INTO THE BADLANDS GUARDIAN RECAP TRIAL
INTO THE BADLANDS GUARDIAN RECAP SERIES

ItвЂ™s an epic saga, one that isnвЂ™t centered around one heroвЂ™s journey and one heroвЂ™s journey alone. ItвЂ™s evolved past its humble beginnings as a southern plantation drama with a vague martial arts theme painted over it, and surpassed the George Miller-inspired action/comedy proclivities of its sophomore year in the process. Now, after watching its third season premiere, I am strangely proud to say that the show has finally become a canвЂ™t miss spectacle, the kind it aspired to be from the get-go.

INTO THE BADLANDS GUARDIAN RECAP SERIES

I was eager to see where the series was heading then, and especially curious to see where the series would take its Azra-centric mythology, as that had always been a big draw for me. The second season finale was one of BadlandsвЂ best, delivering an operatic end to a few major storylines with a sense of refined grace and an impressive sense of artistry.

INTO THE BADLANDS GUARDIAN RECAP TRIAL

Having gone through a trial period of two seasons that felt like one insanely long pilot episode, the show had begun to crystallize intoвЂ¦something. By the end of it, Into the Badlands finally felt as though it had found a distinct identity. As the action ramped up, so did the pacing. Season two was when the show began to own its identity as a post-apocalyptic martial arts extravaganza, incorporating more Mad Max-ianВ set pieces into its East-meets-West kung-fu fusion. The second season of Into the Badlands wasnвЂ™t perfect, but it was a huge step up from its predecessor, a calmer affair that was heavy on talk and light on action. IвЂ™ll always recall the shock I felt when our beloved warrior girl was kicked so hard in the head by her вЂњmomвЂќ that I actually thought she had died. Also, it had Nick Frost, a buttload of ambition behind it, and action sequences that I will never forget. (Mostly because, I admit, I am a shameless fan of that movie.) Yes, it was still Mortal Kombat-y, but in a more flattering sense of the comparison. Even then, the world was a different place вЂ“ and so was the series that I had once likened to Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. Then season two debuted much later, in 2017, long after I had forgotten the show existed. Season one was an adequate introduction into the world of the Badlands, but was it a spectacular one? No. The fight choreography was a close second, but there simply just wasnвЂ™t enough of it spread out across those six brief yet drawn-out episodes. I found the subtle efforts at world-building to be the most intriguing aspect of the show.

The seeds of a fantastic show were there, but its identity wasnвЂ™t fully formed. The handful of episodes that made up the first season of Into the Badlands didnвЂ™t impress me much at all, even though I genuinely appreciated (and grasped) what executive producers Millar and Gough were trying to do with the platform.

Into the badlands guardian recap