Imma give you straight away two reasons that should sell this drama to you:
1. Netflix production = Quality television
2. Kim Eun-hee (Signal writer) = Quality writing

I’ve been out of the kdrama scene for… personal reasons, for a year and a half now and this drama was announced all the way back when my life was heavily drama-driven. Imagine my excitement when my beloved Netflix actually released this.

Long story short, Kingdom = Zombies in Joseon era. And… lemme stop you there. Zombies is in no way a new concept. In fact we’ve been living in the decade of zombie and post-apocalyptic future TV craze with most shows ending up being a shadow of themselves in later seasons. What’s more zombies have been done by Koreans too, in infamous movies and… mediocre – at best – dramas. However, Kingdom was all but done before. As a fan of post-apocalyptic TV shows and zombies themselves, this drama felt like a complete breath of fresh air. Not only was it a post-apocalyptic historical drama but also it felt exceptionally original.

So what made this – in just 6 episodes – so good?
- Incorporation of classic kdrama troops in an original form.
You got your average, classic historical drama backstory: political conspiracies, throne successors, political struggles to stay in power, corrupted nobles, evil queens ect, implicated with an overall story of a peculiar disease that “make the dead rise and seek for human blood and flesh”.

Which brings me forward to the second original factor:
- Actual explanation of how this shit came to exist
Zombie apocalypse is classic in 2019, we love it, we do. Name a show that actually took the time to explain how this shit happened. Nope! No writer actually went out of his way to try and explain how this happened. It always gets overlooked. But all hail writing Queen Kim Eun-Hee because this bitch gave us a reason. It is nothing groundbreaking and there is no need for it to be, but it is there and it makes as much sense as it needs to please the viewer. This is what i call brave writing, and i commend her on this.

- Plotwists and creativeness
Imma not spoil anything, I’ll just say: episode 6! This was an 8.5 until the last 10 minutes of the season finale. Kim Eun-Hee took an already existing idea and made it hers. Super mini spoiler-alert – zombies run now and that’s not the only new thing about this. At first the zombie classic lore changes felt foreign but there is nothing wrong with experimenting when it actually works!

- *tear* NO ROMANCE
Lemme hear you say YAAAAAAAS and a HALLELUJAH! I’ve been out of the kdrama world for a while now, but from my experience there is no non-OCN drama that won’t shove a romance down our beautiful throats and sorry but I like other things shoved down there (I mean food you freaking pervert!)

- Pacing and Cinematography
Kim Eun-Hee and Netflix makes a good combo cause, bitch that went by FAST and it was the most beautiful thing I’ve seen! Ok that was a stretch but appreciate my enthusiasm. I could easily call the cinematography the best thing about this. Hell each episode cost 1.78 million $ so yes. Netflix went all in, and considering this was renewed in a week, it paid back. The pacing is fast and it makes sense and it introduces new stuff and it has your something new and your something old and honestly, it’s great!

The only reason this doesn’t get anything more from me is because I’d have liked to see more of the characters backstories. Don’t get me wrong, they are well fleshed and super SUPER likeable. But there is somuch content you can add in just 6 episodes and I just missed that. Thankfully the show got renewed, and we got a tiny glimpse of their stories, which felt more like teasing to be honest, so here’s to looking forward to something in the next season.

Last but not least, I enjoyed the splashed comic relief In the episodes. It was there, it felt good, it was small but impactful and did not ridicule any of what was happening. Good writing again Kim Eun-Hee. All hail ect ect….

As far as acting is concerned, lemme be my usual sour self and say: I read that Song Joong Ki was cornered for the lead role but he declined. You know what guys? Some dramas are destined for greatness and… ALL HAIL THE DRAMA GODS FOR LETTING THIS DRAMA BE GREAT!

Phew, it felt good saying that – no offence to his fangirls but I’d like to take my dramas with as little boy-fanservice as possible.

That being said, I think I’ve never seen Ju Ji-hoon before. He was a noble hero, maybe a bit too cliché but it was necessary for the show to continue. I liked him a lot as the lead. And would love to see more of him

Bae Doona. Netflix likes Bae Doona and why wouldn’t they. She rocks, she’s the best *incert fanboying comment here*. I would have liked her to be a little bit more badass, but there was enough badassery here brought by other characters so it’s alright. Let’s make Doona a global star now Netflix ok?

Kim Sung Kyu. Do I know him? I certainly don’t remember him, but boy was he badass? Every character fulfill a purpose and made a flawless zombie-killing squad. The-walking-dead who?

Which brings me to the my fan favourite Kim Sang Ho. We have seen him in tons of dramas. Usually he’s the comic relief right? Correct me if I’m wrong, but he was amazing here, part of the main cast for me. He was the glue that made it work.

Overall, don’t be whiny bitches. This is 6 episodes long, of course it is worth it. Dive in already you won’t stop watching. Can’t wait for the 2nd season.