San Francisco, 1878. Ah Sahm, a newly arrived Chinese immigrant with serious fighting skills, is introduced to Chinatown's most ruthless tong, the Hop Wei, by Chao, a fixer. After impressing Young Jun, son of tong leader Father Jun, Ah Sahm is branded and taken to a brothel, where he befriends Ah Toy, a courtesan with connections. Later, in search of a woman who left China two years earlier, Ah Sahm crosses paths with Mai Ling and Li Yong, followers of the rival tong leader Long Zii, who is trying to avoid an opium war with the Hop Wei, a war that Walter Buckley, deputy to San Francisco Mayor Samuel Blake, actively promotes. Meanwhile, after two Chinese laborers are killed by white thugs, police sergeant "Big Bill" O'Hara is tasked with creating a Chinatown squad. Enlisting southern-born cop Richard Henry Lee, Bill soon finds that the hostility between the Chinese and white dock workers, whose unofficial leader is Irish tough Dylan Leary, is unlikely to end anytime soon.

Big Bill discovers a possible solution to his gambling excesses; Penny reveals the circumstances that prompted her to marry Mayor Blake; Mai Ling offers Ah Sahm a way out of a protracted and bloody tong war.

Tensions escalate between the Hop Wei and Long Zii after an assassination attempt; Big Bill sets out to pay his debt to Jack; Blake and Buckley get a mandate from Robert Crestwood.

Father Jun sends Bolo to hunt down Long Zii and Mai Ling; Penny is faced with an unsavory choice; Lee's past catches up with him.

After a bloodbath, the Hop Wei and Long Zii consider a novel way to end hostilities; Ah Toy and her business partner hit a fork in the road; Mai Ling warns her brother against waging a battle he may not win.

Chinatown gathers to witness a "prize fight" between elite warriors from the Hop Wei and Long Zii. Buckley plays a bluff in hopes of getting Mercer to lower his fee. Ah Sahm remembers his roots as a fighter, as Ah Toy warns him of the dangers that await. Bill and Lee question Wang Chao about the recent series of sword killings in San Francisco.

Ah Sahm rejects his warrior roots; Leary pays a violent visit to Mercer.

[Cinemax] HD. 'Learn to Endure, or Hire a Bodyguard.' Season 2 Premiere. Ah Sahm takes on new fights; Mai Ling worries about the threat he may pose.

[Cinemax] HD. 'The Chinese Connection.' (Season 2) Ah Sahm and Young Jun pursue a secretive deal. Penny looks for protection. Mai Ling sends a message.

Ah Sahm and Young Jun meet a curious recruit. Chao and Mai Ling both have encounters with Zing.

Ah Sahm's scheme to protect Penny's factory while serving his own covert Hop Wei agenda seems to be working well, but Leary has other plans for the factory that will change things drastically.

Penny finds her business in trouble. Leary gets a warning. Bill and Chao put their plot into action.