First of all, congratulations to the fans for the season 3 renewal of Into the Badlands! This wonderful news came after an eventful and thoroughly entertaining episode.
'Leopard Stalks in Snow' immediately followed the events of 'Monkey Leaps Through Mist' with Lydia waking up from Quinn's booby trap. She and her husband eventually reunite in a very powerful scene. Kudos to actress Orla Brady who convincingly expressed the hate, the fear, and the longing her character felt for Quinn.
I originally did not see the point of keeping Quinn around, but he has proven this season to be a very strong antagonist. The former baron is too much of a larger than life type of character to be a one and done villain, and in this episode we see some dynamic interactions between him and Lydia, and then him and The Widow.
Speaking of which, The Widow has continued to be the most compelling character this whole series. I don't know whether to root for her or to despise her, she remains ambiguous in terms of her character arc. In 'Leopard Stalks in Snow' we see her making the hard decision of siding with the enemy to defeat even bigger enemies. How much of her ideals can she compromise for the sake of the greater good? How much loyal will her butterflies remain to her now that she had sided with the devil?
It is especially concerning to see The Widow give up Veil to Quinn. In most instances, she would protect her, but now we see her making the necessary sacrifices to advance in her strategy.
Meanwhile, Tilda got a big moment in this episode as she gave a monologue to a butterfly about how her mother is the one true leader of the Badlands and the impact The Widow had on her life growing up. Though the writing was superb - adding depth to Tilda's character and to her relationship with The Widow - it was hard to feel engaged with this scene due to the acting of Ally Lannoides. The young actress plays the silent killer seamlessly, but her ability to make convincing dialogue still needs plenty of work. I still can't get the bad taste out of my mouth from Tilda's cringeworthy scenes with MK last year, and I fear the day when they are inevitably reunited.
MK actually has better charisma with Ava, and we see it this past episode as they sit among the Christmas-y ruins and ponder about the civilization that was. I will riot if Ava is actually dead as there is still so much to explore with her character.
The fight scene at the end that saw Sunny battle Cyan was hard hitting and brutal. Throwing in the other two abbots, Ava, and M.K., and then Baijie made it such a chaotically fun sequence. Into The Badlands continues to churn out fabulous fight scenes week in, week out.
The reveal that Baijie was an Abbot was very interesting. It is good they are not relegating him to just a comic relief type of side kick - he has a much bigger role to play in the story and Nick Frost is a strong actor to make this welcome news. Frost did a great job in 'Leopard' in expressing the pull that Sunny has on him. Baijie fears confronting his past, but we also see just how much he is starting to value Sunny's friendship. It was no surprise then to see the big, burly warrior come to the rescue at the end, though nonetheless inspiring.
The ending was shocking, but not much of a cliffhanger as we know Sunny will not die. What this will lead to is a bigger question.
Overall, the episode was quite an eventful one full of reunions with Sunny catching up with MK, and Quinn and Lydia reigniting their relationship. Also, the unlikely pairing between The Widow and Quinn will make things very interesting in episodes to come. The biggest plus of all though is the reveal that Baijie was an Abbot - further reenforcing the addition of his character to the cast as a stroke of genius.
8/10
