Netflix Kingdom

ctg

weaver of the unseen
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The deceased king rises and a mysterious plague begins to spread; the prince must face a new breed of enemies to unveil the evil scheme and save his people.
 
Superb first season and minor spoilers ahead!

Netflix flagged this up for me, even though I had not known about the program before. Maybe their algorithm knowns that I write dark tales and review a few of them. Thing is I don't watch that many horror shows in their service as I write so much. I kind of avoid the content to keep my mind pure, but the Kingdom is something else.

At first I thought it was set in Japan, because of the costumes, architecture, landscape, and historical weapons. None of them are carrying any Chinese stuff. It's just this isn't set far away, as it's located Korea (without the diving line). The second thing, this is a zombie show.

I know some of you will turn away at above line, even though you should really look into this as the violence is far less than what you see in The Walking Dead. The Kingdom has a set of zombie rules, and one of them is that the dead cannot move during the daylight hours. After the dusk is set, they are alive, and they are as frightening as the one you'll see in the WorldWar Z.

Against them are the medieval Koreans and what's marvellous about them is that the people in the Kingdom are almost as clever as the people in the Monthy Python's Holy Grail. In other words most of them are fools. Especially those in power.

I love seeing the Authorities or as they'd like to call them, the Nobles as pompous fools. Literally. They will do the most unbelievable things as the zombie apocalypse escalates, and that will deliver the most hilarious macabre comedy. I have not laughed so much during a zombie show since I saw the Zombieland, and that was released in 2009.

But not all of it is comedy as the long arc is serious and the main characters takes the whole thing seriously. To them, as it seems to be the rule, the living are the worse. I'm not going to tell you how, but if you're like me, you will shout at the small screen, because you wish there would be a hope instead of turmoil.

I warmly recommend you to check the Kingdom out even if you are not a zombie lover. It is a thrilling tale, and a real treat at this time of the year.
 
ctg, thanks. I was thinking of watching it. I've watched two Korean shows (Misaeng and Solomon's Perjury) and enjoyed them both.
 
When I watch Korean tv, I wonder... how much of the cultural jokes, innuendoes, and messages am I missing because I'm an American? I also think I'm probably imputing my own assumptions and meanings upon character actions and dialogue... But with all that and because of the pace of the story, I have found that there was probably more tension (from my perspective) than was probably intended... and that kept my interest.
 
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Okay... just watched the first episode with a friend. He broke his neck three days ago, so he was in some discomfort and not really into it. I like the costumes, the scenery and setting. I'll have to rewatch the episode by myself...
 
When I watch Korean tv, I wonder... how much of the cultural jokes, innuendoes, and messages am I missing because I'm an American?

I have the same problem and I'm Finnish. It's just we don't know, because there hasn't been much of cultural or historical reference. You'll have to be a local or have some sort of relationship probably to get some of the nuances. Thing is, the medieval Chinese or ancient fantasy China is very different to their stuff and they have bigger relations with the Japanese than China, even though you'd believe it's the opposite.

At the modern days the North Korea has close ties to the China, and probably to the Imperial China than to the Imperial Japan. The thing that I'm finding fascinating is their closeness to food. In the modern stuff the SK produces for Netflix and to their own circulation, it's all full of food. At least it seems like in the recent years, they've put more drama around the food than other things.

The reason for that is probably that they want to influence NK.
 
Writer Kim Eun-Hee has said that he originally planned to adapt his webcomic into a "webtoon," where the crown prince would be much younger, but he seems pleased with how this fleshed-out, live-action drama turned out. The production values are stunning, bringing the historical period to life in rich detail, although doing so pushed the series well over budget and beyond the planned four-month production period. Each of the six episodes (there were originally supposed to be eight) cost roughly $1.78 million to make, according to Variety, and I think it was well worth the investment.

Plot-wise, it's a juggernaut, with plenty of sword-play, suspense, and hints of comic relief. Kingdom ends with one heck of a cliffhanger, but fortunately season 2 is already in the works, with production slated to begin next month. Hopefully we won't have to wait too long to find out what happens next.
Kingdom mixes zombie outbreak with political intrigue in winning combo
 
Just finished watching it.

ERHMAHGERD! IT'S SUPERB!

They left us on multiple cliffhangers though. Here's hoping season 2 arrives soon!
 
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Seo-bi is my favourite - she's a tough woman and a compassionate one. Also lots of common sense.

For a while she was leading them, as all the men were acting were acting goofy, especially her lover. I really hope she finds a way out from the Frozen Valley.
 
For a while she was leading them, as all the men were acting were acting goofy, especially her lover. I really hope she finds a way out from the Frozen Valley.

What lover? Did I miss something? She was too busy cleaning up the effing mess left by her boss, that sharpshooter guy, and all those foolish power-mad Lords and officials!
 
(And he *is* an idiot and coward)

I agree, but in the Eastern drama's the role of a fool is often a great one. In other words, he has two choices, a) he can remain idiot and die as one, which might likely happen, when the opposition is mostly made from the fast moving dead people, b) he might use the conflict to resolve his cowardice and as he loved Seo-bi, he'll have to show unprecedented brewery. In his case, this might show as cowardice, and he might run before he fights, but if that'll keep them both alive, he's starting to redeem himself.

It's just we know that in the zombie tales, the role of a coward often leads to the character death. I'll hope he doesn't die, because to be honest Cho Beom Pal is incredibly lucky. I believe it's that luck which has kept him alive so far. But to go forward, he cannot rely solely on it, even if he doesn't realise how lucky he is, as you cannot survive the zombie apocalypse, if you cannot kill.
 

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