Kingdom - Season One

I am going to miss these little Midnight visits back to feudal Korea to watch all the night time zombie shenanigans and the daytime political shenanigans that made this whole miniseries compelling TV for me. Blessed be to the Netflix who allowed this production to be made. If you like historical dramas with a violent zombie twist then this is the new show for you. Not anything like The Walking Dead because the stakes are just a little bit higher for these threatened aristocrats and peasants.

There are moments of great beauty and silence among all the chaos and this is the genius of this Korean zombie tale. Night is all you have to fear. Night is when the dead rise. Night is when you turn if you get bit. Those are the rules they established early on, right?

Now Day isn't any better. Day is when you living enemies come for you. Day is when you have to fight creatures that you have to out think because you cannot kill them all.

To do that you need to do, one must be strong and our young Crown Prince is not up to the challenge originally but a zombie outbreak has a way of revealing character. Maybe he can be the King this nation in crisis deserves. Watching him get his royal shit together is another joy to be found in the six episodes that make up Season One.

Loyalty, friendship, bravery and a whole team of the most badass group of warrior monks every to fight in a zombie apocalypse are what we see after five hours or tension and threat. Their ninja skills arrival came late in the story but only added another layer of cool to something that is not going to be finished by the end of hour six.

This one was a slow burn but it's got all the makings of a thrilling ending that made me feel satisfied and wanting more. Or I am sure it would have it I had actually seen any resolution. Nothing worse than stinking zombies so it was nice to see the living finally fighting back. I am now craving something I can't see until SEASON FREAKIN TWO!! I think I am pissed. I just don't feel deprived for some reason.

 

My only regret is that after six episodes it is only in the last 10 minutes does all the preparation for the battle to erupt into actual zombie combat. It all felt rushed to me. Like someone was already filming Season Two when we hadn't yet finished all I wanted to see happen in Season One.

OMG. I am eight minutes from the end. WTF?? They have resolved NOTHING! I can't decide to be pissed or elated? It has been renewed by Netflix for another season but I could watch it now. I won't watch Titans yet because it ends on such a cliffhanger or so I have been told. Kingdom is the same kind of Netflix bullshit. I think I am pissed again that I have to wait a year to see the next part of a story that is far from over. There are so many interesting characters and story lines that I have to see resolved.

I know I have no reason to bitch. I really don't. But there are many shows out there for people to commit to so it would have been nice to know that this was only part one. Though I don't regret watching it even with that disappointment. I am used to instant gratification in this Golden Age of Entertainment. Maybe Kingdom is teaching me to see the long game when the production is so compelling. I have no regrets and I don't think you will regret watching Kingdom either.

Spearheading Netflix’s Korean series offering for 2019, Kingdom threads on the story of a mysterious death of a Joseon King and development of a strange plague.

Defeated by corruption and drought, a cryptic epidemic spreads turning the kingdom’s people into monsters. Framed for treason, the Crown Prince desperately sets forth on a journey to unravel baffling evil lurking in the dark.

In November 2018, the series was first introduced, and raised anticipation from fans. Even before its premiere, CEO Reed Hastings already revealed its second season renewal, hyping up the expectations for the series.