A gritty, action-packed crime drama set during the brutal Tong Wars of San Francisco’s Chinatown in the second half of the 19th century. The series follows Ah Sahm, a martial arts prodigy who immigrates from China to San Francisco under mysterious circumstances, and becomes a hatchet man for one of Chinatown’s most powerful tongs.
The peaks and the valleys. Find the essential episodes — and the ones to skip.
After Bill and his men are confronted by an angry mob, Chinatown erupts into chaos, forcing the tongs to work together to protect their streets. As Chao and Mai Ling seek shelter, Mai Ling tends to an ailing Ah Toy. Sophie opens her eyes to Leary's world. Lee decides which side he's on.
Transporting precious cargo via stagecoach through the Sierra Nevada, Ah Sahm and Young Jun are forced to spend the night with three strangers at a frontier saloon in the middle of nowhere. The detour turns perilous when Harlan French, a notorious outlaw, shows up with his henchmen, looking for a lucrative payday.
Ah Sahm, Young Jun, and Hong travel with Vega to Rooker’s Mill, a U.S.-Mexico border town owned by Elijah Rooker, the wealthy host of a lucrative fight tournament that Ah Sahm is determined to win. As he learns more about Vega, Ah Sahm draws the attention of another fighter, Dolph, and later, Rooker himself.
Big Bill finds himself compromised by his gambling excesses, but discovers a possible solution after an opium-den raid. Penny reveals the circumstances that prompted her to marry Mayor Blake, who’s determined to show voters he won’t tolerate San Francisco’s “Yellow Peril.” After meeting with leaders of the Fung Hai tong, Mai Ling offers Ah Sahm a way out of a protracted — and bloody — tong war.
Each point is an episode, plotted in order. Colored bands mark season boundaries. Look for the rise, the plateau, or the decline.
High votes + high rating = beloved classic. High votes + low rating = notorious stinker. Low votes + high rating = hidden gem.
One point per season. Smooths out the episode-to-episode noise to reveal the bigger arc.
Did each season build or fizzle? Green means the finale outscored the premiere. Red means the opposite. Longer arrows, bigger swings.
How steady is each season? Tightly clustered dots mean reliable quality. Scattered dots mean a wild ride.
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