'Warrior' Season 2 Episode 6: Vega betrays Ah Sahm but she has her reasons, will this help him face the loss?
Spoilers ahead for 'Warrior' Season 2 Episode 6 titled 'To a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail'
Vega takes Ah Sahm, Young Jun, and Hong to the border town between Mexico and California in search of cash to balance out their loss caused by the fire at Penny's factory. The plan is to be a part of a pit fight where the prize money is much higher than the one offered in the pits that he is used to. The setting of this town seems to remind Ah Sahm of some town in Mexico, and the look in Vega's face is that of surprise. Initially, Vega's actions seem suspicious because she is clearly hiding something in the garb of work. The thing that we notice is something that Ah Sahm misses because of his romantic interest in her. She does set up all the fights for him, manages to get him out of trouble, and even goes to the extent of pulling him back when he gets into a fight, but all of this is careful strategizing for a grander plan.
This town that Vega has brought Ah Sahm and his friends is not the safest place. So any plan that she might have is going to affect not just her but also him. This town has no rules and proof is apparent. In the episode titled 'To a man with a hammer, everything looks like nail', Ah Sahm enters a world where the men who patrol the border, and the ones who watch out for newbies are not in uniforms. Not like Lee and Bill in San Francisco's Chinatown. So, the first thing that he does is attempt to get himself acclimated to the new town. We all know Ah Sahm so the best way for him to familiarize himself with the town is by picking a fight. This is his way of getting the lay of the land, and by doing so, he had earned himself an enemy.
The fight that he is going to be a part of is not what he is used to. So he gets a preview of sorts when he watches other warriors who are invited to the pits get to the action. He sees how brutal it can be, sees how close he is to getting killed every time an opponent is knocked down and that is what excites him. So the day of the fight, Ah Sahm gets ready to knock out anyone who is in the way of his goal -- the prize money. For Ah Sahm, the prize money is more than just cash, it is his way to bringing Mai Ling down. This is the reason why he wins every fight, of course, not without paying for it in bruises and blood. What he is not aware of, however, is the fact that he is being used at the moment by Vega.
Only this time, not just his life, but that of Young Jun and Hong is also put in danger. Turns out Vega had a secret of her own, one that involves the wrongful death of her father and she has chartered an entire plan where not only would she get what she wanted but Ah Sahm would too. She seems to have fallen for Ah Sahm and before her secret surfaces, she also suggests that he stay back and use the money for something of his own instead of returning to Chinatown and fighting for the tongs. He claims that he doesn't have anyone anymore to invest his emotions and feelings in, and Vega tells him to find a family of his own instead of depending on one that has no interest in returning to him.
He momentarily considers the same, but before he can take a call, the two of them get invited to an intimate lunch appointment with the organizer of the fight. Mr. Rooker is the American who forced the Mexicans to sell their land at gunpoint and even tortured one of them in front of his two daughters to kneel and sign before killing him. Turns out Vega was one of the daughters and her plan from the beginning was to use Ah Sahm to get close enough to Rooker to be able to kill him using the same gun that he had used on her father. After that happens, Ah Sahm is shaken because he did expect Vega to betray him and all that he can manage at the moment is to get as far away from the crime scene as possible.
Of course, this side of town is not something that Ah Sahm is used to, and he along with Hong, Young Jun, and Vega get arrested by sheriffs. Ah Sahm, of course, lashes out at Vega while Young Jun is extremely pissed that their entire plan has been derailed. However, Vega is not a heartless traitor. She has already planned their escape with the help of her sister, who is none other than Marisol, the woman who was married to Mr. Hooker. So she helps the boys escape but what none of them expect is to see her die as well. She is shot dead by Mr. Hooker's security guy before Young Jun takes him out. Ah Sahm, who hadn't even got time to deal with how he felt about her now that he knows her whole story is heartbroken but he moves forward, ends up returning to Hop Wei.
'Warrior' season 2 episodes will be aired on Cinemax every Friday at 10 pm ET.