Geekscape Recaps: ‘Into the Badlands’ — “Fist Like a Bullet”

In its second week, Into the Badlands proves it’s the show you wanted it to be with outlandish characters, dazzling fights, with only a passing facade of deep, mature storytelling. Sure, it’s there, but it’s not what you came for.

Beginning with the introduction of Emily Beecham’s The Widow and ending with a bombastic fight in an abandoned steel mill with someone’s life quite literally hanging in the balance, Into the Badlands has made no assumptions about the show it wants to be: Thrilling, exciting, with just enough brains in its story. With M.K. having escaped Quinn’s fortress, he finds himself in no better company: Under the care of the The Widow, who herself is after a boy after extraordinary powers who, hey, happens to be M.K. It’s not explicit if The Widow knew all along — I don’t think so, but I won’t be surprised if she did.

The Widow is gearing up for war. Aligning herself with other barons and demonstrating the walking Panzer tank of destruction that is her teenaged daughter (and obvious love interest for M.K.), Widow is saddling up for a confrontation with Quinn. She doesn’t need to, however, if she knew the most important thing: He’s dying. In a harrowing moment, Quinn orders Sunny to execute the doctors who failed him — and foster parents to his beloved Jade.

Heavy-handed? Sure. But it’s exactly the kind of cheap drama you want in a genre series like Badlands.

So what’s next? M.K. finds himself back under Quinn’s eye but is quickly placed under Sunny’s wing. Behind Quinn’s back, Sunny will train M.K. and, along with Jade, will make their way out of the Badlands. Slowly, but surely. Of course they won’t exit without a fight, but based on the thrilling choreography Badlands has shown in just two episodes, it’s going to be a hell of a ride.

“Fist Like a Bullet” was when I knew Into the Badlands lived up to my expectations. The pilot was great, but when you carry high expectations every misstep taken feels bigger than its supposed to be. Whenever Constantine boo-boo’d its storytelling, it ached because I wanted something flawless when what I got was only just “good” or even “okay.” A good that wasn’t quite good enough was the pilot, but “Fist Like a Bullet” was good in the exact way I wanted it to be.

I’m genuinely excited for next week. It’s good to be genuinely excited.