Into The Badlands recap: Snake Creeps Down

Something about “Snake Creeps Down” feels like the calm before the storm. Sure, we get that cool final scene that sees Sunny facing off against the Widow, but most of tonight’s episode is about moving pieces into place for the finale. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean there’s less action, which is Into the Badlands‘ bread and butter, this time around.

The episode starts with a dream sequence that sees Sunny training M.K. on top of the giant wall that protects Quinn’s fort. After pushing M.K. to his limit, the boy turns on him with his powers and pushes him off the wall to his death. Sunny springs awake, the dream a clear manifestation of the decision still to be made about giving M.K. up in exchange for safe passage out of the Badlands.

When he wakes up, he grabs the book that M.K. brought to him, the one he stole from the Widow. Sunny flips through the book until he finds a spot where a section is carved out amongst the pages. He slips his Azra compass into the spot and it begins to whir before stopping on a direction that may just start leading him toward paradise.

For now though, the Widow remains the biggest threat to him, Quinn, and the few people left in the fort. Because she took all the cogs, the poppy fields are going to spoil if they’re not harvested right away. That gives Jade a chance to prove herself, as she teaches the Clippers, and even Lydia, how to harvest the poppy in order to keep up with their opium deliveries.

Things are even worse though because Quinn, while trying to rally his men, gets hit with the effects of his brain tumor again, this time worse than ever. That brings Veil over again to help treat him. Despite her help, Quinn chooses to provoke her, not only talking about her dead parents, but lying to her and saying that it was Sunny who did the deed.

It’s clear he’s trying to drive a wedge between them, because when Sunny sees him later, Quinn tells him to stop seeing her once and for all. Sunny agrees, but we know he’s just getting closer and closer to escaping the Baron’s grasp. The question remains: Will he give up M.K. in order to do so?

Meanwhile, back at the Widow’s fort, Matilda is questioning her mother’s plans for the boy with the powers. The Widow says she’s looking to train him, to harness his powers. She managed to translate much of the book before it was stolen from her, and there’s one thing of particular importance that she learned: M.K. loses more and more of his life force every time he’s cut.

While out in the woods searching for the Widow, Sunny just barely stops M.K. from stepping in a bear trap. He goes all kung-fu on a tree branch, knocking some acorns or pinecones to the ground, setting off the rest of the traps—well, every one but the one his Clipper buddy steps in.

Anyway, that night in the woods, Matilda finds M.K. and has a secret meeting with him and tells him about his dwindling power. She doesn’t get much more out before Sunny stumbles upon them though, and despite M.K.’s protests, he takes her into custody and back to the fort.

NEXT: The Dark One

While all of this is happening, Ryder is making some plans of his own. He goes to visit his Grandfather, Lydia’s father, a preacher who practices some sort of mysticism in the woods. Ryder asks him about the Azra pendant, and he tells him about how it depicts “paradise” from an old orphan’s story, a place of promise and hope beyond the Badlands.

He doesn’t seem to take the pendant too seriously… that is, until Ryder leaves. Then he tells his people that the Abbots (I think) need to be informed that a “Dark One” is living in the fort and will need to be cleansed. The “Dark One” must be M.K., so perhaps these religious figures know a thing or two about his powers.

After Matilda put up a brief struggle while being captured, going full Mike Tyson on one of the Colt’s ears, Sunny brings her back to the fort and locks her up. He tells Quinn that they have one of the Butterflies, and because Quinn loves violence, he’s pretty happy about it. He orders Sunny to torture her until she gives up the location of the Widow.

Sometime after Sunny leaves, Quinn is joined by Jade, who brings him hot soup to help with his recovery. As she’s feeding him and they’re recounting the creepy story of how they met when Jade was 16 years old, she falls to the floor and starts convulsing, foam coming out of her mouth. Is she having a seizure? Was she poisoned, perhaps during that “bonding” moment with Lydia earlier? My money would be on the latter.

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Down in the dungeon, Sunny is getting ready to torture Matilda, much to the chagrin of M.K. Just after Sunny ties her up though, the Widow shows up, and when you get two characters who are good at martial arts on this show in the same room together, things tend to happen.

Sunny and the Widow fight all throughout the dungeon, barreling through walls and flying around the room. Just as Sunny gets the upper hand though, he gets distracted by M.K., who’s cut himself so that he can use his powers to kill the Colt who was attacking Matilda, allowing her to escape.

Sunny chases them out of the dungeon and into the poppy fields, but they’re long gone. That’s not even the worst of it though. As the camera lingers on a passed-out M.K. back in the dungeon, the focus shifts to behind him, where, in the back of the dungeon, Quinn is standing. Did he see it all? Does he know about M.K.’s powers now? With the finale airing next week, it looks like things are about to come to a head.