S02.E08: Sting of the Scorpion's Tail

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

Sunny plays a game which causes his friends to question his loyalty; the Widow discovers the existence of a new weapon.

[SimoneS]

Quinn is so disgusting. Veil had a lucky escape. I really hope that she and Henry are rescued and on the run with Sunny in the season finale.

Good to see Tilda is waking up about the Widow. Too bad neither the Widow or Quinn will be receiving the deaths that they both so richly deserve.

Sunny looked hot as hell in white. He is a damn good looking man.

[FlowerofCarnage]

Thank goodness they spared showing us Quinn raping Veil.  

 

I loved Baron Chau's outfit. Ok, but what's up with putting her Clippers in white...I doubt there is bleach in the Badlands.

Edited May 8, 2017 by FlowerofCarnage

[johntfs]

4 hours ago, FlowerofCarnage said:

I loved Baron Chau's outfit. Ok, but what's up with putting her Clippers in white...I doubt there is bleach in the Badlands.

They have cars in the Badlands.  Bleach became common in the 1930s, figure they have it as well.

[SimoneS]

7 hours ago, FlowerofCarnage said:

I loved Baron Chau's outfit. Ok, but what's up with putting her Clippers in white...I doubt there is bleach in the Badlands.

Hilarious and true.

[paigow]

What weapon did The Widow discover???

[sugarbaker design]

Sunny?

[Ed McCauley]

The decision to keep Martin Csokas’ character on the show for the second season required Veil’s character to do something really stupid and out of character, i.e., keep Quinn alive when she should have been watching him die, but Veil’s “it’s all about me” attitude really grates. She is a big-time manipulator: trying to guilt the younger Tilda into feeling bad for not MURDERING her adopted mom, a “failure” she equates with her own poor decision to keep Quinn alive. She has only herself, or perhaps a scriptwriter, to blame.

I’m not sure if Sunny fared much better in the empathy department today either. Of course, he was playing up an act in front of Bajie, M.K., and Chau’s guards, but his statement to M.K. that he left Bajie with the means to free himself without a recognition that Bajie himself has “grown” and wouldn’t abandon him is disappointing. Perhaps Sunny and Veil do deserve each other.

The Widow looked kind of shattered when she saw what the Quinn alliance was costing. A bunch of heads is only the start of payment. She alone, of the older characters, still looks to be the only one who might find a new way, but it’s obvious that things are being maneuvered so that M.K. or Tilda (or perhaps both) represent the future.

Martin Csokas was not as quite over the top today, and his Quinn was truly repugnant, ill, and obviously mad. He reminded me a bit of Klaus Kinski in Aguirre, the Wrath of God. He’s a goner, whether it’s the cancer or Sunny’s blade.

[that one guy]

2 hours ago, paigow said:

What weapon did The Widow discover???

M.K. -  she's always seen him as a potential weapon.

 

11 hours ago, SimoneS said:

Too bad neither the Widow or Quinn will be receiving the deaths that they both so richly deserve.

The more we get to know the Widow, the less I see her that way. For me, she's transitioned from being a supervillain to sort of an anti-villain to being one of these gruff, world-weary anti-heroes that dominate entertainment these days. I think of her sort of like the Hound on Game of Thrones. Not really on the side of our designated heroes, but positive qualities. The Hound actually seemed to genuinely care for the Stark sisters. In spite of what Veil thinks, the Widow really does care about Tilda. It doesn't sound like she even wanted to be Baron, but when you kill a Baron, you either take over, which is considered legit in the Badlands, or else his loyalists kill you and one of them takes over. At least she's tried to help other people. The way she goes about it is deeply fucked up, but Sunny never stuck his neck out for anybody until "Monkey Leaps Through Mist," which is 11 episodes into the show.

Also, assuming she's Flea (I'm guessing she is but I've been surprised by this show more than usual) - she's making the same mistake she did when she was 12, cutting herself and unleashing the dark power being a perfect metaphor for the alliance with Quinn. She's not so much evil as tragically flawed. She wants justice, but believes that strength and striking first is the only way to stay alive, and she's unable to trust anyone.

TV has made bank on these sympathetic "badguys" in recent years - Tony Soprano, Walter White etc. It's really fun to have one of these morally compromised characters be a woman, and I'd absolutely stop watching the show if she died. 

Also, the fight was pretty good. It wasn't the best the show has done, but things I've been waiting to see:

• Sunny and the Widow back to back, surrounded by enemies
• Tilda totally kicking ass
• Chau as the new Big Bad

If I had time to write fan fiction, it would have been a lot like this episode.

[sugarbaker design]

I don't see The Widow as a villain at all.  Times are tough for everyone who isn't lucky enough to be a Baron, The Widow wants to break down this system.  For all intents and purposes she's The Destroyer.

The Widow's sigil is a butterfly, Quinn's is an aramadillo.  I notice last night that Hassan's was a bird of some sort.  I couldn't make out what Chau's is.

[that one guy]

7 minutes ago, sugarbaker design said:

I couldn't make out what Chau's is.

A fox.

[FlowerofCarnage]

5 hours ago, sugarbaker design said:

I don't see The Widow as a villain at all.  Times are tough for everyone who isn't lucky enough to be a Baron, The Widow wants to break down this system.  For all intents and purposes she's The Destroyer.

The Widow's sigil is a butterfly, Quinn's is an aramadillo.  I notice last night that Hassan's was a bird of some sort.  I couldn't make out what Chau's is.

Hassan's is a peacock.

If anyone is interested,  AMC's ITB website has a breakdown of all of the barons.

I think the Widow stepped into villain territory the minute she admitted she sent Veil back to Quinn aa punishment  for trying to turn Tilda against her.  You can't claim to want to free women from oppressive situations but send one back into such a situation because they pissed you off. 

Edited May 8, 2017 by FlowerofCarnage

[thuganomics85]

Sunny, M.K., and Bajie finally make it back into the Badlands, and it's basically become an episode of Game of Thrones with kung-fu, with all the politicking, alliance shifting, and deals.  Sunny starts out making a deal with Baron Chau to take out The Widow and Quinn, only for him to flip and align himself with The Widow to take out Quinn themselves.  Because The Widow herself has apparently flipped on Quinn, I'm guessing because he killed that other Baron's family (and maybe because of what Tilda said to her too.)  And even then, I really doubt this new alliance will last very long either.

Quinn has gone into full-blown psychopathic rapist mode now, by forcing Veil to marry him and then almost forcing her to "consummate" the marriage, but Lyla was able to stop it by dropping the "Sunny is back!" bombshell.  Between this and the tumor, I really can't see him surviving past this season, but I thought the same last season as well, so I wouldn't be too surprised if they find some way to keep him in the game despite basically being a dead man walking.

The tiff between The Widow and Tilda is probably only just the beginning.

Sunny helps Bajie escape too, but Bajie simply follows Sunny and M.K., instead of head out on his own.  I guess he does care?!

[millennium]

The women's outfits on this show are fantastic, from the Widow's 50 shades of black to Baron Chau to the Butterflies' new blue uniforms.   Meanwhile, poor Sunny suddenly finds himself dressed like a Solid Gold dancer.

Emily Beecham's doing a killer job as The Widow.  I can't help thinking she would also make a great Catwoman.

Edited May 9, 2017 by millennium

[Stardancer Supreme]

19 hours ago, FlowerofCarnage said:

Hassan's is a peacock.

If anyone is interested,  AMC's ITB website has a breakdown of all of the barons.

I think the Widow stepped into villain territory the minute she admitted she sent Veil back to Quinn as punishment  for trying to turn Tilda against her.  You can't claim to want to free women from oppressive situations but send one back into such a situation because they pissed you off. 

Yeah, that's when I became less of a fan of the Widow.  Veil had her issues, but she surely didn't deserve being underneath Quinn. Eww!

6 hours ago, millennium said:

The women's outfits on this show are fantastic, from the Widow's 50 shades of black to Baron Chau to the Butterflies' new blue uniforms.   Meanwhile, poor Sunny suddenly finds himself dressed like a Solid Gold dancer.

I thought Sunny was looking rather delicious in that killer white.  On Twitter, I was ROFL because someone said that Baron Chau was hoarding Oxyclean!  I wish that the actor playing MK wasn't so wooden. He sucks the energy out of every scene he is in. 

Edited May 9, 2017 by Stardancer Supreme

[paigow]

17 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

it's basically become an episode of Game of Thrones with kung-fu, with all the politicking, alliance shifting, and deals.  

Red Viper vs. Mountain was kung-fu

[that one guy]

18 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

The tiff between The Widow and Tilda is probably only just the beginning.

Yeah, I think you're right. Which is sort of tragic, because it looks to me like the Widow is agreeing to turn on Quinn and help Sunny rescue Veil for one reason and one reason only - to heal the rift with Tilda. Earlier she made the deal with Quinn because she was outnumbered and needed an ally. She and Quinn shared enemies, and if you look at the map online (which I don't consider to be canon because the distances are too long, but still) the Widow's territory is between Quinn's old turf and everyone else. So by allying with Quinn and taking out Jade first, she's no longer surrounded. From that perspective, the deal was warranted if repugnant. But now, her strategic situation is vastly improved, and the biggest threat to the Widow is dissension in her own ranks. The only Butterflies we know by name are doubting the alliance and her leadership. Mending fences with Tilda is strategically more important than winning battles.

But the Widow's tragic flaws are what they are, and she continues to be defensive and try to justify her decisions. She said herself she's a great fighter but not much of a leader. She has no idea how far "I'm sorry, Tilda, I may have made the wrong call. I didn't know what else to do in the moment" would go. Instead, she justifies her decision by referring to the poison thing. It's bullshit - it's a lie she tells herself to soothe her conscience, and Tilda's never going to buy it. Remember, when Quinn asked her to give him Veil, her response was "I can't give her to you. I CAN'T" His response is, you need me or all your girls are going to die, so she goes along with it. That's the truth. But she lies to herself, and Tilda, and Tilda knows it's bullshit. And while she's trying to mend fences, in all likeliness next week there is going to be more bullshit and lies and self-justification, and the rift will widen. Literally all the Widow has to do is say "I'm sorry, I fucked up. Please forgive me and lets fix this." That's it. But she can't do it. Doing something like that requires trust. She's just so broken. And she doesn't realize that Tilda's not just pissed about a specific bad decision or two, she's pissed because apparently the Widow didn't even tell her about the deal involving Veil, which means she doesn't trust her, won't listen to anyone and makes capricious decisions which imperil her credibility with the public. Her biggest asset now is that she's popular, a couple times now we see most of a Baron's people defecting before she even attacks. 

I really hope she is Flea, and Bajie finds her and gives her a hug. Somebody like her can benefit from therapy, not from any technique or talking about any specific thing, just from receiving unconditional positive regard. It's weird that I'm thinking this much about the inner life of a character, it speaks to the power of Emily Beecham's performance, which is really what brings me to this show.

10 hours ago, millennium said:

Emily Beecham's doing a killer job as The Widow.  I can't help thinking she would also make a great Catwoman.

She would! I would even watch that movie.

[Doyounot]

Great episode! So much to consider like character motivations, all the different shades of good and bad. Quinn is the only one whose role is clear, everyone else has good qualities but do messed up things, make bad decisions.. good things bad reasons bad things good reasons.

I really liked bajie's whole thats it never trusting again just looking out for myself... wait sorry there is goodness ok imma go help view... i feel like that sometimes not gonna lie

[johntfs]

After the back-to-back fight with Sunny and The Widow... I find I kind of 'ship Sunny and The Widow just a little bit.