INTO THE BADLANDS FINALE

                                    Into The Badlands: A Thrilling finale!!!

The Second Part of Season 3 of the Martial Arts series Into the Badlands commenced from episode 8 left off, with the Pilgrim's vision of a new Azra.
Episode 9 was one of the most incisive episodes in tv history as it quickly put the entire season in view and commenced the next stage of the plot, setting in motion the next stage of a conflict that had much history and a lot of implications for the future.
Particularly, the entirety of the 3rd season culminating in episode 16 is being hailed as one of the greatest martial arts tv series in history, and it's very easy to spot why. The series creators have over the course of the past 4 years admitted to audience that AMC was crazy to have ordered the show for TV, and the level of attention paid to the detailing of character development and plot/conflict developments can only be most appreciated by the scope of events depicted in the final 6 episodes were presented at a frenetic, breakneck speed.

 
One of the most interesting thing about the series is the narrative. The concept of the show had always been very simple and easy to appreciate, and even at season 3 there was basically no need to complicate the plot and the conflict elements.
The scripting has always been on the flip side, leaving room for a lot of interesting, fun and captivating dialogues, dark humour and incredibly well placed sarcasm. I think for the level of creativity and hard work put into working the actors into shape, AMC have really disappointed by not properly marketing the show. 

Coming back to the final episodes of the 3rd season once again, one thing we have come to realise as well as appreciate is the manner in which 2 seasons worth of blood letting martial combat was brought to a head in the 3rd season. The slow and detailed character development may just be one of the most impressive on tv for a while bested only by Game Of Thrones or Breaking Bad. How The Widow( Minerva) has evolved from a brutal baron, to the insidious introduction of M.K and his growth into being one of the most deadly fighters in the Badlands to the unrecognisable introduction of Baron Chau to her insipid thirst for power and bloodletting. It's just incredible what the production team and the admirably talented script writer(s) have delivered.

  It is due to this aforementioned character build that no one was really surprised to see M.K hold his own quite comfortably against 3 of the most skilled fighters in the Badlands, Minerva, Gaius and Tilda, having himself been trained by some of the most proficient fighters to ever thread the soils of the Badlands in the persons of Sunny, Minerva, Baron Chau, The Master and Pilgrim himself, all over the course of 3 gruelling seasons of fast paced martial arts. M.K. is the perfect example of character development properly done and achieving astonishing results, it's just incredible.
  As usual, Into the Badlands delivered yet again on two very important aspects necessary for the image of the show, Costume and Fight simulations. From the very first episode of the first season, the costume was one of the elements of the show that captivated viewers, the other being the well detailed and scripted fight sequences. The finale is being touted as one of the most brilliant in tv history and it's not hard to see why. Characters like Bajie ( Nick Frost), Minerva( Emily Beecham) and Pilgrim( Babou Ceesay) considering their personalities and fight styles put in a lot of time and effort to be screen worthy and boy did it pay. It was always a pleasure and delight to see Bajie throw down, while Minerva was always a Sexy Ass fighter in heels.

Having run through what we find absolutely sensational about the show's finale as a whole, we however feel that the final and most important conflict in the entire series ought to have been given more time to mature, rather than just the 16 episodes it had to brew before being served in a final cauldron of smouldering epicness. For fans of the original first two seasons, we even feel that concluding the series on a final note of resolving the baron's wars would have served as a better conclusion to the show. That being said, the final episode's title shows why the show runners chose to go with this plot line or conflict direction, it really was phenomenally "Seven Striking as One" !!

 
Secondly, The Master's saga came to an end all too soon and without having the chance to really appreciate the power of her gift, the mastery and control of the mystic elements. She exited the show in an unceremonious manner, and all of this done in order to give more colour to the brutal rise to power of the self proclaimed awe inspiring Messiah, Pilgrim! This made the final episodes seem like they were rushed. If you were to consider Pilgrim as a villain, his meteoric rise to villainy is even too quick, he had no proper back story, short character development and his overall character profile pales in comparison to the legendary Baron Quinn or Baron Jacobee. The former would have made a compelling villain for the final season, in fact maybe some feel the profile of the series is more suited to a villainous Quinn.

That being said, it takes nothing away from the incredible performance of Babou Ceesay as villain. Pilgrim is the type of villain who inspires awe and commands followership. His deviation from a messiah to a tyrant is however quite cliché, and the show would have been better served if it never took that direction. But who could really bother with complaints though, as the show served up shots and shots of intense high octane martial arts episodes enough to make u forget the little lapses in the plot and story. If you noticed the reliance on CGI, good, but it was not an over reliance, it was done to enhance the profile of the show, and put much needed attention on the power structure of the combatants. We really can't complain.
 
This is a show for the bold, the fans of martial arts and the lover of the supernatural. This tv show we feel has come to an end all too soon, as it was capable of offering yet more crazy seasons filled with incredible fight scenes and raw emotions. We definitely do recommend this to everyone who has not had the time to see a season or an episode of this show. It is just too incredible, and it's must see.

Executive producer(s): Daniel Wu, Stephen Fung, David Dobkin, Stacey Sher
Michael Shamberg, Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, Michael Taylor
Producer(s): Dee Dee Ku, Dany Wolf, Morgan O'Sillivan, James Flynn, Kari Hobson
Cinematography: Shane Hurlbut, Owen McPolin (season 2)
Editor(s): Vikash Patel, Bridget Durnford, Ben Wilkinson, Anthony Pinker, Erin Deck
Created by: Alfred Gough, Miles Millar
Starring:
Daniel Wu
Orla Brady
Sarah Bolger
Aramis Knight
Emily Beecham
Oliver Stark
Madeleine Mantock
Ally Ioannides
Marton Csokas
Nick Frost
Lorraine Toussaint
Babou Ceesay
Ella-Rae Smith
Sherman Augustus
Theme music composer: Mike
Shinoda

FCA's AppR: 8.5/10