Into The Badlands Episode 101 “The Fort”
Into The Badlands, the latest offering of original programming from AMC, makes its debut this Sunday after The Walking Dead. Loosely based on the 16th century Chinese novel Journey to the West, Into The Badlands is set centuries into the future after a series of natural and man made disasters plunged the world into a second Dark Age.
Right off the top of the episode we learn that our hero, Sunny (Daniel Wu) is a complete badass. There are enough broken bones and twisted arms before the title credits to bring Steven Segal to tears. Sunny is a Clipper, a trained assassin tasked with protecting his Baron from outside threats. After tearing apart a rival Baron’s gang, Sunny rescues a mysterious young boy, M.K. (Aramis Knight) and brings him to the Fort, a plantation great house hidden behind a massive wall. Once inside the Fort, Sunny discovers that M.K. harbors a dark secret that may have a connection to his own distant past.
Sunny works for Baron Quinn (Marton Csokas), the region’s most powerful Baron. Quinn has been the dominant Baron in the region for decades, thanks to his army of Clippers, led by Sunny who has amassed over 400 kills. Recently however, the other six Barons who rule the Badlands have been challenging Baron Quinn in a bid to topple him from his position of power. Chief among those is the region’s newest Baron, The Widow (Emily Beecham). Baron Quinn’s wife and son are also aware of his recent appearance of vulnerability. There’s some unrest in the Fort as Ryder, Baron Quinn’s son, grows impatient with his father’s handling of the threat posed by The Widow.
Into The Badlands is an interesting mix of visual styles and genres. It plays like a western with heavy martial arts influences and a dash of the supernatural for good measure. All of that is stylishly blended into a post apocalyptic world filled with retro rides, classic weapons and steampunk tech. The cinematography is outstanding and the fight choreography evokes some of the best martial arts battles seen on the big and small screen. The sword fight in the pouring rain is one of the visual highlights of the episode.
Alfred Gough and Miles Millar of Smallville and Spider-Man 2 fame, created Into The Badlands and serve as screenwriters for the pilot episode. They will serve as showrunners as well as executive producers for the series. Stephen Fung (Enter the Pheonix, House of Fury, Tai Chi Zero) is also part of the production team. Fung is credited as fight director and as an executive producer and his influence is evident throughout the episode’s fight scenes.
Into The Badlands is off to an excellent start and along with the second episode, Fist Like a Bullet should provide AMC with the building blocks for another successful series to add to their Sunday night roster.
Into The Badlands premieres this Sunday, November 15 at 10, right after The Walking Dead.
