The most exciting crime drama on HBO Max isn't even marketed as a crime drama

Warrior is the best TV show you haven’t heard of. It’s a period drama set against the backdrop of the Tong Wars in the late nineteenth century, when Chinese gangs fought each other in a variety of American cities, especially San Francisco. Most of the characters, including leading man Ah Sahm (Andrew Koji), are involved in one Tong or another, and much of the drama revolves around the Tongs trying to get one over on each other. So not only is Warrior a crime show, you could argue that it’s a true crime show, even if it’s not documentary-accurate.

And yet when I visited the Warrior page on HBO Max, I noticed that it had been categorized as an action show and as a drama, not as a crime drama, even though I know that’s a category that HBO Max has. This sells the show short, and it shall not stand.

Warrior is a period piece, a crime drama, an action show, and the best thing that’s ever happened to me

It’s everything

I feel like labeling Warrior as an action show rather than a crime drama makes it sound less serious than it is, although to be fair, it does have some spectacular action scenes. After he immigrates to San Francisco from China, Ah Sahm is sought after by Top Wei Tong specifically because of his ability to fight, and the fights in Warrior are worth the price of admission by themselves. Watch the one above and tell me you’re not curious to see more.

But minute to minute, Warrior is a top-notch crime drama that digs into the nitty-gritty details of what was happening at this point in history. Not only do we get to know the members of the rival Tongs, but we also spend time with people like Bill O’Hara (Kieran Bew), a police officer who’s not completely corrupt but getting there, as well as politicians, union organizers, and other people at all levels of society. There are power struggles within the Tongs, especially with Hop Wei heir apparent Young Jun (Jason Tobin), who’s due to inherit leadership from his father but may be too hot-headed for the job. And then there’s Ah Sahm’s sister, Mai Ling (Dianne Doan), whom he comes to San Francisco to find. To his surprise, he learns that she’s deeply embedded in the rival Long Zii tong, which leads to no end of family drama.

A lot of these characters live on the fringes of society, not necessarily because they’re bad people, but because they have little other choice when their adopted country begrudgingly tolerates them at best. The tongs are gangs, but they’re also a kind of law enforcement system for people who have been excluded from the normal one, which is how a lot of criminal organizations begin. Warrior explores this in all its richness, and it should be properly labeled.

Netflix doesn’t categorize Warrior correctly, either

Unacceptable

Credit: David Bloomer/Max

Warrior started life on Cinemax, where way too few people watched it. Its third season ran on HBO Max (although it was just called “Max” then; it was a weird time). That gave it a little boost, but not enough of one to secure it a fourth season. Now, all three seasons are available on Netflix, which makes me happy because it means more people can find it and discover how awesome it is.

That said, Netflix is also mislabeling this poor show. Netflix throws it into the category of “TV Shows Based on Books,” which is misleading.

It’s true that Warrior advertises itself as “based on the writings of Bruce Lee,” but that’s a far cry from it being based on a book. As the story goes, famed actor and martial artist Bruce Lee wanted to make a show like Warrior in the 1970s, but wasn’t able to get it off the ground. But he never wrote a book; he wrote a “treatment,” which, so far as I can tell, was more of an outline detailing some of the characters and scenarios.

Still, if anyone checks out Warrior because they’re intrigued by the fact that it’s based on “the writings of Bruce Lee,” it will be worth it. Lee’s daughter Shannon Lee is an executive producer on Warrior, so there are some real connections there.

Warrior never got enough respect

I miss it

Unfortunately, the third season of Warrior ends with a lot unresolved. For a while, fans like me were holding out hope for a season four renewal, but it never came. At this point, the chances of a revival seem pretty slim. Even if it happened, I don’t know how much longer Andrew Koji and the rest of the cast can pull off some of those fights.

Even with that caveat, Warrior is still very much worth watching. The characters are vivid, the production values are off the charts, and the fight scenes are so exciting they have to be seen to be believed. And maybe more than that, it feels like it covers subject matter you rarely see a crime show, or any show, tackle. In an industry increasingly reluctant to make anything that isn’t based on some recognizable IP, that’s refreshing.

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Beyond crime

Warrior is not a cozy crime show; the violence hits hard, and the stakes are real. And yet there is a madcap, almost campy element to some of the one-off episodes that keeps you on your toes. Warrior brings you a bit of everything, which might be why both Netflix and HBO Max had trouble putting it in the right categories. Wherever you watch it, all you really need to know is that it’s fantastic. And when you’re done, there are plenty of other great HBO Max shows for you to sample.