Second chances are not always kind.
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode follow.
After a bumpy premiere, Into the Badlands‘ second episode started to build on some of the less interesting subplots in new and dramatic ways — particularly Sunny’s subplot, as his loyalty to Quinn faltered even more. Granted, nothing about the overarching storyline has really hooked me yet — which is problematic since the series has only been picked up for six episodes so far — but at least “Fist Like a Bullet” offered a good balance of action and drama.
For example, M.K.’s storyline gave us a better sense of how the other half lived, as he arrived at the Widow’s estate. I mean, yes, the romantic tension between M.K. and the Widow’s daughter Tilda (Parenthood’s Ally Ioannides) was riddled with super cheesy lines like, “Mother said I couldn’t let you out of my sight.” It also seemed a bit lazy to have M.K. be the audience surrogate again, after being our eyes and ears the first time around at the Fort. That said, it was cool to see both the Widow and Tilda hold their own in combat — especially the Widow’s skirmish at the bar.
Meanwhile, Sunny’s back and forth with the Baron brought about some tense moments this week. While Sunny’s situation with Veil is still one of the dullest aspects of his character, I have to admit that Quinn’s confrontation with Sunny over Veil’s adoptive parents was one of the highlights of this episode. In addition to showing just how gruesomeness Quinn is as a leader, it also helped solidify Sunny’s decision to get Veil and their unborn child out of the Badlands once and for all.
Of course, the series’ greatest strength continues to be the action scenes, and “Fist Like a Bullet” easily topped itself with Sunny’s Crazy 88-style fight against the Nomads. Not only were the stunts and choreography jaw-dropping, but the camerawork was equally impressive. I was especially impressed with the long take of Sunny fighting inside a tunnel as the camera slowly zoomed in and more and more bad guys spilled into the shot. If nothing else, this show does a great job of getting an audible reaction out of me every time a fight breaks out.
We want to hear it.
As for the rest of this episode, well, it was hit-and-miss. Sunny’s conversation with the bird-keeper Waldo (Stephen Lang) was one of the more successful non-action scenes to come out of this episode, though I’m still not sure what purpose Waldo serves just yet. The Widow’s bathtub interrogation of M.K. was suitably creepy, though not as intimidating as I think it was going for. But still the most boring and eye-rolling element of this show is the Quinn family drama. Ryder’s scenes in particular were a big old snooze, despite being the main tie-in to Sunny’s big fight sequence at the end.
Beyond that, I’m intrigued by Sunny’s offer to train M.K. at the Fort, even if M.K.’s detour at the Widow’s estate was a roundabout way of doing that. As of right now, Sunny and M.K.’s relationship is probably the strongest this series has.
I’m happy to report that Into the Badlands‘ second episode was a notable step up from the first, as it dug deeper into several characters’ storylines and began to pay off some of the setup from the premiere. “Fist Like a Bullet” also offered a better balance of action and drama, with the latter actually resonating in some (but not all) cases. While the universe and story elements continue to feel like a first-year film student made them, the two main characters at least are starting to seem a bit more actualized.
