'Warrior' Season 2 Episode 8: Will Ah Toy be killed by thugs disguised as cops in Nellie's presence?
'Warrior' Season 2 Episode 8 featured one of the most brutal fights that the season has seen -- not in terms of the number of people involved, or the number of people who died -- but the sheer number of times that Ah Toy had managed to get up despite being attacked by two huge men with hammer and ax, instead of a baton as is expected by cops shows how violent and primitive these men's attack is. You see, the intention here was not to capture the Chineseman who had murdered the Mayor of San Francisco, Samuel Blake, but to oust Ah Toy from the powerful position that she had placed herself in.
At the time of the attack, the only other person at the brothel was Nellie and, she had tried to stop the two men. What really makes us suspicious of Nellie is the fact that she did not seem genuinely interested in helping Ah Toy. Be it when she was pushed the first time around, or when she tried to stop one man from attacking Ah Toy, all of it seemed to be too shallow. While every kick and punch from Ah Toy held power, and the desire to stay alive, the desire to help Ah Toy was not completely present in Nellie.
Of course, this could very well be our prejudice as I just didn't like the way Nellie looked at Ah Toy while discussing her properties and assets. However, we can't guess now as by the end of the episode the only thing that becomes clear is that Ah Toy is done letting a White woman run around in her brothel, especially when there is a curfew. She tells Nellie to leave and when Nellie tries to tell her that she can take care of Ah Toy, she is told that the brothel is no place for a White woman.
Despite the physically terrible condition that Ah Toy is in, which includes being struck down by an ax; Ah Toy, takes her sword and visits the White man that she did business with. Not empty-handed, mind you! She arrived like a grim reaper with two heads, of the men who had attempted to kill her. From the look of fear on the face of this White man, we wonder if he could have really sent the cops to Ah Toy's place, and this kind of cement our suspicions about Nellie.
She gets him to sign the property ownership to her, on knifepoint and with her face swollen and bruised, her wounds bleeding, Ah Toy takes over the property that she rightfully owned, just not by law. It is a brilliant portrayal of the strength and perseverance of Ah Toy whose only aim had been to never be a victim or weak again. However, will she succumb to the attack or can she make it out of the woods with some help?
This is something that we will watch in the next episode. Hopefully, we can also clarify our doubts about Nellie. 'Warrior' Season 2 episodes will be aired on Cinemax every Friday at 10 pm ET.