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The new show on AMC "Into the Badlands".

After watching it tonight...I have to say I enjoyed it, though I am a little confused about the "setup" of the world and its geography.

Sonny was in town and The Widow and her guys show up.

Where is the town? Is it under Quinn's control..and if so...how could that have happened? If not...is it kind of like a "neutral" place?

Loved the fight choreography!

 TheMeanDM wrote:

After watching it tonight...I have to say I enjoyed it, though I am a little confused about the "setup" of the world and its geography.

Judging by the architecture and the "house sigil" I'd say that the first Baron we've met hails from probably somewhere like extreme East Texas or Louisiana?? At least, speaking in our terms.

I kind of gather that it is supposed to be something like the US, even though it isn't explicitly stated where it's located.


Based on a bit of inference, each Baron holds some sizable portion of land, with some kind of fortress/strongpoint build as a seat of power. It's clear that the first dude's "fort" is built around a southern plantation and holds little beyond his training stuff and home. The town must be within walking distance of the wall if Sonny can get there and back in less than a night


Yeah... fights are fething amazing. I commented to my wife that this seems like Quentin Tarantino teamed up with the Shaw brothers to make this show It's fething great.

The fight scenes are pretty wicked. I think the plantation house is the same one they used in Django.

Tentatively enjoyed it as well. Definitely noticed the fight choreography was a step up from the normal 'swing our swords together so they make cool noises' level you tend to see. Going to give it a few episodes before I commit wholeheartedly though.

 paulson games wrote:
The fight scenes are pretty wicked. I think the plantation house is the same one they used in Django.

Its a built up Southern plantation. The wooden building where the protagonist lived may have been actual slave quarters. It wreaked of Louisiana plantation.

Yea I didn't get the city thing. Evidently in this world, Baron's are safe anywhere.

That was the soldier quarters/township.
It was pretty good and I did enjoy it. The first fight scene was good and the second was good. The Witch a redhead...mmmmmm

Of course she's a redhead...

It was pretty good. The fight choreography was done by the same person who did "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".

Saved it on my DVR, and hopefully the wife and I can watch it tonight. Great to hear mostly positive reviews.

Episode 2 in the books...

Interesting to learn more about Quinn's origins I thought.

Though the obvious plot device was obvious...and him killing the two wasn't unforeseen....but glad(?) to see/know he is willing to get his hands dirty.

 TheMeanDM wrote:

Though the obvious plot device was obvious...and him killing the two wasn't unforeseen....but glad(?) to see/know he is willing to get his hands dirty.

Agreed on how interesting the bit of background we got was. I kind of got the impression from Episode 1 that the Barons only maintain their power through superior capabilities, so it makes some sense that he'd be willing to get a bit dirty, though I think the why of that scene is what is really going to drive Sonny's actions through the rest of the season.

Pretty good episode. Badlands must be a pretty small area. Apparently you can run/walk less than 24 hours from one Baron home to another.

 Hulksmash wrote:
Pretty good episode. Badlands must be a pretty small area. Apparently you can run/walk less than 24 hours from one Baron home to another.

The impression that I get is that something happened in the semi-distant past where we have no long range electrical communication, and so territorial control would go back to how it was during the Medieval period. It kinda makes sense that the Barons can only control as much area as they seemingly can cover in a day.

 Ensis Ferrae wrote:

 Hulksmash wrote:
Pretty good episode. Badlands must be a pretty small area. Apparently you can run/walk less than 24 hours from one Baron home to another.

The impression that I get is that something happened in the semi-distant past where we have no long range electrical communication, and so territorial control would go back to how it was during the Medieval period. It kinda makes sense that the Barons can only control as much area as they seemingly can cover in a day.

Er...looks at the Mongolian Empire, Ancient Egypt, Roman Empire, Greece, Persians, Medieval Burgundy, Medieval France...what?????

 Frazzled wrote:

Er...looks at the Mongolian Empire, Ancient Egypt, Roman Empire, Greece, Persians, Medieval Burgundy, Medieval France...what?????

Mongolian Empire and Egypt are a bit different....

However, Ancient Greece, the city-states had about as much land as they could walk under their control. Rome had a massive bureaucratic system in place where lower level people controlled very small sections and answered to a higher person until finally people were answering to emperors/senators and/or the gods. Same thing with Medieval Europe.


Baron is a term commonly used for the small estate holders, they are not rulers of vast empires, they are little more than knights/land owning lords.

Baron was used for that, THEN. Now a Baron could rule a world.

A world of Spice.

 Frazzled wrote:
Baron was used for that, THEN. Now a Baron could rule a world.

A world of Spice.

matters of scale... THOSE barons ruled entire planets, because in that setting a planet is a mere pittance of territory

He who controls the Cheese controls the TexMex!

indeed.

Now if we stick to your methodology of one day's travel, thats still A LOT of territory no? As there are motorized vehicles in this, thats the sized of your average European nation or Western US state no? That brings the scale back up a good bit.

 Frazzled wrote:

Now if we stick to your methodology of one day's travel, thats still A LOT of territory no? As there are motorized vehicles in this, thats the sized of your average European nation or Western US state no? That brings the scale back up a good bit.

Well, it could be.... but I suspect that not even all of the Barons have a car, and even so, that would make M.K. like, the worlds fastest kid.


One other thing that could be a possibility is that the Widow and Quinn's estate houses are at the "near side" of each other's territories, kind of like one controls Kansas City, Kansas and the other controls Kansas City, Missouri so that each's territory spreads away from the other.

Just had to mention it because it felt off to me. I mean, the border to the house is only a few hours max of walking. Meaning the odds of seeing a sudden strike coming from the dude Baron's lands at the Widow with enough time to react is extremely low.

Though it would make sense if it spread a different way. Since she's in charge of gas but we see nothing to indicate that on her land.

I'm liking the series quite a bit so far. Right now I'm more in it for the action, although I'm liking the two Baron's a lot.



Automatically Appended Next Post:
The Widow's daughter is interesting too, but I find the kid, the son, and Sonny kind of boring.

The fighting has been good so far, looking forward to the escalation in conflict between the barons and seeing their clipper forces duke it out.

I'm probably one of few if the only one not a fan of the extreme choreography shown in the action scenes, way too obvious, like a dance video. I dislike how they don't have guns or bows/crossbow so far in the series, Sonny be toast in the ambush scene if any of the ambushers have a bow/crossbow, I like to see how he would dodge bolts from all around him! But noooo, they have to be equipped with short hatchets against a deadly guy with two swords.

One other main thing that irks me is that their clothing is way too new, it doesn't have to be apocalypse dirty, but it should be somewhat worn not straight from the factory. The fight scene of the Widow and her daughter is pure cheese too aiming at the male audience, no way someone fight like that in high heels while weight 125 lbs.

I don't think I'll be watching any more of the series, I'm adding 'the last kingdom' from the new series to my watch list.

 Big Mac wrote:
I'm probably one of few if the only one not a fan of the extreme choreography shown in the action scenes, way too obvious, like a dance video. I dislike how they don't have guns or bows/crossbow so far in the series, Sonny be toast in the ambush scene if any of the ambushers have a bow/crossbow, I like to see how he would dodge bolts from all around him! But noooo, they have to be equipped with short hatchets against a deadly guy with two swords.

One other main thing that irks me is that their clothing is way too new, it doesn't have to be apocalypse dirty, but it should be somewhat worn not straight from the factory. The fight scene of the Widow and her daughter is pure cheese too aiming at the male audience, no way someone fight like that in high heels while weight 125 lbs.

I don't think I'll be watching any more of the series, I'm adding 'the last kingdom' from the new series to my watch list.

I do have to agree on the surprisingly lack of ranged weapons. I mean even slings or bows/arrows shouldn't be too hard to make, they have working cars so there's clearly some level of industry.

"Suspension of disbelief"

Was not surprised how the "war" ended up...that was a little predictable.

I hope that the show doesn't start suffering from predictability...I really do.

Good to see more Barons about to be introduced.

 Big Mac wrote:
I'm probably one of few if the only one not a fan of the extreme choreography shown in the action scenes, way too obvious, like a dance video.

You're not alone. One of the alleged selling points of the show is that the fight cinematography is done by "the guys who worked on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".

Personally, I find the over-the-top martial arts techniques they do hard to watch.

Most of it is pretty solid. There were two things in the widow/baron fight that pulled me completely out as it was to much Crouching Tiger which I disliked due to the fight choreography and wires.

Don't know if many folks are keeping up with this series, although the wife and I quite like it- and apparently it's been renewed for a second season.
http://screencrush.com/into-the-badlands-season-2-daniel-wu/

I was quite satisfied with the series so far, and the finale left quite a few loose ends.

 Sinful Hero wrote:
Don't know if many folks are keeping up with this series, although the wife and I quite like it- and apparently it's been renewed for a second season.
http://screencrush.com/into-the-badlands-season-2-daniel-wu/

I was quite satisfied with the series so far, and the finale left quite a few loose ends.

Spoiler:

Although I hate to have seen Quinn die. He was probably my favorite character, as "evil" as he was.

He was pretty compelling. I liked it a lot and am down for another season.