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Its ruler is a demented senior whose underlings use his decline as camouflage for their own agendas.
They are met with indifference, stupidity, naked self-interest, and craven pandering to higher-ups.
Things keep getting worse.
The body count rises.
Theres no end in sight.
This is the world ofKingdom, an engrossing South Korean zombie series set in the 16th century.
We hear guttural grows and animalistic shuffling and scratching.
Its here thatKingdomdistinguishes itself as more than a rehash of the usual elements.
Its real villains are authority figures who fail the people theyre supposed to protect.
Subsequent practitioners chose their own distinct targets.
Jim Jarmuschs loopy 2019 comedyThe Dead Dont Dierecreated small-town dynamics in the Trump era.
The first zombie who tries to take a bite out of him is Black.
But what makesKingdomstand apart is its spooky prescience.
Like all zombie stories, its a moral tale about society imploding because of a disease.
One of the same men who ignored their advice tries to blame them for the carnage and jail them.
The show might as well be set in Arizona.
A sustained critique of inequity binds the drama together.
