Kings on DVD

King Silas (Ian McShane) lashes out at his son, Prince Jack (Sebastian Stan) in Kings.

Thanks to Clarissa over at TVOvermind for giving us the heads-up that the too-soon canceled drama Kings is out on DVD. It may seem crazy to put a half-season of a canceled drama into a formal DVD release, but Kings is that good. I heartily recommend it for the story (a retelling of David and Goliath), the eloquent dialogue, the beautiful cinematography, and for just pure entertainment value. It's a mix of drama, spirituality and mysticism, action, romance, and morality tale woven into a rich tapestry of juicy scenery-chewing goodness.

The performances of the ensemble cast are stellar. Ian McShane as the King and Susanna Thompson as his wife Queen Rose put in fantastic performances, playing up the melodrama to the hilt--but to me, Sebastian Stan was a revelation. With each episode, he added another layer to his ambitious, damaged, repressed, vengeful, vulnerable and lustful Prince Jack. I'm glad Stan still has work on the delightful Gossip Girl, though it's still a pale shadow of the delicious role he had on Kings.

Christopher Egan as David was so ethereally pretty it was hard to believe he was real at first, but he developed his character more and more with each episode. Marlyne Afflack hovered at the King's right hand as Thomasina, and wowed us with the emotional depth she gave her gutsy character. I truly lament the "what-could-have-beens" of this excellent series.

Check out my reviews and recaps of Kings, and get Clarissa's take on the Kings DVD at TVOvermind.



PHOTO: Kings screencap, c2009 UMS, NBC.

Kings -- "The New King: Part Two" Recap

Well. Tonight was the finale of Kings, at least as far as we know. "The New King: Part Two" would have been the lead-in to a new season, and as such, there are a lot of things left hanging. For some reason--perhaps just pure hopefulness--I thought that the storyline was going to wrap up more than it did. I had thought there was even a chance that David (Christopher Egan) might be king when all was said and done.

I'm not sure if the creators knew ahead of time that the series would probably be ending. The episode seems very muddled, with motivations lost in the push-pull for power. Characters really did not go the way I had thought they would, and it was a disappointing end to a fascinating show.

It's funny how I was just writing about Torchwood and how far you can push a character before they become irredeemable. In many instances, despite his sometimes violent decisions, we as viewers felt respect for King Silas (Ian McShane). He had a passion, a will to serve God and the people, and a plan for peace.

And Prince Jack (Sebastian Stan), while he had his spoiled-brat moments, he seemed to be the most affected by David's goodness--and then the sacrifice of his lover. While it's true that Jack was always on the edge of darkness, with all the torture his parents put him through, but circumstances leading up to this had indicated a change for the good.

But in "The New King: Part 2" we get a Silas that seems to capitulate to God's will, finally--and then he turns on it again in his rabid quest to be the man in charge. And we get an angry and vindictive Prince Jack, who now seems happy to go along with his uncle's violent and destructive machinations. He even had a man shot in cold blood for disagreeing with him, and then threatens to blow away his sister when she speaks up.

Certainly Kings has not painted Silas and Jack as perfect characters. But there was a point when they seemed redeemable. I can see how Jack's lifelong frustration with being kept down, kept out of the family spotlight, in fear that he would never reach power has made him go a little crazy. But when he was just a couple episodes ago saving David from a firing squad (albeit by killing others) and talking about bringing peace to Gilboa, it seems odd for him to now be only concerned about getting rid of Dad and getting himself the crown.

And then we have David and Princess Michelle (Allison Miller). I thought Michelle's abandonment of David during the trial was the closest you can get to unforgivable. David understands her family and the pressure she would be under, and I thought he might forgive her if she explained about the baby. But in "The New King: Part 2", Michelle doesn't explain, doesn't tell him about his child--but he just forgives her out of the blue. David has always been the purest character, and not as likely to hold a grudge, but this seemed a leap even for him.

David and Silas get into an actual physical altercation this time, as Silas just can not believe that David didn't have this planned all along--with God. David and Michelle seek refuge in the church, looking to Reverend Samuels (Eamonn Walker) to advise them. He lets them know that David must hide in Gath, where Silas can't find him. Michelle can not go with him, as it would be too dangerous for both of them.

The twist on this is that William (Dylan Baker) has had Reverend Samuels killed. So the question is whether the reverend is a ghost, or if he survived the wounds due to divine intervention. The fact that he disappears when David and Michelle blink leads me to believe he's hanging out in the spirit world, where he can haunt Silas as well.

Queen Rose (Susanna Thompson) is the most consistent in "The New King: Part 2", doing whatever she has to to maintain the throne and have all of the pieces fall into place the way she wants them. She gets Princess Michelle banished for a year--in order to help her hide her pregnancy, of course. Where Michelle is going to go remains for our imaginations.

And Jack, oh Jack. I have to give him credit--he didn't run from what he had done, and stayed to face the consequences. He tells Silas that everything has been taken from him, and there's nothing to live for anyway. Rather than kill him, Silas sentences him to life in closed quarters with his wife whom he does not love. He's expected to produce an heir which Silas can raise in the "right way". I'm not exactly sure how they propose to force him to have sex with a woman he does not desire, but no one ever said Silas was thinking clearly at this point.

So, to sum up--Princess Michelle is exiled. Prince Jack is banished to his room. David is running through the fields of Gath, followed by the prophetic butterflies that have marked him as the true heir to the throne. Reverend Samuels has been killed and now floats around as a spirit, trying to exert influence to further God's plan.

And William will no doubt meet a bad end, as his creepy son Andrew (Macaulay Culkin) defects to the winning side--divulging his father's escape plans and asking to take Jack's place by Silas' side. I'll say one thing for him--he's learned how to play with the big dogs on Kings.

So there it is, the end of a royal era. I might have been able to forgive the misfires in this episode had they smoothed out in another season. But as it is, this is all we are left with. A few rumors and a lot of public pleas for renewal of Kings float around the Internet--and ideas for other networks to pick it up. It's rare for another station to pick up a canceled show. It happens, but I'm not holding my breath.

It would be nice, though, to watch more of the drama unfold with this exemplary cast of characters on Kings.

Watch full episodes of Kings on the NBC official site.

See more Ian McShane:


PHOTOS: Ian McShane as King Silas Benjamin, Sebastian Stan as Prince Jack Benjamin, Christopher Egan as David Shepherd, Susanna Thompson as Queen Rose Benjamin, Macaulay Culkin as Andrew Cross, Kings screencaps, c2009 UMS, NBC.

Kings -- "The New King: Part One" recap

After watching tonight's episode of Kings, "The New King: Part One", I must immediately say: "Oh, Jack. How long have you been dealing with cutthroat political manipulators and you once again manage to be blind-sided by one of them?"

*SPOILER ALERT* But let's begin at the beginning. This episode really needs a graph, or a flow chart, or something, because our heroes and villains kept switching sides left and right. Or at least it seemed that way. Last week I wondered what became of David (Chistopher Egan), after Jack (Sebastian Stan) defended him in court and then slipped away with the help of Uncle Willaim (Dylan Baker).

Turns out Jack's help got him absolutely nowhere, as we find him rotting in prison next to the former King Abaddon. (Here we must pause and give a shout out to Brian Cox, who plays Abaddon as the half-mad, half-brilliant king. Cox is always wonderful as a calculating, sarcastic baddie, as in Troy, X2, and Bourne Identity. Two of the very best in Sean Bean's sexy Sharpe series are the episodes with Brian Cox as a manipulative Napoleonic era secret agent. The man is just a heck of a lot of fun to watch.)

Abaddon plays a pivotal role here. After the debacle of David's trial, King Silas (Ian McShane) seeks out Abaddon for advice. I love that Silas tests Abaddon's mental faculties by seeing if he can identify the wine they're drinking--which he can. Abaddon advises Silas to take a firm hand in his quest for peace. He says Silas always worried too much about the love of the people; he should not be afraid to rule by fear.

"They already think me a tyrant," Silas says, and Abaddon encourages "You're not a tyrant. But you could be."

Silas takes this advice to heart. He takes a hard line on the handover of Port Prosperity to Gath, saying that anyone remaining in their homes should be arrested--or shot. He threatens his ministers into compliance.

Meanwhile, Queen Rose (Susanna Thompson) works her manipulative magic. She seduces Silas in the board room, then uses his distraction to "ask" for forgiveness for Jack. She gives Silas the pros and the cons, which basically amounts to one of her carefully engineered threats.

Rose then advises the guilt-ridden Princess Michelle (Allison Miller) to forget about David and move on. When Michelle persists in pursuing the matter, Rose tells her to offer the king something good when she begs for David's life.

I have to give Silas style points for his response to Michelle's query about David's location: "He's in a temporary location underground, until we can find him a more permanent place there." Ouch. The princess offers to be seen with another man in public, to show no favor to David. Silas does not relent on the death sentence, but he allows her to visit David.

David is understandably angry at Michelle, and feels betrayed. I find it interesting, however, that he takes the same hard stance that Silas recently took against him--he won't even bother hearing her explanation. The difference, of course, is that David only lied about a relationship to Silas, and Michelle lied about standing up for David against a death sentence.

Once she's gone, Abaddon has a chat through the vents with David. I am as bad as Prince Jack, it seems, for I was surprised when Abaddon said he'd been up to no good with Silas. He tells David the opposite of his advice to Silas--that ruling by fear had been his mistake. He says that death is nothing to be afraid of, that to die knowing you are loved is enough. David drily replies that he'd rather be alive and miserable, which gets a laugh out of Abaddon.

The reunion scene between father and son, king and prince, is painful for everyone. We can see Jack's jaw clenched and his cheek twitching as he asks Silas for forgiveness. (Under his uncle's advisement, he has to play nice to keep Silas close when their plan for taking over begins.)

Silas doesn't make it easy. He orders Jack to his knees, which Jack does with extreme anger in his eyes. But then Silas tells him to kiss the ground that he walks on. Rose protests, but Silas adds insult to injury by telling Jack "Your mouth has been in dirtier places."

Sebastian Stan once again does an amazing job as the conflicted and consistently tortured Jack. His eyes on fire, his whole body tense with anger and humiliation, he brings his lips to the ground and kisses the tile at Silas' feet with an audible smack. Silas then tells him that his mother has given him life twice--and that it won't happen again. You can feel the tension in the room as everyone tries to find somewhere to look other than at Jack. Rose tries to comfort him, but he shrinks from her touch.

The big event happens, then, the transfer of Port Prosperity. As the representatives from Galboa and Gath meet, we see David being led out to a firing squad. As he asks God to grant him peace, like the peace he fought so hard for, we see Silas telling the crowd and cameras about his own movements for peace. Prince Jack looks up in the balcony to see his scheming uncle and nephew Andrew (Macauley Culkin), waiting for their plan to take shape.

These parallel scenes have parallel gunfire. David opens his eyes to discover his firing squad has been fired upon, and he still stands alive. At the ceremony, a lone gunman starts firing at Silas, and Jack dives in front of the bullet. He's hit, but so is Silas.

After the dust settles, Reverend Samuels (Eamonn Walker) comes to inform Queen Rose that the king is dead. She doesn't believe a word of it, unable to face that her indestructible husband could have been killed. Jack arrives, arm in a sling, to take his rightful place. For once he gets to scare his mother with his cold efficiency, as he kisses her on the cheek and recites some of her own advice about appearances back at her. One point for Jack there, at least.

Next we see Jack welcoming David back from death with a hug and a smile. David is understandably wary, wondering why Jack saved his life. Jack tells him that he plans to lead in the best way possible, and he needs someone good by his side so that he can learn from his example. David is still uncertain, but he goes along with Jack to the board room to meet with the ministers.

Upon seeing David, Michelle is struck speechless, and David gives her a cold look worthy of her family. David is about as pure as you can get in Gilboa, but in Kings, everyone has a little darkness.

And now we are back to Jack. He settles comfortably into the king's chair, and makes the pronouncement that he plans to work for peace just as his father did. Before he can get very far, however, his uncle William interrupts. He's had enough of the pompous speeches and posturing, and is ready to get as bloody as it takes to wipe Gath off the map. When Jack tries to protest, the room is suddenly surrounded by armed guards with guns at the ready. Once again, Jack is just a pawn in someone else's game.

Just when it all looks hopeless, William's creepy nephew Andrew sneaks up behind him. I swear, I was hoping he had a gun or a knife and was going to give his dad what he deserved. But he only has a message: that Silas has disappeared, his ambulance waylayed. Queen Rose's eyes light up...she knew her husband could not so easily be dead.

Princess Michelle sidles up to David, and he listens to her long enough to find out that she can help him escape the building. I'm not sure why the horde of armed guards would let them just wander off to a hidden corner of the room, but I suppose they might figure they had no place to go. Creepy nephew Andrew follows them, and sees David leave, but does not sound the alarm.

David of course knows where the king has gone, as they went on pilgrimage together. He finds the king with his girlfriend and son--and the ever-faithful Thomasina (Marlyne Afflack), who pulls a gun on David. But once again, David does not waste time with petty revenge. He thinks only of the kingdom, only of the people.

David lets Silas know that Jack is in place as king, but only as a puppet--that William will destroy everything that Silas has built. Suffering from his wounds, looking wild-eyed and beaten, Silas claims he is done, that it is all over.

I love that Thomasina gives David a look that says she's as disappointed as he is. And she does nothing to stop him when he confronts Silas nose to nose, to throw at him all that he's done and all that David tried to do, and what Silas owed his own people now.

At his passionate speech, Silas's eyes grow clear and determined. He tells his young son, "Remember when I told you that I worked for the king? Well...I am the king."

So will Silas be the new king, a king reborn through circumstances and David's will? Or will Jack maintain the throne, with or without his uncle's interference? Or will David become the king the divine butterflies indicated he might be?

Other questions that circle...what will Andrew's role in all this be? Will David be able to forgive Michelle, once he learns her reasons?

And will we finally discover what Jack's true motives are--will the good in him win out over the ambitions? Jack's mother wanted to know how much he was involved in the plot against Silas, and I'm actually curious myself. Was Jack supposed to throw himself in front of the bullet to make a good show for the cameras, or was it a genuine impulse to save his father?

Tune in next week for the final Kings, Saturday night at 8/7c. We'll see how many answers we get, and how much will be left to our own imaginations.

Read more of my Kings blog posts.

PHOTOS: Sebastian Stan as Prince Jack Benjamin; Ian McShane as King Silas Benjamin; Susanna Thompson as Queen Rose Benjamin; Prince Jack and King Silas; Christopher Egan as David Shepherd; Allison Miller as Princess Michelle Benjamin; King Silas and David; Prince Jack, King Silas, and David, Kings "Goliath", "Brotherhood", and "Javelin" screencaps, c2009 UMS, NBC.

Kings -- "Javelin"

Wow. Tonight's Kings episode, "Javelin" was one of the most frustrating, maddening, and nail-biting episodes of the season yet. Everyone was out for blood on this one, and characters took turns that I hadn't expected them to.

*SPOILER ALERT* King Silas (Ian McShane) has shuffled over time, back and forth between his own ambitions and his growing fatherly affection for David (Christopher Egan). To see him so hell bent on David's good name being destroyed and his life sacrificed so that Silas could stay in power...it was not the way I expected it to go. As Rev. Samuels (Eamonn Walker) pointedly observed, Silas has made bad decisions based on vanity and ego before, but Samuels never saw him as a villian.

The breaking of trust he felt happened with David seemed to be a catalyst for his vengeance, but as David and Princess Michelle (Allison Miller) protest again and again, his argument beomes more about retaining power than anything else. He's angry at no longer being the one the people look to--he's being slowly supplanted by David's good name.

Prince Jack (Sebastian Stan) has been slowly showing signs of conscience as weeks progress, and no matter how he pushes a ruthless agenda or conspires with people who do, there's always the hint of regret in his eyes. With Silas so turned against David, it was difficult seeing Jack also stand up in court and falsely accuse David of treason--with doctored video and fake testimony.

"You seem to have the teeth for flesh," Silas tells Jack proudly during a recess of David's trial. It was frightening how easy it was for Jack to twist the facts just enough to have David's own character witnesses second-guessing their own thoughts and feelings. After all, what's easier to believe: that David has divine luck, or that he was protected by the enemy?

The king's brother-in-law William (Dylan Baker) plays a strangely duplicitous role in the "Javelin" episode. On one hand, he tells Jack that David getting prosecuted is a good thing, to help pave the way for Jack's supremacy. On the other hand, in exchange for Reverend Samuels help in their coup, he breaks David out of jail and offers him safe passage.

David himself displays such an incredible purity of spirit in this episode of Kings, it causes a stirring of both admiration and frustration as he refuses to budge on his principles. "No one can be that good," Jack asserts when David warns him of the very plot to overthrow the king that he's involved with. David even refuses the safe passage from Rev. Samuels and William because it will prove everything the king has accused him of.

What hurt the most in the "Javelin" episode was Princess Michelle's betrayal. She's been shown many times to be weak when it comes to her family's manipulations, and though she attempts to defy them, they always manage to get her back in the end. In this case, Michelle discovers she's pregnant with David's child. Queen Rose convinces her that the king will never allow that child to be born, and so they have to hide the truth from him. She tells her to keep her distance from David to avoid any suspicion. After promising to testify on David's behalf, to be the only one in her family standing with him, she doesn't show up in court. She's decided to protect her unborn child and sacrifice the child's father instead.

Kings continually shows us that all the characters live in shades of gray. In the "Javelin" episode we discover that Rev. Samuels' wife was murdered in the past, and that when the killers were caught, he asked Silas to kill them and have their existences wiped clean from record. Silas felt that having done that for Samuels, Samuels should understand that Silas now wants to do whatever necessary to protect his own family from attacking elements. "You can'be both the lion and the lamb," he tells Samuels.

Another character falls in Kings as well, and this time it's Thomasina (Marlyne Afflack), the king's trusty right-hand woman. Reminding her of her promises of devotion and service, and his promise of promotion, he orders her to have one of the witnesses in David's trial killed so that the truth can never be found out. Thomasina is clearly conflicted, but she follows orders.

There's a touching scene afterward, when she goes back to our two favorite palace guards, Boyden (Jason Antoon) and Klotz (Joel Marsh Garland). Klotz had finally professed his love for her in an earlier scene, and she confronted him with it now. "And you would love me, no matter what I've done?" she asks, and he affirms. Thomasina kisses him gently, in thanks.

By the end of the "Javelin" episode, things look bleak for David. His love has turned against him, the mob outside, his king and his prince. When King Silas cruelly manipulates David into thinking that he has failed his king and kingdom, by becoming more loved than the country's leader, he actually convinces David to fall on his sword and claim his guilt in court.

David's final act of utter selflessness, confessing to something Prince Jack knows he didn't do, finally snaps Jack's resolve on this brutal course of action. I loved it when he told David to stop talking, just like an older brother might shush a sibling in exasperation. In open court, he confesses to the lie, and accuses himself and his father of treason. There's a nasty altercation as Silas flies into a rage, howling angry slurs at his son before confirming David's guilty sentence and ordering that his son and David be hauled away by guards.

The guards take Jack outside, where he's met by another set of guards with guns. Jack expects he's to be immediately executed, then finds that his uncle William has brought these guards. William is excited about the latest turn of events, and feels it will be even easier to overthrow the king. Silas' outburst on TV and his smearing of a country hero has turned the mob against him.

So it appears Prince Jack has finally come out on top for once--after following his conscience. He's finally outright defied his father, rather than the passive-aggressive ways he's annoyed him in the past. I'm not sure what this means about Jack's personal development, however--will his ambition still outweigh his conscience?

And David's future remains uncertain. With popular opinion so swayed against him, Silas might not follow through with executing David. After all, the public's view has saved David's life a few times before. Silas will be even more desperate than ever to retain his crown and the people's love.

Tune in next Saturday for the next episode of Kings, at 8/7c on NBC. Catch up on any of the Kings episodes you missed by visiting NBC's official Kings website.

PHOTOS: Ian McShane as King Silas; Sebastian Stan as Prince Jack; Dylan Baker as William, Allison Miller as Princess Michelle and Christopher Egan as David; Marlyne Afflack as Thomasina; Jason Antoon as Boyden and Joel Marsh Garland as Klotz; David and Jack, Kings screencaps, c2009 UMS, NBC.

Kings -- "Chapter One"

Wow. If you were ever in doubt of the ruthlessness of the characters on Kings, tonight's episode "Chapter One" gives you plenty of evidence. There are vicious schemes aplenty and the royal family finds it oh so easy to tamper with lives.

Last week's episode "Pilgrimage" left us with King Silas (Ian McShane) bitter over what he felt was a betrayal of trust on David's part. This week in "Chapter One", David (Christopher Egan) attempts to make amends to his king. Silas sends him on a mission to recover a recently stolen country relic--the original charter that spelled out Gilboa's laws and vision of its future. Succeed at retrieving the charter, Silas commands, and his forgiveness and his daughter's hand David shall have.

David sets off with his usual fortitude, and it's a journey of discovery for him in many ways. He gets duped, beat up, and drugged by a van full of hippies, but still he presses on. He hears a painful truth from a military comrade of his father--when their unit received an order to attack rebels made up of their countrymen, they refused. Silas sent them on a no-win mission intended to kill them, and that is where David's father actually died.

Meanwhile, back at Shiloh, David's mother (Becky Ann Baker) has a powerful moment with King Silas. Every day she waits at the capitol, her presence noted by the king even though she says nothing. She's a stoic sentry, and eventually Silas is unnerved enough by her presence to speak with her. I love this confrontation between them, as she lets Silas know that she's wise to his way of doing things. She also lets him know that whatever he plots, David will return victorious and his path will be laid out--and that she and Silas will be the only two unhappy about it. We can see in the king's sudden tense expression and the angry twitch in his left eye that she's hit a powerful nerve.

As David goes on his personal journey in "Chapter One", Prince Jack (Sebastian Stan) finds himself once again manipulated by more powerful people. After being blackmailed into a marriage with Katrina Ghent (Leslie Bibb), Jack suffers through her gloating wedding preparations. Then suddenly we see Jack announcing his engagement to a much more respectable girl, and Queen Rose (Susanna Thompson) tsk tsking about the tagic fatal accident Ghent managed to get into--an accident it is obvious she orchestrated.

Due to his sudden and respectable new engagement, King Silas tells Jack he will announce the prince as his successor on the happy wedding day. Surprised and delighted, Jack informs his Uncle William (Dylan Baker) that their scheme to take over the kingdom need not go forward. Jack expresses the patience to wait for a proper succession, and spare the country needless bloodshed. His uncle abruptly informs him that he has no choice in the matter and that plans will go forward.

Once again Jack is undermined and left powerless. It seems whether he chooses to do right or wrong, his luck is always sour--though perhaps it is because of his endless ambition to be king. We see how his new bride suffers when she slowly begins to realize what she has signed on for--she gets brutally schooled by Queen Rose on the strict expectations and the violations of privacy when it comes to marrying the crown, and she gets further slapped when she catches Jack flirting with a male staff member.

We return to the dumped-on-the-railroad-tracks-by-hippies storyline of David, then. Once again destiny intervenes, and David's drug-induced vision leads him to the train car where the stolen charter has been hidden. As his mother predicted, he returns to Shiloh a hero. King Silas makes nice for the the public, but quickly clears the room. David lets him know that he's realized Silas meant for him to be dead, but that he's managed to triumph again. There is perhaps an insinuation that David has realized he may have some ambitions of his own after all.

It's obvious King Silas isn't in any mood to be forgiving, and the next thing we know, David is being hauled off to jail for treason. It's interesting that Silas chose not to assasinate him outright, but perhaps he hopes to discredit him first. For once, Silas and his son Jack may be on the same side.

It will be interesting to see where Kings takes us in these next few episodes. David has been set up from the beginning as a lamb amongst lions, which sometimes makes him a hero that's hard to root for. He is noble and naive almost to a fault--we viewers sometimes want to hit him over the head for the traps he so easily walks into.

His archrival, Prince Jack, however, doesn't have much better luck being manipulative and cool. Though perhaps Jack's occasional flickers of conscience prevent him from being as successful at powerful manipulation like his mother.

Despite his bumbling, David has managed to survive this long, which seems to be based on God's favor. Part of this Kings episode focuses on King Silas' desire for a new book of Gilboa to be written, to document his own vision of the future. We see at the end that the writer has chosen to write a new story all right, and it's the Book of David.

Will David survive to rise to King? Or will Prince Jack? After the shift in their relationship in "Brotherhood", will Jack continue to be an enemy to David?

Tune in to Kings to find out, Saturday nights on NBC at 8/7c. Watch full episodes online at NBC.com.

PHOTOS: Ian McShane as King Silas, Christopher Egan as David Shepherd; Sebastian Stan as Prince Jack, Leslie Bibb as Katrina Ghent, Kings "Pilgrimage" screencaps, c2009 UMS, NBC.

Kings -- "Pilgrimage"

Tonight's episode of Kings, "Pilgrimage", was just one more shining example of why it's such a ridiculous shame that this show has been canceled. The relationships between these characters, the way they constantly evolve and reassess their choices, is amazing to watch. There's drama, suspense, sexiness, and an ethereal web of spirituality and myth that binds it all together.

Sebastian Stan once again infuses Prince Jack with a heartbreaking mix of pride and love and anguish, struggling beneath a shell of duty and appearance and arrogance. "Pilgrimage" begins with Jack's lover Joseph (Michael Arden), creating a tape that declares his love for the Prince, and sending it to all of the news programs as well as Jack. He hopes that he can out Jack and force him to face who he really is.

Thomasina intercepts Jack's mail, and brings it to his mother for damage control. Jack tries to play along, telling his mother he barely knew Joseph, and agreeing with her decision to quash the rumors as soon as possible. Jack is unprepared, however, for the startling news that Joseph killed himself after making the video.

Jack attends the funeral for Joseph, keeping to the shadows, but he's seen by the Reverend Samuels (Eamonn Walker). Rev. Samuels gives a service that mentions Joseph's bravery, for dealing with the difficulty of his differences, but living as one whole and true person during his life--unlike Jack, who constantly lives two lives. Rev. Samuels also says that Joseph died not for loving the wrong person, but for loving too much.

I was honestly expecting Jack to stick to his arrogance and anger with this, especially with all the pressure from his mother. But Joseph's drastic actions, and perhaps the words of the reverend, seem to have a strong effect on him. When his mother berates him for going to the funeral of his "accuser", he boldly confesses his love for Joseph. Even after she slaps him and condemns his "character flaws", he doesn't back down.

Meanwhile, David (Christopher Egan) and Princess Michelle (Allison Miller) continue their own secretive relationship. David is unhappy with the subterfuge, hating all the sneaking around and keeping it all from the king he admires. Michelle insists, however, that she can not bear her father's disappointment in breaking her vows to serve only God.

As Kings is a melodrama, we're not surprised when David's apartment is ransacked and the camera with compromising photos of Michelle goes missing. We discover that the queen's brother William (Dylan Baker) took all of the items from David's department. We also see his bizarre, recently exiled son Andrew (Macauley Culkin), discovering the photos by accident as he rifles through all of David's stolen belongings.

Michelle tries to bond with Jack over their mutual angst, and to get him to help her with keeping her relationship secret. Jack will have none of it, telling her that she can easily learn to push her feelings down so far even she won't be able to find them--but she'll suffer for it. He declares he won't help her do something that will hurt her in the end, which is pretty brotherly stuff coming from the typically self-centered Jack. It's only just the beginning, however.

Queen Rose (Susanna Thompson) makes a big mistake when she makes minister Katrina Ghent (Leslie Bibb) her enemy. Through an opportunistic employee and the queen's dissed nephew, Katrina finds herself in possession of both the photos involving Michelle, and the video involving Prince Jack. She delights in giving the queen a choice--choose which one of her children to save from scandal.

I'm not surprised when she chooses Jack. The queen's choices are always for her own and the royalty's best interests, and Jack's scandal is far more embarrassing for them than Michelle's will be. So she sacrifices her daughter to protect the image of the royal family, telling Michelle it will eventually be a positive image maker for her.

Next we see Jack meeting with Katrina, asking her to trade his tape for his sister's, giving himself up in order to save her rep and her father's wrath. It's a startling move for Jack, and Katrina is surprised--but manages to come up with a new way to capitalize on his newfound nobility. She wants the best revenge on Jack's mother, and says she'll keep both things quiet if Jack marries her.

She seems to have her answer when we see Jack handing Michelle her camera back. Michelle is as startled as we are, but I'm happy when she grabs Jack before he moves away, kissing him warmly on the cheek. Jack and Michelle get so much conflicting loveand manipulation from their parents, they really do need to stick together more.

While all of this wheeling and dealing is going down, King Silas (Ian McShane) invites David to go on his regular pilgrimage--a trip he tells his ministers and followers is where he communes with God and figures out what's next for the kingdom. On the way to this pilgrimage, he asks David to interpret his own moment with the crown of butterflies. David tells him he thinks it's a message from God to serve his king. Silas is pleased with David's devotion and seeming lack of ambition. He gives directions to David to drive, and they soon arrive at the house of Silas' lover Helen (Sarita Choudhury) and their son.

David is stunned, and unsure how to react. He can see the love Silas has for his second family, but he doesn't know how to reconcile it with his own notions of love and honor. He asks Silas why he doesn't just stay in the country, where he's happy, and Silas tells him he has a calling that he must obey.

David then makes a fatal error, out of misguided devotion to Michelle. Silas tells him that he brought him to the country because he wanted David to know all of his secrets--that if two people share secrets, they can share trust. He says David knows his secrets and can forgive him, and now David can impart any secrets and be forgiven. This is the perfect opportunity for David to spill the beans about him and Michelle, but he lies instead.

I know they're trying to create drama here, but I feel like they broke the story a bit. It seems out of character for David to lie outright--I would have thought he would have hinted at something, saying it wasn't only his secret to tell, or remaining cagey. But this out and out lie?

Sure enough, it will come back to bite him. Emboldened by her brother's actions, and his advice to avoid living a lie, Michelle goes to her father and confesses her love for David. She is overjoyed when she visits David, telling him it is all okay and that they no longer need to sneak around. David is distressed, however, and he surmises correctly that Silas feels this has been a huge breach of trust. We'll have to wait until next week to find out how Silas reacts.

Watch Kings on NBC Saturday nights at 8/7c, or catch all the Kings episodes online at NBC.com.

PHOTOS: Christopher Egan as David Shepherd, Sebastian Stan as Prince Jack, Allison Miller as Princess Michelle, Kings screencaps, c2009 UMS, NBC.

Canceled Primetime TV Shows

NBC: Not that it's a surprise, but Kings has been officially canceled. My heart is broken, as this could have been one of those great epics like Lost that everyone gets so invested in--the fanfic was already being written, people!

Less tears are shed for canceled NBC shows Kath & Kim, My Name is Earl, and Medium. The latter got picked up immediately by CBS, and My Name is Earl has a good chance of getting renewed life from FOX or even ABC.

NBC gave up on Life, which was also somewhat expected, though no less disappointing. At least we got something of an end for Life, in one of the finest primetime TV esisodes of any show ever. Just remember, One + One = One = Love.

ABC: I never watched finally-ended series According to Jim, and In the Motherhood and The Unusuals got about 15 minutes total of my attention before giving up. Samantha Who? had its moments, but just couldn't hang on. And ratings-challenged Cupid got canceled as well, despite my personal objections. Bobby Cannavale has a power of charm that gives even Nathan Fillion a run for his money, and I'm hoping he can swing another show.

CBS: The loss of mini-season serial drama Harper's Island probably won't upset too many people, but some surprise cancellations have hit fans hard as CBS said goodbye to The Unit, Without a Trace, and Eleventh Hour.

CW: Cult fave Reaper got the sharp end of the scythe, and CW also canceled Everybody Hates Chris, The Game and Privileged.

FOX: I reported earlier that FOX had canceled Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, but they also axed King of the Hill, Mad TV and Sit Down, Shut Up. King of the Hill was actually canceled last year, but then there was practically an entire season of episodes left to air--not all of which have seen the light as yet.

PHOTO: Ian McShane as King Silas, Christopher Egan as David Shepherd, Kings screencap, c2009 UMS, NBC.

What's Up, Chuck? -- Canceled and Renewed Shows Update

Looks like we'll all have to wait for the fate of Chuck, as well as NBC drama staples Medium and Law & Order. All three shows are still on the bubble, and NBC won't be letting us know their fate until May 19, according to both Zap2It and TV.com. (Although Worst Previews reports Medium was picked up over the weekend, so our favorite ghost whisperer may be back after all.)

What NBC did decide on for sure is that Heroes, Southland, and Parks and Recreation will be back. Heroes is a hot mess this season, with just a few flickers of promise, but apparently it does well overseas and is worth it to NBC to keep. TV.com reported a huge ratings slippage for Southland over the course of a month, but apparently the network thinks it's still a good gamble. I wish they would have gambled on Kings instead.

My Name is Earl is still up in the air, but if canceled, word is that FOX might pick it up. The Office, 30 Rock, Law & Order: SVU, and Celebrity Apprentice are all renewed. Coincidentally, I don't watch any of these shows. Apparently I am just not in tune with the average Nielsen TV viewer.


The biggest hearbreak of all is losing Life. I'm not sure why this Damian Lewis/Sarah Shahi detective/mystery/dark comedy story didn't take off the way The Mentalist has. Part of it can be blamed on the writers' strike that interrupted Life's first season, and it's somewhat darker and odder tone may have also contributed. When you can't slap a simple label on a show, it's harder to sell to an audience. While The Mentalist straddles a couple different genres, it still has a basic format of crime solving procedural each week, so it's easier for the average viewer to grasp.

The only good news is that Life at least got a proper ending, with one of the finest episodes of TV drama I've ever seen on television. There's enough quality and foundation there to get out a decent film if they wanted to, and I'd love to see it.

I'll keep you posted on this year's network upfronts news as I hear it.

PHOTOS: Zachary Levi as Chuck on Chuck, c2009 College Hill Pictures, NBC and Damian Lewis as Charlie Crews on Life, c2009 NBC.

Kings Gets Moved to Summer Graveyard

Looks like Pushing Daisies and Eli Stone will have Kings for company this summer. I sat down tonight to watch the new episode of Kings, "Brotherhood", only to find myself looking at a rerun of Law & Order: SVU. The local TV guide said it would be there. IMDB said it would be there. Unfortunately, NBC decided Kings didn't perform well enough in its one showing on Saturday, so they shuffled it off to summer oblivion.

Saturday night is typically a dumping ground for reruns, so why do they care what the ratings are? I can bet a decent portion of people hoping to tune in to Kings last week did so on Sunday. Whenever a show switches timeslots, it takes people a week or so to catch up. Now we tune in on Saturday, and the show is gone.

So, after a mere five episodes, we have to wait almost two months to pick up where we left off. I'm sure a two month layoff will really help the ratings come summer. Not that Kings has a chance of being renewed, the writing's pretty much on the wall at this point. It just seems that if you're looking for eyeballs for advertisers, you'd not want to lose the diehard audience Kings does have by shutting them out for a long hiatus.

Really, NBC never gave Kings a chance. The promos were too vague, and once the big hype was done, there were few commercials airing for the show. Kings' original Thursday timeslot was given to Southland, and Kings was pushed to Sunday. And then to Saturday. And then to nowhere. A commenter on TV Series Finale blames it on a change in NBC management. I wouldn't be surprised at all if politics were involved, because purposely killing an expensive and ambitious show before it's even begun? That's more spite than sense.

The glorious Kings will return on Saturday night, June 13, at 8/7c. You can always refresh your memory when the time comes with my blog on episode 5, "Judgment Day".

In the meantime, NBC offers you Saturday reruns of Law & Order: SVU, Southland, and Law & Order. Because, you know, we don't get enough of cop and lawyer shows the rest of the week.

PHOTOS: Ian McShane as King Silas, Christopher Egan as David Shepherd, Susannah Thompson as Queen Rose, and Sebastian Stan as Prince Jack on Kings, screencaps c2009 UMS, NBC.

Kings -- "Judgment Day"

*SPOILER ALERT* Last night's Kings episode "Judgment Day" had lots of angsty David (Christopher Egan), and lots of angry Prince Jack (Sebastian Stan). With the upcoming furor of Judgment Day, when King Silas (Ian McShane) reconsiders ten cases that were already ruled on by the courts, Prince Jack's plotting reaches epic heights as he does his best to ruin his rival.

Using his mouthpiece Katrina Ghent (Leslie Bibb), one of the ministers appointed by the King, Prince Jack ensures that David's brother gets the full sentence for treason. Prince Jack first pits David and Princess Michelle (Allison Miller) against one another for the tenth slot on Judgment Day's roster, and then offers David a deal--if he speaks publicly against the King, then Ghent will influence the court to show leniency.

To both Jack's and Katrina's surprise, David won't participate in political dealings, even to save his brother. In that way, he's just like his brother--who wouldn't recant his principles either. Jack is furious, but Katrina is impressed. She spurns Jack's advances, and insults him to boot, and then goes to speak to the King--subtly letting him know about David's honor.

The princess Michelle confronts her brother Jack when she realizes he has orchestrated all of this to ruin David. She accuses him of playing with a man's life for spite, but he counters that it's for his own life. He fears her and David marrying, ascending to the throne and leaving him out in the cold. Once again Sebastian Stan does a marvelous job of showing Jack's desperation--he's done horrible, cruel things, but out of his own fear and agony.

One of the best scenes in the episode comes when the King tells David that he has spared his brother's life--and given him a 6 month sentence. The extremes of the sentence, he said, allowed him the right to intervene with his divine wisdom. In a burst of emotion, David hugs him, catching King Silas completely by surprise. The lamb amongst all of the lions, David may change this family yet.

Watch Kings on its new day, Saturdays on NBC at 8/7c.

PHOTO: Sebastian Stan as Prince Jack, Kings screencap c2009 Universal Media Studios (UMS), NBC.