Rainha Cheorin (2020)

queerbaiting taken to the next level

i'm sorry, does it make sense for the king and the queen (bong hwan) to have fallen so deeply in love, then have the protagonist be replaced with a character (soyong), who is practically a stranger to the viewers (and the king himself) in the last episode?

major yikes. they bent over backwards to champion the het agenda with an obvious (but god forbid) gay romance plot to, you know, make it ✨ spicy ✨ i knew what i was getting myself into, but i held out hope until the end like maybe the king would realise that she was not the soyong he fell for, YET! we're, of course, not going to unpack the fact that the person he loved was actually a man. and no, implying that some sliver of soyong was still "alive" and coexisted with bong hwan during her possessed state does not justify any of the above. we watched the king fall for his personality traits. it ended as a completely different drama than the one i had started.

disappointed but not surprised. 6 stars for the brilliant cast and the comedy, though. shin hyesun, you are incredibly talented.

Leia Mais

THE Worst Ending EVER: Never Have I Felt This Betrayed, Disappointed and Played by a Show!!!

After some time (more than needed thinking about this show and trying to put into words how I felt), I came up with this final review on dramabeans which is more complete than the first one, I also had to lower the rating because the more I think about it the more bamboozled I feel. So here we go.

First of all I would like to commend the cast for their amazing work specially Shin Hye Sun, She did the damn thing. She rocked the show, hell she was THE SHOW.

This drama would've been such a masterpiece without that disrespectful ending. I've never felt this betrayed or hurt because of a show because I've never rooted for a couple as much as I did for Sobong and CheolJong just to have the time, feelings and energy I invested in this relationship throwed in a trash bag.

These two were a match made in heaven and this show consolidated my belief in love regardless of genders. Just to be clear, the king never fell in love at first sight with Soyong (love at first sight doesn't exist), he was curious and had a sense of familiarity about her , attracted AT BEST. Everything went through the window when he realized that she was from the Kim clan. Think about it CJ fell in love with Sobong 's personality which is mainly JBH's personality. He fell in love with his/her strange (and unpredictable most of the times )behavior, her/his sassiness, strange words (thanks to which we got the epic Queen's Dictionary) ,boldness and crazy eccentric self. Sobong was someone like no other in Joseon.

From episode 1 to episode 19 ,we got to see the relationship between these two evolve from deep antagonism and lack of trust to selfless love and solid partnership. They were ready to die for each other and my God this insane chemistry , the constant bickering and the fluttering moments between them. I JUST CAN'T. SB went from an identity crisis to carrying his child , accepting his/her feelings for CJ to being all in for CJ knowing that he was going to lose just to die (when BH got sent back to the future) at the most crucial moment just when CJ was dying before him/her.

The first thing BH did when he woke up was try to see if the king survived if that's not love I don't know what it is. BH regardless of Soyong's memories (which I admit could have influenced him in the beginning) fell in love with the king when he saw him in a new light and saw how much the king wanted to change Joseon and cared about his people.

The only reason people are trying to justify this ending is by saying that what CJ and BH had was a bromance and all the romance was done by SY which I will never understand, maybe I watched a different show. Because BH was there and felt everything, he enjoyed the sex, as CJ said SB was a true tigress.

If the queen's body was possessed by a woman from the future nobody would be trying to attribute the feelings of said woman to Soyong's and the internet would be in shambles if she was sent back to the future after making all these sacrifices.But as we have a man here, I suppose to some it's less comfortable that a man who happened to be straight fell in love with another man. This is problematic on so many levels...

They made BH do all the heavy lifting and all the sacrifices just to be treated like a tool that was supposed to help mend the relationship between SY and CJ which is straight bullshit. SY reaps all the benefits without doing NONE of the work and CJ ends up with a person completely different from the one he loved deeply and who had a knack for surprising him every time. It's like falling in love with one twin (the mischievous one, fun, crazy and eccentric one) and ending with the other twin.

To make matters worse, they dumbed him down in the end which is quite contradictory to his character throughout the series , he is very smart and perceptive and remembers every small detail Sobong ever said to him, as he said , he prides himself in being the one who knew and understood his eccentric wife the best, so how come in the end, he doesn't seem to realize the person he truly loved is gone? From the way SB used to call him affectuously "cheoljongie", "Jongie Jongie"or "Jong ah" to SY's annoying high pitched voice "Cheona" there is a huge difference. What about Court Lady Choi ad Hong Yeon who went from being treated like family members by Sobong back to being treated like servants by So Yong. Didn't they realize something was off?

THIS is the problem I got with the ending: the Lack of acknowledgment of BH's sacrifices and everything he did to save their asses without him the king wouldn't have achieved anything (Come on he saved his festival , went to save him when he was declared dead and did everything till the end to help him regain his place) . I wanted more from CJ rather than this vague question talking about "did I lose something?". I wanted him to mourn the loss of the person he loved who is Sobong who sadly died in the end.I wanted CJ to realize that the person who helped him all along was BH( a man who really came from the future). I wanted to see BH mourn what he lost, deal with the trauma (being trapped in SY's body, falling in love with the king after multiple mental breakdowns, coming to terms with it and finally accepting his feelings , carrying a baby he came to care about, building strong relationships with Hong Yeon and Court Lady Choi among others just to be sent back when the love of his life was dying before him). I wanted to see him evolve after his life changing experience in Joseon and see how much of his feelings were influenced by Soyong. I wanted to see Soyong tell the truth to CJ that she is not the person he fell in love with anymore and gave him space to digest it and why not build a relationship afterward based on the truth. I wanted to know more about So Yong, if the writers knew they were gonna make her the protagonist of the show and she will get the man, they had to show us more and make us root for her. Show me SY being active and participating and taking over from time to time very clearly, and show me that she is a badass and she is more than a desperate and sad woman from Joseon who lacks skills and experience who wanted to kill herself because among other reasons her husband to be didn't love her back. Because what we got here as per her own words is someone hiding 98% of the show and you want me to root for her? What I got instead of an honest discussion and her acknowledging the truth ( the fact that she would never have had that life without BH’s help) all I got was a ridiculous laugh when the king asked her if she was plotting something to surprise him.

This made me dislike Soyong and made me think that she is not that different from the Hwa Jin of the beginning because she is pretending to be someone she is not and taking credit for everything BH did which is upsetting and dishonest coming from her who made the same reproach to Hwa Jin beforehand.

In the end, the main protagonist of the love story got relegated to being a Second Lead or the Third wheel in his own damn love story, never got the deserved acknowledgment and that’s what made it so heartbreaking. SB and CJ have that understanding and love that SY and CJ will never have.

This ending is somehow worse than SHR's ending and the only person who got a happy ending was SY and I wonder how long it will last until she realizes that she is not the one CJ fell in love with.

As a viewer, I don't know how to recommend this show maybe the 19,2 episodes. Such a waste of potential...This show used to be my favorite and now whenever I think about it I just feel empty and betrayed. I mean what else can i do beside boycotting the writers’s future works FOREVER (I know I’m being petty but idc at this point)!I said my piece it's time to move on.

Leia Mais

While the story is wonderful, what makes this show is Shin Hye Sun's acting

I am a fan of Isekai stories, so right off the bat this drama piqued my interest. What I thought was truly unique was that it was a man in a woman's body and I was very intrigued about how they would manage to do a romance story.

How they managed it was absolutely wonderful, mostly because the main female actress (Shin Hye Sun) was absolutely amazing. She was truly able to convey a man trapped in a woman's body so well. The mannerism, the speech, the actions, she nailed everything! She was able to make this humorous, but managed to make you think and draw emotions from her viewers. You couldn't help but to root for her.

As far as the romance a lot of lines were blurred, but I will say at the end of the day it was about what makes a person attracted to another, it transcends physical and it is all about the soul. That being said, this is not a BL drama at all, all is resolved at the end, but I liked how lines of sexuality got questioned.

King Cheoljong was also very likeable, you understood his pain and struggle. The side characters all did a terrific job. They tended to be funny and lovable. Lady Choi, the Royal Chef, Hong Byul Gam, Kim Hwan, etc., all hilarious and interesting to watch.

All in all I highly recommend this drama, it is very enjoyable and a relatively unique idea.

Leia Mais

One of the funniest period drama

Story: This drama is full of laughter and cute love story of the King and the Queen. There's some cooking story and politics but not too focus on politics. There's no boring scene on each episode. There's some quite tearful scene that makes you cry too.
I like the attitude of the character of Jang Bo Hwan that also a lesson that you can get in this drama: When you found yourself in an inevitable dire situation, accept it and make the most our of it. Accept the help of others to keep on going like he did.

Acting/Cast:
I love all of them. All of them are perfect for their role!

Music: All of the OST and sound effect are daebak!

Overall: It is really a worth watching Period Rom/Com Drama.

Leia Mais

Show went from lit to shit in the ending

Trust me, I have NEVER (I repeat) NEVER felt so strongly for a drama like Mr. Queen.
I don't know Korean but I watched the live episodes on YouTube because I couldn't wait for the next day. THAT WAS HOW DESPERATE I HAD BECOME.
I hated the ending, I don't even want to talk about it. The day I found out about the ending, I cried for HOURS, I cried for so long I got sick and I didn't even go to school even when I had a fucking EXAM! That's how it hurt me.
I cannot write enough about how wonderful and great Mr. Queen could've been if they had changed the last 40 minutes of the show. I swear, the 9.0 rating would've been 10 easily. I really recommend this show BUT only watch from episode 1 to episode 19 (or maybe the first half of last episode) but please, don't watch the last episode after watching the whole show (I'm saving you from a heartbreak)
I will rewatch Mr. Queen only from 1st to 19 episode. The last episode never happened for me. I've made up an ending in my head and I'm really satisfied with it.

Leia Mais

Best Korean Drama Ever

Everything about this is perfect. From the beginning to the end. From the beginning starting in the water, and end in the lake. Omg this drama is perfect, every character has a perfect ending. From the King, to the Chefs, to Prince Pyeongmong. In the beginning I have thought the King wanna kill the Queen and end the clan influence badly, but throughout the drama King understands her, including her moodswing, and best part is Jo Hwa Jin is not loved by the King anymore, which carve a more better ending for the male lead and female lead.

Ahhh, this is the first historical drama I watch, and the best one and could top all other KDramas, the budget set for this drama is impressive :) Thanks for creating a perfect drama :) I love all the characters in the drama, and I would definetely rewatch it, and I believe there is no other dramas could top this drama in every aspect.

Not bias, but it hooked me to the end. What a perfect degree holiday I had :)

Leia Mais

Deliberately misleading

***I've included my thoughts on where the writers were trying to go with this in the comment section of this review. Still think they could have handled it better, but it does make much better sense now and had me improve my rating. Can't do a perfect 10 though - episodes 17 and onward were weak (not just with the romantic elements) and filled with stupid decisions and too much deus ex machina. Might change this entire review at a later date but for now it stays as it is an honest representation of how I felt at the show's conclusion and how poorly they executed their intent that I had to sit here ruminating for a week to see where they were going with this all.***

I haven't felt this betrayed by writing since the controversial last season of Game of Thrones. The entire premise of this show was built around the love story of SoBong (Bong Hwan in So Yong's body) and Cheoljong. From episodes 1-19, it was a steady progression of these characters falling in love with each other...not with a memory and not the physical appearance but the substance of each of them as they strove to understand and accept each other. It was one of the most beautiful love stories I've watched. The writers perpetuated this idea by various methods:

1. CJ's fascination with SB was completely with the SB personality. The audience saw his fascination with SB's otherness, heard it in his confession of love for them, and saw it in how he treasured those aspects enough to write them down and pour through them to reminisce and help heal his own wounds.
2. The writers made the SY character a stranger to the audience. We get only the barest of flashbacks, and nothing to show us anything but a one-sided love. Even the prequel in the Bamboo Forest leans heavily to this idea. Which is why so many viewers then feel puzzled as to how the ending makes sense.
3. The writers deliberately made it seem as if the SY character was gone. There's a scene where the queen jumps back into the lake in order to regain more memories and SY's "spirit" or whatever appears before her but at the end she sees her close her eyes and falls back to sink to the bottom. Additionally, when the BH character briefly flashes back to present times, SY does not return, even for a minute.
4. The writers showed a true progression of the feelings in SB for CJ. In the last few episodes, there were major milestones to be had and shared with the viewers. The character of SB accepts their feelings. Reciprocates those feelings. Initiates intimacy - which in a story of quasi-gender bending is a penultimate moment. It's all been culminating to this point where you feel as though everything leading up is falling into place and then Wham! We draw a "Go To Jail" card.

Not only is the soul sent back but the contributions of that character are marginalized. Heck, forget marginalized, they're not even acknowledged in the slightest...as if this brash and vibrant personality never existed. The continuity issue with that alone is enough to curse at my screen. The entire story was about Mr. Queen...yet when Mr. Queen "left the building," there was no true sense of loss felt by their friends or even their love. We get one scene where the king looks puzzled for all of five seconds and asks "did I lose something." Yes...the main character of this entire drama. The show had already struggled with continuity issues such as selective fighting skills to fit the narrative and other minor faux pas but this...who just negates the existence of the main lead? Sure, SY's body is still there, and she's conveniently staying mum about the entire thing and letting everyone think it was her the entire time. The fans vilified Hwa Jin Jo when SHE pulled that move, but it's all good now. A few curses interspersed with an annoying high pitched giggle, and we're supposed to buy that she's SB 2.0 as she simpers "jjeona" like a teenager. Meanwhile the main male character, who is brilliant enough to stage a coup against one of the most powerful families in history, doesn't notice a thing.

I can't with this ending. I just can't. It obliterated all of my excitement and joy at seeing this story unfold. Seeing CJ and SY hug at the lake was like seeing Bran crowned king. Felt like I'd been gobsmacked by a 747. All of these feelings of betrayal could have been avoided by better writing. I'm not intransigent. I could have gotten behind a SY/CJ ending, IF it fit the narrative leading up to the finale, but it didn't. So frustrating!!! The acting though. Not a single complaint there. The acting was brilliant. The music too. I still can't listen to "Here I Am" without tearing up, and the comedic scores were on-point. However, I can't raise my rating higher because despite all of these things being components of a whole, the writing is the heart, and this one stopped beating right at episode 20.

Leia Mais

I have never been so glued to Viki.

I started because the actor who played the modern chef is a very good actor, but I have been laughing all through , of course some scenes are dry and dull but overall, this is very interesting, my least favorite is her cousin , I feel his acting looks boring and it’s like he is forcing to give a tough look but overall I like the drama.
The king himself is a clown and I am in love with his acting and facial expression .... the queen is the biggest tout of all.my rewatch value is low because I dislike watching dramas twice, the only drama I have ever watched twice is eternal love and legend of fuyao because of the male lead ya bet lol

Leia Mais

I am very much conflicted with what to feel about this drama. I'm not a fan of historical dramas in general, because of how complex and overwhelming the story, production, and everything. I honestly did not expect myself to finish Mr. Queen, but I somehow did.

Shin Hye Sun and Kim Jung Hyun were exceptional! Their acting is top-tier, especially Hye Sun. This is so different from her previous characters and she really showed off her skills here. It's so amazing how the audience can tell the difference when So Young's soul was ruling her body, compared to when Bong Hwan was taking over. In the last episode when BH returned to the present time, even without the big moves and foul language, Hye Sun was able to exhibit SY-- just through her facial expressions and change in pitch.

However, what bothers me most is how it ended. Almost the entire plotline, it was BH in SY's body whom the King loves. And then, in the end, BH just went back to his body and SY's soul resurfaced. This is just queer baiting. There could have been a better ending. I feel like how the story developed and all was written wonderfully, yet it all went down the drain with SY and Chel Jeong being happy together, and BH is alone.

Leia Mais

The Ending is Perfect

People are upset because of the ending but it makes perfect sense to me and let me give a lengthy but quite intriguing reason why...

So when you're watching a good story there are two ways you can look at it and that is how you the viewer feels and what information you're deciding to pick up and which to ignore etc, as in its about you the viewer. Another way to look at it, which is what I do, is to figure out what the writer is trying to tell you. Where is the writer directing your thoughts and attentions? What story is he or she trying to tell? Etc

I think the best way to watch Mr Queen especially is to try and see it from the writer's perspective mostly. A lot of ppl are complaining about the ending bcz of personal preferences and agendas. Some like it cz it suits their conservative beliefs. Others like it cz it seems like the most logical ending to them. Others hate it cz they feel the writers copped out and refused to explore LGBTQIA issues. To me I didn't look at any of that. I was thinking "what is the writer trying to tell us without the influence of my personal beliefs, preferences and agendas?".

Now that we have that down, I think the story should be interpreted differently. Usually we determine who a story is about by looking at who has the most screen time but it doesn't always have to be the case. Do you remember that painting in "She Was Pretty"? What was the painter trying to tell us in that painting? The most important person in that painting took the smallest space on the canvas. Most ppl would ignore that character looking from behind rails in that painting but then she was the most important character in the painting.

I think that's how you should look at Mr. Queen. It is true the BH is who we know and admired and loved and carried the show but is his story the one that's being told?

If you look at BH, we actually don't know much about him. Like we have very very little information about who he is, how he's like etc from his days in modern Korea. All we know is that he's a famous chef and womaniser who had a problem with a guy called Secretary Han. That's it. Not much else which is important. But then compare BH's life and SY's life in the drama and even in the spin-off. We know SY's family, we know her dream to marry the King, we know the challenges she faced in her life, we know her love interests, we know her rivals, we know her family. For a backstory in terms of a drama, we are given quite a lot of information about her unlike BH.

So even though BH is the main character obviously, it doesn't mean this is BH's story. He may be the MAIN character but it doesn't mean he's the most IMPORTANT character. The story is SY's story but BH is brought in to do a job within the plot, a job that SY cannot do.

Let me elaborate further. Imagine if the backstory of SY was stretched into ten episodes and was given to the viewers to watch before the events of Mr Queen episode one. We would see SY's life and joys and pains and struggles and many other things and then we'll see her give up and try to kill herself but in doing so she gets possessed by BH who swoops in, saves the day for her and gives her her life back even though BH himself had ended up being emotionally involved in SY's life. A good example is Oh My Ghost. The ghost came in, did a job and left. The fact that she fell in love with the chef and the fact that the chef admitted that he fell for the ghost does not mean it is her life now. It's not her life.

Okay so BH comes, he wants to leave but it's not that easy. What then does the writer proceed to tell us? BH in SY's body has a flashback scene of SY telling the King that he should love her but the king walks out on her. Even though its not BH's memory, he feels the emotional pain of the situation so intently that the court maids thinks it's poison. That was first hint from the writer. The writer is telling you that do not assume that whatever emotional connection BH will feel toward the king as you watch on originates with BH himself. The next one comes at the home of SY. When the king steps out of the palanquin, SY has a romantic moment by herself but then what flashback scene are we given? It is when SY herself was being confirmed as the Destined Queen. This was way before BH came into the scene. This comes right after BH loses his inner thinking voice and begins to regain the skills and memories of SY. So the writer is telling us that whatever emotion you see from this character originates with SY and not BH. I'll explain further.

From then on the writer begins to progress the SYness of SY into BH. And so we begin to see BH inherit more memories from SY. Then he inherits SY's feelings for the king. Even BH himself realize that these emotions are not from him when he keeps telling SY to leave him alone. But BH can't fight it. SY keeps taking over little by little throughout the series.

Okay so now where does the writer get to. BH inherits SY's body. That's one. SY's life. That's two. SY's memories. That's three. Even SY's voice. That's four. SY's feelings. That's five. And SY's femininity in general. That's six. The only thing that is BH which is left is his consciousness. Everything else is SY without SY herself.

Compared to Oh My Ghost, the two women are two completely different entities. When the ghost is in control, the actual lady goes totally off. She has no idea what's going on. Its only when the ghost leaves that she begins to check her surroundings to find out what's going on. Two different ppl. No connection.

In Scarlet Heart, the girl whose body is taken over isn't given much of a backstory at all. None. Nada. Zero. Zilch. Nothing. No one from her the girl's life strongly affected IU's modern character when she took over. Moon Lovers could have started in the Joseon era and not much difference would be seen.

But Mr Queen isn't like that. The impression we get is that SY, even though absent and not in control of BH's actual decision making, is fully aware of what is going on throughout. When she gets her body back in the last episode just after she had been shot, she's not wondering what's going on, she's not surprised or anything. She even begins to pray that her baby survives. It's not like these wave of memories washed over her in that split second and she knew all that BH had been doing. It just seems like SY is aware of what's going on.

So I think the conclusion is that even though BH is who we see for most of the series, the story isn't about him. He's the main character but what I believe the writer is trying to to tell us is that he's not the most important character. Because he inherits so much of what makes SY SY, everything he does in the series is what SY would have done if SY had his attitude and boldness.

Taking that bullet for the king? SY would've done that.

Saving the King's banquet? SY would have done that if she had the cooking skills.

Going against her family? That's what SY would've done.

Loyalty to the king in spite of everything? That's what SY would've done.

And we know all this because right from the off we see BH as a womaniser, why would he genuinely fall for a man? I thought the argument is that people are born gay and they don't choose to be gay. So a gay man has been a womaniser for over 30 years and now suddenly falls for a man with his own volition? Nope, that's not it. Again, we know he always takes the winner's side so why would he then take the Kings side even though he knew from history that he lost. Every decision BH makes that made us love his affection and sacrifice are decisions the real BH wouldn't have made but he made them because he had put on everything that makes SY SY without SY herself.

That's why BH had to return and that's why he's not devastated. Yes he was concerned for what had happened when he returned but definitely not as big as it would seem if he was still in SY's body. The person the King fell in love with was SY. Yes sth was definitely different and even the king himself admitted it but it in the purity of the matter, it was SY he fell in love with. Because even though it can be argued that the king was attracted to BH's brashness, love begets love and it's SY who's been truly loving the King all along and not BH. It's not unjust that SY takes over for she is as much involved as BH is, not consciously, but then what makes BH memorable and not just a funny guy trapped in a woman's body is because of the SYness of SY in BH and not BH himself on his own.

Leia Mais

One heck of a ride ...... but ending.

If your looking for a show to watch for fun after long day of work, MR.queen is the answer. However, i would suggest not look for deeper meaning or logic in the story; the premise itself is 21st century chef - man soul (jang bong hwan) enters women's body (kim so yong) who is from joseon era making them into new person so-bong.

As the story progress we get to see so-bong tackling palace life challenges along with identity crisis in more unique & comical way possible. I personally love how so-bong calls out every person who actually wronged so-yong in one way or other & comradeship between so-bong and king.

Acting wise, this show does have one of the best ensemble cast i came across in k drama world; their acting manage to cover up most of the plot holes. And a big shout out to Shin Hye sun who managed to nail both characters in one go; i can't imagine anyone in those roles other than her. Same goes with kim jung hyun as a king and their chemistry is off the charts, i hope down the line someone would cast them in modern drama.

My only complaint is writers are too focused for 20 episodes on balancing comedy, action, drama they failed to establish entire two souls in one body logic leaving it to audience imagination. In process the entire romance between king - so bong falls apart leaving bitter n unsatisfying feeling in the end. <---- MY OPINION

Leia Mais

A great comedy turns into a disappointment

About halfway through it is a fun drama with character, and for the first time in ages I found out that I love FL. The character was played wonderfully! Just like in contrast, we have ML, which is completely lackluster even in tense fight scenes that lack tension. It was light, it was fun and it was interesting until the moment when big politics started to rule and, as with most k-dramas, it got boring. I watched each subsequent episode with greater reluctance until I reached the penultimate episode, because I couldn't watch the last one. Why, oh, why this interesting, really cool comedy turned into something so pathetically boring, I don't know. I only know that this unnecessary pathos and great tragedies force me to lower my score, and very much.

Leia Mais