After the successful special episode titled Kingdom: Ashin of the North, the Kingdom series has finally risen again to become a hot topic of conversation.
The series, which started in 2019, does have its characteristics to attract
the audience's attention, especially in its unique genre, combining the
conditions of the zombie apocalypse with the political interests of the
kingdom which is rich in historical value.
I was interested in joining this series after watching a special episode that
was very special in my eyes. For some reason, this Kingdom seems to remind me
of the 2 films Train to Busan which presented zombies with badass characters
and were hard to beat. The difference with the Kingdom series may only lie in
the setting where it takes place, as well as the political interests embedded
in the conflicts in this series.
Kingdom season 1 tells the story of Crown Prince Chang, played by actor Ju
Ji-Hoon, in uncovering the mystery of his father's illness, a royal noble who
is reportedly suffering from an illness. Initially, it was rumored that His
Highness himself had contracted deadly smallpox, but as time went on, the
rumors started to become suspicious because Crown Prince Chang himself, as his
son, was not allowed by his adoptive mother to see his father's condition.
This situation was also exacerbated by the position of Crown Prince Chang who
was starting to be cornered as a traitor who was considered trying to seize
his father's power for his interests. Hence, to get a definite answer, Crown
Prince Chang finally went to Dongnae to see the healer who had been ordered to
treat his father.
Another problem arose when the healer's residence was hit by a terrible plague
where all of his patients became living corpses thirsty for human blood. In
the end, Crown Prince Chang must find a way to survive the plague while trying
to survive the pursuit of the army he is now looking for him because he is
accused of being a traitor to the country.
Kingdom was initially focused on the political part, where the main character
of this series, namely Crown Prince Chang, was told that he had to find strong
evidence of the truth of his father's illness to refute all the treason
charges that were accused of him. However, the conflict began to heat up after
a zombie outbreak began to appear in the healer's residence.
The political conflicts and zombies contained in this series are made at a
balanced level, so I don't get bored listening to all the conflicts displayed
in this Kingdom series. Actor Ryu Seung-ryong as the intimidating leader of
the Haewon Cho clan also manages to horrify and evoke emotions for his
extremely selfish behavior.
All members of the Haewon Cho Clan are described as antagonistic characters,
such as corrupt officials, monopolists of power, and thirst for office. They
are indeed the most influential clan in the government, but they are also the
mastermind behind various problems that exist within the country itself.
The zombie outbreaks featured in this series also have their characteristics,
as the undead will only be aggressive at night and will die again during the
day, just like vampires. The level of aggressiveness is the same as the
zombies on Train to Busan, they can run fast and people who are bitten can
immediately become infected and become zombies in just a few minutes.
It's that kind of atmosphere that makes this series interesting because the
fear will always come late at night. This feeling of tension is also evident
in several scenes, one of which is the scene when Crown Prince Chang helps the
carriage that fell into the pit, while the undead start chasing them fiercely.
The political conflict that is shown also seems very interesting, supported by
the quality of acting from Ryu Seung-ryong and Kim Hye-jun which really must
be admired because it succeeded in draining my emotions as a viewer.
Especially Kim Hye-jun as a queen whose acting I like, only with her cynical
and arrogant gaze, she manages to give the perfect impression of being a
sadistic queen.
The series also features some quite interesting plot twists, and most of them
appear in the sixth episode which is the final episode. These various plot
twists have succeeded in making me curious about the continuation of the
Kingdom series, because the plot twists that are presented also make an
important contribution to the story, such as the reason why zombies are only
active at night to the mysteries. about the queen's pregnancy which turned out
to be full of conspiracies. With the emergence of new mysteries and the
revelation of His Majesty's cunning plans, I as the audience am increasingly
curious about how this story will continue.
The weakness of the Kingdom season 1 series, in my opinion, is only found in
the lack of story background in Crown Prince Chang. During these 6 episodes,
Crown Prince Chang's past is only shown for a few minutes. Even though I think
this is very important because the problem that Crown Prince Chang is
experiencing is related to his status as Crown Prince, the root of the problem
must be explained first.
SCORE
8/10
the quality of the story and acting is practically good, although not too
perfect either. The ferocious and ruthless character of the zombies made me
interested in joining this series, considering that zombies in other films are
made less challenging and that's all. In my opinion, presenting zombies that
are only aggressive at night is a fresh idea and seems different from the
others.
In essence, this Korean drama series is perfect for those of you who like
things that smell like zombies and are familiar with pictures of the Korean
empire in the past. Don't worry, all the scenes in this series are not too
dangerous, so you can enjoy it with your family, unlike in The Walking Dead
series which does feature quite brutal zombie-killing scenes.
TRAILERS
***
Maybe that's enough for my review this time, then maybe I will make a review
for the second season.
Oiya, I need to remind you that all of this content is only based on my
personal opinion. So for those of you who have different opinions or views,
please just write in the comments column.