Day Two Hundred and Forty - Kingdom: Series 1, Episode 5, "I knew there was a reason I was ambivalent."

It's been a while since I last watched Kingdom... well over a hundred days, in fact, and I find that the distance I've gained away from the series has left me forgetting why I stopped in the first place.

Then I said "what the hell" and tried it again. Didn't take long to remember why now, did it?

As much as I adore Stephen Fry, quite a lot of what I've seen of his that is available on Netflix just doesn't do it for me. Whether it's the 100 Greatest Gadgets or this subdued country law drama with your stereotypical quirky village characters, it's just not enough to have Stephen pulling them along with his quiet wit.

Several things are going on in this episode, including a divorcing couple whose marital woes are solely due to the husbands recent transvestism, a horse rustling, children gambling, and blatant, unapologetic racism.

I think most everything in the ep would've worked if not for that last glaring addition. That horrific, unabashed racism could exist without being instantly decried by all involved, especially the local constabulary, is utterly unbelievable.

Sure, at least both Fry's Kingdom and his often daft associate Lyle are against the overzealous racehorse owner who wants a group of convenient Romany off the pasture he intends to lease from the village council, I find it so hard to swallow that the man could round of a posse and get away from dehumanizing and threatening bodily harm on the Travelers without some comeuppance. I also find it difficult to see the excruciatingly stereotypical way that the Travelers are presented.

On a lighter note, for the most part, I actually did enjoy the other main plot of the ep, the divorcing couple. The gentleman involved presents such a confident and happy personage in his transvestism (and his wife so vehemently vitriolic) that you can't help but side with him immediately.

Now, yes, that might be a tad too convenient... just like with the Romany, but at least there's a happy end for the couple, whereas the horse breeder gets to harass the Travelers with impunity.

To be honest, I just can't justify this series anymore. Its storylines are trite and its overarching mystery concerning blackmail, suicide, and possible murder just has no oomp to it anymore, even as Peter Kingdom and his disturbed sister argue about it... or when a gun is flashed to scare them.

Bah.

Yeah, I think I'm done... I just hope that next time I get the urge, someone or something will remind me just why I dropped the series in the first place.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day One Hundred and Twenty - Kingdom: Series 1, Episodes 3 & 4, "A bit more to sink one's teeth into here."

It has been a while since I've digested anything that Stephen Fry was in, seeing as how I've yet to come upon him in Bones and have managed to cleanse my palette of his horrible "100 Greatest Gadgets" by not finishing out the second half of the program, so I decided to revisit Kingdom in the hope that it was better than I'd remembered.

Oddly, it really isn't... but I'm okay with that considering the terrible beating I've been taking not seeing him in Bones and being terribly disappointed with his gadgets. It isn't any better than I remember, but it's strangely more consumable in comparison to the alternatives.

These episodes deal with a possibly sabotaged fishing trawler and a definitely sabotaged college enrollment, but the best of it for both episodes centers on Peter Kingdom and his repressed distaste for sister Beatrice's new beau, a rather bawdy artist.

I, personally, found it great to see him in a scrape. I could swear he was chittering like an angry badger there for a moment, but it's hard to tell.

Sadly, the latter of the two episodes features the return of Beatrice's outbursts, but, while she was happily content in her lover's arms, it was nice to see her sedate instead of impractically wacky or raging. If there's one thing that annoys me the most with this series, it's her forced zaniness and the lengths everyone around goes to humor her.

The boat drama was meh, but episode 5's family issue, where a brilliant young girl goes along with her mother's insistence on suing Cambridge (where we get a nice cameo from Richard Wilson) despite the fact that she threw her own admissions interview so she could help her illiterate father, is actually quite intriguing.

Add to that a bit of bonding time for Beatrice and Gloria over their individual love woes and you've got a halfway decent personal drama, that is certainly helped by Fry's ever present charm, which had previously been the only thing holding up the series... and not well, at that.

I find that, as the series progresses and the actors settle into their roles, I'm enjoying Kingdom more and more. I still find Snell a cartoon that is completely out of place and Lyle an utterly irredeemable tool, but nothing is ever perfect (at least until Hyouka is licensed).

Overall, I find myself actually looking forward to watching more episodes of Kingdom, which is something that I never expected after the first few. I suppose that's a good thing? Maybe that feeling will rub off on Dr.Who... but the wound there is still too tender, so that won't be for a while yet.

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~