Heavy-Handed Metaphors, party of, like 17 at least...

For a show as grandiose and magisterial as NBC's new drama Kings, it was really begging for reviews titled "Epic Fail" in the event that it sucked, but fortunately for the show (and the viewers of the 2 hour 'movie-event' pilot), it has definite potential. While I'm not completely sold on the show yet, the pilot was encouraging and I'm compelled to give it a few more weeks to really find its feet.

The series centers around the royal family of the alternate reality country of Gilboa (it's basically New York City) and the war with neighboring country Gath (which if Gilboa is NYC, then Gath would be... New Jersey? (Oh, the humanity!)). It's basically a construct of the United States as ruled by a monarch (which, in case you didn't believe me about the rampant, and often overbearing metaphors, the family symbol is, wait for it, the monarch (butterfly)--yep, the monarch is represented by a monarch. It doesn't get much more straight forward than that (except that it totally does)...and we haven't even gotten to the transformation/rebirth aspect of that symbol yet).

The monarchy sets the scene, but it's the painfully overt David and Goliath theme that's most elemental to the narrative. And in just case you happen to be performing brain surgery, writing a concerto, and creating your own perpetual motion machine while watching the pilot, the writers have conveniently named the David-like character "David," and the huge, evil, Gath tanks "Goliaths," in case you somehow managed to have missed it. I was a little annoyed at the cheeseballishness of this move, but in actuality, the Goliath that David (whose last name is Shepherd, lest we go 2 minutes without a ham-fisted metaphor/aptonym) is opposing is King Silas himself (at least for now), so eye-rollingly obvious imagery and metaphor aside, I think ultimately the concept has merit. I get that they're modernizing Biblical themes here, but I would have appreciated a little more subtlety. I like it when parallels and references sneak up on you, rather than being thrown at you. Which isn't to say the show isn't good, it just didn't appeal to those particular sensibilities as I would have hoped... The writers have undertaken a huge task and have largely succeeded with it, snarky comments notwithstanding. Also, by putting the thematic influences out there so blatantly, it manages to largely prevent criticisms that the theme was borrowed because they flat out tell you it was borrowed. Anyway, if you're into biblical themes and epic presentation of said themes, well then hot damn! We have a winner!

As is predictably the case when using biblical themes, royalty, and war as your central elements, the tone and appearance of the show are very grand, magisterial, and even Shakespearean--all of which is clearly reflected in the production values of the show. I don't know what the overhead for this show is, but I can only imagine how high the viewership will need to be to keep it on the air. The two-hour pilot was, to say the least, impressive to watch. Like most other shows, the pilot has a lot more budget to work with than a regular episode and it was clearly apparent in Kings' premiere (and which I'm not sure will translate very well to week-to-week budgetary constrictions). The quality of the sets, costumes, effects, and everything else were pretty much beyond reproach. The writers recognized that presenting an alternate universe (albeit very much like our own) would be a hard sell and they went to expansive lengths to make the viewer believe it. And at least in my viewing experience, they succeeded. There were decisions I wouldn't made and things I would have changed, but overall, it was effective.

As compelling as the backdrop and underlying (well, overlying, really) themes were, the characters themselves were equally engaging, for the most part. I was a little irked at the lack of diversity in the cast, what with 90% of the cast being white men, but I'm going to assume the show is making a commentary on the underrepresentation of women and racial minorities in the political arena today... I kinda doubt that was their intent, but it makes it much less annoying to see the majority of women and faces of color acting as extras, sitting silently around the table while the white guys get to talk. There are notable exceptions, of course, the queen and princess filling the female quota, and Reverend Samuels (who is an excellent addition to the cast) serving as the only minority with a major role, but I would have liked to have seen a lot more diversity. Seriously, the writers had the option to create an alternate universe here and they chose all the same conventions of the actual world. I'm assuming that was their intent, and I'm hopeful something fruitful comes of it, but it's still irksome.

Anyway, alighting from my soapbox now, the cast, albeit largely white and male, is superb. The acting was convincing across the board, and given the gravity of the subject matter at hand, that's really saying something. I'm not kidding when I say the show should be in iambic pentameter. It felt like one of Shakespeare's histories pretty much from beginning to end, but the cast (much of which being a very young cast) was able to make it work. Although both King Silas and David, as the central conflict in the story, were well cast and effective, I found myself most intrigued by the prince and, quite surprisingly, the queen, who had very little screen time compared to the rest of the cast.

The fact that Prince Jack is played by Sebastian Stan (aka Carter Baizen on Gossip Girl, aka real life boyfriend of Leighton Meester (aka Blair Waldorf)) was not lost on me, but it colored my judgment of the his performance in a way I didn't expect. I was never particularly enthralled by his role on Gossip Girl, but in Kings, he has a much meatier role to work with and he really brings his A-game. I was expecting to see Carter Baizen (particularly given the ostensible similarities in the characters), but was rather pleasantly presented with a much more complex, well-rounded, and darker character than I had envisioned. The pilot crammed a whole lot of twists and turns into one episode (which is kind of a shame--I think it would have been better to roll them out over time), so even the mental and emotional progression of his character over just two hours was pretty impressive. The scene with King Silas completely crushing his son's perceptions on the steps of...whatever that place was supposed to be... was the most emotionally resonant scene of the pilot for me. And yes, I'm taking into account David's soliloquy on the battlefield. David's speech was all epic and sad and everything, but seeing the prince's face as his father calls him out on his secrets and undercuts his notions about everything was much subtler and more compelling. I thought Stan did a particularly impressive job conveying the course of the prince's emotions, even while not saying a word. Long story short, Stan's performance in Kings is kind of making me like Carter Baizen more... and that's a tall order to fill.

Perhaps subtlety just appeals to my sensibilities more than grandiose speechifying, but I think the queen is going to be one of the most pivotal and intriguing characters of the series. It seems silly to focus my review of the pilot of any set of characters other than King Silas and David, but here we are. King Silas and David are both interesting enough, and compelling in a very straight forward, "hey look! it's our central characters" kind of way (and David's naivete in the big bad world should play out nicely), but that's discernable from even the briefest trailer for the show. The whole David and Goliath conceit will be pervasive and front and center for a good long while to come, and I think that's where I'm a bit complacent about them...

Anyway, they're both fine and good and obvious, and therefore not as compelling as the queen. As long as I'm putting things in Shakespearean terms, I got the impression from the pilot that the queen will serve as the fool of the series. The queen actively pretended not to care about politics, even stating as such, but, like the fool, I got the impression that she's the slyest one of all. She puts on a facade of political apathy and of having only the simple tasks of a politician's wife to attend to, but it was clear to me that she plays the game as well as anyone, if not better. Unlike her rivals, she has a certain invisibility that comes with her innocuous facade which allows her much more power and influence than others. Her love for her son being a key factor in her political manipulations, I think she and the prince will be the most devious and quietly powerful players on the board. That she has such potential makes the lack of women in the cast a bit more palatable, but only if the writers exercise that potential to the fullest. The queen has a real opportunity for subterfuge and political domination and I'm hopeful she plays her cards right in this regard.

The pilot set a whole cavalcade of storylines, mysteries, character arcs, and plot twist into motion. I would have liked to have seen a lot of what was put in the pilot slowly rolled out over the course of the season, but I might have been bored by the pilot if they had. In spite of the length, I was genuinely interested for the entire pilot and am excited to see more, if for no other reason than this show is an English major's dream...slash nightmare. The heavy-handed imagery and metaphors are so patent that it makes it kind of un-fun to recognize them, but it's still interesting to see how the writers have translated such old themes into a more modern context. The tone was necessarily severe, but I would have liked to have seen some levity in the mix. The relationship between David and the princess (yeah, yeah, more themes, we get it) was fairly light-hearted, but still kind of grave. Given the intensity of the rest of the pilot, I think the pair acting like giddy school kids would have seemed disingenuous and out of place, so I think it was a good call on the writers' part to keep it subdued. The actress did a pretty good job with the role and the pair has decent chemistry, so it all worked pretty well.

All in all, Kings has a hell of a lot of potential, but I'm not sure it's going to find an audience. I think the two-hour premiere was a misstep, albeit a necessary one. Even as dedicated a television viewer as I am, two hours of intense drama was enough to wear me down. I think a little levity would have gone a long way, but I still don't think that would be enough to generate high enough viewership to justify the production budget. I would really like to see this show do well, and lord knows Sunday night needs something worth watching, but I suspect the show will struggle. I've hear that the next few episodes are excellent and that as a viewer, you'll be totally invested after 3 or 4, so I'll definitely be tuning in for at least that long.

If you missed the premiere, I'm sure it's available online, and honestly, I think it's worth your time. In spite of the gravity of it all, it's a very well-made show that kept me interested from start to finish. The pacing is excellent, so it doesn't get bogged down, and there are enough twists and turns to keep you on your toes.

Plus, in the event that you do get bored, you can play the heavy-handed metaphors drinking game. You'll be plastered after about 20 minutes. Trust me.