Into the Badlands Episode 3 recap: “White Stork Spread Wings”

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Aramis Knight as M.K. and Daniel Wu as Sunny - Into the Badlands _ Season 1, Episode 3 - Photo Credit: James Dimmock/AMC

For me, this episode seals the deal, Into the Badlands fans. The groundwork is established, the characters have developed nicely, the story is moving along quickly, and I know the rest of the season will be brilliant.

Episode three is filled with the usual hardcore fight sequences, tense moments of M.K.’s stupidly- stubborn and sneaky antics, and the looming doom that Quinn’s acute awareness (of exactly who’s pulling what) threatens to bring.

Quinn’s war is waged without hesitation. As the episode opens, he and his Clippers descend on The Widow like ants on a dropped popsicle … yeah, the simile kind of takes away from the intensity of Quinn’s army, but they are dressed in red and The Widow is a cold bitch.

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Emily Beecham as The Widow – Into the Badlands _ Season 1, Epsiode 3 – Photo Credit: Patti Perret/AMC

Anyway, the Colts, who have come along for the ride, stand watch. M.K. is there, but he’s distracted by his own agenda. He’s gotta get that book with the Azra insignia. I suppose the best time to obtrude is when everyone else is busy killing each other. He’s getting slicker, but it’s still stupid.

As he boots through the door, which I view as ridiculously impressive, Quinn instructs his Clippers to find The Widow. Appropriately, he finds her first.

As always, the fight scenes are hypnotic!

Sunny takes on a smattering of The Widow’s Bowler Hat bullies. When he’s reduced them to one, his sword is knocked out of reach. Gripped in a scissor hold, Sunny stands right up and uses his accoster like a human wrecking ball … first into a wall and then through a table. Childhood memories of brutally freeing myself from the suffocation of my winter scarf come to mind … take that, scarf!

Quinn spots The Widow trying to slink off. “MINERVA!” Busted, she sends her “Butterflies” off to a secret passage. As they file in, M.K., still inside clutching the mystery book, can’t resist making his presence known to Tilda. Hormones …

The fight between Quinn and The Widow is epic. I love that it takes place on a black and white tiled floor – a game of chess – each move made with deadly focus. Quinn, who has shown his lack of feelings repeatedly, grabs The Widow’s blade right before it sticks him in the face … with bare hands … and not even a wince. He stares her down as he bleeds, yanking it from her grip.

They battle until The Widow is on the floor, defenseless and weaponless. Quinn is poised above, ready to deliver the final blow. Then the tumor-ache. He’s overcome and loses advantage. The Widow recovers her sword, but before she can yell “Checkmate,” enter Sunny. Knowing she’s bested, she throws her weapon as distraction and barely escapes.

At the homestead, Lydia and Jade sit beside Ryder, who is still down for the count. There’s tension in the air. Lydia states the obvious. Jade is basically an ego-boosting sex toy for Quinn. Quinn is a warmonger with little interest in anything else. Jade thinks she knows better. She’s been there since she was a little girl … the whole situation is now even more disturbing.

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Orla Brady as Lydia – Into the Badlands _ Season 1, Episode 3 – Photo Credit: Hilary Bronwyn Gayle/AMC

A servant cuts the conversation short. Quinn is leading the Clippers back.

M.K. tells Sunny he stole The Widow’s book. Sunny grabs it and hauls him off by the scruff for making yet another poor choice.

Quinn and Lydia have words. The last war sucked, and now he’s starting another. He claims it’s for Ryder … nice try. He’s trying to keep face, and we know it. Ryder’s in bad shape, but since Quinn killed the doctor (Lydia knows) he’s cornered … good thing he spots Jade sulking in her bedroom. He looks at Lydia with a Quinn-grin (a fleer, really) before heading in. Lydia sits across the hall with Ryder, listening to the shag-fest. What the hell? Has the future no shame?

M.K. stands on the wall of the pit. Sunny instructs him to balance, heels over the edge and arms out. How long? Long enough for him to get lippy and find out the painful distance between the top of the pit and the bottom. Lesson One.

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Aramis Knight as M.K. and Daniel Wu as Sunny – Into the Badlands _ Season 1, Episode 3 – Photo Credit: James Dimmock/AMC

On the outer wall of the Fort, Sunny asks M.K. what he sees – poppies, Cogs, and some horses. M.K. is no different than any other teenager … he sees the obvious and nothing beyond. This will get them killed before they make it out of the Badlands, and The Widow remains a massive threat. M.K. snarks that if Sunny would actually teach him how to fight, he could defend himself. Sunny knows the attitude problem has to go first. Time to find Waldo.

Jade, desperate to save Ryder, tells Quinn she knows a way. Could she be any more obvious?   She visits her old friend. Veil knows Jade’s calling has zero to do with catching up. Jade makes her “request”, but Veil says she prefers to continue on with the simple life she lives … a nice way of saying “piss off”. Jade gets teary-eyed and begs. Veil gets it and goes.

As I suspected, Waldo, once a Regent, trained Sunny. Sunny asks him to help M.K. understand that training is more than fighting. It’s gaining acute abilities of perception beyond the obvious. Obviously, Waldo is an old guy in a wheel chair, but Sunny bets M.K. can’t land one punch. After muttering the ridiculousness of fighting a crippled old man, M.K. is schooled. Waldo promises not to use his legs (funny). Actually, he barely needs two hands to make M.K cry uncle. Waldo tells M.K. underestimating an enemy will lead to his demise. Sage advice. Colts are Colts because they need to be broken … like wild horses … it’s how boys become Clippers.

Veil fixes Ryder with a hand-drill. Lydia says there is no way a Cog doctor is going to put a hole in her kid’s head. Veil says he’ll be dead before the next day. Fair enough. When Veil starts drilling into Ryder’s skull, it’s so gross I’m grateful the camera pans away. I can put up with gore galore, but not this kind. Ryder looks like s-t, but he’ll live to screw up another day.

Somewhere in the Badlands, The Widow leads her “Butterflies” to a secret sanctuary. Tilda is sent to fetch Angelica – Ryder’s hooker. She’s in danger.

This is a fact. Quinn enters Ryder’s room and gives Veil his condolences. He swears he will go out of his way to find the “scum” who killed her parents – he won’t have to look far, and she knows it. He smoothly interjects being privy to her relationship with Sunny … he keeps a very close eye on his Regent. This unnerves Veil, but to make it worse, he leeringly comments on Sunny’s good taste. She tries to vacate, but Ryder wakes. She goes to give him water, but Quinn stops her … Ryder gets water when Quinn gets information. Who set him up?

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Marton Csokas as Quinn and Madeleine Mantock as Veil – Into the Badlands _ Season 1, Epsiode 3 – Photo Credit: Patti Perret/AMC

While this goes down, Sunny visits Ringo, but not for more tattoos. He’s fishing for The Widow’s whereabouts. It’s a heavy exchange. Ringo knows Sunny isn’t into clipping anymore. Sunny says he’s just not keeping score. Ringo chuckles, “Every Clipper and Colt through that door – they all want to be you. And you, you don’t want to be you.” Deep and true. Before Sunny can think on that, he’s taken to Quinn.

Veil is on her way out – Sunny looks freaked. Quinn instructs Sunny to bring Angelica back alive. She will lead them to The Widow. When he chooses to take M.K. along on the mission, I’m certain it won’t go well.

It doesn’t, but it’s a good fight! Angelica proves to be more of a challenge than I think Sunny expected. She actually draws blood almost immediately! The fight moves out onto the balconies of the “dollhouse” – they skillfully jump from one to the next. It’s a nail-biter, but we all know who WON’T end up losing. Finally cornered, Angelica tells Sunny he’ll never stop The Widow and throws herself to the pavement below. Sunny will not be taking her alive.

She splats near M.K. and Tilda as they argue about who is worse – The Widow or Quinn. M.K. quickly shoos her away. If Sunny only knew.

Veil stitches Sunny’s wound. It’s not long before M.K. gleans she’s the reason Sunny wants out of the Badlands. He also snoops enough to discover she’s literate.

I noted in the Twitosphere that Ryder’s f’d up foot seemed to be a topic of interest, and some of his backstory revealed by Lydia clears it up. He spent several months of his youth held captive by Nomads … long enough for Lydia to start praying again in the godless Badlands. He came home a few toes short, and she nursed him back. She did everything she could, thinking he had his father’s will, but she was wrong and lets him know it. He’s made a “lifetime of stupid decisions,” and Quinn’s assessment is dead-on. Ryder’s far from Baron material. OUCH! As his only support leaves the room, she tells him he’s “on his own.” It’s for his own good, but the expression on his face tells me it’s going to make him very bad.

Quinn devises a new plan. He knows the other Barons, pissed he retaliated on The Widow, will soon come for him. He needs to form an alliance with Jacobee – the Baron who hates him the least. Sunny has a past with Jacobee’s Regent, and Quinn expects Sunny to rekindle this past. Sunny doesn’t look happy, but does what he’s told.

This gives M.K. an excellent opportunity to sneak into Sunny’s room, steal back his stolen book, and then sneak off to have Veil read it. Always with the sneaking…

Jade is sitting with Ryder, as usual. Quinn throws open the door, and she tries to look innocent. “He’s sleeping.” Quinn doesn’t let her pass without shouldering her. He says, “Well done.” He knows what’s up and looks at the sleeping Ryder with a kind of unfeeling disgust.

In a field, Sunny meets with Jacobee’s Regent, Zephyr – another badass lady of the Badlands. Is this common? When the series began, I was under the impression that clipping was an option for boys, but maybe it only stands true for the misogynistic Quinn. She laughs at the idea of convincing Jacobee to ally with Quinn. Instead, she suggests Sunny clip him to avoid a war that no one wants. Sunny, “loyal to a fault,” refuses. She agrees to make an effort, but says she’ll “work harder” if given a reason … it’s clear what she means.

The Widow, looking pensive, asks Tilda if she happened to see the book before hiding from Quinn’s army. Tilda says no, but isn’t very convincing.

Quinn ponders his X-ray and puts it into a safe. He heads off to see Veil.

M.K. is already there. Veil looks at the mystery book, but she can’t read it either … the language is unfamiliar to her.

Quinn walks through the door. She hides the book and M.K. hides himself, but he listens in on their conversation. Again, Quinn creeps her out by standing too close and murmuring in that drawl, “Intelligence is an intoxicating quality in a woman.” He wants her to save him as she did Ryder. M.K., who is sweating his ass off behind a curtain, now knows the Baron’s secret, too.

So much to discuss! Anyone itching to answer my scratchy questions? Sound off in the comments!

  • Without the support of his mother, will Ryder remain at the Fort or seek out a safer situation (maybe using inside info as a bribe)?
  • How long before Tilda and M.K. make the big mess catastrophic?
  • Quinn knows about Sunny and Veil. Is his forwardness foreshadowing a third wife? Since Veil won’t have a choice, it’s a sure way to separate her from Sunny.
  • Will Veil agree to operate on Quinn with intent to be unsuccessful?
  • How can this sh-t-show possibly be wrapped up in two more episodes? Another season???

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

Follow Kimberly Thies on Twitter @kimberlythies1

14 Comments

  1. Quinn was so all over Veil. It creep me The Hell Out. Sunny needs to get her away from him. I love this show. I want a second season already.

    • That makes two of us! On all ends! It’s a goodie. And there is no way they can wrap up all of the drama that is now going on in only three more episodes…fingers crossed another season is in the works!

    • He told her since she saved Ryder, she could do the same for him – he wants her to operate on his brain tumor. Thinks she can pull it off, for some reason. I doubt the hand-drill is going to work on that baby!

  2. Thanks for commenting, and I am glad you feel the same as I do! This episode really did it for me. I was completely in love with the fight sequences from the start, but now I’m in love with all of it. It’s so different, and that is why I find it so appealing. I’ve followed TWD from the start, but it kicked off a wave of zombie overkill. That is in NO was a negative toward TWD. TWD will always be near and dear to my heart. I’m just pleased with the different IBL has to offer. It’s exceeding my expectations, big time.

    It’s the perfect mash up of so many different things – I can’t even list everything I’m reminded of when I watch this series. The fact that the integration of so much works so well is impressive. I wish more TWD fans would give it a chance.

    And yeah, Quinn is a total jackass, but I sure did enjoy his assault on The Widow…that popsicle bitch! 🙂

  3. This is a solid show! Well written, well acted with a colorful cast of characters that are each unique and vital in their own right. Not to mention it’s also very well filmed. The sets are opulent and outstanding. I’m going to go out on a limb and compare it to the gold standard jewel of AMC’s crown The Walking Dead. To me, ITB is just as well put together, just as gripping and riveting as TWD. I sincerely hope it’s picked up for a full season and not just as filler. That said the whole drilling a hole in the head episode was pretty gross. Especially when the blood spattered all over Lydia’s face and dress. Can’t imagine how that could have been a life saver as opposed to a life ender! Final thought….Quinn may excell at the being a warmonger, but he’s basically a creepy scumbag as a person! Excellent recap! Nice popsicle analogy too!

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