Into the Badlands Season 1 Episode 4 recap – “Two Tigers Subdue Dragons”

I have a dilemma. As of right now, the only character I trust is Sunny, and I’m not even certain he’s to be trusted. This is not good and can’t be resolved in only two more episodes. I hope like hell things have only just begun for this series. If I’m left in this state at the end of the sixth episode, with no hope for more, I’ll need therapy.

• Into the Badlands Season 1 recaps: Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 

The episode begins as Tilda runs through the woods. She’s wearing a white dress and she’s covered in blood. For a second, I think maybe she’s running from her mother, but that’s just stupid. She’s merely doing her mother’s bidding once again.

She watches an old jeep roll down the road, and at the right moment, she steps in front of it screaming for help. When the vehicle stops and its occupants get out, The Widow’s Butterflies quickly dispatch both. They are Jacobee’s men. The back of the jeep holds a large quantity of gold.

The Widow and her girls emerge from the woods with one of Quinn’s Clippers. Tilda looks confused. As the Clipper is pushed to his knees, he warns The Widow that Quinn will have her head. She scoops up a giant pickaxe – the signature weapon of Jacobee’s army – and plants it firmly into the captive Clipper. “I doubt it,” she says.

She’s such a bitch, but one thing is for sure – she’s a damn skilled puppeteer.

At the Fort, Sunny continues to teach M.K. the finer points of clipping, but M.K. is a tough student. Thinking he’s ahead of the game, M.K. tries a move Sunny hasn’t yet taught him. Sunny still knocks him on his ass. M.K. remains predictable and needs to learn “how to make the unexpected move.” Quinn interrupts.

He’s still curious why The Widow is so hell bent on procuring the boy, but other things are more pressing. Since Quinn has taken The Widow’s oil fields in her absence, the other barons are extra ticked. This makes the parley with Jacobee even more important. It must be revealed The Widow made the first move, forcing his hand in retaliation. He looks Sunny in the eye as he speaks to the possibility of war. “I need you, Sunny. Now more than ever.” No pressure there!

In The Widow’s hideaway, her Butterflies are gathered in a room. Tilda finds a snow globe and an old record player. Tilda places the needle on the album, filling the room with R&B. The girls smile and begin dancing – it looks like the first time they’ve ever enjoyed themselves. The Widow hears happiness and crashes the party. The record is smashed to bits, and the girls are “reminded” of the chores they haven’t done. There will be no levity in The Widow’s dwelling! Every party has a pooper.

Tilda becomes defiant, and The Widow, nostrils flaring, whisks her into the next room to set her straight. Tilda knows her mother is toying with the barons. The earlier ambush was to frame Quinn. She cannot understand why her mother wants to incite another war. “We kill for you. We die for you. For what?”

The Widow reminds Tilda of an unpleasant past – a time when Tilda had to be taught to defend herself from things in the world that threatened her innocence. The Widow alludes to an incident with her husband. She does not address him as Tilda’s father, so I am curious as to The Widow’s real family situation. Is Tilda actually her daughter? We know she killed her husband, but where is the son she mentioned? The only time we see any men near The Widow is when it involves a conflict of some sort.

Speaking of conflict, The Widow says her only true fight is for a world in which women aren’t subservient – a world where neither sex is weaker than the other – but she says this world will not come without a price. Is she the luminary of liberation, or just a brute with boobs?

M.K., determined to improve his skills, has taken to practicing at night without Sunny. Sunny sees him attacking a wooden Wing Chun dummy but stays hidden in the shadows. M.K. pauses, taking a knife from his pocket. Sunny watches him contemplate cutting himself. When he puts the knife away, Sunny looks pleased. I’m certain this plants the seed for what’s to come.

Lydia, Jade and Mari (Jerri Tubbs) the servant, inventory wedding gifts and discuss how each might be incorporated into the ceremony, as is custom. Exchanges between Jade and Mari reveal a friendly connection. Jade finds the custom ridiculous – the other barons aren’t coming and if they had their druthers, they’d kill Quinn and everyone else in the Fort. Mari’s grins, and Lydia asks her to leave.

When they are alone, Jade suggests she and Lydia adopt more of a mother-daughter relationship (ugh). Lydia, amused, provides some “motherly” advice – stop carrying on with both Quinn and Ryder.

Quinn sees Veil for a check-up. She’s unsure of what to do – her father died before teaching her how to deal with a problem such as Quinn’s. I hope he’s kicking himself in the ass for murdering the doctor, but Vernon did say nothing could be done. Veil says there might be a way, but it’s dangerous. The second opinion offers a possibility over an impossibility. It’s about what Quinn wants to hear, regardless of experience or credentials. Hell, if I showed up at the Fort with a Fisher Price toolbox and a solid promise, I might be in the middle of brain surgery right now.

After seeing M.K.’s nighttime practice session, Sunny decides to test his idea that M.K. might actually have enough self-control to focus his power. In a secluded place, Sunny cuts M.K., and when he turns, M.K. hits Sunny hard enough to send him flying twenty feet backward into a brick wall. Both are rendered unconscious.

Upon waking, Sunny rouses M.K. He’s angry. He could have killed Sunny, but Sunny says, “You didn’t.” Sunny suggests M.K. locate something safe and pure within as a means to maintain control. M.K. asks Sunny to name something pure, but Sunny can’t. Nothing pure exists in the Badlands.

The head of a dead Clipper lay on Quinn’s table. The word ‘PARLEY’ is carved into the forehead and a note protrudes from the lips. Jacobee believes Quinn ambushed the transport, but we know the truth. Ryder immediately wants to challenge Jacobee. Quinn knows this is the work of The Widow. Spiders weave webs.

Ryder’s had his undies in a twist for so long, Quinn finally throws him the responsibility bone over which he’s been drooling. He instructs Ryder to coordinate the parley with Jacobee. Ryder’s response? “This is a job for a Clipper, at best! Not the son of a baron!” Expecting this reaction, Quinn brings up Jade without skipping a beat. He smirks and says some pretty disgusting words about Ryder’s “new mother.”

Now that he has Ryder fuming, Quinn delivers the final ego blows under the guise of fatherly advice. “A man cannot wait to be given what he wants. He must take it!” If he were in Ryder’s shoes, he’d have jumped at such a challenge. Then he tells Ryder to take some Clippers along to hold his hand. Ryder has no choice but to go solo or forever be deemed a nutless pissant.

M.K. and Veil hit an obstacle with the book. Sunny is pissed the book was stolen, but he’s even more pissed when he finds out that M.K. doesn’t know the exact way out of the Badlands. The conversation turns to Quinn’s tumor. Veil can’t do anything about it except maybe end his life more quickly … I think this is an excellent plan, but Sunny doesn’t. The quicker Quinn dies, the quicker the other barons come, and with a faulty instruction manual, getting out of the Badlands will require more time.

Ryder waits for Zephyr. When she arrives, she’s surprised to see Ryder alone. “Ryder! I don’t know whether to feel honored or insulted!” Neither does Ryder as he mulls over her greeting. The parley is discussed, and as directed by Quinn, Ryder insists it happen closer to the Fort. Zephyr rolls her eyes and turns to leave. She stops when Ryder offers his part of the deal. I knew this was coming.

Sunny again consults Waldo about getting the hell outta Dodge. Waldo again tries to discourage such nonsense, but knows his Colt. He offers up a toy soldier. This little trinket will enable Sunny to speak with the River King (Lance E. Nichols). The only way out of the Badlands is through him.

Ryder pays Jade a visit. She’s prepping for a romantic interlude with Quinn … gross. She no longer visits Ryder. The wedding is near. Ryder doesn’t want to hear it. “What if I was Baron?” She tries to blow him off, but he repeats Daddy’s words, “A man has to take what he wants!” I don’t think Quinn expected Ryder to actually follow this advice. Jade tries to cut him off for his own good – just like Lydia.

He needs a new tactic. Jade will be Quinn’s second second wife. He assures her Beatrice, the first second wife, did NOT die of natural causes. When Jade visits Mari the next day, this is confirmed. A week before Beatrice died, Mari saw Lydia picking the same flowers used to poison rats.

Sunny chooses six Colts to join the parley. M.K. is not included, but with his affinity for sneaking, he doesn’t need an invitation. He’s already there when the rest arrive in the cemetery. Once discovered, he tells Sunny he’s just making that unexpected move. Sunny jams a spyglass into M.K.’s hand and tells him to stand watch.

The parley commences, but Jacobee (Edi Gathegi) and Quinn barely get a chance to hash out who hates who more. M.K. sees Tilda slip in. She throws one of Jacobee’s pickaxes. M.K. shouts, “Look out!” and Sunny intercepts the weapon inches from Quinn’s face. The Widow has pulled the strings to start yet another massacre. This one looks to be initiated by Jacobee. Sunny sees Tilda flee, but is confronted by Zephyr before he gives chase.

Instead, M.K. stops her. “This is your mother’s idea of a better world?” Tilda, trapped, accidently nicks him with a butterfly. His eyes blacken, and he grabs her by the throat before she can run. He could have killed her, but when she says his name, he pauses and drops his fist. Sunny sees this happen. M.K. goes limp, and Tilda escapes. M.K.’s monster can be controlled.

Quinn and Jacobee, out of Clippers, face each other. Zephyr joins, and now Quinn is outnumbered. Before it’s too late, Sunny rounds the corner with The Widow’s signature weapon. Jacobee understands he’s also been manipulated, but The Widow problem is Quinn’s. His retaliation brought this, and nothing changes until Quinn deals with her.

At the Fort, something’s seriously wrong. The fields are void of Cogs. In their place lie bodies of dead Clippers. Sunny and Quinn find Mari in hiding. She tells them The Widow and her women killed off the Clippers and bribed the Cogs with a large amount of Jacobee’s gold.

Quinn, incensed, tells Sunny to find The Widow, kill her, and decorate wall of the Fort with her innards for all the Badlands to see. This seems an inconceivable task, but while she’s petite, she’s not short on guts.

And then … a holy s-t moment. At The Widow’s lair, Zephyr (is she lost?) pulls a hood from Ryder’s head. He’s confused. Where’s Jacobee? The Widow informs him Jacobee isn’t there. She’s got eyes and ears everywhere. Ryder refuses to listen, but she continues with the tiny bit of sugary-sweetness she can muster. Ryder tried to kill her – she tried to kill him – they’re even. Let bygones be bygones.

Then, because she’s smart and Ryder’s not, she knows exactly how to perk his ears. She knows Quinn treats him like crap. She knows Lydia has written him off. She knows what it’s like to be underappreciated. She admires his attempt on her life … blah, blah, BS.

She’s got his attention. Zephyr wants what Jacobee has. Ryder wants what Quinn has. She’s already well on her way to taking Quinn down and will do it with or without Ryder, but if Ryder delivers M.K., then everyone will have what they want. Done deal.

But The Widow isn’t the only one who wants M.K.

Sunny pays his visit to the River King.

The River King accepts the toy soldier and speaks with Sunny out of respect for Waldo. He’ll help Sunny and his crew out of the Badlands if Sunny does something for him first.

The River King takes Sunny out to what looks like a large steamboat. A month prior, 28 Cogs were delivered, but upon receipt, he found them massacred. One, barely alive, identified M.K. as the murderer before she died. The River King shows Sunny the same wanted poster Hud had in episode two. He promises Sunny safe passage out of the Badlands for the price of M.K.’s head.

“Do we have a deal?”

And on that note, I have a lot of questions about a lot of things! Comments! Please!

• Now, more than ever, I want to know what’s up with The Widow. What’s her story?

• Actually, how much do we know for certain about any of the characters? As I said last week, they’re developing nicely, and they are, but why do I now find myself questioning my allegiance to —or disgust —with any of them? 

• Did M.K. murder the shipment of Cogs? Was his mother one of them?

• Do you foresee another season?

New episodes of Into the Badlands premiere Sundays at 10/9CT on AMC.