- "I've served this Tong my whole life. If he wants to burn me out, he can go ahead. Won't change a fucking thing. Branding us like goddamn cattle isn't what makes us Hop Wei."
- —Young Jun to Ah Sahm[src]
Young Jun is the son of Father Jun and was a hatchet man for the Hop Wei. He befriended Ah Sahm upon his arrival in America and showed him the ropes and the truth behind the brewing tong war in Chinatown. Guided by Ah Sahm, Young Jun overthrew his father and took leadership of the Hop Wei.[1] However, he has begun to question Ah Sahm's loyalty after discovering that he and Mai Ling are siblings.[2]
Biography[]
Early life[]
Despite his Chinese heritage, Young Jun has only ever known America and was born in San Francisco.[3] When Young Jun was firstborn, he would scream and cry all day and all night, keeping his mother awake for days at a time. She couldn't handle him and saw his stubbornness as a curse. So at four months old, she left him with his father.[4]
When Young Jun was skinned into the Hop Wei, Father Jun broke two bones in his hand because he was using great force, as not to show favoritism towards his son.[5]
Buying Ah Sahm[]
Young Jun takes Ah Sam to his father
Young Jun purchases Ah Sahm from Chao and recruits him into the Hop Wei after learning that he took out three bulls at the port. After giving Ah Sahm the lay out of Chinatown, including the opium network and their rivals the Long Zii, he takes Ah Sam to Ah Toy's brothel and picks a couple girls from her lineup. However, the night goes awry when a couple Long Zii hatchet men come after Ah Sahm, though he takes them out with little difficulty.[6]
Ah Sahm's arrest[]
Young Jun, Ah Sahm, and Bolo intercept a shipment of opium at the docks for the Long Zii and kill several Long Zii hatchet men before setting the shipment on fire. The following day, Young Jun and Ah Sahm enter a shop to collect their weekly fee. Inside, they cross paths with Jacob, Penny's manservant. When Young Jun begins to hassle the shop keep about falling behind on payment, Penny tells him to leave the elderly man alone. Jacob apologizes for her and explains to Penny that they should leave, as she's talking to dangerous men. While Young Jun is distracted with the owner, Ah Sahm seeks to return Penny's dropped glove, which results in him getting into a fight and getting locked up. Young Jun wants to get him out, but Father Jun doesn't believe it's worth the cost and wants to blame the recent murder of two ducks on Ah Sahm.[7]
Young Jun welcomes back Ah Sahm after he is released from jail. The Hop Wei celebrate Ah Sahm's return, and Young Jun gives a toast in his honor, also advising Ah Sahm against wandering off again. However, the partying comes to a halt when Father Jun arrives with a wooden paddle to punish Ah Sahm.[8]
Young Jun and Ah Sahm smoke some molasses. He only rolls them on special occasions, the occasion here being the beating Father Jun gave Ah Sahm last night. Young Jun's was worse, though. Father Jun broke two bones in his own hand while skinning him in. He didn't want to show favoritism. Young Jun then questions why Ah Sahm is even in San Francisco to begin with. Ah Sahm reveals that he came looking for a girl, but he discovered that she's dead.[5]
Stranded in Sierra Nevada[]
Young Jun and Ah Sahm are riding a stagecoach with the corpse of a dead relative through Nevada with a few other passengers, but the stagecoach makes an unexpected stop in the middle of nowhere, and the passengers seek refuge in a nearby saloon for the night, where they are hassled by a racist cowboy named Mason. However, they also make the acquaintance of Lu, a fellow Chinese man from Yubei. Unlike Ah Sahm and Lu, Young Jun has never been to China. He was born in San Francisco, and still isn't even treated as an American. He belongs nowhere.
Young Jun and Ah Sahm find the gold
Young Jun heads upstairs with Wankeia to have sex. Afterwards, he comes down with Wankeia and tells Ah Sahm that he thinks he's in love. He's like her — a stranger in their own land. Young Jun then goes to the bar, where he gets into an altercation with Mason after being shoved, but Young Jun maintains his composure until Mason notices that he's taken a liking to Wankeia and plans to take her upstairs for himself. When Young Jun reaches for his knives, Mason draws a gun, but he gets his head blown off by Harlan French. He and his crew have come to rob them of all their valuables, holding them all at gunpoint as they take all they have to offer. However, they refuse to give over the casket, which results in a fight, and they manage to disarm Harlan's crew and kill them, all except Harlan, who escapes. Curious as to why Harlan was interested in the corpse, Ah Sahm cuts him open and discovers gold inside a pouch.
Rather than running, Young Jun and Ah Sahm decide to stay and fight. However, Wankeia flees with the other working girl. She invites him to join them, but Jun refuses to leave Ah Sahm behind. Instead, he gives Wankeia a single piece of gold and exchanges names before kissing her goodbye. Young Jun, Ah Sahm, and those that remain, wait for Harlan and his crew to arrive, and an all-out war ensues, which ends with Harlan and his crew dead.[3]
War with Long Zii and the Fung Hai[]
Young Jun is ready for war
Young Jun and Bolo save Father Jun, as he is attacked during a Chinatown parade by the Fung Hai with explosives. Young Jun wants to rally the tong for a counter-attack against the Fung Hai, who have joined forces with the Long Zii. Some of them are worried about starting a war, but as far as Young Jun is concerned, the bombing was the initiation of the war. Ah Sahm and Bolo support his call to war. And so, Young Jun leads Ah Sahm and Bolo into the Fung Hai gambling den, where they slaughter the opposing tong despite being vastly outnumbered.[9]
The Hop Wei and Long Zii are both preparing for war and meet dead center of Chinatown, standing on opposite ends, with Young Jun and Ah Sahm leading the Hop Wei and Li Yong leading the Long Zii. By the end, many are dead on both sides.[10]
Young Jun and Father Jun attend the fight between Ah Sahm and Li Yong to determine if the Long Zii will be able to work the opium trade. Unfortunately, Ah Sahm loses the fight and is nearly killed. While he leaves with is life, he is abandoned by the Hop Wei. Young Jun partially blames his father for their loss, for ever agreeing to the duel to begin with. For now, they'll keep their word and allow the Long Zii into the molasses trade. As for Ah Sahm, who Young Jun vouches for, he's of no use to them as far as Father Jun is concerned.
Young Jun visits Ah Sahm during his recovery. Young Jun doesn't know what to say. He didn't see things going this way. Unfortunately for Ah Sahm, Father Jun wants nothing to do with him, essentially kicking him out of the Hop Wei. And if he goes to work for another tong, there will be a price on his head. Young Jun has been thinking about when they went out to Grass Valley a lot. He's starting to think they never should've come back.[11]
Brining Ah Sahm back into the tong[]
Young Jun finds Ah Sahm working as a coolie and tells Ah Sahm that he wants him to come back to the Hop Wei. Father Jun hasn't been the same since the explosion. He's given away the store, meanwhile the Long Zii and Fung Hai are getting too close for comfort, and it's only a matter of time before they make a move. And when that happens, Young Jun needs people he can trust at his side, but Ah Sahm turns down his offer, claiming that being a coolie is honest work. Young Jun tells Ah Sahm that he can't just walk away, but as he recalls, he fought for the Hop Wei before they tossed him out like garbage. Young Jun explains that they were simply following the rules, but he's come to right the wrong. However, Ah Sahm still isn't interested. Despite this, Ah Sahm later rejoins the tong.[12]
Searching for a molasses source[]
Young Jun is worried that the tong looks weak with how Mai Ling and the Long Zii have moved closer towards their territory. However, Father Jun isn't as concerned with public perception. He's more concerned about what is true, like the Long Zii's unstable alliance with the Fung Hai. And when they fail to uphold the treaty, the Hop Wei can strike with the full force of the Six Companies. When Young Jun disrespects Father Jun for his lax behavior, he strikes his son.
Young Jun has learned that the Long Zii is dealing molasses that isn't from China, meaning the Long Zii are paying less for it, which explains why they're charging less and why the Hop Wei is losing customers. Jun hasn't told his father, as he already knows he'll never stop taking orders from China, as he's too afraid of angering the Six Companies. With Young Jun being responsible for placing the orders, Ah Sahm suggests that they simply go behind Father Jun's back and set up a local source.[13]
With help from Vega, Young Jun and Ah Sahm meet with a molasses source, Happy Jack. He is reluctant to work with anyone from the tongs, but Ah Sahm is willing to pay for a dozen crates and storage for it.
Young Jun hears out his father
Father Jun tells Young Jun about how he cried from the moment he was born. He kept his mother awake days at a time. She couldn't handle Young Jun, so at four months old, she left him, seeing his stubbornness as a curse, but what Father Jun saw was a born fighter. But the stiffest tree cracks easiest. Mai Ling will learn that the hard way, while they will survive by bending the wind, Father Jun explains. All he needs from Young Jun is to trust him. They will uphold their end of the treaty until he says otherwise.
They reconvene with Happy Jack, who no longer intends to store their opium, despite their initial agreement, and when they won't refund them, Ah Sahm and Young Jun attempt to take it back, killing several of Happy Jack's men until Jack draws his gun on Young Jun, bringing the fight to an end. He explains that the cops have been cracking down and raided two shops in the area already, which is why he can no longer store their product. And so, they are forced to hide their opium shipment within Mercer Steel whilst the building is empty after agreeing to work security for the facility.[4]
Young Jun notices the new recruits
Young Jun confronts his father after he has brought in a shipment of new recruits into the Hop Wei. He explains that it's his way of showing the Six Companies they've got control. However, Young Jun is also upset that he's not being shown the respect he deserves, not from his father or the council. Young Jun remembers his father saying he was the only one he could trust, to which Father Jun replies that trust goes both ways and that Young Jun isn't smart enough to know what he doesn't know.
Young Jun and Ah Sahm takes Hong, one of the new recruits, to Ah Toy's brothel. Young Jun is suspicious. They start making moves behind China's back, and suddenly they start sending over a bunch of soldiers, but Ah Sahm reminds Young Jun that it was Father Jun who sent for them, not the other way around. Nevertheless, they've been in contact, which means it's only a matter of time before China reveals they haven't placed an order and has been getting their molasses elsewhere. Young Jun wants to call it quits, but Ah Sahm pushes him to follow through with the plan. Hong joins them and reveals that he's willing to help in any way, which he proves by taking out a couple Fung Hai hatchet men.[14]
Young Jun and Ah Sahm discuss their next move
Young Jun and Ah Sahm contemplate their next move after losing all their opium in a fire. Even if they had the money to make a new order to China, it would never make it in time, and they're going to start missing deliveries in a week. As a last resort, Ah Sahm proposes going back to Happy Jack, but that fail as well. However, Hong offers to help them without even having all the details, though he's managed to learn the gist of it.[15]
Competing at Rooker's Mill[]
Young Jun and Hong accompany Ah Sahm and Vega to Rooker's Mill, a border town near Mexico, to fight in a tournament hosted by Elijah Rooker for $2,500. They are taken to their room, where Young Jun inquires about the nature of Ah Sahm's relationship with Vega, which he claims is strictly professional.
Hong and Young Jun after being set free
After Ah Sahm wins several rounds and impresses Elijah Rooker, he is invited to lunch in the main house, where Vega kills Rooker, forcing the four of them to fight their way through Rooker's Mill, as Smits places a bounty on their head. They are unfortunately arrested and placed in a cell, headed for Sacramento. However, this was all part of Vega's plan. Rooker's wife, Marisol, is her sister, and together, they staged all this to reclaim their family's land. Marisol also hands Ah Sahm the promised prize money. Unfortunately, Smits has tracked them down and shoots Vega, killing her, but then Young Jun kills Smits. After laying her to rest, Young Jun, Ah Sahm, and Hong return to Chinatown, where Father Jun and the tong await after learning the truth.[16]
Taking over the tong[]
Young Jun takes over the Hop Wei
Father Jun has rallied the Hop Wei and accuses Young Jun, Ah Sahm, and Hong of going against the tong, referring to Young Jun as the son of a common whore, who he's prepared to burn out of the Hop Wei. He then proceeds to burn Young Jun out by removing his brand and then orders for Ah Sahm to be killed, but he throws the money they won from the tournament on the table and insists that they weren't stealing, rather trying to save the tong, because Father Jun's way will be the death of it. Ultimately, they side with Ah Sahm and Young Jun, who takes leadership from his father and forces him into retirement. Young Jun then takes the head chair at the table to cement his leadership.
Father Jun questions how long Young Jun has been planning his take-over, but he assures his father that he wasn't planning it at all. Father Jun accuses Ah Sahm of manipulating Young Jun, but he disagrees. Regardless, Young Jun took power and now he has to seal it by killing his father, but Young Jun doesn't believe his father's death is necessary. He'd rather keep his father around to use his wisdom and experience, but Father Jun sees it as a weakness.[1]
After taking down the Fung Hai headquarters, Young Jun grabs a drink with Father Jun to celebrate them taking out the Fung Hai without breaking the treaty, but Father Jun wonders how many men they lost in the process. He agrees that the Fung Hai need to go, but there was a smarter way to go about it. Young Jun has always been impulsive, by his father's account.[17]
Young Jun, Ah Sahm, and Hong join forces with Li Yong and the Long Zii to stop the Irish mob attacking Chinatown. Young Jun goes head on against multiple thugs attacking the laundromat. With nothing more than a pair of knives, he slashes his way through the mob, taking down many men, but he is outnumbered and nearly killed until Father Jun arrives and drives a hatchet in the back of a man's head. Later, after the riot has ended, they go a retrieve Jacob's body after he was hanged outside of The Banshee for killing Mayor Blake.[18]
Young Jun seeks counseling from his father following the riot. Father Jun advises his son that the battles he chooses not to fight are every bit as important as the ones he does. Young Jun apologizes to his father about everything. Maybe it was the fight they both needed, Father Jun replies. Young Jun wishes to welcome his father back, but it's his burden to bear by leading the tong now.
Ah Sahm and Young Jun meet with Mai Ling
Young Jun recalls the feeling he felt when he was staring into the barrel of a gun during the riot but was saved by his father. He knew he was dead; it got real quiet and everything slowed down, but thankfully Father Jun was there just in time to save him, as if he knew Young Jun would need him. Young Jun doesn't know if he'll ever be the leader his father was, but Ah Sahm reminds him that even Father Jun was young once. Young Jun then reveals that Mai Ling reached out and wants to get the lay of the land. However, when they do meet with her, as a last resort, Mai Ling remarks that she doesn't want to be at war with her own brother anymore, revealing to Young Jun that she and Ah Sahm are siblings, in an attempt to cause friction.
Young Jun confronts Ah Sahm for not telling him the truth sooner and punches him in a fit of rage. After hearing Ah Sahm's story, Young Jun comes to the conclusion that Ah Sahm is being truthful and that Mai Ling coming into their home the way she did to blow his cover was a last resort, hoping that would be the end of Ah Sahm. They've been through too much for Young Jun to believe that Ah Sahm has any loyalty to her, but when the time comes for him to choose between her and Young Jun, he wonders if Ah Sahm will make the right choice. He then requests some time to think it over. After Ah Sahm leaves, Young Jun looks to Hong for advice on what to do, but neither of them know what they would've done in his position either.
Young Jun menacingly glares up at Ah Sahm's mural in Chinatown.[2]
Printing fake chop[]
As the recently appointed leader of the Hop Wei, Young Jun attempts to make his presence felt by demanding respect, not only from the local businesses, such as the print shop, where he assaults the owner for mouthing off to him, but also from independent contractors such as Chao, who supplies the Hop Wei, as well as their rivals the Long Zii. On top of this, he is faced with the burden of having to lead his people through this troubling time when the extra police presence and new city ordinances have crippled Chinatown. Fortunately, through Chao's help, they stumble upon a counterfeit money operation.[19]
Significant kills[]
- Harlan French's crew — Young Jun killed members of Harlan's crew when they attacked the saloon.[3]
- Smits — Young Jun kills Smits with a blade after he shoots and kills Vega.[16]
- Irish mob — Young Jun and the Hop Wei kill many of the Irishmen who invade Chinatown after the death of Mayor Blake.[18]
Skills and abilities[]
Young Jun is a capable fighter, though he heavily relies on his knives when in combat.
Appearances[]
Season 3[]
- Exactly the Wrong Time to Get Proud
- Anything Short of a Blow to the Head
- No Time for F*cking Chemistry
Behind the scenes[]
- Young Jun is portrayed by Jason Tobin.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Season 2, episode 7: If You Wait by the River Long Enough
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Season 2, episode 10: Man on the Wall
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Season 1, episode 5: The Blood and the Sh*t
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Season 2, episode 2: The Chinese Connection
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Season 1, episode 4: The White Mountain
- ↑ Season 1, episode 1: The Itchy Onion
- ↑ Season 1, episode 2: There's No China in the Bible
- ↑ Season 1, episode 3: John Chinaman
- ↑ Season 1, episode 6: Chewed Up, Spit Out, and Stepped On
- ↑ Season 1, episode 7: The Tiger and the Fox
- ↑ Season 1, episode 9: Chinese Boxing
- ↑ Season 1, episode 10: If You're Going to Bow, Bow Low
- ↑ Season 2, episode 1: Learn to Endure, or Hire a Bodyguard
- ↑ Season 2, episode 3: Not How We Do Business
- ↑ Season 2, episode 5: Not for a Drink, a F*ck, or a G**damn Prayer
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Season 2, episode 6: To a Man with a Hammer, Everything Looks Like a Nail
- ↑ Season 2, episode 8: All Enemies, Foreign and Domestic
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Season 2, episode 9: Enter the Dragon
- ↑ Season 3, episode 1: Exactly the Wrong Time to Get Proud