Day Seventy - Kingdom: Series 1, Episode 2, or "There's really no mystery here, after all."

I figured that I'd try Kingdom again, hoping for something to improve what hadn't worked in the pilot. Unfortunately, it was more of the status quo.

In this episode, the only mystery, aside from what looks to be the season/series arc of "my brother is dead, but maybe he's not," is how on earth anyone puts up with crazy sister Beatrice's antics. I mean, seriously, there's only so much eccentric destructiveness that any reasonable person should have to go through. Forcing it for the sake of episodic drama is dirty pool.

Wait... did I just type "dirty pool?" Argh. I should watch something American to cleanse my lingual pallete, and right soon.

There! I did it again!

Back to Kingdom, this episode's A-story is a custody fight between an illegal immigrant field hand and the boss farmer who, shall we say, plowed her field. Seems that the obvious villain took the child without permission after dumping the girl for another (though, the episode never reveals whether the newer model is ALSO a put upon immigrant worker).

The B-story is a silly bit of culture as the local characters are putting on an international dyke jumping competition and the long poles they've bought do not come from the proper species of tree and snap instead of bending mid jump as they should.

Both stories are boring as all get out. The A-story is a simple bit of moralizing about the plight of the immigrant worker and would be very much at home in, say, an episode of MacGyver where Mac fights an evil slaver type to help abused Mexican laborers, though, they would never be called illegals, just poor ethnic Americans, so, at least Kingdom got that part right. The B-story? Well, I'm pretty sure I could've done without it entirely.

Plus, I'm only two episodes in and I'm already annoyed as all get out with Lyle and his falling for anyone with breasts every single episode... and that includes looney Beatrice. Ugh.

Really, the only reason to watch is Fry... and he's not given enough time to compensate for how utterly horrible the rest of the cast and storylines are. The only intriguing bits concern how he deals with his missing brother's affairs. THAT is a mystery I could get behind, but it's only given in dribs and drabs inbetween every episode's A and B lines... which are, themselves, just horrid.

To be honest, I don't know how long I can stand Kingdom if it's going to continue down this road. Fry, as ever, is a charmer of the highest degree, but his supporting fellows? Well, they overshadow his charm with utter dreck... and it's beginning to make me want to never come back to Market Shipborough.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Sixty-seven - Kingdom: Series 1, Episode 1, or "It's hard for Stephen Fry to do wrong."

It really is difficult for me to be annoyed by Stephen Fry.

I honestly can't think of such a case. I love his documentary and film work and, while his comedy bits with Hugh Laurie don't beguile me as much as they apparently do the rest of the internet, I still find them on a continuum from at least mildly amusing to really rather quaint and endearing.

I'd never heard of Kingdom before it popped up in my suggestion queue, but, with Fry the headliner, I was at the very least intrigued.

To be fair, it's just alright.

While I never laughed out loud for any of its moments or jokes, I couldn't help but smile whenever Fry's quiet, sardonic humor broke through. Whether it revolved around a stinky client relying on legal aid to put up roadblocks for local development or taking mild shots at his apprentice's lack of vision, it's hard not to find even his pointed jabs just, well... cute.

Now, the drama is, itself, rather bland. The main thrust of the episode revolves around an estate probate involving the death of a rich retiree and her two sons, one a greedy tosser (their words, not mine... I probably would've used "putz" or "dick") and the other a decent sort. Then there's the minor case involving the stinker and the requisite family drama that inserts Fry's mentally unstable sister into his life to upset his status quo.

The entire thing is stretched out a bit farther than I was expecting. There's really little in the way of substance to either case and the sister drama is a bit cliche, but the inbetweeners are generally pretty amusing. I did happen to like his assistant solicitor's fear of heights, though I wasn't a fan of his pool diving antics. The sister pretty much just annoys, but maybe that particular wrinkle will iron out in due course.

I am glad, however, that there's no romantic drama. At least, not yet. While there are threads that could develop that way (though, I doubt it), I was very happy with the decided lack of your typical sitcom love story.

If you're looking for a sedate law drama and are tired of American procedurals, this could really be up your ally. It's definitely smarter joke-wise than its American cousins, though the mystery is very much lacking.

Still, there's something calm and refreshing about Kingdom. I hope, as I continue the series, that the overarching story lines that they laid groundwork for in the opening episode develop into meaty bits of drama. We shall see, I suppose.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~