We’ve seen this before. Emperors who are out of touch with the realities faced by their people. The manipulation done by top royal advisors to centralize power and influence for themselves. Then there’s an emergence of a new brand of leader—one that acknowledges the needs of the time, just and moral in his ways, the country’s new beacon of hope.
In Joseon’s highly stratified and unequal society, we see corrupt power’s impact to the everyday lives of people. The vulnerable are always the lower classes—their lives are given no value, and they are the last to experience justice.
This is how we’ve come to know period K-dramas. Throw in some assassination, treason, a civil war and your episodes are all set. But reimagine the genesis of the living dead in the Joseon era? Suddenly everything about “Kingdom” becomes entirely different.
The series boasts of beautiful cinematography, with every detail faithful to Korea’s rich history. Its characters are given dimension. They are not just guided by sheer heroics, but instead are propelled by the complexity of their own values and beliefs. Every person in the show is given their own story that enriches the narrative as a whole. We don’t only focus on each one’s survival, we are given a glimpse of the rationale of their actions.
Here’s a list of everything I loved about the second season of “Kingdom”—with countless spoilers ahead:
We have patiently waited and now “Kingdom” has given us the answers we needed. Netflix’s first original Korean production has exceeded the intensity, action and disconcerting conspiracies it set when the series was first released—still able to stun its audience with the maddening and exhausting mystery of the plague of the undead.
In “Kingdom,” the Joseon Dynasty is forced to face a new century with remnants of a past invasion crippling its nation. But there is an emergence of heroics in the margins of survival, led by the country’s rightful heir to the throne, Lee Chang (Ju Ji-hoon).
Its second season leads us back to the battlegrounds of Sangju, where roaring hordes of flesh-eating beasts are determined to feast on the living. Dazed with the number of the undead that are no longer afraid of daylight, the prince’s men are forced to retreat.
The kids are growing up. Our favorite monster-hunting bunch from Hawkins has inevitably reached the cusp of adolescence. They’re awkward. They’re feisty. They’re in all sorts of trouble—and all we gotta do is sit back and enjoy the entertainment. The pilot episode of the third season brings us up to speed by showing tons of making out and comedic couple ticks.
But more than the teenage love affairs, there is no boring moment in “Suzie, Do You Copy?” Early on it revives the scientific fascination on the Upside Down, linking this small Indiana town to the other side of the globe once again. While its ending immediately builds up its newest otherworldly villain and doesn’t waste any time in revealing one of the greatest shockers of the show. Spoiler alert: Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) still doesn’t get a freaking break from this nightmare!
Knowing the Duffer Brothers, it’s bound to show us sci-fi tropes that we’ll surely brand as easter eggs. The new 8-episode season will reinvent notions of fear and fright, but it’ll probably underscore that the scariest thing is still change—after all, it’s still a coming-of-age story. We’re sure we’ll end up binge-watching the season when “Stranger Things” finally drops on Netflix this July 4—just like the Duffer Brothers intended us to. But before that, we’re left with these few bits that we’ll obsess over until everything will all finally make sense:
Yesterday’s biggest pop culture news kept me up all night: Netflix’s “Stranger Things” will be premiering globally on July 4. There will be eight episodes for this season.
But unlike the previous seasons that had us submerged into a grotesque alternate reality where nighttime seemed to be longer than any of the days, the show’s third installment is giving us a glimpse of a warm, adventure-filled (and soon-to-be-gone-wrong) summer. It’s so much more vibrant than we remember it to be, and even lets its characters embrace the bold and eccentric neon colors of the 80s.
The first ever Netflix-produced Korean drama requires you to pay attention to every second it plays on the screen. The story has enriched itself with details that is revealed in perfect and patient pacing—a narrative that is intensely gripping, heightening its viewers’ senses with the atrocious politics it tries to depict.
There’s no denying that “Kingdom” is indeed an addition to the long list of Korean period dramas. But what makes it different is its effort to build the political landscape of the era. While it shows a power struggle, it gives time to communicate the difficulty of the times, the frustration of the people, and the battle of politics versus philosophies.
Joe Goldberg and Peach Salinger aren’t exactly the best of friends in the Netflix adaptation of Caroline Kepnes’ bestselling novel, “You.” In fact, they’re the fiercest of competition.
The charming bookstore manager (played by Penn Badgley) falls in love with Beck (Elizabeth Lail), an aspiring and struggling writer. They first meet at Mooney’s, where Beck buys a copy of “Desperate Characters” after Joe’s recommendation. From their first interaction, Joe seems to be overly observant—alarmingly accurate, in fact—as he tries to interpret Beck’s flirtatious hints.
He soon meets Beck’s friends, and the Queen Bee of the group is none other than Peach Salinger (Shay Mitchell)—this extremely loaded Brown alumna, who also happens to be JD Salinger’s relative. First off, Joe isn’t exactly a fan of the “Catcher in the Rye” writer—just cause he thinks he can see straight through the phonies of his world (how ironic). He called Salinger’s readers pretentious. And that prejudice doesn’t really change towards the other Salingers of the show.
Last Tuesday, Jan. 15, the Greenbelt Gallery was completely surrounded by a swarm of fans—phones were held up in the air, with booming voices calling the attention of two Hollywood stars: Penn Badgley and Shay Mitchell.
The two star in what is proving to be Netflix's first global phenomenon of 2019, a thriller based on Caroline Kepner's "You." Its episodes were first released last Christmas, but it's undeniable that the show's popularity continues to rise.
Badgley asked the crowd for a show of hands, curious to see who were troubled by the character he was playing—Joe Goldberg. "Not too many, I see," he said. Fans then screamed they loved Joe. "You probably loved me playing as him," the 32-year-old actor joked.
Badgley revealed he didn't have that much fun as the lead, but only because it wasn't a type of character worth celebrating. "The scenes with Shay (playing Peach) were the most fun, the scenes with Paco were the most heartwarming, and the scenes with Beck were the most heartbreaking," Badgley shared.
According to Badgley and Mitchell, who plays Joe Goldberg and Peach Salinger respectively, "You" has been a meta experience to watch. The stars pointed out that the show touches a lot on how people nowadays project images of themselves and their lives online and, on the flipside, how social media is used as a tool for one to build their own perceptions of people.
But that's not all that makes it relevant and relatable—it's that underlying desire to connect and develop meaningful human relationships that is consistent among all its characters. Only for some of "You's" personalities, this desire is carried out to the extreme.
The 10-episode series centers on the charming Joe Goldberg. He's been tagged as the last nice guy in New York, a real score to anyone who fancies a guy who reads (and could give you a lecture on classic literature). But behind his unassuming and kind front is a troubled man, engulfed by his insecurities and outrageous fears.
Photo by Karl Hui for alike. This article was previously published by alike Media.
Stories of the walking dead aren’t at all new. It starts with an impossible endemic to stop, and we are all left to follow the survivors’ strife in a decaying city. But it was the South Korean film “Train to Busan” that introduced a new breed of zombies—ones that are lightning fast and blind in the dark—and, for our viewing pleasure, made a once worn out narrative exciting again.
South Korea clearly isn’t done telling its tales about these flesh-eating monsters, especially with the growing popularity of its thrillers internationally (among them “Okja,” “The Battleship Island,” and “The Prison”). And when you put the genre of historical drama and apocalyptic thrillers together, you’re sure to have a new show to binge-watch.
Netflix original “Kingdom” explores a new take on how period dramas are done—quite an ambitious undertaking for the streaming giant’s first-ever K-drama production. Well, the Joseon era had to have more problems than just the assassination of its emperors, right? In this horror series, the royal family is once again at the center of a power struggle, with the crown prince (played by Ju Ji-hoon) framed for treason.
Ju Ji-hoon plays the crown prince in Netflix’s newest horror series/Netflix
But here’s the unveiled twist:The prince also takes on a quest to uncover the origins of an infectious plague turning his subjects into the undead. His journey towards the truth is much rooted in familial redemption—because from what the trailer suggests, the king himself has become a monster of the palace.
Joseon is facing famine, but the unfruitful land isn’t just what strikes fear in the masses—now they are forced to satiate an evil hunger that lurks in the night.
“Kingdom” does seem to be cut from the same cloth as “Rampant,” a film by Kim Sung-hoon (the same man behind the famous movie with Gong Yoo as its lead actor), with its shared historical setting and the zombie narrative defying its dystopian archetype.
But one shouldn’t tag the series as an unoriginal concept. After all, the “Kingdom” unites two of Korea’s most compelling industry names—“Signal” screenplay writer Kim Eun-hee and “Tunnel” director Kim Seong-hun. The two industry greats are known for their exhilarating storytelling methods, often surprising fans and viewers alike with the unconventional and breathtaking twists they set.
All episodes will be available for streaming on Jan. 25 next year, and we know we’re putting this drama on our 2019 must-watch list!
Remaining in the shadows is the protector of Hell’s Kitchen, solidifying his status as a strong figure in Marvel’s television universe, even more so after the abrupt cancellation of two of its Netflix titles. It makes you wonder what sets Daredevil apart—how it stays inventive and impressive—and the third season has all the answers.
It’s not easy to mount yet another vigilante-driven story. And after the second season had degraded itself to setting the pieces for “The Punisher” and “The Defenders,” the next one had to embody the very core of what makes Daredevil the hero that he is: Redemption.
SINGAPORE NETFLIX PRESS JUNKET, MARCH 2017 “You’re my favorite from The Defenders—and Charlie Cox!”
Fan encounters usually last for a sentence—and you probably end up spewing some sort of cliche statement. But what can you actually say to Marvel’s latest minted superhero when you meet him?
Do you talk about how you were just writing about him a few days before, going into detail about the Marvel easter eggs embedded in the 13-episode Netflix series “Iron Fist”? Or do you go on about how you loved that his character allows viewers and fans to witness how Danny Rand grows and matures?
Or perhaps you feel like showing off your binge-watching prowess and tell Finn Jones, the 29-year-old actor who plays the Immortal Weapon, that you finished watching “Iron Fist” in a day?
“A day?!?” Finn Jones asks me.
“Yeah,” I tell him. “I just couldn’t stop watching.”
“A day. Wow. That’s really good to hear,” he says.
