TERRY

Whew, Joe. I don’t know what you think of these last few episodes of season two, but boy did it book. The pacing never let up and reminded me that Netflix series can get rid of the bloat and tell an exquisite six episode season, with episode lengths varying based on the needs of the story. Can you imagine if The Outsider followed the pacing of Kingdom?

Last episode left us with the biggest tragedy of the series, as Muyeong (Sang-ho Kim) dies in His Royal Highness Lee Chang (Ji-Hoon Ju)’s arms. In order to just drive that knife a bit further in, episode four opens with a flashback of the time that Muyeong was caught stealing from Chang’s table--a moment discussed vaguely in season one. The result of that thievery? Chang telling him that “No matter what happens, stay by my side.”

“I will stay by your side and protect you at all cost,” Muyeong responds, which brings us back to the present. Gut. Wrenching. Their friendship was one of the best things in the series and to see it end so tragically as both a death and a betrayal just hit home for me.

This episode also solves a few mysteries and I wanted to take a moment to mention that neither of us watched ahead when we wrote about the previous three episodes. So when we discover that the way Seo-bi (Doona Bae) wants to heal the bitten and dying Cho Hak-ju (Seung-ryong Ryu) by submerging him in water and thereby forcing FREAKING WORMS OUT OF HIS WOUND, I simply wrote, “I knew it! Worms!”

Now, the implication that the flowers have worm eggs on it opens up tantalizing questions that the series doesn’t completely answer. Where did the flowers come from? Who or what laid the eggs on the plant? How did the eggs get attached to the plant? I also realized that we haven’t talked much about the actual zombie design, which I love. Particularly when you consider that it’s a worm making their bodies move. I like how single-minded they are in a way that most zombies aren’t. They will literally run to their food source, pressing their bodies together when a barrier stops them. They’re so uncontrolled that we see them fall, slip and tumble over low openings, just because they aren’t thinking. They’re a hivemind that moves ever forward, no matter what’s in their way. And I think that’s cool.

The other surprise comes a little later in the episode, where I wrote, “Joe nailed it” when Queen Cho (Hye-Jun Kim) poisons her father when he discovers “her” baby boy isn’t exactly hers. You knocked it out of the park last recap by saying she’d kill her father. The Queen also follows up the poisoning with the most finger-snapping response: “you always despised and belittled me for being a girl. That good-for-nothing girl will have everything at her feet now.” Of course, she also throws Seo-bi in a dank and dark prison, tied and blindfolded next to a cage containing a couple zombies while informing Seo-bi’s wannabe lover Cho Beom-pal (Arnold Pal) that she sent her away.

Before he died, Lord Cho Hak-ju had his guards round up the family members of the “treasonous” Royal Training Division to be executed for their male-folks transgressions. So women, kids...everyone is paraded through the streets bawling.

This episode felt like the calm before the storm of the final two episodes and yet it never dragged for me. It dished out information, surprises and wrinkles to the story and allowed some of our main characters to breathe a bit (...some for the last time).

But over to you, Joe. The next episode showcases another daytime battle and I’m curious what you thought of it (and the occasional industrial synth rock tracks peppered throughout). Did you notice and enjoy the occasional bits of humor while the battle raged on, like the duo-speared zombies or Beom-pal’s bloodbath? Did you like the parasitic twist with the zombies? And are we ready to stan Queen Cho as a gay icon with her fab-u-lous nesting spot and her ceremonial armor?

JOE

Oh man, Terry, I feel like we are in synch with both each other and this show! Yes, episodes four and five in particular feel like the show ramping up to its natural conclusion, raising the stakes appropriately and paying off long standing mysteries all at once. In fact, it all starts to come together so well that I wasn’t really sure where the final episode (of the season) would take us.

But let’s tackle episode five first. After putting her father to rest in the previous episode, this fifth episode clearly lays out Queen Cho as the ultimate villain and, unlike her father - who was ruthless, but very calculated about how he would go about his means - Queen Cho is far more willing to do anything and everything in order to get what she desires. In a series that has relied so heavily on protocols and decorum and hierarchies, Queen Cho is dangerous because of her unpredictability - we simply don’t know what she’ll do.

One thing I quite liked in this episode, which leans far more heavily towards the political spectrum than the zombie spectrum, is that there’s never any doubt that Queen Cho’s attempt at deception will be exposed. The dead women at her palace and the urgency with which she wants her political opponents (and their entire families) killed confirms that she’s desperate to cover her tracks, despite the fact that the truth is already leaking out.

This is helped in part by how beloved Prince Chang is. So much of this episode is the Crown Prince walking somewhere, often in slow-motion to some hilariously on-the-nose rock-synth, and people falling over themselves to renounce the Queen and declare their allegiance to him. Now I did mention to you offline that I didn’t love that Chang and his armies go undercover in an attempt to blend in by dressing in all white because even though Kingdom is barreling towards its climax, it’s still dedicating a lot of time to relatively new characters. I’m used to being able to identify characters based on their costumes, their hats and their location, so putting everyone in the same garb in the same place suddenly made it difficult to distinguish who some of the characters are, especially when they have only just ascended to prominence in the narrative in the last few episodes.

I’d say it’s a minor quibble, but it’s a bit of an issue - particularly in these last few episodes - when the main characters have been winnowed down to just Chang, Yeong-shin and Beom-pal. With that said, the political stuff remains engrossing, especially when we can sense the net closing in on Queen Cho. What will she do when she begins to run out of options?

And, of course, the answer is: apparently she’ll ask her Court Lady to sacrifice herself to let a few zombies out of the dungeons and run rampant around the city!

What I loved about this is the escalation. Initially it seems as though the damage won’t be too bad, and that Chang and his army, who by the point have arrived at the Throne Room to challenge Queen Cho, will be able to suppress the threat. But no, it gets worse...and worse...and then it’s completely out of control. And meanwhile, Queen Cho is just sitting on the throne, smiling her sly “I don’t give a fuck” smile, decked out in her finest drag queen regalia (RuPaul could never), smacking that baby far too hard on its little back. This bish is giving zero fucks about her imminent demise and, god help me, Terry, I stan a badass bitch.

I’ll kick it back to you to take us into that final battle (which patently addresses my frustration with white outfits by immediately painting them red). What did you think of the last stand? Were you surprised by any (not) deaths? Did this remind you of a Game of Thrones finale by resolving the action and then dedicating a substantial amount of time to the denouement?

TERRY

I’m glad you brought up the white outfits and the introduction of new characters because, Joe, I have been having a hard time telling the newer people apart this season. It doesn’t help that they aren’t given names outside of the occasional title involving the word minister. But when they’re all wearing those impeccable hats and dressed the same, with similar beards or mustaches and no names for me to latch onto, they tend to turn into a mishmashed ball of confusion. Some people valiantly sacrificed themselves, or took unfortunate tumbles during a rooftop chase, but I didn’t have a clue who they were.

As for the extended last stand, there were so many awesome moments for me. In particular, Seo-bi puts on a motherfucking cloak of fire and runs through the zombies like a badass. I think this resonated so much with me because, let’s be honest, the show hasn’t exactly given the womenfolk much to do. The only two named women are Seo-bi and Queen Cho and they’ve been relegated to very one-dimensional roles and haven’t been given too much to work with. So to see Queen Cho’s deliciously evil smile and her plan unfolding, as well as Seo-bi’s valiant efforts to keep the zombies at bay using science and her intelligence had me cheering.

The last stand felt like a culmination of the season, mixing action, heroics, storytelling and so much soap opera silliness. I loved the dramatic moments of Chang and his friends and followers standing on the frozen lake, trying to keep the horde at bay while his gunners very slowly shoot, reload, and shoot at the ice. I’ll admit that the battle felt grim with everyone being bitten--though Beom-pal hilariously yelling, “Get off of me! Go away!!” had my snorting with laughter--it took me a minute to realize that they’ll all be saved when the ice breaks…

...which finally happens when Chang freaking piledrives a giant zombie into the ice!!

Jebus, I love Korean genre.

More to your point, though, this did feel like a Game of Thrones ending in ways the first season did not. We get some more political machinations, as the surviving ministers want Chang to kill the baby...who was bitten, by the way, but apparently saved by Seo-bi when she dunked him in water. At first it seems like Chang is going to execute the kid but we fast forward seven years later and the kid, now with a gnarly scarred hand, is the ruler.

And the narrative starts to seemingly tidy up loose ends by doing an almost “Where Are They Now” type denouement. Hilariously, Beom-pal has failed upwards yet again and is now the Second State Councillor. Chang is “dead” and traveling with Seo-bi to find more traces of the resurrection plant because she thinks there’s still a “profound secret” behind it. And Yeong-shin shares a drink with Beom-pal and hands over Seo-bi’s copious notes on the plague in case it ever comes back.

Which leads us to the semi-cliffhanger of an ending that introduces...well, I’ll let you take us home, Joe. What did you think of this finale? Were you surprised when it seemed that it was coming to a giant The End, rather than setting up a next season? Did the reveal of the plant’s origins intrigue you? And just who is that badass we see at the end?

JOE

Oh those scenes on the ice - be still my heart! Even though I was fairly certain our heroes would survive, the way that Kingdom has culled its core cast this season did make me question whether they would simply wipe the board clean and call it a day...

...which is almost where I would have preferred it considering what we get. Don’t get me wrong: I think Chang’s decision to martyr himself into obscurity so that the kingdom leadership can begin anew with a clean slate courtesy of a politically malleable child makes perfect sense. Iit not only ties into all of the flashbacks to Chang’s childhood, but it is totally in character for him. Big, heroic sacrifices are very much in his wheelhouse.

Honestly everything worked for me until Yeong-shin began to his story to Beom-pal over drinks, and then the sinking feeling started up in my stomach. After two seasons of careful, intricate plotting and long-running pay-offs, suddenly the worms can’t be killed in water (at least not in children) and suddenly the plants are popping up all over Korea. And the fact that it’s very distinctly blamed on a Chinese seller? Ugh. Not only does this seem like a very awkwardly shoe-horned attempt to justify a potential third season, but there’s some super uncomfortable real-world politics pushing into this historical fantasy.

I’m positive that Korean fans were freaking out when they saw uber famous celebrity Jun Ji-hyun, star of Sassy Girl (and I quote from Wikipedia) “one of the highest-grossing Korean comedies of all time”. For North Americans, this doesn’t pack quite the same punch since we’re not as familiar with their star system - though I suppose we’ll understand the fascination with her mysterious character (and how she’s able to seemingly capture and/or control the zombies) when/if the series returns.

Overall, as much as those last few minutes didn’t quite work for me, I still really, really enjoyed this season. I’m giving it a A-.

Terry, I’ll leave the last word to you: what did you think of this coda and the reveal? Does it feel like just another retcon? And even if it does, would you care if it meant another season of this incredibly well-produced and addictive show? Finally, what’s your grade for S2?

TERRY

The reveal that the worms were still inside the seven-year-old king didn’t completely work for me, for the same reasons you mention. Why now? Why seven years later? It could be a retcon, but it could also be explained in the hypothetical third season. Maybe there’s someone at court that has reinfected him. I don’t know. But a seven year incubation stage seems odd.

I personally did love the reveal of Jun Ji-hyun because she looks like a complete badass here, all swashbuckling swords and fantastic attire. I also like that it’s introducing another female character and one that might break the gender roles the series has staunchly utilized. All this to say I hope that Netflix does renew this show for a third season. I like that it’s opening the world, though, like you, I am cognizant of some of the real-world political connections.

I unabashedly loved this season. The pacing, the action, the set pieces. It’s a show running on all cylinders and I hope Netflix renews it and it continues upping the ante.

I give this season an A.