AMC's Into The Badlands

[Dave]

Funny that the supposed setting for the series should generate more lively discussion than the show itself in the last two seasons.

If you wanted to, we could talk about the technology instead? How are they running those cars? Looks like petrol engines. There is/was Oil in Oklahoma, but do we see oil drums or pumps? Do they ever need to fill up the cars? How do they get parts?

Maybe they run them on electricity? They have electric lights and that machine that gives you the "Gift" lights up and has power gauges with needle dials. Where is that electricity from and how is it made and supplied?

And that machine that gives the "Gift" - does it look futuristic? It looks like a 1950's B Movie to me, or even a 1930's serial. It is electro-mechanical rather than electronic. I can imagine the Emperor Ming the Merciless strapping Flash Gordon to it. A couple of weeks ago someone broke it in a shower of sparks and cloud of smoke, but last week Pilgrim announced it had been fixed again (by that strange workman who just stands around doing nothing.)

If you wanted to, we could talk about agriculture and food supply. People cannot live on Poppies alone.

Let's face it, very little in this series makes any kind of sense at all.

 

[REBerg]

If you wanted to, we could talk about the technology instead? How are they running those cars? Looks like petrol engines. There is/was Oil in Oklahoma, but do we see oil drums or pumps? Do they ever need to fill up the cars? How do they get parts?

Maybe they run them on electricity? They have electric lights and that machine that gives you the "Gift" lights up and has power gauges with needle dials. Where is that electricity from and how is it made and supplied?

And that machine that gives the "Gift" - does it look futuristic? It looks like a 1950's B Movie to me, or even a 1930's serial. It is electro-mechanical rather than electronic. I can imagine the Emperor Ming the Merciless strapping Flash Gordon to it. A couple of weeks ago someone broke it in a shower of sparks and cloud of smoke, but last week Pilgrim announced it had been fixed again (by that strange workman who just stands around doing nothing.)

If you wanted to, we could talk about agriculture and food supply. People cannot live on Poppies alone.

Let's face it, very little in this series makes any kind of sense at all.

Into the Badlands has been primarily a showcase for colorfully choreographed martial arts battles. Maybe that’s all the producers ever intended it to be.

The show, as you’ve said, could have been so much more if it had engaged in more of the world-building we had hoped to see. A little more attention to character development wouldn’t have hurt, either.

The big unanswered question, for me, is how much technological progress did society make between our present day and the fall of civilization? Not much, it would seem, considering the vintage of the cars and other machinery featured.

Reverting to a feudal society seems logical enough, but the specialties of each barony – opium, oil, ore (Barony) -- do not add up to a world in which one could expect to find gasoline and electricity. Refineries, factories and power plants must exist somewhere outside of the Badlands.

I noticed in the above-referenced web page that territories were dedicated to agriculture, textiles and weaponry. I do not remember seeing any of them in the show.

Another Badlands barony which served as a manufacturing hub, exchanging products for raw materials, would have added a little of that longed-for sense the series lacked. Episodes set inside the industrial district could have provided another story thread -- contrasting life there with life in the outlying territories.

I remain disappointed that “The Gift” did not turn out to be explained by advanced genetics instead of magic. I can envision a world in which a struggle between the "haves" and "have-nots" over immortality would result in destruction.

Who knows? Maybe the finale will explain all of these shortcomings and completely redeem the series. Or not.

 

[L.L.Lotte]

It's unlikely any of those questions will be answered, i think the writers are more concerned about wrapping up the story than fleshing out the world at this point. The remaining story is all about defeating Pilgrim...

So much missed opportunities. Probably why its ending after such a short run. At least we will get an actual ending.

For me, watching this show is all about the widow and bajie. Best characters ever.

 

[Dave]

For me, watching this show is all about the widow and bajie. Best characters ever.

When they first introduced Nick Frost as a guest character I was astounded, even more when he became a permanent addition. I had only seen him in "Attack the Block" and as Simon Pegg's less funny sidekick in the Edgar Wright directed films and in "Spaced." This series has changed my whole outlook on him. I didn't know that he was also a wrestler, so the addition makes perfect sense, and he is also very funny in this, with his deadpan humour set against the exuberance of the other characters. I'd agree than he is one of the best things about the series.

 

[REBerg]

When they first introduced Nick Frost as a guest character I was astounded, even more when he became a permanent addition. I had only seen him in "Attack the Block" and as Simon Pegg's less funny sidekick in the Edgar Wright directed films and in "Spaced." This series has changed my whole ou"tlook on him. I didn't know that he was also a wrestler, so the addition makes perfect sense, and he is also very funny in this, with his deadpan humour set against the exuberance of the other characters. I'd agree than he is one of the best things about the series.

As in "Requiem for the Fallen," when ...

Spoiler

... upon learning that Minerva was pregnant, he said to Gaius: "You banged Flea? You brave, horny idiot."

 

[REBerg]

Spoiler: 3.16 Seven Strike as One

Whaaat the ....?
Were they setting us up for a movie or a spin-off, or were they simply creating an opportunity to make an anti-gun statement?
Anyway, it wasn't a bad series finale.

I fervently hope that the next world will not be one of constant snowfall​

I had pegged Tilda or Kannin as those most likely to be sacrificed. Sunny's "death" was a surprise. So was his future resurrection.
I had wondered why his eyes momentarily lighted as he gasped his last breath. His recovery had better hit the accelerator before his body is buried or burned.
Pilgrim and M.K. are, I assume, permanently dead. Who knows in this series? Cressida is another lose end, possibly saved for a story continuation.
The showrunners had plenty of time to wrap things up completely after the cancellation was announced. So, what's up? Has a streaming service shown interest?

Maybe, like Sunny, the series isn't completely dead ... yet.
Into The Badlands Season 4: New Network, Comic & Release Date Info

​

 

[Dave]

I was left wanting... but I don't know what I wanted.

 

[sinister42]

Well I guess that's the end of Crouching Stupid, Hidden What??

 

[Dave]

I've had more time to think about the final scenes and is that really the 'Secret of Azra'?

Spoiler: The Secret of Azra

Was the old world; our world, brought down by the discovery of guns and rifles, and not by a machine that turns eyes black, gives superhero strength and abilities, including an ability to heal yourself and others, and to resurrect people from the dead?

 

[REBerg]

I've had more time to think about the final scenes and is that really the 'Secret of Azra'?

Spoiler: The Secret of Azra

Was the old world; our world, brought down by the discovery of guns and rifles, and not by a machine that turns eyes black, gives superhero strength and abilities, including an ability to heal yourself and others, and to resurrect people from the dead?

Spoiler

Sure, the power-hungry barons, in a selfless act to preserve their new feudal society, outlawed the firearms that had destroyed their old civilization. Instead,, they embraced the martial arts and swordplay, building armies of murderous clippers to keep their cog slave laborers in line and expand their territories.
At some unknown point in this brave new world, the "gift" came along, and became the most sought-after new weapon on the planet by the peace-loving barons. After all, it wasn't a gun, so it didn't break the anti-gun rule. It was just a jujitsu enhancement.
The gun ban was the crowning achievement of Badlands society. That, and colorful uniforms.

 

[L.L.Lotte]

Spoiler: 3.16 Seven Strike as One

The showrunners had plenty of time to wrap things up completely after the cancellation was announced. So, what's up? Has a streaming service shown interest?

Maybe, like Sunny, the series isn't completely dead ... yet.
Into The Badlands Season 4: New Network, Comic & Release Date Info

That link just sounds like wishful thinking... Netflix is the platform it's already streaming on, so if any service picks it up, it will be Netflix. There is no word on that yet, but I consider it unlikely to happen.

So much for the network assuring "it will have a proper ending"

While that did wrap up some plotlines, it could hardly be called a proper ending.

Spoiler: Spoiler

Leaving Sunny in limbo, off to start another mission and come back to life somehow. Cressida getting away, leaving Moon's revenge unfulfilled. No epilogue given to any of the other characters. We don't know if Tilda lives or dies from her wound. Don't see Flea have her baby...

imo, they really should have cut that snow scene, knowing that the show was cancelled and all.

 

[Dave]

...That, and colorful uniforms,

I wondered about those too. Did we ever see any tailors? Any Bowler hatters? *Some Baron was making a killing, trading in cloth-making and millinery.*

...No epilogue given to any of the other characters...

There were a lot of deaths, but are we sure the machine was destroyed? It appeared earlier that it doesn't take much work to re-wire it? *Some Baron is making a killing in electrical works* Anyway, wouldn't there be plans to rebuild? So, is anyone really dead when resurrection is possible?

So much for the network assuring "it will have a proper ending"

I can think of series I've watched with worse endings, but they usually were cancelled without an ending at all.