[Oh, hey. Dustin Nguyen directed this episode. Good for him. I guess that could indicate that his character is finished or that he'll go back and forth between directing and playing his character.]
Wait a minute. You're telling me Ah Sahm told Vega about having a sister after being asked about his past, yet he didn't tell Young Jun about that when asked why he came to America in the first season's episode where Bolo's backstory was revealed? He told Young Jun, "She's dead." Or something like that. All Young Jun knows and thinks is that the woman he came to San Francisco for is dead. I get that Ah Sahm probably didn't want Young Jun to know that Mai Ling is his sister, but he could've told him that the woman he came to San Francisco for is his sister, at the very least. I'm not sure if that's just a weird writing decision or if that's supposed to tell us something about Ah Sahm's character.
The two time-lapses and the general cinematography in this episode looked great. There were plenty of beautiful shots, and the setting and locations shown were way better than Nevada in that self-contained episode in the first season. And I swear, it's like every time the cinematography in an episode sticks out to me or a particular shot sticks out to me, the Director of Photography is always Michael Snyman. His work on this show is very noticeable, and some of his shots are particular: like the overhead ones. If you remember an overhead shot, the Director of Photography for that episode was probably him.
The prospect of Ah Sahm taking up teaching and teaching other people to fight seems likely. I'm pretty sure that's something Bruce Lee did. And it's possible that the entire reason that was brought up was to make yet another reference to him, and in this case, another connection of Ah Sahm's character to Bruce Lee, too. I vaguely remember reading a comment from someone that brought that up and how it would be cool for Ah Sahm to teach Lee how to fight. And now that the possibility of Ah Sahm teaching people how to fight has been mentioned, that may end up happening. It would be pretty cool for Ah Sahm to start teaching some people how to fight.
It looks like Hong is Bolo's replacement. Not literally, I don't think, but rather, his replacement of being the third one in the trio. After Bolo's death, it was Ah Sahm and Young Jun: a duo, not a trio, anymore. But now, the boys are back to being a trio, and Hong has been a decent replacement so far. Well, actually, he's been more than decent. I think he's a much better character than Bolo was. Even though we know Bolo's backstory and not Hong's backstory, Hong is still better. A backstory isn't necessarily required to make a character more likable than a character who does have a backstory. And, honestly, Bolo's backstory was underwhelming. And with or without it, he was very underdeveloped, and he was kind of expendable. As far as Hong is concerned, I hope he isn't a spy and that he won't get written out of the show.
I think Vega's death was very impactful. I didn't care about her until this episode. And then, she died. I thought the actress, Maria-Elena Laas, was weak at her acting and performance of the character, but I think that was only because she hardly had any screen-time. Because in this episode, her performance as Vega was way better. Her character was given significant character development and then discarded. Talk about unfortunate. And I think Ah Sahm and Vega were a better potential couple than he and Penelope were, so since I thought that, the writers wrote her out of the show. It's obvious that Ah Sahm and Penelope are supposed to end up together in the end, or they're "meant to be together," at least from the writers' perspective, probably. But Ah Sahm and Vega's hookup and moments of connection in this episode outdid and outperformed all of the scenes of him and Penelope, 100%. The way Ah Sahm and Penelope met was generic. Their relationship was generic and didn't get any better. Their dynamic is generic. Both of them in a scene together is generic. Enough said. One of the reasons Ah Sahm and Vega were better could be because Andrew Koji and Maria-Elena Laas connected better and had more chemistry than Andrew and Joanna - but my point still stands.
I don't think the cliffhanger we've left with is as it implies, or at least not as serious as it seems. It could be about Young Jun not having ordered from China yet, and not that both Young Jun and Ah Sahm had already acquired opium from a local source. One of my theories was that the Hop Wei hatchetmen behind him told him about providing security for Penelope and her factory and that three of their own were killed or haven't returned. I thought that because we've seen those particular hatchetmen before. They were the ones behind Ah Sahm when Leary approached Ah Sahm at the entrance of the factory. That could be what the cliffhanger will be about.
I don't think it's about selling opium behind Father Jun's back. I don't think that's what they were doing, anyway. They merely obtained opium from a local source, and I think they're selling it just like they've always sold their opium. At first, I thought that scene a few episodes ago where that Hop Wei hatchetman went around to several places, selling crates of opium; that he was "in on it." But I think the only thing being done behind Father Jun's back was buying opium from a local source, and that scene was what's always done, and the guy was unaware of that and just doing his job. So, that being said, the two possibilities of what the cliffhanger will be about that I can think of are: he found out about the three Hop Wei hatchetmen that were killed trying to protect Penelope's factory, and by extension of that, he found out about that whole venture, or he learned that Young Jun hasn't ordered from China, yet opium is still being sold, making him suspicious.
All of that being said, this episode was very predictable. The only thing that came out of nowhere was Vega's death. At first, I thought Smits was in on it. But he wasn't, obviously. His arrival to be that "twist" requires a little suspension of your disbelief, though. I assume he got there on a horse, and that's where the problem lies. Anyone and everyone would've heard his horse approaching. And even if he got off his horse a ways back, someone would've heard or seen him before he got close enough. Of course, Vega's death wouldn't have been a twist if realism was an aspect of that. Hell, it probably wouldn't have happened, to begin with. But, okay, I guess.
Besides that little glaring problem with this episode, well, the only one that I noticed; this episode was very refreshing and entertaining. Just like with the self-contained episode in Nevada in the first season, this episode was the most enjoyable, and dare I predict: it will stay that way once I watch the last four episodes of this season. I wouldn't go as far as to say that the plotlines of this show are bad, but it does say a lot when episodes like this one and the one in Nevada; episodes that are self-contained and untethered from the main happenings; it says a lot when they are much more enjoyable to watch.
Review by LineageBlockedParent2021-01-26T21:01:33Z
[Oh, hey. Dustin Nguyen directed this episode. Good for him. I guess that could indicate that his character is finished or that he'll go back and forth between directing and playing his character.]
Wait a minute. You're telling me Ah Sahm told Vega about having a sister after being asked about his past, yet he didn't tell Young Jun about that when asked why he came to America in the first season's episode where Bolo's backstory was revealed? He told Young Jun, "She's dead." Or something like that. All Young Jun knows and thinks is that the woman he came to San Francisco for is dead. I get that Ah Sahm probably didn't want Young Jun to know that Mai Ling is his sister, but he could've told him that the woman he came to San Francisco for is his sister, at the very least. I'm not sure if that's just a weird writing decision or if that's supposed to tell us something about Ah Sahm's character.
The two time-lapses and the general cinematography in this episode looked great. There were plenty of beautiful shots, and the setting and locations shown were way better than Nevada in that self-contained episode in the first season. And I swear, it's like every time the cinematography in an episode sticks out to me or a particular shot sticks out to me, the Director of Photography is always Michael Snyman. His work on this show is very noticeable, and some of his shots are particular: like the overhead ones. If you remember an overhead shot, the Director of Photography for that episode was probably him.
The prospect of Ah Sahm taking up teaching and teaching other people to fight seems likely. I'm pretty sure that's something Bruce Lee did. And it's possible that the entire reason that was brought up was to make yet another reference to him, and in this case, another connection of Ah Sahm's character to Bruce Lee, too. I vaguely remember reading a comment from someone that brought that up and how it would be cool for Ah Sahm to teach Lee how to fight. And now that the possibility of Ah Sahm teaching people how to fight has been mentioned, that may end up happening. It would be pretty cool for Ah Sahm to start teaching some people how to fight.
It looks like Hong is Bolo's replacement. Not literally, I don't think, but rather, his replacement of being the third one in the trio. After Bolo's death, it was Ah Sahm and Young Jun: a duo, not a trio, anymore. But now, the boys are back to being a trio, and Hong has been a decent replacement so far. Well, actually, he's been more than decent. I think he's a much better character than Bolo was. Even though we know Bolo's backstory and not Hong's backstory, Hong is still better. A backstory isn't necessarily required to make a character more likable than a character who does have a backstory. And, honestly, Bolo's backstory was underwhelming. And with or without it, he was very underdeveloped, and he was kind of expendable. As far as Hong is concerned, I hope he isn't a spy and that he won't get written out of the show.
I think Vega's death was very impactful. I didn't care about her until this episode. And then, she died. I thought the actress, Maria-Elena Laas, was weak at her acting and performance of the character, but I think that was only because she hardly had any screen-time. Because in this episode, her performance as Vega was way better. Her character was given significant character development and then discarded. Talk about unfortunate. And I think Ah Sahm and Vega were a better potential couple than he and Penelope were, so since I thought that, the writers wrote her out of the show. It's obvious that Ah Sahm and Penelope are supposed to end up together in the end, or they're "meant to be together," at least from the writers' perspective, probably. But Ah Sahm and Vega's hookup and moments of connection in this episode outdid and outperformed all of the scenes of him and Penelope, 100%. The way Ah Sahm and Penelope met was generic. Their relationship was generic and didn't get any better. Their dynamic is generic. Both of them in a scene together is generic. Enough said. One of the reasons Ah Sahm and Vega were better could be because Andrew Koji and Maria-Elena Laas connected better and had more chemistry than Andrew and Joanna - but my point still stands.
I don't think the cliffhanger we've left with is as it implies, or at least not as serious as it seems. It could be about Young Jun not having ordered from China yet, and not that both Young Jun and Ah Sahm had already acquired opium from a local source. One of my theories was that the Hop Wei hatchetmen behind him told him about providing security for Penelope and her factory and that three of their own were killed or haven't returned. I thought that because we've seen those particular hatchetmen before. They were the ones behind Ah Sahm when Leary approached Ah Sahm at the entrance of the factory. That could be what the cliffhanger will be about.
I don't think it's about selling opium behind Father Jun's back. I don't think that's what they were doing, anyway. They merely obtained opium from a local source, and I think they're selling it just like they've always sold their opium. At first, I thought that scene a few episodes ago where that Hop Wei hatchetman went around to several places, selling crates of opium; that he was "in on it." But I think the only thing being done behind Father Jun's back was buying opium from a local source, and that scene was what's always done, and the guy was unaware of that and just doing his job. So, that being said, the two possibilities of what the cliffhanger will be about that I can think of are: he found out about the three Hop Wei hatchetmen that were killed trying to protect Penelope's factory, and by extension of that, he found out about that whole venture, or he learned that Young Jun hasn't ordered from China, yet opium is still being sold, making him suspicious.
All of that being said, this episode was very predictable. The only thing that came out of nowhere was Vega's death. At first, I thought Smits was in on it. But he wasn't, obviously. His arrival to be that "twist" requires a little suspension of your disbelief, though. I assume he got there on a horse, and that's where the problem lies. Anyone and everyone would've heard his horse approaching. And even if he got off his horse a ways back, someone would've heard or seen him before he got close enough. Of course, Vega's death wouldn't have been a twist if realism was an aspect of that. Hell, it probably wouldn't have happened, to begin with. But, okay, I guess.
Besides that little glaring problem with this episode, well, the only one that I noticed; this episode was very refreshing and entertaining. Just like with the self-contained episode in Nevada in the first season, this episode was the most enjoyable, and dare I predict: it will stay that way once I watch the last four episodes of this season. I wouldn't go as far as to say that the plotlines of this show are bad, but it does say a lot when episodes like this one and the one in Nevada; episodes that are self-contained and untethered from the main happenings; it says a lot when they are much more enjoyable to watch.