2x05 Not for a Drink, a F*ck, or a G**damn Prayer

The cinematography was great. There were plenty of good shots. I really liked the way the small fight sequence in the fight pit was filmed, especially the way it looked, and it was the same as with the small fight sequence at the beginning of one of the previous episodes in the fight pit; I really like the way those scenes looked. The blue color grading or filter, whatever it's called - it makes those scenes look good. The shots in Sonoma, while a little jarring compared with the locations we're used to - as was Nevada in the self-contained episode in the first season - were still good. And I'm not sure if this was intentional and if I'm looking too much into it, but I noticed two shots that could've been metaphorical. In the first scene with Li Yong and Mai Ling, he was on the left, she was on the right, and there was a beam in the middle. That shot was shown two times, I think. And a little while later, in the scene with the Chief of Police and Leary, there was a similar shot with a beam in the middle, and both of them on each side. I'm not sure what that could indicate if those shots were intentional.

The biggest focus of this episode was the police raid on the Fung Hai. It included Chao's involvement and Li Yong's involvement. And the latter's fight with Zing was pretty important, too. Their fight seemed a little anti-climatic and fake at the beginning. Especially with some of the sound effects, but it gradually got better. But Li Yong's line that he copied from Zing, just like Mai Ling did about being thankful/grateful for your pain because it means you're still alive; and then cutting to the next scene where Lee made it up the steps; and starts punching a Fung Hai hatchetman while he's on the ground; was dumb and corny. I'm sorry, but it was. If you liked that, for whatever reason, good for you, I guess.

Nellie kissing Ah Toy was a little out of nowhere. But now that I think about it, I guess it fits. The fact that her husband is dead: she's a widow. And just the general way she's acted; her admiration towards Ah Toy when talking with her - her general demeanor; and the way she has been carrying herself. On Ah Toy's side, there was that scene in the episode in the first season after Ah Sahm got "properly initiated" into the Hop Wei by Father Jun where Ah Sahm asked her if she wants some company; she says she already has company and one of her girls walks into the room. So, on both sides, there's some logic to it, I guess. I mean, ultimately, I'm not really interested in it or the whole subplot with Nellie, and now with her and Ah Toy. But if you are, that's great; good for you.

I noticed Li Yong struggled a little bit in the fight sequence against Zing. Well, honestly, I'm not sure if that's the right thing I want to mention, or rather, the right wording. But I feel like something about their fight was wrong. Considering the prior instances of his capabilities, you'd think that Li Yong wouldn't have struggled as he did against Zing. You could argue that we haven't seen enough of Zing's capabilities to have an "issue" with that. At the same time, I feel like there's an actual problem to be gleaned from that, or the fight sequences, in general. But I don't know what it is. I remember reading a comment from somewhere that referenced something similar to this. It included examples from Banshee and said that it was something common with Jonathan Tropper. And I think it had something to do with inconsistent power-scaling. I don't really care that much about it, but I'm fairly certain that there is an issue present with it.

And during that whole situation with Chao, I was waiting for him to reveal some hidden fighting skills throughout that whole situation, and he did in a minor way, but I wish he actually had some sick fighting skills; I guess not. But I'll give credit where credit is due. The little fighting that he did and displayed was actually pretty cool, even if it wasn't as great as I wanted; and low-key expected from him. I'm pretty sure Hoon Lee played a prominent role in Banshee, so I'm hoping his character in that show is a fighter. Probably not, though.

The police raid itself, and that whole action sequence, looked a little weird. I don't really know how to describe it in a better way than that. The way most of it was happening looked off. The general attacks, punches, and kicks looked off. Everything happening during that didn't look that good. Something was wrong with it, and I don't know what it is. On the plus side, Lee's skills were apparent during all of that, especially when he decided to show off for no reason and to nobody by spinning the rifle two times. And the part where he dealt with three Fung Hai hatchetmen was very skillful as well. I'm not sure if that had more to do with the actor being more athletic than Bill's actor and better than the actors playing the other Chinatown squad members and the other policemen. But he looked to have been doing a whole lot better at the raid than everyone else was.

The defeat of the Fung Hai and the arrest of Zing was somewhat unexpected. I figured that Zing and the Fung Hai would be more prominent throughout the entire season, yet he's already arrested and seemingly "finished," as is the tong. There's no way that's the case, but I guess it could be. If so, I'm disappointed. I really liked him and the Fung Hai. Both the tong and him were opposing forces that added a lot to the entertainment of this season. But this is the fifth episode of the season, which means it's the halfway point of the season, so Zing's arrest, as well as the defeat of the Fung Hai, didn't necessarily happen "too soon" into the season, I guess. There are still other plot threads that can be focused on. I guess they can account for the remainder of the season.

The ending of the previous episode didn't have as big of an after-effect as I was expecting. I was expecting that there would be a huge focus on it in this episode. Honestly, both the pacing and structure throughout this season has been a little weird. But that's probably just me, and that thought is probably super random and out of nowhere. Even though my expectations regarding that was wrong, this episode was still enjoyable. The best and most enjoyable part was definitely the police raid after the scene where Nellie kissed Ah Toy. And the quick fight sequence at the end of the episode with Ah Sahm was just as enjoyable. The way it looked, the way it was filmed, both of those things added a lot to it, even though it didn't last that long.