Binge-watching requires a few things. A couch, or a comfy bed, for one thing. Some snacks at the ready, as well. But the one thing you must have is a considerably large chunk of time, a commodity that grows more precious by the day in today’s hyper-connected gig economy. Sometimes, though, a global event comes along and swats that economy into nearly a standstill: Hollywood has delayed the releases of some of its biggest films, and a lot of us living in America’s more metropolitan areas are being advised to stay home and “socially distance” ourselves from the outside world to stem the spread of the coronavirus, which means that most of us are going to be watching a looooot of TV in the coming weeks.Kingdom Season 1-2 Download
It also means that there’s no better time to start binge-watching a heady Korean feudal drama about a kingdom beset by corrupt queens, giant armies, and zombies that stalk the night. The first season of Kingdom, Netflix’s first original Korean series, debuted in January of last year and quickly gained a small cult following hungry for more of its gruesome charms. At only six episodes, it doesn’t suffer at all from the frustrating phenomenon known as “Netflix bloat,” and it finishes on a cliffhanger so big you’ll be genuinely shocked when it ends. It’s based on the webcomic series by Kim Eun-hee and drawn by Yang Kyung-il called The Kingdom of the Gods, and bounces around Korea’s historical Joseon period, a few years after the Japanese invasion of the nation, following a handful of characters trying and failing to stop a zombie plague from tearing through the countryside. And, yes, the show is subtitled, but don’t let that deter you. Did we learn nothing from Bong Joon Ho’s Oscar campaign?