Daniel Wu as Sunny - Into the Badlands _ Season 1, Episode 6 - Photo Credit: James Minchin III/AMC
Daniel Wu as Sunny - Into the Badlands _ Season 1, Episode 6 - Photo Credit: James Minchin III/AMC

‘Into The Badlands’ 106 Review – Hand of Five Poisons

By: Robert Prentice
amc AMC Into the Badlands

Hand Of Five Poisons is the season finale for Into The Badlands and it left us with more questions then answers about Azra and the fate of several characters but due to all the twists and turns in this final episode, we wanted to take this moment to say SPOILER WARNING. We will be discussing all the shockers and unanswered new plot lines going into the finale but first lets talk about the ratings.

Going into the 5th episode, the ratings leveled out at 2.2 million viewers with a 1.0 in adults 18-49. With the ratings leveled out the finale airing, the series has shown a solid following even without The Walking Dead as a lead in. The series has shown numbers jump as high as 30% in +3 DVR viewing and continues to grab new streaming license agreements overseas. Now that our pre-spoiler talk is over, on to the spoilery stuff.

Aramis Knight as M.K. - Into the Badlands Hand Of Five Poisons - Photo Credit: James Minchin III/AMC

Aramis Knight as M.K. – Into the Badlands _ Season 1, Episode 6 – Photo Credit: James Minchin III/AMC

There were a lot of character stories that required some bouncing around on tonights episode so we will discuss it by character starting with The Widow. During the last fight with Sunny, she was wounded pretty bad and sent Tilda to fetch the best doctor in the area, Veil. At first she doesn’t want to help, but does with one pre-condition: She won’t tell them which tincture is poison and which is not until she is safely returned home. She attempts to save Tilda from the Widow and she is nearly tempted but doesn’t kill her. However a big shocker is that we find out how the Widow knew so much about MK and his book and how to translate it. She was a ‘dark one’ like MK!

So knowing that not only the Widow but Sunny and MK are all children of Azra that leaves a lot of questions about what Azra is, where it is and just what is in the water there. Ryders scheming against his father came to a head after telling Quinn that Sunny has betrayed him, however Ryder is vague as to how and when Quinn confronts Sunny it seems both are unaware of which betrayal the other is talking about. However Sunny is arrested and stripped of his sword. Quinn takes MK and offers to train him and turn him into the best clipper in the badlands. MK thinks he can make an agreement with Quinn to save Sunny and although Quinn agrees, its clear he is up to something. He takes MK into town for a wicking (that term just sounds creepy) and Quinn is well aware that he is walking into a trap.

Jacobee along with his regent and Ryder all came out to kill Quinn but it turns out Quinn brought MK for a very different reason and cut him. MK now in ‘dark one’ mode makes easy targets of the entire field. Sunny shows up, having been released by the real traitor in Quinns camp , Waldo, and kills Quinn without a seconds thought. Ryder is nearly killed but escapes when Sunny attempts to stop MK. 3 monks show up, the same ones that Ryders grandfather had informed of MK’s existence. They make quick work of knocking out MK with abilities that prove they too have similar powers to MK.

Sunny gets into yet another fight trying to prevent the monks from taking MK with them and the fight gets intense. Eventually the monks have to go into ‘dark one’ mode themselves just to shut Sunny down. Sunny is beat to within an inch of his life before they leave him for dead and put MK in yet another trunk and drive off. Sunny wakes up to find himself inside a boat, the River Kings boat to be exact. See he knows Sunny lied to him about MK and now the River King is going to sell Sunny because the best clipper in the badlands will fetch a very high price. The episode ends with MK screaming for help inside the trunk as the monks drive off into the desert we assume to Azra.

Tilda was found out by The Widow but she wasn’t all that concerned about it, she knew all along but the reveal that The Widow might have had MKs best interest at hand is rather interesting. Knowing that MK, Sunny and The Widow are all potentially from Azra and may all have similar powers makes me want to see them team up in season 2 now that Quinn is gone. The Jade/Lydia story line also took an interesting twist. I was honestly expecting Lydia to be the sneaky one but it turns out Jade was in poisoning herself in order to get Lydia out of the house. The question now is, with Quinn dead, will Ryder take over Quinn’s fort with Jade as his wife? That would be my guess.

We really hope AMC renews Into The Badlands. The ratings are there, the story is there and the acting is excellent. What more could you ask for? Be sure to tweet out using the hashtag #RenewIntoTheBadlands and keep AMC aware that fans want more. Perhaps we will get an early christmas present.

Shopping cart
Shop
Wishlist
0 items Cart
My account