Before we get into the Kingdom Season 2 review, let’s recap what Kingdom is and what it’s about:
Kingdom is Netflix’s first original Korean series that debuted in 2019 and quickly exploded in popularity because it’s amazing. Written by Kim Eun-hee and directed by Kim Seong-hun, Kingdom, is a political, period, supernatural thriller which was adapted from the webcomic series, The Kingdom of the Gods, also written by Kim Eun-hee and illustrated by Yang Kyung-il.
Season 1 kicked off strong, immediately revealing that the king is a zombie, however, only a select few know this to be the case and are using it for their own personal gain. Particular members of the king’s court claim the king is alive, but ill, and all who spread the rumor that he’s dead are put to death. Physician Lee Seung-Hui (Kwon Bum-Taek) is routinely checking on the king’s “condition” when his young assistant gets too close and is mauled by the zombified king. Dr. Seung-Hui returns home with the corpse but does not tell the village what happened. The village is starving and Yeong-Shin (Kim Sung-kyu) seizes the opportunity to turn this tragedy into opportunity – he tells everyone he went hunting and secretly chops up the corpse to make stew so the villagers can eat. However, the tainted meat soon kills everyone who ate it and resurrects them as zombies.
Meanwhile, Chief State Councilor Cho Hak-Ju (Ryu Seung-ryong) and his daughter, who also happens to be the king’s new wife, Queen Consort Cho (Kim Hye-jun) forbid Crown Prince Lee Chang (Ju Ji-hoon) from seeing his father. Rather than sit idly by, Prince Chang leaves with his bodyguard, Mu-yeong (Sang-ho Kim) to go to Jiyulheon in Dongnae, the home of Dr. Seung-Hui to get answers about what’s really happening to his father. Prince Chang and Mu-yeong are told of a survivor, a nurse named Seo-bi (Doona Bae), whom tells them the truth of what is happening to the dead. With this new information, Prince Chang also realizes the impending threat of the growing masses of rising dead and along with the other survivors he recruits along the way, heads back to the capital, battling hordes of dead along the way.
There’s a lot of politics going on while the dead are rising and spreading, but there’s a lot of twists and turns – the most important things you need to know and remember for season 2 are these: a plant is the cause of everything, Queen Cho is not actually pregnant and has been kidnapping pregnant women and killing them for their babies in search of a male heir, and where we once thought the zombies were stopped by daylight, it is actually the heat that stops them…not great news when winter is on its way.
Wow. Just. Wow. I thought season 1 started off with a bang and season 2 picks up and continues running full speed ahead.
Seo-bi and Cho Beom-pal (Suk-ho Jun) seek safety with Cho Hak-ju, who they don’t know is a key mind behind everything that’s happening. Seo-bi tries to continue her research on the Resurrection Plant to look for ways to prevent it from spreading and destroy it entirely. Something Cho Hak-ju isn’t exactly keen on.
Meanwhile, Prince Change, Yeong-shin, Mu-yeong and company finally make it to Mungyeong Saejae, where they are met with a trap as Hak Cho-ju traps Prince Chang inside a building where his zombie father is waiting to eat him. Without a choice, Prince Chang kills his already dead father, just as Cho Hak-ju planned. Cho Hak-ju then seizes the opportunity to accuse the Prince of treason and have him and his crew arrested.
On the queen’s side of things, two women are discovered with their newborn babies by authorities. The trail of blood leads to the Queen’s private quarters and authorities begin to piece together what’s really been going on. Before they can properly act though, the announcement of the king’s “death” comes down the line and they are interrupted from their investigation, though they have not forgotten it in the least.
The thing I liked the most about the premiere episode was that it didn’t even feel like there was a gap between season 1 and 2. We literally pick back up in the same scene where we left off, as if they filmed it already knowing it would get renewed for season 2 (they probably did). Although they have gone separate ways, our characters are reunited by the second episode – something I’m thankful for because I hate when we have to flip between parallel running plots for too long.
Just like in season 1, the acting is absolutely amazing. Ju Ji-hoon is so captivating to watch as his character, Prince Chang, must balance his desire for revenge, his love for his father, and his duty to his kingdom. Seeing his father as a zombie, coming after him and trying to kill him, is such an intense and emotional scene. While Kim Hye-jun’s Queen Cho isn’t super present in the first 2 episodes, when she is on screen she kills it. I mean, she really makes you detest her character, to me that’s an ultimate sign of good acting. I love how much Hye-jun makes me hate Queen Cho.
We are finally on our way to watching the bad guys get what they deserve. Sure, some of our good guys still die along the way, but man, watching zombie Lord An Hyun (Heo Jun-Ho) bite Cho Hak-ju right in the face was one of the most satisfying moments in my TV series-viewing history. Now we just have to wait for Queen Cho to get hers.
