Four (4) Takeaways From Kingdom (2019), a Korean Drama TV Series

Even if you are not a fan of flesh-eating zombies, there are four (4) things you can take away from this Korean drama TV series.

I am not really a fan of the horror genre. Even when people keep recommending them, I kind of put off watching horror movies or TV shows until my curiosity overtakes my reasoning and common sense. Since I really do enjoy Korean historical period dramas, if you mix in the horror, it will tempt me to watch them. I personally like K-dramas about vampires more than the ones about zombies. Nevertheless, I finally got around to watching Kingdom (2019). This is a Netflix Original Series and it has 2 seasons. Not sure if there will be more seasons. The first 2 seasons were GRUESOME! Just what you would expect of a show about human-flesh-eating zombies.

• DID YOU KNOW? “Kingdom, the first K-Drama funded by and released exclusively on Netflix, debuted in January 2019. A zombie horror series based in the historical Joseon era of Korea, it was well received critically and commercially, earning a second series in 2020, an extended episode, and a planned 2023 special.” (Source)

There are four (4) things that I took away from this series. The fourth takeaway blew me away.

~ First Takeaway: When you have a monument erected to a national hero and he is being credited with an astonishing military feat like … taking out 30,000 enemy soldiers with only 500 of the country’s soldiers … there is probably something about that battle that hasn’t been told. Like the “500 soldiers” were actually zombies and they weren’t even real soldiers. They were peaceful villagers who had been infected and turned into zombies.

~ Second Takeaway: If you want to get rid of corrupt politicians, just lock them up in a room with a bunch of zombies. LOL. That’s a sure way to “clean house”. Once cleaned, you can start rebuilding the nation with honest politicians, government ministers, etc.

~ Third takeaway: As far as dealing with a corrupt queen? This queen was evil and wicked enough to kill pregnant women and their newborn baby girls just because she wanted a steal a baby boy and present him as an heir to the throne. How do you get rid of her? In my humble opinion, in the TV show, they didn’t handle this matter in the right way. See! 𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘵 … when you finally confront her and tell her to leave the throne … it’s a waste of time to try to ask her to step down. This woman is insane. Don’t try to talk sense to her. Just go up to the throne and TAKE HER HEAD OFF!!

~ Fourth Takeaway: Did you know there is such a thing as a “resurrection plant”? I did not! Mind blown!! It is also called the “rose of Jericho”. (In fact, it has lots of names. Just Google it.) The plant itself can actually dry out and come back to life. That’s why they nicknamed it the resurrection plant. In addition to being drought-resistant, they say it also has cancer-fighting properties and other medicinal uses. It is a native plant that grows in the Chihuahuan Desert of the United States and Mexico. You don’t say? So that’s what tumbleweeds are! However, that’s not the only plant that’s called the “resurrection plant”. I wondered because the images I saw on the Internet did not look like that pretty flowery plant in KINGDOM. Apparently, there are lots of plants like this.

• According to the Smithsonian Magazine: “𝘚𝘰-𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 “𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴” 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥, 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘴𝘺𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘥. 𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘻𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘴𝘪𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨.” (www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/meet-real-resurrection-plant-iramonda-myconii-180975162) I did find an image of a plant that looked like the one they used in the TV series, but the blogger said that plant grew in a town where they lived in Panama. My research did NOT disclose any information about any of these plants having worms though. So I guess that part is just fiction. Whew! What a relief!

This Netflix series is based on the book “The Kingdom of the Gods” by Kim Eun-hee and Yang Kyung-il. I liked the main characters and the supporting cast. Out of all of the actors who served in support roles, the one who impressed me the most was Governor Ahn Hyeon, played by Joon-ho Huh.

Why was I impressed? This guy was the one they built the monument for claiming his bravery and how he took out 30,000 enemy soldiers etc. OK. He already knew about the zombies. That’s why when Prince Chang came to him for help, he jumped right into the fight and stood with him. I’m guessing the prince is probably in his 30s and the governor looked about 70-plus years old. Yet! When they went to try to get into an area that had been sealed off, this old guy goes along with the prince and the rest of the young guys who are on the prince’s team; and he is keeping up! I mean he runs just as fast as they do, he still has the strength to climb the walls just like they do, and he wields his sword with just as much energy. I was like: ‘𝘋𝘶𝘥𝘦! 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴!’ (No doubt many of my American friends get that joke! LOL.) 😀😀😀

Overall, this series was very entertaining. I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Kingdom | Official Trailer [HD] | Netflix

Thanks for reading.