Kyle Wong

Teddy Boys – A British subculture that young men wore clothes that were inspired by dandies of the Edwarian period. Originally started in the UK in the early 1950s of post WWII, it was associated with American Rock and Roll music. It was to differentiate the teenagers from the adults. On 1956, at a screening of the film “Blackboard Jungle”, the Teddy Boys rioted in theatres where the film was shown. Teddy Boys have forms various gangs and fought against other gangs and immigrant communities, one being the 1958 Notting Hill Race Riot where they attacked the West Indian community. In this episode, they attack the Chinese community, taking their queues as part of their initiation. Before I get into Season 2, I will take note of the filming of the season took place in the late summer and fall of 2019 then finally premiering in October of 2020. This […]

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Episode 10 starts a week after the events of episode 9, a man wakes up Chinese coolies switching up those who worked the night before for those who are ready for the day. Among them is Ah Sahm, who has given up. O’Hara has been with Lee since his attack, waiting for him to wake up as Lee has no family. Lucy visits them, questioning who attacked with O’Hara hiding the knowledge it is the Foon Hai. Father Jun and Mai Ling meet as they go over the property the Long Zi obtained due to the victory of the match. Mai Ling accepts the small portion given by the Hop Wei as Father Jun swears that if the truce is broken again, he will stop at nothing till she dies. Leary intervenes on an inevitable altercation between his men and two black men wanting a drink, accepting the fact that […]

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John Chinaman – Boy this one is not a doozy to talk about. First off, the term Chinaman did not start as a negative term before the 1870’s. It was used for Chinese immigrants in America as a form of identity. Whereas adding John as a prefix, it was given by Census takers at the time when getting the identities of various new Chinese immigrants who would not give their names. Thus they were named John Chinaman which is a way of saying John Doe. It was around the 1870’s, the term Chinaman became a derogatory term as the Workingman’s Party were fed up with losing their jobs to Chinese immigrants and leading to the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882. Episode 3 starts with Byron Mercer (Penny’s father), approached by Leary to discuss Mercer’s company acquiring the construction of the railway of San Francisco. Byron sees Leary’s attempt at intimidation, […]

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Duck – A term for the white population coined by the Chinese. The term in that time was to make fun of the way most white people walk with their chest puffed out and waddle as they walk. And thus the rest of San Francisco is known as the “Duck Pond” outside of Chinatown. Episode 2 starts off with Ah Sahm, Young Jun and Bolo killing some Long Zi henchmen and destroying their shipment of Opium as a message from the Hop Wei of being the superior Tong in Chinatown. This shifts the narrative to the political and law enforcement side of the San Francisco. We now get to know who Mayor Blake, his wife Penny, Sergeant Bill O’Hara, Lee and Buckley are in the series. As two of Leary’s workers were murdered by Ah Toy in episode 1, O’Hara and Lee are tasked to find the swordsman responsible and […]

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