Into the Badlands Pilot Plot Summary: Minor Spoilers Ahead
Image: AMC. Daniel Wu and Emily Beecham.
After an attack or some sort of war, the world as we know it has come to an end. About years into the future, we have Badlands. As opposed to most dystopian series, the land is green and farming is possible. Some technology like cars and motorbikes still exist. But other than that, it is a whole new world and system: Barrons (or in rarer cases Barronnesses) rule. They have farm workers (cogs), maids/servants who work in the house, and clippers: trained killers who defend, attack and do the dirty work. Many clippers have risen the ranks from cogs, so they’d rather shed blood or die than break their backs in the field.
Our protagonist Sunny (Daniel Wu) is the best clipper Badlands has ever seen, as well as Regent (right hand/solider of the highest rank) to one of the most ruthless Barrons, Quinn (Martin Csokas).
Being a killer is all Sunny has ever known. Or at least that’s what he has led everyone to believe. He shows his softer side to girlfriend/doctor Veil (Madeleine Mantock). They keep their affair a secret, especially since clippers are forbidden to have families, and Veil is pregnant.
Now Sunny also has to deal with M.K. (Aramis Knight) a teenager who has survived a deadly attack on the slave transport he was on and follows Sunny.
M.K. is only interested in finding Azra, a promised land his now dead mother has told him they were from. Sunny is also from Azra, but that’s where his similarities with the boy seem to end. The boy has some sort of mutation that leads his eyes to turn black and allow him to fight with extreme strength and agility. The problem is, once he’s transformed, he loses control and can kill anyone in his sight, including his friends.
While Sunny is distracted by M.K., the baron is getting ready to marry for the third time, with his first wife Lydia (Orla Brady) alive second one (Beatrice) dead. His bride-to-be is Jade, a much younger woman who is trying to survive the Badlands herself. This marriage doesn’t exactly please Lydia or their son Ryder (Oliver Stark). But while Lydia schemes to manage and maybe even get rid of Jade, Ryder is preoccupied with the fact that his father trusts Sunny way more than he trusts him. In addition to the family and romantic drama, Quinn is dealing with debilitating headaches.
And last but not least, Quinn’s most pressing enemy seems to be The Widow (Emily Beecham), a formidable woman much younger and healthier than Quinn who has an entirely different vision for the future of their world. She wants women to be more empowered and the class system destroyed. However, she is willing to have casualties until this vision is realized. Her most trusted “man” is Tilda (Ally Ioannides), a young girl The Widow has saved her from the wrath of her own husband by killing him after he hurt Tilda too much during a sexual encounter. But Tilda will be distracted after meeting M.K., whose “dark” side is sought after by The Widow. She knows there is a Dark One; she just doesn’t know who it is yet.
Will Sunny be able to lead a normal, happy and safe life with his family away from the madness and brutality of the badlands? Is Azra even real? Can M.K. be safe from himself, The Widow and anyone else who might be after him? Is Quinn’s condition lethal? Who will be the more powerful Baroness – Lydia or Jade?
And a million more questions hook us and make us look forward to the following episodes.
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Of course Into The Badlands is more than its premise, even though it is a brilliant one. What makes it quite special is the fighting choreography with swords and other not-so-modern weapons. Clippers are also trained in hand-to-hand combat, so Sunny, like most kickass action heroes, can find a way to kill you even if he is unarmed.
All in all, Into the Badlands is a dark but not-without-hope look into humanity, relationships, and survival.
Some characters go through amazing arcs while others either stay the same or become a worse version of themselves, just like people in real life.
It’s one of my proudest addictions, and I strongly recommend it. While it is not without its witty and sometimes funny moments, the series gets more comic relief with the introduction of Baji in season 2, played by the hilarious Nick Frost.
Into the Badlands was created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar in 2015, loosely based on the Chinese tale Journey to the West. Currently, the show is in its 3rd season, and fingers crossed for more.
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Enjoy, and don’t forget to comment and tell me what you think about the series.
