Episode #1.6

How could the producer only create 6 episodes for 1 season? This is one of the best zombie film in the world! Although in Korean, the series deserve to supersede any Hollywood zombie series. There's no cliche or cheesy moments. Everyone is there as they should be. Not every one has strong character, but the protagonist and antagonist surely fits the profile.

Don't believe the haters who doesn't really know the true meaning of character building, because they prefer to have a bland and uniform Asian character. That is actually an insult to the entire Korean film industry. So just believe me when I say that the characters in the series really behave and do as natural as they should be.

From episode 1 to episode 6, the series really draws you in and is very intriguing. You can really feel the suspense and horror. Not too much and not too few. They happen at the right moment and at the right pace in logical sequence as how the story should progress. So it's actually very natural. Thus it is something that very few Hollywood film did in decades.

In short amazing job to the producers + directors + actors who made this series into a believable Kingdom.

Inspired by a twitter recommendation I dove into this Korean period action horror and have been recommending it to everyone I know since.

Whilst rumours circulate about the health of the King, his Queen Consort (Kim Hye-Jun) and her father the Chief Councillor (Ryu Seung-Ryong) cling to power by proclaiming him gravely ill, but alive. The Queen is heavily pregnant, and if the child is born before his death, then that child and not the Crown Prince will inherit the throne. The Crown Prince Lee Chang (Ju Ji-Hoon) begins an investigation into his father's state that leads him to track his doctor to a remote hospital, and to a plague that brings the infected back to life as blood thirsty wraiths.

I've described this, to my friends, as "Game Of Thrones" if the Wight Walkers arrived at Winterfell in the first episode. It reminds me of "G.O.T" because although there's an otherworldly threat that must be overcome it's also about political machinations and scheming, as well as incompetent local bureaucracy, greed and panic. Also, not unlike John Snow, "Kingdom" has a noble and selfless hero to rally behind in Prince Lee Chang. He forms a fun double act with his bodyguard, played by Sang-Ho Kim - during the early episodes of the show - but then blossoms with his honour and strategy as the season runs on.

The zombies favour the running rabid kind, over the lumbering menace and the effects work, which I'd assume is mostly practical, with a high number of human extra's rather than digital ones is flawless. The fight choreography is fun and varied and the performances are excellent. (I should say, I can't stand dubbing, so I'm watching with original language and English subtitles - I've never had an issue with the pacing or positioning of them.)

It's a wonderfully made, surprising, deft and entertaining season, and I loved it. (Oh, and the hats - best hats on screen ever!)

Prince Chang and Lord Hyun bring the poor people to the fortress of Sangju and organize the defense to protect them from the horde of zombies that is coming. Meanwhile a dreadful secret of Queen Cho is disclosed. Seo Bi learns why the zombies fear the sun.

The sixth episode of "Kingdom" discloses secrets with poor action. This episode recalls more "Game of Thrones" than "The Walking Dead" and is also interesting. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Kingdom - Episódio 1.6" ("Kingdom - Episode 1.6")

The sixth episode closes the curtain for what have been a fantastic first season while also setting some of the pieces for the next installment: surprising revelations and a frustrating cliffhanger that just make us crave more for the second season.

A neat, satisfying, and well-packaged finale.

Netflix Kingdom is like a lot of Netflix shows. It has huge production value, more so than most of Netflix shows. The costume design, the practical effects and VFX for the zombies, all the details in Korean culture, the landscapes, the different colors et cetera. They all really feel like the show is taking you into that certain time.

The first 6 episodes were also really good in action, when delivering so. Also the last episode had some really slithering tension and really great built up, leading to a cliff hanger. Don't really know what to think of that, but I'll take it for now.

But it also falls for the same tropes of many Netflix original shows. First, it has some pacing issues. The 3 & 4th episode in particular feel practically only like retelling the second episode and in all these 3 episode the only thing happening is actually zombies killing people in villages. That leads to a dragging narrative for quite some time.

The other flaw I had with it where the lacking characterization of many characters. While it looked gorgeous on the surface, the substance wasn't always there to back up. It certainly touched on themes like royalty, treason & honor, but it never gave its 3-4 characters at center much time to fully come to life.

The acting & humor is very Asian-like, so you'd have to be prepared for some of these jokes, as the performances are very much like one would expect from a Korean production. But that's not really a flaw if you have your expectations.

If you really don't care about much substance, or explained depth narrative than the show is absolutely perfect. It's zombie action, put into a unique setting, with unique ideas and themes. I'm probably gonna check the second season out, so I'm curios what they are going to do after that cliffhanger.