The Nielsen Company ratings are out and Into The Badlands came out with a strong start for AMC. According to Zap2it.com, the new series pulled in 6.39 millions viewers for a 3.1 in adults 18-49. These numbers are on par with Better Call Saul which came in at 3.4 for adults 18-49 and 6.8 million viewers.
Considering this show didn’t have the name recognition that Better Call Saul had, Zap2It points out “that’s a win”. We have to agree, be sure to check out our interviews with the two leading stars of the show Daniel Wu and Aramis Knight and check out our verdict on the new martial arts series.
With ratings like this, its a fairly good bet AMC will announce renewal shortly after the second episode airs and they can gauge how many people stick with it after the premiere.
Verdict 9/10 – Dystopian martial-art drama with a supernatural twist
Marton Csokas as Quinn, Oliver Stark as Ryder and Daniel Wu as Sunny – Into the Badlands _ Season 1, Epsiode 1 – Photo Credit: Patti Perret/AMC
The first episode does exactly what its meant to do, and that is set up the world, the characters and the overarching story. A lot of characters are introduced in the first episode and not all of them are fleshed out right away but I wouldn’t want them to be. The 3 fight scenes, 2 involving Sunny and 1 with MK, were both well executed and fun to watch. The leads in the series played by Daniel Wu (Sunny) and Aramis Knight (MK) both had great chemistry on-screen. What solidified both of their characters for me was that final scene in the dungeons where MK pleads for Sunny to keep a promise to find his mother. The story itself is a bit generic in the premise that brought us to The Badlands, but is unique as we see the unique twist with MK’s powers and the connection between Sunny and MK. Just enough mythology and mystery to keep us itching for more. However we can promise you, next weeks episode ups the game for the story and the characters ten fold.
If you missed either of our interviews with the leads be sure to check them out: Interview With Daniel Wu / Interview with Aramis Knight
Source: Zap2It.com
