Kings (2009)

 

After a while, it gets a little repetitive to say “X is unlike anything else on television,” but Kings is so novel that it isn’t readily described.  I remember watching it on NBC when it first aired – I’d been drawn in by the premise, but the show itself didn’t seem to be living up to its potential, and for a few weeks, I watched with an entertained but slightly inattentive air.  Still, I was disappointed when it was canceled and made a point to seek it out when the remaining episodes were burned off during the summer.

 

Somewhere along the line, though, Kings became something wonderful.  I can’t quite pinpoint the when, where, or why.  It’s wholly possible that I wasn’t giving it the proper focus to start with, or that the show comes together in retrospect – whenever I rewatch it now, it seems awesome from start to finish, and I can’t figure out why it didn’t grab me right away.

 

Kings is a present-day, alternate-universe retelling of the biblical story of David.  In the fictional country of Gilboa, modern technology, media, and weaponry meet a ruling monarchy where the king talks to God and has visions from heaven.  He and his capital city are rocked by the arrival of David Shepherd, a young Gilboan solider who made headlines when he stood up to an enemy tank.  Salt-of-the-earth, guileless David navigates his newfound celebrity status, looking for signs of God in his life and trying to stay on the good side of the often-tempestuous royal family.

 

Most TV shows that take place outside the real world are sci-fi or fantasy (like Battlestar Galactica or Game of Thrones,) and even shows with fantastical elements often ground them in real-life settings (like Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Dead Like Me.)  Kings, however, is in some ways a standard drama that puts time and effort into world-building that’s generally relegated to genre pieces:  Gilboa has its own emblems, flags, and bordering countries, its own history separate from ours.  The lush art direction has a sharp eye for detail, and despite the familiarity of the modern-day trappings, you never lose sight of the fact that this is somewhere new.

 

The dialogue has an elevated, almost Shakespearian flair that goes well with the loftiness of the drama.  Exalted speech trips fluently off of King Silas’s tongue, and David speaks an interesting mix of earthy and poetic.  With political puppet theater, prophetic dreams, and fatal flaws, there’s an old-world feel to the plot, stories that don’t get told much anymore.  The biblical source material is cleverly incorporated and reimagined, but the show has its own story to tell as well.  Sadly, there’s only twelve episodes, and the ending far from resolves matters, but numerous threads that seem disparate early on entwine to create a vivid tapestry by season’s end.

 

The whole show is propelled by a strong ensemble of fascinating characters.  The royal family is a narrative feast, and David makes a good, conflicted hero, a man trying to do his best under massively difficult circumstances.  Chris Egan gives a fine performances, and the rest of the cast, which includes Ian McShane, Sebastian Stan (the Winter Soldier!), Eomann Walker, Susanna Thompson, and Macaulay Culkin (surprisingly great in a supporting role), is sublime.

 

Warnings

 

Sexual content, swearing, drinking, a few drug references, violence, and thematic elements.