3x09 All of Death Is a Going Home

(432-word review) My interest/engagement in this season has dwindled by this point, not that it was incredibly high to begin with, but the beginning was more enjoyable. Now, it's just a case of standing on the sidelines and watching it fizzle away; practically nothing is compelling anymore.

I never cared about Hong and Marcel's relationship/that plot line, which ended with this episode (and Hong's physical confrontation with Graham (the cop) was contrived: conflict for the sake of conflict) – but there could be another scene or two in the finale. Its insignificant irrelevance, apparent from the get-go, was unsurprisingly solidified at the end. Who'd have guessed? Whatever glimmer of hope for a worthwhile pay-off that may have existed has been squandered. It was so dull and reeked of desire to give Hong something other than being the quirky, comedic relief character. LGBTQIA+ (or LGBTQ+ – whichever term is most acceptable) representation isn't a miraculous stand-in for an ineffectual plotline. Marcel's song was good, though; Telly Leung is a talented singer with a great voice.

I also never cared about Lai's character, which is required for her death to land. The scenes leading up to it from the previous two episodes, particularly the questionable logic (or lack thereof) surrounding them, reinforce the lack of effect, as stated in my reviews of those episodes. But, at the very least, Father Jun's death at the intentional but understandably reluctant hand of Young Jun went a little beyond, as far as the intended landing/success is concerned.

And the whole Yan Mi and Ah Sahm thing is ludicrous. He's going against Young Jun and the tong for her so rapidly, partially under the guise of never belonging in the Hop Wei – and now "coming to his senses," led by her ostensibly flawlessly perfect existence being the catalyst. It's ridiculous. This would've possessed the necessary believability (though still dubious) if the love interest in this context was Penelope Blake, leading me to wonder if the possibility of this story element, or something similar, was brought to consciousness before this season, followed by Joanna Vanderham having scheduling conflicts, resulting in the creation of Yan Mi's character.

Despite the lower investment, this episode was enjoyable and was one of the better ones of the season's second half. Leary was the "savior," blowing up the bridge (by the way, that explosion looked great; it must've been practical to some extent), and most importantly, the final fight sequence; the last kill was gnarly – it may also be the goriest depiction of that type of imagery in the entire show: it's undeniably up there.