Powerful Female Roles Thrive in "Kingdom's" Season Two Finale

Based on “The Kingdom of the Gods” by Kim Eunhee

Written by Kim Eunhee

Directed by Park Inje

(Some Spoilers ahead)

Battle Royale at the Palace

    Led by executive producer Kim Seong-hun, the team for zombie-apocalypse/political series Kingdom ramps up the thrills with effective cinematography, compelling storytelling, and ruthless antagonists that shine not only by their lack of morality but by their steady, single-minded hunger for political power.

“If I can’t have it, no one else can have it” - Queen Cho.

     With those chilling words Queen Cho (Hye-Jun Kim) cements herself as not only ruthless power hungry monarch but as utterly insane. It is a role that fits her well, but isn’t unique. Recently, many smash hit TV series end with the main antagonists being a woman entrenched in political power. Queen Cho’s ruthlessness earns her a place among recent dominant female villains like Cersei Lannister from Game of Thrones and Danica Harlan from Altered Carbon. And that is not a bad thing, except that Queen Cho isn’t a sympathetic character by any stretch of the imagination. Her role is rote, flat evil, without the screen time and gray ambiguous choices that would make the role rise to that of legendary. Kingdom's season finale remains a rip roaring ride of gruesome, and it shores its strong female roles by cheer badassery, if that's even a word.

Seo Bi teaching a class in Bad Ass 101.

     The title of most badass character can arguably be given to the unlikely character of Seo Bi (Doona Bae). While Prince Chan has his men at arms, and the many duty bound sacrifices of loyal men under his command, nothing comes close to Seo Bi cloaking herself in fire and running through a hoard of blood dripping infected while carrying a baby. Sure, Prince Chan and crew dropped themselves in a lake of ice, fully expecting to die, but, come on, Seo Bi did it all on her lonesome, surviving by sheer gall and quick thinking.

Infected showing affection.

     The end of this season is open ended, with enough secrets and a potential new antagonist ready to take the place of the old ones. Perhaps the new season will bring a mutation or we’ll have yet another outbreak of worm infected dead. Either way, if there is a 3^rd Season, it promises to be another solid whooper with plenty of woman power in the mix and the type of political plots that fit quite well within the zombie-apocalypse genre.

Kingdom Season 2 Opener Review

Based on “The Kingdom of the Gods"

Written by Kim Eunhee

Directed by Park Inje

     The Netflix original, South Korean TV series Kingdom doesn’t waste much time in its opening scene, instead choosing to explode into the screen with thrilling action and sacrifice.

     Crown Prince Lee Chang (Ji-Hoon Ju)’s wages a defensive war against the undead and struggle to claim his rightful throne from the power hungry Cho Hak-ju (Seung-ryong Ryu) and Queen Cho (Hye-Jun Kim). The opener dazzles with poignant war music, battle, and loads of frenzied undead. These bad boys resemble “World War Z” sickies with hightened speed and a vicious streak a mile wide. One thing is for sure, if Rick Grimes faced these walkers when he woke up, there wouldn’t be a “The Walking Dead” series at all.

     Despite severe logic gaps, the season opener offers enough uniqueness to stand on its own. The production team's efforts to present Kingdom in the Joseon period (after the Japanese invasion) adds satisfying historical flare to the otherwise supernatural occurrences. The protagonists fight with kukri, sword, arrow, and barely understood black powder muskets against the sort of undead that destroy nations and worlds while surviving machinations from the Cho. The rigid caste-like government structure of Kingdom allows for satisfying intrigue which adds important points of man vs man conflict amount a man vs world existential threat.

     It is evident that Kingdom doesn't’ have the budget of HBO TV series. The difference is visible in some scenes where ambient atmospheres clashes with cheap settings that look so colorful at night they might seem toy-like. Nevertheless, it is, by far, the best zombie apocalypse story that South Korea has developed. Shored by solid acting by its stellar cast, this series truly is a gem withing Netflix’s robust programming.

References

 

"Kingdom: Season 2: Ep.1." Netflix. March 14, 2020. www.netflix.com

"Kingdom: Full Cast and Crew." IMDb.com Inc. March 1, 2010. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6611916/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm

Altered Carbon Season Two Finale Doesn't Live Up to Season One

Article Written by J. Y. Calcano

Altered Carbon Episode 2.8: Broken Angels

Written by Alison Schapker & Elizabeth Padden

Directed by Salli Richardson- Whitfield

Synopsis: With the fate of the whole planet on the line, Kovacs, Quell and team race to find Konrad Harlan and stop a catastrophic blast of Angelfire. (netflix.com)

     The Season Two finale of “Altered Carbon” is an action packed thrill ride that satisfactory concludes all mayor plots to date but culminates a season lacking the splendor, macabre attraction, and set visuals that made its first season so enthralling.

     In terms of structure, the episode did everything it needed to do. The rampages are over, all human antagonists are defeated in splendid fashion, and the elder dies. The episode pushed the characters to their physical breaking points and offered happy-ish endings to most of the cast. In relative terms, their endings couldn’t be better within the reality of the sacrifices and losses along the way.

     Quell survives to rebuild the uprising. Trepp and family reunite without debts. The Protectorate allows Clone Kovacs to walk free for services rendered. Poe reboots but with the help of Dig 301, there are strong hints that his great personality will return. And Kovacs, the Greek Hero, meets final death; grandly, for the woman he loves, and the entire world.

     Few crowd pleasing endings are so believable and deliciously bittersweet. Its the sort of tragedy at the end of a hard-fought road that builds belief on the happier plot culminations.

And then Poe and Dig discover that Kovacs was backed up before dying. So he’s really not dead. We’re back to where we started at the beginning of the season because Quell has left the planet, and Kovacs, if he returns, is going to try and look for her… again.

     There it is. Netflix left the door open for the original Kovacs to return like Dr. Who. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but if the TV series returns in its next installment, a larger budget is a must. As stated before in previous reviews on this blog, the sets remained grungy and diminished through the entire season. The season lacks largeness and it feels uninspired, diminutive. There are only so many times that the Nevermore environs can be use as a set before its seen as a serious budget cost choice.

     I am not sure if Netflix will bring forth a third season for this series, but if so, let’s hope it can recapture the dynamic eloquence and significant description of its first season and recast Kovacs in a sleeve more Joel Kinnaman and less Anthony Mackie.

References

 

"Altered Carbon: Broken Angels." Netflix. March 1, 2020. www.netflix.com

"Altered Carbon: Full Cast and Crew," IMDb.com Inc. March 1, 2010. www.imdb.com

Altered Carbon Review Season 2 Episode 7

Article Written by J. Y. Calcano

Altered Carbon Episode 2.7: Experiment Perilous

Written by Nevin Densham

Directed by Salli Richardson- Whitfield

Synopsis: When Quell’s sleeve begins to shut down, Poe and Ms. Dig send her into VR, where Kovacs finally learns the truth about her deadly rampages.

     The mystery of why Quell (Renée Elise Goldsberry) has been murdering the colony founders in blind rampages she cannot control defines Season Two's main plot. Considering that stack digitization technology is derived from the Songspire trees and elder technology, and that said technology began on Harlan’s World, it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that not all the elders are dead.

     That’s the secret. An elder is riding roughshod on Quell’s sleeve and killing the founders, because the founders murdered the elders on Harlan’s World in order to claim the planet as theirs. That sounds simple enough, and it is that simplicity that might impede this season from being as good as it could be.

     At face value, the revenge plot is sound, but the elder satellites make this entire premise shaky. The elder satellites don’t just protect the planet from space invasion, they can also target the ground. The creation of such deadly battle platforms establishes a foundation that the elders do understand the concept of danger and weapons. That begs the question, how did the founders ever come close enough to shoot all the elders with a handgun? The whole idea that the elders were incapacitated to such an extent that they could not control their formidable defense satellites, but, that now, one can do so through a human stack just falls a little short.

     

     The banality of applying simple revenge to the mystery that are elders feels cliché and cheap. On one hand, it is a credible way to tie the threads together. On the other, it feels too simple for a series that prides itself on its twists and surprises.

     With a deadly array of pinpoint accurate satellites as the price, everyone has an agenda:

• The elder wants to kill the last founder or burn all humans on the planet to ash.
• Danica (Lela Loren) wants to control the satellites and become not just governor, but a power able to challenge the Protectorate. Her ambition is well in tune with the entitled, but brilliant, personality that won’t quit until she overreaches and burns.
• Everyone wants to prevent the elder from killing all the humans, one way or another.

     The series finally is next and it promises to be dizzy and action packed finale with one last set of questions to answer. Who lives, who dies, and who mourns?

References

"Altered Carbon: Experiment Perilous." Netflix. March 1, 2020. www.netflix.com

"Altered Carbon: Full Cast and Crew," IMDb.com Inc. March 1, 2010. www.imdb.com

Altered Carbon Review Season 2 Episode 6

Article Written by J. Y. Calcano

Altered Carbon Episode 2.6: Bury Me Dead

Written by Adam Lash & Cori Uchida

Directed by Jeremy Webb

Synopsis: As Quell reconnects to her past at Stronghold, she leads the clone into an underground chamber teeming with secrets. Gov. Harlan shows her true colors.

Quell finds herself.

     An episode of secrets revealed, almost enough of them to make up for the overall lack of external tech visuals that made Season One such a Sci-fi fest. It probably comes as no surprise that Reileen Kawahara (Dichen Lachman) kept Quell (Renée Elise Goldsberry) in cryostasis for 300 hundred years, waking her once or twice just to stoke her misdirected hatred with petty barbs.

     

 Reileen gloating.

     This installment is full of dramatic tension. Clone Kovacs (Will Yun Lee) witnesses the betrayal, malice, and insanity of his sister. Seeing the depths of her cruelty cuts him to the quick. Danica Harlan (Lela Loren) and Carrera are thrown together. The malice between the two is so thick it pulsates out of the screen.

Kudos to the tech that knows how to keep his head down.  

     Kemp (Matt Ellis), the current leader of the Uprising, saves Trepp (Simone Missick) and Kovacs (Anthony Mackie) from the Wedge. In a complete twist, Trepp’s quest to find her brother comes to a sad end when she notices his broken stack hanging around Kemp’s neck like a trophy. That revelation leads to the season’s best surprise. Kemp is exposed as Danica’s puppet. She created a fake rebellion to lure would be traitors, consolidate her power, and keep the Protectorate at bay. 

     

 "This bitch is not going anywhere." - Danica Harlan

     The surprise at discovering Danica has been playing the long game is electric and a great story choice for the production team. It adds a layer of sophistication that finally elevates Danica beyond the lukewarm role of the early episodes. Everyone has been playing on her web. She is the master manipulator behind critical plots within the season. She is someone to be feared not only because of her army, but her mind.

     Just to add insult to injury, at the very end of the episode, the action rises to another level when Quell, somehow, connects to the alien satellite network and rains Angelfire down on Danica’s troops.

     This thrilling episode has it all: great drama, the closing of plot lines, the revelation of adversaries, a solid bump of the stakes, and action to spare.\

References

"Altered Carbon: Bury Me Dead." Netflix. March 1, 2020. www.netflix.com

"Altered Carbon: Full Cast and Crew," IMDb.com Inc. March 1, 2010. www.imdb.com

Altered Carbon Review Season 2 Episode 5

Article written by J. Y. Calcano

Altered Carbon Episode 2.5: I Wake Up Screaming

Written by Cortney Norris

Directed by Jeremy Webb

Synopsis: Carrera sends his secret weapon on a deadly mission. Kovacs and Trepp smuggle Quell out of the city. Poe takes a risky trip into virtual reality.

The action is certainly heating up with the arrival of Takeshi Kovacs… err… Clone Kovacs (Will Yun Lee). Double sleeving is punishable by real death, but not even capital punishment is enough to stop Jaeger, the Protectorate’s fanatic super soldier who has become Colonel Carrera.

     Having a character hunt himself isn’t new, as Will Smith might attest to in Gemini Man. Nevertheless, Clone Kovacs makes for a truly convincing adversary that can give Kovacs (Anthony Mackie) a true challenge. Clone Kovacs takes command of the Wedge and begins a bloody, ruthless, and efficient hunt.

Poe (Chris Conner) continues to delight audiences with quirky eloquence and solid loyalty. He and Quell (Renée Elise Goldsberry) suffer from personality fragmentation, a fatal condition. The clock is ticking for them. The greater the number of post-its found around the bar of the Nevermore the greater the equivalent despair and sense of impending doom that grips Poe.

      The reveal that the last Founder, Konrad Harland, isn’t in the Renouncer’s VR construct doesn’t come as much of a surprise, given the vicious lengths that Danica Harlan (Lela Loren) went to silence Lila (Britt Irvin) on the last episode.

     Danica is the most satisfying role change in the last two episodes. Her ruthless and brilliant streak continues with the arrest and dismissal of the entire planetary board, making herself defacto dictator of Harlan’s World. Moreover she accomplishes her takeover with mannerisms and dialogue unique to to  herself, ensuring she stands shoulder to shoulder among the great female villains of the small screen.

     It is certain that this episode has its share of moments that will not please the audience in the short term, but the foundation for the rest of the series has been cemented. Its up to the production team to take advantage of the possibilities.

References

"Altered Carbon: I Wake Up Screaming." Netflix. March 1, 2020. www.netflix.com

"Altered Carbon: Full Cast and Crew," IMDb.com Inc. March 1, 2010. www.imdb.com

Altered Carbon Review Season 2 Episode 4

Altered Carbon Episode 2.4: Shadow of a Doubt

Written by Sang Kyu Kim

Directed by MJ Bassett

While the planet celebrates Harlan's Day, Kovacs hatches an escape plan, Quell pieces together fragments of her life, and Poe faces a reckoning. (www.netflix.com)

     This is probably the best episode of the season so far.    

     What will become the core assemble of protagonists has been brought together: Takeshi Kovacs (Anthony Mackie), Trepp (Simone Missick), (Quellcrist Falconer (Renée Elise Goldsberry), Poe (Chris Conner), and Dig 301 (Dina Shihabi) settle at the nostalgic Happy Face Motel to catch their breath before embarking on Kovacs’ escape plan.

     Everyone loves a love story, and this episode has Quellcrist and Kovacs reunited. When passionate lovers meet, sparks fly, with obvious results. This is a milestone for Kovacs who has been searching for his beloved for 300 years. Talk about dedication.

     Girl power is as strong as ever in this episode. Ladies from all sides of the hero/antagonist line show their resourcefulness, ability to adapt, and just plain evil. Quellcrist shows what makes her one of the toughest, deadliest, and most influential leaders of the age. Trepp tracks the escapees down in hours, demonstrating that she is one of the best bounty hunters in the business, as well as not having any qualms at exploiting her advantages. Dig 301, is brilliant, with equal parts concern, need, and stoic support to make the most cast iron heart nod in appreciation. A secondary character,

Lila (Britt Irvin) undergoes the sort of slasher torture that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up straight, the sort of torture Kovacs should have endured. Danica bears her perfect, Meth teeth and reveals the ruthlessness that made her governor with a fireworks display fit for Harlan’s Day.

     Twists abound, especially with the arrival of Evergreen, a double sleeved Takeshi Kovacs specifically sent for by Col. Carrera aka Jaeger.

     There is some sex for the fanservice crowd, but plenty of action and twists to keep the techno-geeks and sci-fi fans glued for the rest of this season.

References

"Altered Carbon: Shadow of a Doubt," Netflix. March 1, 2020. www.netflix.com

"Altered Carbon: Full Cast and Crew," IMDb.com Inc. March 1, 2010. www.imdb.com