Over the
course of its first season and into its second, Into the Badlands has pulled back the layers on several really
wonderful, varied female characters. I
enjoy them all greatly for different reasons, and I know that I’ll probably say
something eerily similar when I get around to a write-up on the Widow, but for
now, let me say that Veil might be my favorite.
She seems to be swimming in such a different direction than so many
characters on the show, and there’s tremendous value in that (a few spoilers.)
In the
harsh, brutal world of the Badlands, where the sheath of a sword is as
commonplace an article of clothing as shoes, where the only law people
understand is that those in power take it by force, Veil is a healer who looks
to repair, not wound. She serves as a
doctor to cogs, clippers, and barons alike – though there are some classist
protests at a “cog doctor” treating members of the elite, her skills and
knowledge are ultimately too rare to be turned away – even helping those who
would wish her harm.
Quinn
would argue that promoting life is in “her nature” just as killing is in his,
and there’s an interesting give-and-take in the idea of how far Veil’s
principles can carry her in the Badlands.
Is there a way to truly survive in this society without prioritizing
one’s needs and desires over that of others, and hurting them to get it? It’s a question that follows Veil throughout
her time on the show, and while it’s weathered some tough storms, it’s a
question that grows increasingly difficult as her own situation becomes more
desperate (and, notably, as her needs coincide with someone else’s, someone
whose very survival depends on hers.)
Which
isn’t to say that Veil has no sense of self-preservation, just that she doesn’t
live by a kill-or-be-killed mentality.
Rather, she survives by her intelligence. She knows how essential her skillset is in
the Badlands where blood is a way of life.
When she’s treating someone that she knows could easily kill her, she
puts safeguards in place for herself, ensuring that they know they need her in
order to make it through (her trick with the three bottles at the end of season
1 is particularly badass/clever.)
Meanwhile, she makes plans for the sort of life that doesn’t happen
there.
And her
intelligence isn’t purely medical knowhow.
She’s one of the few people in the Badlands who is fully literate (it’s
hard to tell with the barons and their families, since a number of them rose
out of the lower castes themselves, but most cogs and clippers definitely can’t
read,) a skill that has served her in learning her trade as well as in other
ways. Additionally, I love the
mechanical engineering smarts she displays with her “mimics,” prosthetic limbs
she designs and builds herself for her patients. I just love the image of an intelligent woman
tinkering, and doing it to help others is even lovelier.
Intelligence,
compassion, and an ability to put aside class/personal animosity for the good
of human life. Traits that are hard to
come by in the Badlands, and while the first will of course always be with her,
I can’t say for sure whether the other two will make it out of the Badlands
intact. Veil certainly has a hard road
ahead, but I look forward to seeing where it takes her and how she travels it.
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