NON-SPOILER SECTION:
Kingdom is a Korean historical fantasy on Netflix, following Prince Lee Chang as he fights to reclaim the throne from the Haewon Cho clan, who have covered up the death of the King to secure their own power. Oh, and at the same time, he must contend with a zombie plague has begun to spread in the South, threatening to envelop the whole country.
As crazy as that sounds, the show has been a really fun watch, committing itself to every genre it falls into - from historical epic to zombie horror to political thriller, with none of them ever descending into farce. Everything is thought out over its two seasons, making for a tight narrative that doesn't let up until the very end. From its unique and engaging storytelling, to its high production values, tense battles and bloody historical details, this show has everything going for it.
When I hear zombies, I'd be lying if the first setting that springs to mind would be feudal Korea. However, the show really works it to its advantage. In a modern setting, a full-blown zombie outbreak seems increasingly ludicrous considering military firepower and digital communication warning of the first signs of the dead coming to life. As such, shows like the Walking Dead become hard to believe, and the genre has to increasingly outdo itself with how powerful zombies are, like in World War Z when they pile on top of each other to scale huge walls and sweep through streets in literal waves.
However, at a time where swords were the most reliable weapons to use and wooden doors were the only things between those on the inside and outside of buildings, the horror of a spreading zombie outbreak is reinvigorated, and the desperation of the protagonists as they attempt to hold it off is all the more pronounced.
Integrating this into a historical battle for the throne is another difficult challenge that the show took on board, writing its own zombie mythos and combining it with the political conspiracy. It's insane, but really, really exciting, proving that it doesn't matter what the premise is, but how dedicated the creators are in delivering on it.
The characters are not the most complex, but they sure are compelling - from the prince whose experience with the outbreak and the conditions those in his kingdom live in show him responsibility of leading the country, and the failure of the Haewon Cho Clan, to the physician Seo Bi, whose patients were among the first to be infected, and feels the responsibility of the growing plague as she attempts to research it.
The only downside I feel is the inclusion of one character who almost serves as comic relief, who sometimes doesn't fit with the tone of the rest of the show. He certainly has his moments in the second season, and there have definitely been worse comic reliefs in shows (see Jaskier from the Witcher), but his is the weakest link in the show.
I'll give this show an 8.5 out of 10. My love of the zombie genre that clouds my judgement, along with a few small gripes here and there, stop it from being a complete masterpiece, but if you like some heavy zombie action or have been swept up with the Korean craze that has taken Netflix by storm, I guarantee you'll get a kick - and then some - out of Kingdom.
8.5 out of 10
SPOILER SECTION:
There are three key battles that come to mind in the show - the first is the outbreak in Donghae, which is pure chaos as the city is soon overrun and the protagonists have to scatter in a desperate bid to stay alive - fighting back is not an option, and they are powerless as the virus spreads across the countryside. All that saves them is daybreak as all the infected find dark corners to fall back into a state of death - a rule for the zombies that I actually quite liked, giving a break from the carnage they bring for the audience to breathe, while putting a timer on when next they will rise.
The second is the Sangju surprise attack, when the revelation that the zombies animate not because of nighttime, but by temperature, and with Winter upon them, the horde attacks out of seemingly nowhere, and again, they must flee. What makes this battle different is the initial hope of victory, before the gate is crashed down by the sheer number of zombies, and holding them off to protect civilians is a more viable strategy as they retreat to the city.
The third and final one is the battle in the palace, arguably the most tense as the threat of the zombies getting out into the capital city of Hanyang would doom the whole country. Just as victory seemed in sight for Chang with his revolt against the Haewon Cho Clan, the Queen released the zombies as a final bid to defeat him. The battle is the most desperate of them all, with Chang leading the forces and successfully holding them off for a good while. A last ditch plan to defeat them by luring them to the lake at the back of the palace grounds is put in place, the protagonists narrowly surviving by drowning the parasites in them when they were bitten - I preferred the fight in the palace to this one, but it was a clever way to take out the zombies and safe themselves, marking the one and only true victory against the zombies.
The second half of the final episode is a lot more mixed for me. A seven year time jump in the finale is not something I look fondly on, nor Chang refusing the throne in a contrived choice between him and Moo Young's kidnapped son, with only one being able to take the throne, and the other having to die or live in hiding. I felt it undermined his character journey in a conflict that comes out of nowhere.
That being said, everything up to that point had been incredibly compelling, and the special episode, Ashin of the North, put a new spin on the world and the use of the zombies as killing machines - a means to revenge rather than an uncontrollable plague, fitting with the initial resurrected creature rather than the specialised sort we saw in the main show. Part of me hopes there will be a third season, but another part says that the best story has already been told in Chang's conflict with the Haewon Cho Clan, and the zombie plague has already been wiped out. I doubt any future story would be able to match it, and would most likely make the show overstay its welcome. Nevertheless, this is my favourite Korean show on Netflix thus far, with the twelve episodes and one special that provided consistent, unfaltering entertainment.
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