Rainha Cheorin (2020)

Awesome drama but for one narrative misstep

There has already been dozens of review written on this popular k-drama so I'm not going to go into great details about the bulk of the show other than to say that it was amazing, funny, sad, heartfelt, thought provoking, exciting, etc. Definitely worth the watch.
Superb acting by the FL and the ML was great as well. Oodles of OTP chemistry. Support cast was top notch. We'll just say no more about the palace intrigue plot, it was integral to the story but nothing new.
Now, some of the reviews focused on THE ending. I understood their sentiments but I don't agree with the more extreme views that the show was ruined by the ending. Yes, it was a bit of fancy foot work on the writer-nims' part in last 30 minutes but to do it otherwise would be to create and ignore longer term problems. You can't really have a 21st century person living the rest of their natural life in the Joseon era without turning history into swiss cheese. Even the few month he was there was already throwing up narrative issues that will make you cross eyed if you think about it. The problem is that most of the negative review all centred around the point that the 21st century person should be allowed to stay on and live happily ever after in the past because he earned it. Is it possible? Viable? Butterfly effect? What happens if he dies in the present?
The writer-nims did their best to push the two threads back together and it was done in a fairly light hearted and conclusive way. Let us not forget that the main relationship between the OTP was getting messy and confusing and it was sustained by the "true love conquers all" motif.
Other reviews also assumed the FL's soul was completely banished and it was obviously not true. By the half way mark, you can see glimpse of her old self popping to the fore. My reading of this is that the FL's soul was always there and can see, hear and feel everything but it was in a passive voice. So the original FL was a "silent" partner and fell in love with the ML along the way, possibly more so. She might even had taken the lead (subconsciously) at some key moments (you will know what I mean if you have watched the show). So it was not that much of a stretch for her to carry on once the 21C person departed. Her later comments and actions all pointed to her being aware of everything that had happened. Her eventual persona also changed a bit so it was a two way street. On the other hand, if they let the 21C person stay on then another segment of the audience will rail against that ending because of all the timey wimey and interpersonal issues.
It was brave of the writer-nims to go down the time travel/body swap theme and it was a deep rabbit hole they went down. At least with this ending, we can have the unicorns and a workable conclusion that I can live with and still smile at the happy thoughts.

Leia Mais

I can watch it a 100 times and still won’t get bored.

One moment you are laughing your ass off and the other moment it gets soo intense. Nail bitting suspense keeps you watching episode after episode bcz you can’t wait to see what will happen next. And suddenly without realising you reach towards the end 😩
Its perfect blend of comedy, romantic moments, political drama and action. Totally different than any other k-dramas that I have watched before. It kept me hooked until the very end which is rare bcz I get bored very easily.

Queens acting just blew me away she did it soo perfectly. The body language, the expressions and emotions all made it a hit. Though I felt bad when bong hwan returned back to his world and the queens soul comes back. It actually felt like something went missing. I feel like some clarity was needed here about the feelings between bong hwan and the king.
I loved the support characters. They did an amazing job. Added it to One of my favs list. Chefs kiss 😚

Leia Mais

Humour, political intrigue and amazing acting

Mr. Queen was one of the most highly anticipated dramas on my watchlist ever since I learnt about the plot synopsis. The promos only added to the thrill. It was going to be a perfect drama to binge. After finally getting around to binging it, I can tell you that it was worth the hype and wait. It was a perfect combination of comedy and political intensity. The best part about MQ was the amazing acting skills portrayed by Shin Hye Sun and Kim Jung Hyun and the chemistry between them. If it hadn't been landed well, the drama would have ended because quite mediocre, because this combination was needed for the script to be set apart. No amount of words can be enough to the shift in characters which SHS displayed, I almost believed that there was actually Bong Hwan's soul in her body. From being wary of each other to developing great partnership while navigating through the palace's plots and betrayals, these two come a long away. It was fun to see Bong Hwan introduce many of the non existing concepts into that era.

The drama starts of quite slow paced and at points some of the scenes feel unnecessary because you want your favorites to interact more. The first eighteen episodes are nearly perfect and though the last two are good enough they aren't the best. Of course both the episodes have many of my favourite scenes from the entire series, there were a few things that felt missing. There are few plots which are wrapped up well, and few needed better work or closure. Maybe the spin off will cover it. I wanted to see a proper ending to the King and Bong Hwan's relationship, but the end is filled with too much of ambiguity. It varies from history and though the writers give us what is supposed to be a happy end, it doesn't exactly feel like one. Maybe if Kim So Yong was equally present along with Bong Hwan, though towards the last few episodes we do see more of her, I would have been more convinced.

Anyway, despite the short faults, this will remain a favourite drama. Period pieces are often filled with heartbreaks, but Mr. Queen takes a little diversion from that and sticks to its essence. I would also like to mention how epic the intro and OST of this show is, a perfect match with the emotions it was the viewers to feel.

Leia Mais

One Of The Best Historical Kdramas I Have Ever Watched!!!

I began this drama expecting the typical cliches of a rom-com historical drama. Oh, how I was wrong! This drama had astonishing acting and a deepened story plot that kept me glued to my screen. I found myself falling in love with the king, crying my eyes out when someone tried to hurt the queen and laughed whenever the queen did the unexpected. This emotional rollercoaster helped me understand and relate to these characters more. I did not even fast forward on any ep because the story was just so entertaining. I cannot put into words just how amazing this drama was! I became confused on who to trust, who to like, and who to dislike. Only after, did I realize who were the good guys and who were the bad ones. I love how the king and queen joined forces to take down the corruption in Joseon! This will forever hold a special place in my heart as for 2021 kdramas.

Leia Mais

Amazing Drama

Well, i just finished this drama and it had me laughing, crying and cringing all in one. The cast did an amazing job in portraying their characters, and it goes too show how talented, and visionary these people are. I am fascinated with the History of South Korea, and to see it in front of me is mesmerizing, The Storyline is well put together, and it`s good too see a few funny scenes in there too , i think that`s what makes a drama exciting, intriguing and captivating is adding funny bits in there to capture us viewers attention.
So if you haven`t seen this drama then you don`t know what you are missing.

Leia Mais

Everything is not what it seems.

I had watched this show at the height of the pandemic, and boy it really is a pick me up kind of a show. Till date I rewatch the show because it just makes me feel good. Shin Hye Sun was born to play this role and she nailed it! The show has everything from romance, palace politics, cooking, gender bending dilemmas, treachery, dual personality, and comedy.

The costumes were great, it was colourful, the accessories intricate and looked regal. Even the colours represented each of the character.

The cooking scenes ( even the knives) was done by Shin Hye Sun herself. I enjoyed how they described the dishes, its ingredients and how to make them. The way cooking was used as a tool by Kim So Young/Jang Bong Hwa to manipulate the Grand Queen Dowager was so clever, which is an analogy if you want to get the attention of the most powerful person in the room, you have to play politics by cooking things up to feed their ego.

The ultimate question of the show is are we controlled by our mind, heart or soul? It turns out we behave differently for example when it comes to cooking it is the passion for the soul of Jang Bong Hwa but when it came to the matters of the heart, Kim So Young could not hold back and eventually for the greater good, you have the mind ( a combination of both Kim and Jang) to get it done.

The acting in this show was par excellence, my favourite scenes are:-
1- When the King confronts the Queen by using a potion so that she would speak the truth, both were ruthless.
2-When the Queen confronts the King after being threatened to be deposed after she saved him and his royal consort.
3- When the King was forced to show his other side after the Queen collapses and her cousin trying to interfere.
4- All of the scenes when the Queen takes revenge against the Kims.

Although this is remake of Go Princess Go, but Mr Queen stands on its own, and this is how you do a remake.

Leia Mais

You'll cry (mostly of laughter)

Mr. Queen was somehow shot in the dark when I decided to watch it. I basically seen one scene somewhere and it seems crazy enough to make me watch it. And it was so worth it.

This drama is weird and one needs to understand it, but from the first episode we get full force of weirdness of this show.
This drama starts off with a self absorbed womaniser waking up in woman’s body somewhere in Joseon era. And obviously this woman is no other than a queen. Go figure. And right away we get full freakout in fear of losing genitals and this may not sound good, but thrust me, this scene is pure comedy gold.

From the very beginning thing that I noticed the most was acting. And here a moment of sidenote. We have a situation where we have a man in woman’s body. All voiceovers were at this point made by Choi Jin Hyuk, actor who played main character before we has brutally misplaced to a different body. And this was reason why we couldn’t forget that the queen is not exactly the queen, but not only because of that, but also thanks to Shin Hae Sun’s class A acting. In my opinion it’s crucial to watch some other drama with Choi Jin Hyuk before Mr. Queen to know how amazing job is Shin Hae Sun doing with recreating his mannerisms. It was absolutely amazing.

It was around second episode when I notices how well balanced this drama was. Comedy mixes with mystery in great proportions. Plus amazing OST making it feel like we’re watching contemporary drama, not quasi historical one, and it doesn’t let us forget who’s trapped in Queen’s body.

The pace slowed down a bit by ninth episode, but it was saved by bringing up the subject of Jang Bong Hwan’s comatose body. Honestly I think that screenwriters could’ve focus on this subject more, because it was at this point just showed once and then immediately dropped.

By the tenth episode I noticed that drama was slightly loosing it’s appeal. We were deep into the palace intrigue which is not the most interesting motive of this drama. Plus there’s less and less Mr. in this Queen. His internal voice was suddenly changed to actual queen’s voice (at least it was properly explained why it happened) as well as scenes from the hospital that were just cut and till the last episode not to be seen. As the drama progressed is gradually turned from time travelling to period drama. Pace slows down and even though there’s some amazingly funny scenes, the drama loses its spirt which made first episodes so unique.

Because honestly, this drama could solely focus on cooking scenes and still would be amazing, since they’re truly highlight of the show. Just imagine recreating instant ramyeon during Joseon period or making veggie burger for very official palace meal!
Absolutely fantastic acting of Shin Hae Sun carried this drama. The most amazing part was that the viewer could clearly see when Bong Hwan took control of the body and when the queen was back., The difference in movements and even tone of her voice was staggering.

I was surprised that writers decided to change person doing voiceovers. I think that first choice- Choi Jin Hyuk was a very interesting idea and changing him, for Shin Hae Sun made it lose a bit of character. By then the viewer sometimes had to remind himself who’s mind was in queen’s body.

Chemistry between main characters, even though sometimes a bit confusing was working very well. Reintroducing the queen and some of her memories made the story less chaotic compared to the scenes when only Bong Hwan was in charge of the body.

Some background characters were not so distinguishable at first, but this issue was solved later on. I mostly mean here two older queens and duo of Kim Byung In + Prince Yongpyeong who at some point were barely distinguishable and it was hard to tell who’s on which side. Or maybe that was just my feeling but I felt a bit confused there.

And I cannot forget about the music, with very contemporary sound perfectly fitted with character of the drama not really being a period series but a time travelling one.

Overall I think that Mr. Queen was very good drama, the one you just watch with pleasure. Some pacing problem and filler episodes were easily balanced by comedic scenes. And the most important, acting was absolutely top of the class.

Leia Mais