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I watch a lot of TV, always have, always will. I love the way a really good show draws you in, delves deeper than a movie can into its world, how you connect to characters you wish were real or embody how you feel.

Back 2014, a show called Kingdom premiered exclusively on DirecTV, and for several years I searched the internet high and low for a way to watch it. I’d come across some episodes but not all, and then first two seasons hit major streaming networks, but not the third, and I knew I’d be hooked and it would drive me crazy not to see the third season right away.

I was just about to make a quarantine purchase of the show on iTunes when I heard it was going up on Netflix. I watched the show slowly, savoring each episode, because it is really fucking awesome and I didn’t want to binge it. I avoided spoilers like I’m avoiding COVID-19, because I wanted to enjoy it with no interruptions or preconceptions.

There are few things I love more about a good storyline than incredible character development, and that’s what Jonathan Tucker brings to screen as Jay Kulina. A fighter, an addict, an older brother, a protector and a highly sensitive person.

I’ve been a long time fan of Tucker, from the early days in “Sleepers” to one of my top favorites, “The Black Donnellys” (still hate NBC for cancelling it). The emotional depth he’s brought to Jay rivals my other ultimate character arc of Mickey Milkovich on “Shameless” (US version).

What is Kingdom? Yea, it’s a show about MMA fighters and the MMA world, but it dives deep into the characters and their relationships, with their families, friends, and themselves. It redefines what family can mean, what fighting becomes when its a main source of income that is desperately needed, relationships between parents and children, brothers and sisters.

Me? I see it as a show that brings together good and bad, light and dark, opening up characters that are stereotyped and letting us inside their minds and hearts. The fighter, the addict, the drunk, the closeted, the prostitute, the mentally ill, the desperate.

The Kingdom:

The King: Alvey Kulina (Frank Grillo) is a former champion, now owner of the MMA gym, “Navy St.”. He wields his power in the gym, over his sons, his fighters, his girlfriend and business partner, and any outsiders that infiltrate. He’s troubled and drinks too much, trying too late to rebuild a relationship with his older son, Jay, and maybe just in time to strengthen the relationship with his younger son, Nate. In short, high maintenance, but he’s trying. Grillo brings his innate New York attitude to a role that requires a tough skin, but equally brings out Alvey’s instability just as well.

Look familiar? Grillo is in “Prison Break”, “Billions”, and “The Crash”.

The Prince/Jester: Jay Kulina (Jonathan Tucker) is Alvey’s older son, a successful fighter who’s gained notoriety for not only being a brilliant fighter but also being unreliable, blowing off training and fights for partying and drugs. Jay is deeply sensitive, a wild animal who may have been tamed if he’d had the support earlier in life, but has been abandoned and lied to so much, he’s turned into a cagey cat, protecting his brother at any cost and numbing his own pain, all while being aware of how he’s blowing up his own life. Jay has quickly become one of my all time favorite characters, and Tucker brings him to life in a way that no one else can.

Look familiar? Tucker is currently on “City on a Hill”, and is also known for “Sleepers”, “The Virgin Suicides”, and “Parenthood”.

The Prince: Nate Kulina (Nick Jonas) is an up and coming fighter, joining the family business. Largely taken care of by Jay for most of his life, the brothers have an unbreakable bond that both their parents envy. Nate is the most stable of the family, but hides a secret that could threaten his career. Nick Jonas is surprisingly fantastic, playing the fine balance of fighting as a career, not as a lifestyle, through Nate.

Look familiar? Nick Jonas is part of the boy band The Jonas Brothers, with his two brothers. He’s known for several Disney roles, along with being on “The X Factor” and most recently “The Voice”.

The Destroyer: Ryan Wheeler (Matt Lauria) enters back into the Navy St. world after several years in prison. His a former champion and Alvey takes him back under his wing, as Ryan decides whether or not to return to fighting. There’s something very basic instincts about Ryan, an aggression that lies beneath a good childhood and a solid family, a college career and a former engagement. Rather than a learned behavior for protection, like Jay, his aggression comes naturally and in a scary way.

Look familiar? Lauria is known for “Friday Night Lights” and “Parenthood”.

The Fallen Queen: Christina Kulina (Joanna Going) is Jay’s personal crusade, trying to save his mother after she abandoned the family many years before. The two play off of each other’s pain, with Jay permanently scarred by her. It plays out not as a story about a mother’s love for her child, but rather the child’s love and devotion to his mother, and the lengths he will go to save her. It’s brave and incredibly heartbreaking. Going plays this role so well, you hate Christina and root for her at the same time. 

Look familiar? Going is in “Dark Shadows”, “House of Cards”, and “Interrogation”.

The Consort: Lisa Prince (Kiele Sanchez) is Alvey’s partner in the gym and in life, wrangling fighters and managing them, while trying to hold the Kulina men together. Lisa is a force to be reckoned with in an industry mainly dominated by men. Her relationship with Alvey is volatile, but I think her relationship with the brothers, Jay in particular, should’ve been explored far more. She is rare in his life – a person and a female he can totally trust and rely on. Sanchez plays this role like she’s made for it.

Look familiar? Sanchez is known for “Lost”, “The Glades”, and “The Purge: Anarchy”.

The Page: Keith (Paul Walter Hauser) is Ryan’s roommate at a half-way house and becomes a close friend and devoted fan as the show progresses.  Keith has no family or other friends, and latches on to Ryan who treats him with respect and also expects him to stand up for himself. The Navy St. family accepts him into their world, as Keith battles his own demons. Hauser was so good in his first episode that Balasco developed Keith into a larger part, and Hauser’s total embodiment of Keith’s personality is brilliant. 

Look familiar?  Hauser is best known for the title role of “Richard Jewell”.

Rounded out by an equally excellent supporting cast that includes real life MMA figures, the show’s setting in Venice, California provides a perfect backdrop, and the soundtrack is on point. Creator Byron Balasco did everything right, above and beyond, and I wish the show had gotten picked up by a bigger or wider seen network originally, I doubt it would’ve been cancelled in the way it was. Season 3 was not supposed to be the final season, though the series finale is fitting to cap off both the season and the series.

The show has been gaining media and fan attention since hit Netflix on July 1, and we’re all hoping Netflix will pull off a quarantine miracle and offer the creator and cast a season 4, which they all seem to be hoping for as well.

Funny that I compared this to The Wire recently, one of the supporting actors in Kingdom, Mac Brandt, made a similar comparison during an EW interview in June. Kingdom is without a doubt one of the best shows ever made and deserves a wider audience and another season to continue on with the story.

Don’t let us down, Netflix.

Deep Dive: Jay Kulina of “Kingdom”

“Kingdom” Season 2: The Tragedy of Jay Kulina

“Kingdom”: The Arizona Episodes

“Kingdom”: Let’s Talk King Kulina