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Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 3 of Season 1 of Kingdom, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Ju Ji-hoon as Crown Prince Yi Chang, Bae Doona as Seo-bi, Ryu Seung-ryong as Cho Hak ju, Kim Sang-ho as Mou Young, Kim Sung-kyu as Yeong shin, and Kim Hye-jun as the Queen Consort. We discuss:

The Seo In Guk Meet and Greet in Washington, DC that Joanna attended! It was amazing!
The enduring appeal of zombies!
How the opening sequence of the show describes exactly how the king was revived using the resurrection plant, as described in Lee Seung Hui’s medical journal. Although this scene is quite horrific, it is beautifully filmed!
How Cho Hak Ju and the Queen Consort keep the king chained and how they feed him unwitting court ladies. Who are the real monsters in the palace?
The head scholar and Minister of War are suspicious about all the dead bodies in the palace. They want Lord Ahn Hyeon to ally with them, but Cho Hak Ju is confident that Lord Ahn will never oppose the Cho clan.
How Youngshin is doing everything he can to save people from the zombies and Seo bi comes to his defense when Cho Beom Pal and the head clerk accused him of crimes.
How we are seeing a different Crown Prince in this episode. HE tried to climb the barracks wall, and he took charge at the magistrate’s office when Cho Beom Pal and the head clerk came up with a ridiculous plan re: the zombie bodies.
We now know of a few ways to stop the zombies: burn them, cut off their heads, drown them.
Cho Beom Pal is clearly the comic relief in the show, especially in this episode when Seo bi diagnosed him as having gonorrhea.
The Crown Prince now knows what happened to the king, how he died, and was brought back to life by Lee Seung Hui using the resurrection plan. He is now mourning the death of his father.
How the king somehow foresaw that his son would be in danger. The king urged his son to stay alive!
The officials, nobles and soldiers use the one remaining ship to sail to Sangju, stranding all the villagers on the dock.
How Joseon was a tremendously classist society. Although society has flattened a great deal today, you can still see the emphasis on hierarchy in modern day language and culture.
We wonder what happened three years ago that clearly involved Cho Hak Ju, Lord Ahn Hyeon, and Lee Seung Hui.
The amazing and beautiful Bae Doona, the actress who plays Seo bi.

References