Why in future, dystopian-like societies do we question whether or not we’re even in the future?

*spoilers*

There are two things bothering me so far.

I’m really liking Into the Badlands, but I am so confused when it comes to the time period. We’re in the future and guns have been outlawed: simple enough. But where’s any technology that indicates it? It gives me more of a Civil War vibe from the way they dress to having people handpick from the fields. I’d love to know why this society took a big step back from where they could be.

Then there are the characters, whom I have no feelings towards, except Quinn’s son who annoys the living hell out of me.  Sunny’s the main character so I guess we’re automatically supposed to like him? You can see that he questions the Baron and whether or not he wants to be there. I’m sure we’ll see them have a showdown. M.K. is running for his life from everyone. He just wants to find his mother. Besides these two all you have is ruthless barons who want to kill each other.

Well we were introduced to Tilda, the Widow’s daughter, and so far I’m liking her. She’s a great fighter, but doesn’t seem so keen to follow her mother’s orders. Her and M.K. start to develop a relationship, the most interesting relationship so far. They’re young and thrown into this world that they don’t want to be apart of.

Any way, the episode starts out with the Widow in a bar brawl and kicking ass. There was a few editing mistakes when the Widow was suddenly wearing flats other than her heels, but why wear heels in the first place? Sure you can stab your enemy when they’re down, but it has to be hell to fight in. That’s all I’m saying.

But who doesn’t get invigorated when a female character kicks butt? Not only that but she’s trying to be smart and get one step ahead from Quinn, who wants to kill her just as much as she wants to kill him. Each are hiring people to kill one another, but we all know the showdown will be between the two of them.

M.K. was freed last episode and runs into Tilda who takes him to her mother’s estate. There are girls all over who are being trained and am I the only one who got a Kyoshi Warriors vibe?

Now this might not be the best idea because the Widow is looking for a boy who possesses great power…only when he’s emotional and blood is drawn. And of course that boy is M.K. Because of Tilda’s growing relationship with him she fakes out her mother, pretending to cut M.K. but cutting herself, and therefore showing her that M.K. is not the one she’s looking for. Because the two are spending so much time together (and because they had to fake a kiss…naturally) her mother kicks him out and he’s taken by a group who is now working for her after Tilda kicked one of their butts.

Meanwhile Quinn’s not looking to0 great and goes to see a doctor, who happens to be Sunny’s girlfriend’s adoptive parents, and finds out he has a brain tumor that would last him until winter. Someone having all that information must be too dangerous for Quinn because he asks Sunny to kill them, but refuses to. Instead Quinn does, with Sunny’s sword, and we can only look on in horror like Sunny. This right there is Sunny’s breaking point with the Baron. Thankfully we never saw the murder, only heard the screams.

Quinn’s son…who I really can’t stand, I don’t know he’s paying to have sex and gets information on trading and takes some kind of bate that the Widow set up for him and he and Sunny end up in a warehouse where the same guys that took M.K. are waiting. Ryder, who is no help at all, gets hung while Sunny takes out 30+ guys and had no problem doing it.

M.K. comes just in time to save Sunny and he takes him back to the Baron and convinces him that he wants to train M.K. M.K. swears his life to the Baron (a fake swearing) and Sunny wants M.K. to take his girlfriend and unborn child out of there. I think we can assume Sunny’s going to get out as well.

M.K. wants to get to Azra, a city on the other side of the Badlands that is also shown on a necklace he carried. I’m pretty curious about this place since Sunny is as well. Is this the futuristic city that I hoped to see?