The show begins with rumors of the death of the king of Joseon, who hasn’t been seen outside the palace walls for more than a week. Flyers appear tacked up in Hanyang, announcing the king’s death and calling for the immediate crowning of the prince, Lee Chang (Ju Ji-hoon). However, those inside the palace claim the king is not dead, merely sick, but his affliction has turned him into something monstrous.
Meanwhile, citizens in a small town in the southern province unknowingly contract the disease ravaging the king and die suddenly, but that night they all rise again as zombies, hungry for human flesh (as zombies tend to be). The crown prince sets off from the palace to help the people in need, but when he discovers the truth of the disease, he teams up with a physician, a mysterious warrior, and his personal guard to fight the spread of the disease while also trying to stop a coup from overthrowing his claim to the throne back home.
The show is pretty dense, but it’s so exciting, and, at only six episodes, the plot moves swiftly as the characters find themselves deeper and deeper in trouble. Think Game of Thrones meets The Witcher meets the good bits of The Walking Dead. If that’s not enough to convince you, here is a list of cool things this show has in it: Sick swordfighting (it’s set in the 1600s, so not everyone had guns or knew how to use them yet). People in cool hats (all the costumes are amazing). People shooting flaming arrows at stuff. People galloping horses through city gates and immediately yelling a dire message at other people. A hilarious one-sided romance. Some truly gross undead special effects. Bae Doona (the brilliant physician), whom you may recognize from one of Netflix’s best shows, Sense8.
