Two years before his tragic death in 1973, the legendary martial artist, philosopher, and movie star Bruce Lee had an idea for a television show. Tentatively titled Ah Sahm, it would follow the adventures of a martial artist in the American Old West.
It took nearly 50 years, but that idea finally came to fruition in 2019 with the release of the first season of Warrior on Cinemax. It ruled, delivering the best fight sequences on television and anointing a new breakout star in Andrew Koji before being tragically canceled by Max (where it moved before season 3). Now, all three seasons are on Netflix for you to catch up on (and hope its new streaming home revives it for a season 4).
Warrior showrunner Jonathan Tropper (best known for the criminally underrated Banshee) worked closely with Bruce’s daughter Shannon, an executive producer on the series, to create a faithful and modern version of her father’s idea. The story follows Ah Sahm, an expert martial artist who travels from China to San Francisco in the late 1870s in search of his older sister. What he finds instead is a fierce gang war and blistering racial tensions, especially between the community of Chinese immigrants and Irish laborers.
Photo: David Bloomer/Max
Ah Sahm is a rich role for Koji, who manages to make homages to Lee in his performance while not resorting to imitation. Koji was ready to call it quits on his acting career when his mom convinced him to audition for Warrior. That fateful decision was an electric one for the show, which makes the most of the actor’s soulful eyes, effortless charm, and martial arts skills as he navigates the topsy-turvy world of a changing San Francisco.
While the world of Warrior is filled with vibrant characters and great performances, the meat of the show is in the action sequences, which are among the very best television has to offer. Second unit director and fight coordinator Brett Chan crafts scenes that are equal parts balletic and brutal, leaning into both the strengths of the very talented cast and the grimy down-and-dirty setting of the show. In addition to Koji, skilled martial artists like Joe Taslim and season 3 addition Mark Dacascos round out the cast, making it one of the best collections of fighting talent around.
Not all of Warrior’s storylines work — in a common pitfall for the genre, the police B-plot is not nearly as interesting as the gangster A-plot — but there are now three strong seasons to race through on Netflix. Now we just have to hope a fourth season gets greenlit — the people who make Warrior want it to happen, and new visibility on the biggest streaming platform in the world can’t hurt. And hey, it wouldn’t be the first time this show found new life on a new network.
All three seasons of Warrior are now streaming on Netflix.
