Now a couple episodes in, Into The Badlands is starting to have a Game of Thrones type of vibe to it in terms of scope - the world does feel much bigger than last season. And though the show does provide consistently solid entertainment, there is still much more improvement to be had in its execution.
The conclusion of last week's premiere saw the surprise return of Quinn, which I was not too thrilled by. The character worked well last year as a central antagonist; however, his scenes this week made the episode feel stuffed. Was it absolutely necessary to have him back? The show would not be amiss without his presence as we had seen in last week's almost Quinn-free episode. That is not to mention Martin Csocas' over-the-top performance that can get quite irritating at times.
Also, still falling flat is the former Baron's son, Ryder. The character just does not do anything for the show. While the father tends to irritate with his excessive charisma and ham, his son is the exact opposite - a dull character who's scenes can feel very tedious.
All Quinn family issues aside the show still has many positives. The Quinn clans matriach Lydia, for one, makes her season 2 debut this week. We last saw her return to her father last season and it did not take long for things to get ugly.
Lydia realizing just how much she changed and can never go back, and how her tendency to violence is no longer in line with her father's values offered some strong character moments. The scene itself, watching her fend off the bandits, was brutal and chaotically bloody. Lydia may not be a fighter, but her ruthlessness and ability to survive makes her as fearsome as the Widow.
Speaking of which, we sadly did not get much of The Widow this week. Though this talk of her going to a Baron meeting and how she plans on killing them all provided some intriguing developments. Stephen Lang is always a welcome presence and so, his scenes as Waldo with Tilda and The Widow, respectively, were very strong, especially his mentorship exchange with Tilda.
Though I am still not completely on board with MK, his scenes this week that saw him learning how to confront the darkness within him were really well done. The mirror scene was a profound character moment and that wire-fu fight scene was beautiful to watch. Into the Badlands continues to outdo itself week in, week out with its choreography.
The best fight scene of the episode though has to go to Sunny and Bajie's spar with The Engineer's best combatant. To see Sunny out of his element, chained to Bajie, offered a nice change of pace to his normally fluid fighting style. It was also funny watching them dance back and forth to dodge and punch, and then Sunny using Bajie as a weapon catapulting the big man on top of the warrior!
Sunny as a whole continues to be a strong protagonist and Nick Frost's Bajie provides the comic relief this show had been sorely lacking. Their dynamic has been on point and very entertaining. Can we just have one episode strictly about the adventures of Sunny and Bajie?
'Force of Eagle Claw' felt a bit stuffed with Quinn's hammy scenes, but MK's storyline was more tolerable this week, Lydia and Waldo provided some welcome appearances, and Sunny and Baije have begun to really click as an oddball couple. A definite improvement over last week for a show that continues to be above average, but not yet great.
8.0/10
