Kingdom Season 2 Review: Despite A Larger Focus On Political Intrigue, Kingdom Hasn’t Lost Its Bite
Zombie outbreak tales have been feeling a little stale or rote for some years now, with the biggest example, The Walking Dead, shifting itself in order to stay fresh and exciting. Kingdom comes to Netflix as an unrelenting wave of monstrosity, its first season doing wonders for the genre and becoming a hit in the process.
Now, with its second season, Kingdom’s unrelenting manner hasn’t left, but it’s joined by a rise of power struggles and moves that show that perhaps the masses of horrors facing the heroes may not be the cruelest enemy to face on the battlefield.
The story picks up immediately where the first season leaves off, with Crown Prince Chang (Ju Ji-hoon) and his allies facing the realization that the cold does not stop the infection, and that they are not prepared. From there, the story goes down a path of cementing power and finding the root cause of the disease.
The focus is less on the outbreak and the seemingly endless hordes, but rather what those still standing are doing to consolidate. There is a lot more political intrigue now, at least in comparison to the first season, with enough backstabbings that the show starts to feel a little bogged down by it.
It’s in service of moving the story forward far more than the first season, but there’s this sense that what makes Kingdom so great is lost a small amount in the shuffle.
The show’s main interests during its second season is on hopelessness and man’s inhumanity to man, that despite a common enemy, schemes and betrayals are still be an everyday currency. After a handful of double-crossing and false betrayals, though, it starts to border on becoming a gimmick, but by then the endgame is in play and it doesn’t hurt the show much, if at all.
The politics do settle down at a certain point, and the show more than makes up for its slowing down. It’s something the show does wonders with, building up to a crescendo of chaotic violence that bombards you with slick, cool imagery and an overwhelming barrage of enemies our heroes must cut down to fight another day.
It’s relentless, gripping, and incredibly satisfying mayhem. The action scenes are used at precisely the right time, usually stretching out and creating despair over the sheer scale of madness on screen. Kingdom thrives in that madness, building up so much goodwill with its vicious, no-holds-barred horrors.
But Kingdom also happens to be a gorgeous show at the same time. Its focus on the pristine amongst all of the death really helps to show what everyone is fighting for, the direction and production design showing off the beautiful architecture, the wonderful landscapes, and spine-chilling dens of bloody gore that only moments before looked so glorious.
Beloved characters become fodder, and their loss are emotional impacts that really drive home that no one is safe, even if they are a main character. It’s all in service of pushing characters into the pits of darkness so that they can ascend anew, but with only six new episodes, the loss of those characters are monumental.
Kingdom, despite all of this dour hell put onto its leads, hasn’t lost its macabre sense of humor, sprinkling little doses of ridiculousness or cleverness to even out the darkness that runs rampant. Even during action sequences, there are smart actions to knock out multiple zombies at once, or placing someone in a bad situation that is comical in its cruelty (one in particular comes late on the season).
But the most important thing about Kingdom is that it still remains absolutely, undeniably riveting. The political intrigue is certainly exciting when the outbreak is its backdrop, the future of the country at risk when leadership is most needed. But when the outbreak is far more important, that does dampen things a little.
Regardless, Kingdom, with its second season, continues the greatness of the first season and delivers a satisfying, bloody good time.
What did you think of this season of Kingdom? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Kingdom is now available on Netflix.
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Kevin Lever
Kevin Lever has been following television closely for most of his life, but in starting to cover it, he has grown a further appreciation. He strives to give the blockbusters their due, and give the lesser known shows a spotlight to find more fans.