AMC's Into The Badlands

2.02 Force of Eagle's Claw
Loved Sunny's fight with the champ while tethered to Badjie, the new best friend who wasted no time in selling him out. Hey, if you've got a 300-pound human mace attached to your arm, why not use him?
I'm glad they didn't keep Sunny in the mining prison for a too long. I'm relieved to learn that Veil is Quinn's prisoner, not his new wife.
The first two episodes are doing a nice job of distributing time among the multiple story lines and keeping them all moving.
 
What is the general opinion about the introduction of Nick Frost's character (Badgie) into this? I wasn't very keen at all. I didn't think we needed to have light comic relief but I thought he was a guest character and would likely get 'clipped' quickly. It seems now that he is in the main cast. On the other hand, the character has grown a little and isn't quite as annoying either.
 
Dave said:
What is the general opinion about the introduction of Nick Frost's character (Badgie) into this? I wasn't very keen at all. I didn't think we needed to have light comic relief but I thought he was a guest character and would likely get 'clipped' quickly. It seems now that he is in the main cast. On the other hand, the character has grown a little and isn't quite as annoying either.
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Developing lovable rascal? :D
 
2.04 Palm of the Iron Fox

itbbaronbrawl.jpg

Baron Chau and The Window perform a complex, spike-heeled tango at the Barons Ball hosted by Ryder
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The Widow, my favorite character in the series, did not disappoint when finally got to do her thing in this episode's epic battle.
Baron Chau definitely had earned a martial arts beating, when she reneged on her offer to compromise, sided with the majority of the barons and voted against The Widow. Being stripped of her baronship and banished from the Badlands, predictably, was not acceptable to The Widow, who promised that would only happen over her dead body.
Fortunately, it didn't come to that. In fact, I don't think any of the barons died in the big bloodbath dance.
Ryder, who's claim to the title was questionable, demonstrated his courage by fleeing the scene as soon as his supposedly dead dad, Quinn, made his dramatic return. Ryder didn't even have the guts to end Quinn when given the chance.
I had thought Quinn would return the favor by sparing his son. Nope. His mushrooming brain tumor makes him a little to loony for that.
Sunny's storyline apparently was completely eclipsed by Veil's escape attempt. I don't know why they took the time to make Guard Edgar a nice guy, when he was destined to have his head brutally smashed during his wrestling match with Veil. When Quinn returns to his underground headquarters, Veil is going to have a tough time explaining how Edgar met his end.
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I haven't yet watched all of Season 2 but I have some more general questions on the geography, culture and history?

Where and when is this series meant to be set? I'm assuming North America, in the not so far future, rather than some fantasy invented world. Which I base upon the recycled technology and vehicles, the pop culture references, the architecture of the Baron's houses, and the language and ethnicity of the residents.

Where exactly though? What are the Badlands and who built the wall? When we saw Qinn's hideout, the entrance had some old notices. I couldn't read them, but it looked like the "Way In" to some public building, and that might help pin it down better.

Are the Badlands radioactive wasteland? Has it ever been made clear what went wrong with the previous civilisation? Opium poppy farms seem to grow perfectly well near the Badlands and there is no evidence of genetic disorders in either humans, animals or plants. 'Badlands' have a specific geographical meaning related to loss of soil, but here it appears to just mean somewhere populated by "bad men." The area outside the wall appears less civilised and with more outlaws than that we saw inside. The Barons have a social structure and a social order.

There are also Oilfields. Could the wall be the US/Mexican border? This series was developed long before the last US election campaign began, so I doubt that it is a political statement. Not an intentional one in any case. Also, if that was so then there would be more Hispanics within the population.

Maybe I'm overthinking this, but I'm sure there is an overall plan that we might eventually get revealed to us.
 
Dave said:
I haven't yet watched all of Season 2 but I have some more general questions on the geography, culture and history?

Where and when is this series meant to be set? I'm assuming North America, in the not so far future, rather than some fantasy invented world. Which I base upon the recycled technology and vehicles, the pop culture references, the architecture of the Baron's houses, and the language and ethnicity of the residents.

Where exactly though? What are the Badlands and who built the wall? When we saw Qinn's hideout, the entrance had some old notices. I couldn't read them, but it looked like the "Way In" to some public building, and that might help pin it down better.

Are the Badlands radioactive wasteland? Has it ever been made clear what went wrong with the previous civilisation? Opium poppy farms seem to grow perfectly well near the Badlands and there is no evidence of genetic disorders in either humans, animals or plants. 'Badlands' have a specific geographical meaning related to loss of soil, but here it appears to just mean somewhere populated by "bad men." The area outside the wall appears less civilised and with more outlaws than that we saw inside. The Barons have a social structure and a social order.

There are also Oilfields. Could the wall be the US/Mexican border? This series was developed long before the last US election campaign began, so I doubt that it is a political statement. Not an intentional one in any case. Also, if that was so then there would be more Hispanics within the population.

Maybe I'm overthinking this, but I'm sure there is an overall plan that we might eventually get revealed to us.
Click to expand...
The show has been slow to unveil its mythology, but I have not been bothered by that. It's always fun to theorize.
From what I've read on the AMC site and elsewhere, the setting is hundreds of years from now in North America. Wars supposedly ended civilization, but nukes aren't mentioned.

Into the Badlands (TV series) - Wikipedia

My guess is wars with China, which might explain why the eventual survivors developed a Chinese feudal society in the Badlands.
I also thought about Trump's fabled U.S.- Mexico border wall when Sunny encountered it this season. As I recall, they said that the wall was built before the wars. It does not seem that the barons would have the resources to build it.

I like the cultural hodge-podge the show creators are presenting and their selection of things that have survived (e.g. motor vehicles) and thing that have not (guns).

2.06 Leopard Stalks in Snow
Bajie was a Magic Flying Monks Brother? Did not see that coming!
Just like the Monks didn't see Badjie coming when he barreled into them in the stolen Mad Maxmobile. Bajie may have let himself go after his Monk days, but he still knows how to improvise.
How do you make sure a bad-ass monk will not come back to beat you senseless for a third time? Why, you slice off a third of his head, of course.

My only reservation about the show is the level of violence -- not because I am one of those "more sensitive viewers," but because I can't watch it with my grandson, who loves sword fights.
 
Thanks for the link. So, confirmation that the 'Badlands' are actually the territory ruled by the Barons. I wasn't quite sure in the first series because Sunny was attempting to use the broken compass to leave for mythical Utopian city of Azra, and because the series is called 'Into the Badlands' as if they weren't quite there yet. In the second series, clearly Sunny is now beyond the wall and is trying to get back into the 'Badlands.' It is an odd name, given that the world outside the wall seems much less politically stable or environmentally sound.

REBerg said:
My only reservation about the show is the level of violence -- not because I am one of those "more sensitive viewers," but because I can't watch it with my grandson, who loves sword fights.
Click to expand...
All of these AMC shows have a very high level of violence - Walking Dead and Preacher - I don't consider myself 'sensitive' either but had great difficulty watching those Neegan scenes at the start of the current season of Walking Dead.

I accidentally saw your spoiler when I quoted your post. I find that hard to believe. I'll have to catch up to the current episode now!
 
2.07 Black Heart, White Mountain
Kind of a plodding episode -- more feverish dreaming than forward motion.
Did Sunny resolve his inner demons before Bajie and M.K. manged to save him from the poisoning? It didn't seem like it from my perspective, but perhaps it satisfied a need for those behind the cameras. The season is not long enough for more extended introspection.
I continue to be surprised at the failures of the invincible Magic Flying Monks. It seems implausible that M.K. and Bajie could prevail in the midst of the monastery, yet escape they did.
I'm not happy about the continuing alliance between the Widow and Quinn. I understand her reasons, but i hope both the alliance and Quinn end soon.
 
2.09 Nightingale Sings No More
Only one episode left in the season.
Did Minerva (AKA the Widow, AKA Flea) really kill Tilda? I thought that bringing the chandelier down her defiant daughter was the end, but Tilda wouldn't stay down for the count. I don't know if the final blow from the Widow delivered death or only an end to a great, high-flying family fight.
 
2.10 Wolf's Breath, Dragon Fire
Excellent season finale

itbbajiesignal.jpg

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I repeatedly attempted to alert Sunny that he really should remove Quinn's head, but did he listen? No. One would think that beheading would be SOP, especially knowing that he failed to kill the resilient ******* last season.
I didn't believe Tilda was dead after the previous episode, and I was right. I don't believe Bajie is dead after this episode, but I am probably wrong.
What will the signal he successfully transmitted bring in season 3?
 
They do seem more reluctant to kill off major characters this Season. At least two exceptions this week, and a pity as I liked those characters.

Yes, Quinn "it's only a flesh wound" has nine lives. Are we sure he is actually dead now?

Given that Nick Frost is still titled as a "With" in the opening titles, I'm not sure if he will appear next Season, but who knows?

The signal is Morse Code SOS but the technology looked retro. If not exactly steam-punk, then 1960's Cold War. Is this an alternative reality where the Cold War wasn't quite so Cold? However, that doesn't explain the "Mexican" border wall that hasn't yet been built, but more on that in a moment...

When Sunny found and uncovered the motorbike, hidden in a damp old shed, and it started first time, I was reminded of the scene in Woody Allen's Sleeper when the VW Beetle starts first time after hundreds of years in a cave. In that case, it was meant to be a joke.

The final scene shown in the picture. We speculated earlier that the series might be set in the former USA along the Mexican border. Arizona and New Mexico are landlocked. Does Texas have cliffs that look geographically and geologically like those pictured in that scene? I don't think so, and so, where is that place? This series produces many questions about the mythology, but provides very few answers.
 
I am quite annoyed by this series. I mean there are soooo many inconsistencies, in my eyes at least.
There are no guns, ANYWHERE! Ok I get it that into the badlands the barons, for their protection, have decided to stop anyone using or even trying to use guns. But out of the badlands? Why? Who could or would stop even the crudest gun to be produced after hundrends of years? I mean they know how to service cars, make them work, even create dynamite, but noone has managed to create a gun? Really?
Sunny in the last episode had 2 arrows, one of them in his breast and the other in his leg. And then he had a bomb go off a meter or so away from him and the whole wall and ceiling come on his head. But he gets up juuuuust fine!
Veil is running with Henry and while she has been shown to breastfeed, when the baby starts crying while hiding she never thinks to ... oh I don't know, BREASTFEED the child to quiet it?? No? Only for my daughter was it that her mother's breast was the best silencer, no matter what?
Quinn was run twice through his breast. I mean u CANNOT avoid getting at least a lung getting pierced and deflated and maybe a little blood from the mouth? But nooo.. He can still survive and fight and die from a single stab to the throat (if he even dies at all)!!!
Arghhh
 
I'd forgotten all about this - Lord alone knows how since I loved S1 so this'll be another for me to catch up on
 
Looks like they have upper the anti budget wise. Another favourite returns.
 
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