In the upcoming episode of “Into the Badlands,” M.K. (Aramis Knight) shows Sunny (Daniel Wu) who is really in control.

A teaser for Episode 5 of Season 1, called “Snake Creeps Down,” shows the warrior and the boy engaged in some intense combat training.

Exchanging blows on a bridge, M.K. says he is too tired to go on fighting. Sunny says back, “You’re not tired, you’re afraid.”

M.K. pleads with Sunny, saying that he has already demonstrated his control over his power.

“How do I know you weren’t lucky?” Sunny asks.

M.K.’s eyes become totally black and he grabs Sunny by the throat and says, “You don’t.”

“Into the Badlands,” a show which takes place 500 years in the future, centers most of its drama around the master/student relationship of M.K. and Sunny.

Aside from the exploration of this theme, executive producer Alfred Gough describes the show as being concerned with the spiritual and emotional awakening of all its characters.

In a Q&A, Gough says the series is a power struggle between underdogs and overlords. “It’s the 1 percent versus the 99 percent,” says the showrunner and co-creator.

As an action series set in the mode of Hong Kong classic cinema, "Into the Badlands" is heavy on fight scenes. Moore explains that the fight scenes, however, are actually quite short.

“Your average fight on television is 30 to 45 seconds," he says. “It might not seem like it, but really it’s that short.”

Short as they might be, the fight scenes for “Into the Badlands” certainly pack a punch.

“With this show, you see the bodies in motion; you see the dancers dancing,” says Gough.

The next episode of "Into the Badlands" airs Sunday, Dec. 13 at 10/9c on AMC