Into the Badlands

Network: AMC
Episodes: 32 (hour)
Seasons: Three

TV show dates: November 15, 2015 — May 6, 2019
Series status: Cancelled

Performers include: Daniel Wu, Marton Csokas, Orla Brady, Sarah Bolger, Aramis Knight, Emily Beecham, Oliver Stark, Madeleine Mantock, and Alexia Ioannides.

TV show description:
This martial arts drama series is set centuries in the future, in a feudal society called the Badlands. Seven rival Barons control access to the Badlands’ essential resources. Each Baron maintains an army of enforcers known as Clippers.

Crucial to a Baron’s rule, Clippers lead privileged lives. Loyal to a fault, Clippers are prepared to lay down their lives for their Barons, and most do before they reach the age of 30. A masterful martial artist and seasoned killer, Sunny (Daniel Wu) has, thus far, defied the odds.

As a boy, Sunny was found naked and starving to death and remembers nothing about about his early life. The loyal Sunny’s ascent to the head Clipper position of Regent, was rapid. Sunny is the righthand man and trusted strategist of his Baron, Quinn (Marton Csokas).

The cunning and charismatic Quinn rose to power by killing the Baron who trained him. His army of Clippers is the Badlands’ largest, most well-trained, and well-equipped. Remembering his own journey, Quinn does what it takes to engender his Clippers’ loyalty. After three decades as the most powerful Baron, Quinn’s mystique has begun to fade, but his thirst for control has not.

Sunny saves the teenaged M.K. (Aramis Knight) from mercenary Nomads, and brings him to Quinn’s compound, The Fort. When M.K.’s skin is cut, he is taken over by a dark, lethal energy and skills, that Sunny is determined to teach the boy to control. When M.K. saves Sunny’s life, they bond. M.K.’s talk of home awakens a vague recollection in Sunny, and a desire to return there.

While Quinn’s first wife Lydia (Orla Brady) is his ardent follower, she also offers shrewd counsel and harsh criticism, when needed. Unsure their son will be able to assume his father’s position and continue to provide for her future security, Lydia is privately unsettled by the prospect of Quinn’s upcoming marriage. Asserting herself as The Fort’s true Baroness, Lydia feigns apathy toward her prospective rival.

Quinn and Lydia’s only son, Ryder (Oliver Stark), was kidnapped as a child. When Quinn refused to give in and pay ransom, the captors tortured Ryder. Now a man — scarred inside and out — Ryder’s daddy issues have grown with him. Impulsive and impatient, Ryder is convinced his father must be more aggressive in his tactics.

Beautiful and beguiling, the tenacious and ambitious Jade (Sarah Bolger), grew up in Quinn’s house as a Cog. Poised to be Quinn’s bride, she is determined to take Lydia’s place in his heart. Jade believes Quinn must change the way he runs his opium empire and says so. She has that opinion — and much more — in common with Ryder.

A doctor, the honorable, honest, and loving Veil (Madeleine Mantock), makes and fits patients with prosthetic limbs called mimics. While still a baby, Quinn gave the orphaned Veil to his doctor, in thanks for saving Lydia’s life during Ryder’s birth. Against her better judgment, Veil treats an ailing Quinn, a decision she soon regrets. Together, Veil and Sunny dream of a future away from the Badlands.

The Badlands’ newest Baron is The Widow (Emily Beecham), who murdered the husband she succeeded, for reasons known to few. The Widow leads her female warriors, the Butterflies, on the offensive against rival Quinn. She is determined to get M.K. and harness his powers.

Saved from abuse by The Widow, sharp and courageous teenaged assassin, Tilda (Alexia Ioannides), is devoted to her Baron, but lives by her conscience. After helping M.K. while he is on the run, the teens grow close. Tilda is torn between her dedication to The Widow and her feelings for M.K.

Series Finale:
Episode #32 — Seven Strike as One
Sunny, The Widow and Bajie lead the charge against Pilgrim, as he attempts to gain ultimate control of the Badlands; M.K. seeks revenge on The Widow.
First aired: May 6, 2019.

What do you think? Do you like the Into the Badlands TV show? Do you think it should have been cancelled or renewed for a fourth season?