Check Out Netflix’s ‘Kingdom’—It Sounds Eerily Familiar
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Take a minute and picture a nation already gripped by political chaos that finds itself afflicted by a plague so new that no one understands its properties yet. Sound familiar? Its ruler is a demented senior whose underlings use his decline as camouflage for their own agendas. Does that sound familiar?
As citizens turn against each other, medical experts operating on the scientific method study the pandemic and present their latest findings to officials at every layer of government. They are met with indifference, stupidity, naked self-interest, and craven pandering to higher-ups. Things keep getting worse. The body count rises and there’s no end in sight.
This is the world of Kingdom, a thoroughly engrossing South Korean zombie series set in the 16th century. Watching its 12-episode, two-season run right now is an eerie experience, because although it started shooting in 2017 and debuted on Netflix last January, it seems to have predicted the future.
On top of being a fast-paced horror epic in historical garb, Kingdom mirrors the disastrous mishandling of the 2020 pandemic (particularly in the United States) with such withering irony and pitch-black humor that it seems to be riffing on headlines you read five minutes ago.
The application of basic science to nightmare imagery lets Kingdom continue into a second season after reaching a satisfying stopping point at the end of season one. Of course, like any second season of a TV show, this one exists because the first was such a success. If you know anything about real-life plagues, however, it seems plausible that the ghoul disease would go dormant for a while and then return, because that’s what diseases do. Just ask polio.
A sustained critique of inequity binds the drama together. Disparities in social class and political influence let one group help itself to resources that were supposed to benefit everyone — as illustrated by a grotesquely funny scene where a band of peasants flees a zombie horde and runs to a dock in hopes of boarding an escape ship, only to discover that nobles have already set sail in it. Ignorance, self-interest, and moral cowardice keep eclipsing science and reason. Kingdom’s greatest horror is its belief that plagues may come and go, but you can’t cure human nature.
Sadly, Kingdom was canceled right after Season 3 was wrapped up, but at this writing, there are no plans to air it, nor are there any plans to renew it. That’s too bad because this show is a rollicking roll in the hay, and one I would recommend for those who are fans of the genre. I binged both seasons so it’s pretty safe to say I liked it. You will too.
Read more at Vulture. This article edited from a review by Matt Zoller Seitz.
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On my list to be watched.
I thoroughly enjoyed this show and was really disappointed to hear there would be no more seasons. Perhaps they will change their mind. Sometimes they do.