I was fairly impressed with the pilot episode of this series, and even though I picked up on the Biblical allegory partway through, I definitely didn't know about it beforehand. As a fan of drama, I'm fairly intrigued and am waiting on tenterhooks for the next episode, which will hopefully help my impression of the film.
The setting of the story is somewhat unusual. It takes place in a monarchic state called "Gilboa", which bears an uncanny (read: almost exact) similarity to the United States, with the one obvious difference being the presence of what appears to be a constitutional monarchy. However, the monarch here isn't some figurehead like the Queen of England. He's a very real monarch. He makes laws, decrees, signs treaties, acts as the head of state and commander-in-chief, and there is a line of succession. Regardless, this is unlike any TV show about royalty that I've ever seen. The culture, customs, dress, language, and society are exact copies of that which you'd find in the United States and the issues they face are very real - if anything, more real - than the issues we find in our society. The society is mixed-race, with no race truly claiming dominance (the royal Reverend is black, one of the secretaries is Latina, etc) and instead of sprawling palaces and estates, the King is housed in a gargantuan skyscraper in the capital city, referred to (tongue-in-cheek) as the Capitol. It reminds me somewhat of Battlestar Galactica, in that you could find nearly everything in our society - but not quite.
The story, on the other hand, is a direct cognate of the David and Goliath story and the rise of David to become King of Israel from the Biblical version. The King's name is Silas (Saul), his son is Jack (Jonathan), of the House of Benjamin, and they're at war with a country called Gath, which commands fearsome Goliath tanks. A farmboy enlistee, David Shepard (note the last name), saves the King's son from a hostage situation single-handedly and takes out a Goliath tank on his own, and becomes a national hero. Out of personal gratitude, the King invites him over for a banquet in his honor, and realizing his potential, turns him into the military liaison of the royal house (an obvious reference to David's appointment as the commander of Saul's armies). He eventually strikes up a romance with the King's daughter, Michelle (as did the biblical David with Michal).
Although relatively faithful to the biblical material from which its borrowing, beyond modernizing, the story takes some obvious dramatic liberties. David isn't fearless, although he is brave. He isn't without flaws. The society isn't Jewish, obviously, it's multicultural and multireligious. And, in a sort of twist of the Samuel storyline, the power working behind Silas is not a witch or crone, but rather a shadow corporation which helped put him into power. Most strikingly, Jack's character is quite different from that of the biblical Jonathan. For one, although only hinted at in the Bible, his homosexuality in the show is made relatively obvious. He doesn't show any love towards David that we know of, and in fact resents him for being given a position which he feels he should have deserved. So, although definitely remaining loyal to the source material, it's perhaps no secret that Kings will develop a life of its own.
The acting is high above average and it paints a visual and dramatic spectacle which is unlike anything I've seen on television in a long time. I sincerely hope this show remains on such a powerful dramatic note.
The setting of the story is somewhat unusual. It takes place in a monarchic state called "Gilboa", which bears an uncanny (read: almost exact) similarity to the United States, with the one obvious difference being the presence of what appears to be a constitutional monarchy. However, the monarch here isn't some figurehead like the Queen of England. He's a very real monarch. He makes laws, decrees, signs treaties, acts as the head of state and commander-in-chief, and there is a line of succession. Regardless, this is unlike any TV show about royalty that I've ever seen. The culture, customs, dress, language, and society are exact copies of that which you'd find in the United States and the issues they face are very real - if anything, more real - than the issues we find in our society. The society is mixed-race, with no race truly claiming dominance (the royal Reverend is black, one of the secretaries is Latina, etc) and instead of sprawling palaces and estates, the King is housed in a gargantuan skyscraper in the capital city, referred to (tongue-in-cheek) as the Capitol. It reminds me somewhat of Battlestar Galactica, in that you could find nearly everything in our society - but not quite.
The story, on the other hand, is a direct cognate of the David and Goliath story and the rise of David to become King of Israel from the Biblical version. The King's name is Silas (Saul), his son is Jack (Jonathan), of the House of Benjamin, and they're at war with a country called Gath, which commands fearsome Goliath tanks. A farmboy enlistee, David Shepard (note the last name), saves the King's son from a hostage situation single-handedly and takes out a Goliath tank on his own, and becomes a national hero. Out of personal gratitude, the King invites him over for a banquet in his honor, and realizing his potential, turns him into the military liaison of the royal house (an obvious reference to David's appointment as the commander of Saul's armies). He eventually strikes up a romance with the King's daughter, Michelle (as did the biblical David with Michal).
Although relatively faithful to the biblical material from which its borrowing, beyond modernizing, the story takes some obvious dramatic liberties. David isn't fearless, although he is brave. He isn't without flaws. The society isn't Jewish, obviously, it's multicultural and multireligious. And, in a sort of twist of the Samuel storyline, the power working behind Silas is not a witch or crone, but rather a shadow corporation which helped put him into power. Most strikingly, Jack's character is quite different from that of the biblical Jonathan. For one, although only hinted at in the Bible, his homosexuality in the show is made relatively obvious. He doesn't show any love towards David that we know of, and in fact resents him for being given a position which he feels he should have deserved. So, although definitely remaining loyal to the source material, it's perhaps no secret that Kings will develop a life of its own.
The acting is high above average and it paints a visual and dramatic spectacle which is unlike anything I've seen on television in a long time. I sincerely hope this show remains on such a powerful dramatic note.