The last episode ended with the shocking aftermath of Mai Ling and Li Yong's wedding as things between them seem to be completely on halt. However, the ninth and penultimate episode of this season begins on an unexpected point at least for me.
The ninth episode begins with Lai attacking Douglas Strickland. She has already killed one of his loyalists and now she is challenging Strickland, who accepts one on one Swordfight. To be honest, I thought Lai was in for a long haul, and before attacking or killing Strickland, she would completely plan it out as it was just teased in the last episode. But it seems like she was in a rush to get her revenge or the show's writers were. Anyway, it seems very unsatisfying the way they fought and the way this story arc has been handled. I don't think Lai's character is that stupid to challenge Strickland when she knows he is not alone. The camera doesn't show how she gets badly injured, but surely it can't be Strickland alone.
Moving on from Lai, in a shocking turn of events, Bill O'Hara is now Police Chief O'Hara, and interestingly he has been appointed by the same man who denied him the opportunity in the first place. In the aftermath of Atwood getting hospitalized, Buckley doesn't hesitate in electing Bill as the new police chief while also confirming that he will send Atwood back to New York. I am not able to guess what went wrong between Atwood and Buckley, the new mayor, as Atwood was Buckley's main man and nothing was wrong with their relationship. This is the second story arc which seems to be rushed in the same episode.
The ninth episode titled, "All of Death Is a Going Home," shows Mai Ling and Li Yong for only a couple of minutes as Mai Ling seem to be scared of Li Yong, however, I think this should be the opposite. Anyway, we don't get to know where the Long Ziis are heading or how deadly the newly wedding couple would be for each other. Guess the season finale has a lot to answer.
However, the more shocking part of this episode is Ah Sahm being more paranoid of Young Jun than the other way around. I was expecting this situation might come as soon as Ah Sahm got close to Yan Mi. Yan Mi gets arrested after Lee finds counterfeit currency at her home, and she quickly admits that she has been printing these notes, but at the present time, she doesn't know where those plates are. When Ah Sahm finds out, he quickly rushes to the police station and makes a deal with the police chief, Lee, and Moseley, to get her out. And you can pretty much guess what that deal could be. Meanwhile, Hop Wei puts up a united show in the aftermath of Father Jun's death, who begged Young Jun to kill him.
I wrote in the last episode's review that Leary and Strickland are showing signs of a rift even though they were just getting started. This episode confirms that it wasn't just a rift as Leary finds out that Strickland's friendship was only for his own gain. Now Leary's biggest enemy is none other than Strickland as Leary blasts the railway bridge Strickland is making. Leary threatens if Strickland tries again, he will do the same again. At the end of the episode, we see a deadly fight between Strickland's men and Leary at his bar. Leary kills all of them brutally as the episode ends.
Overall, this episode has some satisfying parts, but everything seems to be rushed. The only thing which is secret is where Li Yong is heading and what's the plan of Mai Ling. Although I can guess Ah Sahm has another way of getting Yan Mi out without betraying Hop Wei, the last few minutes of this episode hinted in that direction.
Final Score - [7/10]