Of all the scripted shows airing on AMC, once the home of Mad Men and afternoon broadcasts of Clark Gable movies, it’s unbelievable to think it’s the zombie show that is the least stylish. The Walking Dead is certainly the most expressionistic by far, but it lacks a confident swagger commonly held by gritty comic book movies. Into the Badlands has swagger in spades, along with a political power struggle that’s a bit of a paper-thin Game of Thrones. The premiere episode, “The Fort,” has the unenviable task of needing to set up before the party can really get started. On the bright side, it has some fun along the way.
Whatever happened that caused the world of Into the Badlands to become is of no concern. It was a bad war, and now everything looks like the antebellum south again. Sprawling poppy fields, slaves, and a collared “baron” (Quinn, played by Marton Csokas) could have you mistake this kung-fu mash up for a Civil War period piece, if not for famed Hong Kong actor Daniel Wu as Sunny — a distinctly Asian man — having the tippy top spot in Quinn’s Clipper army.
Sunny is Quinn’s most ferocious dog on a leash. What he lacks in literacy (“I prefer Cat in the Hat better”) he makes up for in street smarts and how to kill dudes. But he’s begun to crack, wondering what the 400 some odd bodies he’s stacked up all in Quinn’s name. Wu’s performance grounds Sunny; I think if anyone else were to portray him Sunny would be a failure of a character, but Wu excels in cold, humorless expressions that say a lot about his internal monologues. It’s debatable to say Wu isn’t actually the central character of Into the Badlands — it’s very much treading ensemble territory — but how Sunny would fit in the whole show is the dealbreaker that thankfully isn’t broken at all.
There’s a political power struggle in Into the Badlands that adds a large scope to the show’s world, but it pales to prestige contemporaries like Game of Thrones. Like Thrones, everyone who holds sway in the Badlands are after more of it but there are lesser stakes. Why does The Widow (Emily Beecham) want to kill Quinn? Because she’d succeed him. And then… yeah. More power.
However, there’s Orla Brady’s Lydia, the jealous wife of Quinn who has taken an eye towards a younger woman, Jade (Sarah Bolger). And there’s Quinn’s son, Ryder (Oliver Stark) who is an arrogant dick and a disappointment in his father’s eyes. And Jade and Ryder are fuckin’! Like a real period drama, there’s a heavy soap opera family drama hiding in Into the Badlands obscured by the bloodshed and steampunk.
But dead center of the coming war is Aramis Knight’s M.K., a young boy from a far off city who wields unbelievable power that both Quinn and, very likely the Widow, will play tug o’ war over. His origins are linked to Sunny’s, whose search for salvation possibly lies in his past. (Could M.K. and Sunny be brothers? Makes sense.) Like the Hulk, if M.K. is sliced by a blade he loses inhibition and rages like a beast with strength, precision, and brutality that far exceeds Sunny. Think Arrow‘s Mirakuru, but worse. It’s the most “supernatural” element in Badlands but given the show’s grounded dystopia it would be far too out of place. I wouldn’t rule out some fringe science that exists outside the Badlands, which have been walled off and isolated for untold generations.
He’s escaped, but it won’t be for long.
The political landscape is altogether a weak sum of parts, but it smartens up the ass-kicking. The show’s breathtaking action will stun anyone unfamiliar with modern kung-fu, who I suspect are the majority staying tuned in from The Walking Dead. People will be enamored by the action, but there’s just enough robust characterization that keeps the violence from being as senseless as Sunny’s past kills.