The Fort

While catching up with shows I missed during the last two weeks, I added a new one to my list: Into the Badlands.

I’m still holding judgement and keeping my expectations in check because only the first episode has aired, but I like what I’ve seen during the series premiere. If you’ve watched the trailers for it, the setting is like a weird blend of timelines from different parts of the globe smushed together and formed into this time period that takes place hundreds of years in the future. With it you get a mix of 1800s Southern United States that include things like barons, plantations, and Antebellum styled buildings; 1930s urban Chicago living and vehicles; and East Asian combat where both sword fighting and hand-to-hand battles fill the actions scenes.

After some great war that occurred, a few people helped rebuild civilization but barred guns to prevent from what happened in the past to happen again. These people are called Barons and each has a kingdom of sorts that they rule over. The story follows a guy named Sunny, a Clipper, which is a sort of like an elite soldier, who has access to just about everywhere so we can see how both the privilege and those at the bottom live.

There’s a lot of mystery to the show and I loved how each block of the first episode had something that keeps you interested so you won’t change to another channel during a commercial break. Hopefully this feeling of intrigue will last throughout the season. As of now, I think you can watch the first episode online for free without needing to have an account or a cable subscription. So watch it while you can.

As for the title of the show, the badlands refer to the areas outside of the forts where the Barons rule and keep everyone safe. Everything outside in the badlands is up for grabs and anything goes. I’m guessing the majority of the show will take place there, so a lot of action should show up in the coming episodes. Obviously there were a lot of character introductions during the premiere so there wasn’t a whole lot of fighting, but when there was some, boy howdy was it cool.

AMC is playing it safe by having the first season be short with only six episodes, so I’ll be watching the rest of it since it won’t take too much time to invest in. It’s very much like a comic book (I thought it was based on one like The Walking Dead is until I checked) so if you’re into stories like that then I think you’ll enjoy this show. But remember: I’m keeping my expectations in check.

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