inspired Crime Drama ‘Warrior’ From Justin Lin & ‘Banshee’ Co-Creator Gets Cinemax Pilot Order - Deadline
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 ‘Warrior’: Cinemax Sets Cast & Director For Bruce Lee-Inspired Martial Arts Series - Deadline