Mr Queen

 Mr Queen

8.5/10

Mr Queen

Genre:                                       Episodes: 20                         Year: 2021

Romance

Comedy

Historical

Synopsis:

A male chef, Jang Bong Hwan, works at the President’s Blue House. After an accident he wakes to find himself inside the body of Queen Kim So Yong in the Joseon period, who is wife to King Cheoljong who is remembered in history as an ineffective king who was beheaded for treason.

Cast:

Shin Hye Sun (Kim So Yong)

Kim Jung Hyun (King Cheoljong)

Na In Woo (Kim Byeong In)

Seol In Ah (Jo Hwa Jin)

Bae Jong Ok (Queen Suwon)

Cha Chung Hwa (Court Lady Choi)

Chae Seo Eun (Hong Yeon)

Yoo Min Kyu (Prince Youngpyeong)

Lee Jae Won (Director Hong)

Kim In Kwon (Royal Chef Man Bok)

Jo Yeon Hee (Queen Dowager)

Kim Tae Woo (Kim Jwa Geun)

General Thoughts:

And another year is off to a good start! A really good start! I thought this show was going to be a little piece of silliness that ran out of steam halfway through, so hearing that the ratings kept increasing really surprised me. But now I can see why!

This was a great dose of humour I didn't realise I needed

There have been some belated issues with the show- after ‘Joseon Exorcist’ was cancelled due to historical inaccuracies, ‘Mr Queen’ started to get accused of the same sorts of things. As a non-Korean I can’t really comment on these sort of inaccuracies as my knowledge of actual historical events is extremely limited, so this review won’t really be able to touch on those aspects of the drama. While not a whole lot really went on in this show, watching Bong Hwan have to adapt to living not only in the Joseon era, but also in a female body was really fun.

Bong Hwan's internal conflict was quite fun

 I was a little nervous about how they were going to handle the romance (because we all knew there was going to be romance), but I was surprisingly satisfied with the way the writers managed to pull it off. Having Bong Hwan and Kim So Yong almost start to fuse together by having So Yong’s memories come back to Bong Hwan was an interesting way to have the romance start to have some serious footing. As So Yong was already in love with Choljong before Bong Hwan possessed her, this was an easy explanation to accept why Bong Hwan, a previous womaniser, was starting to develop romantic feelings for the king- a man. I also think the show handled the romance well from the King’s perspective as well. I always find that it can be tricky to have a main character start the show in love with someone who isn’t the other lead, but the writers did a great job at showing how Cheoljong’s feelings for Hwa Jin were diminishing while feelings for his Queen were growing. A great part of that was trust and communication. Hwa Jin stopped communicating with the King and started acting on her own for what she thought was best. This opened the door for the King to realise just how willing and able So Yong was to helping him and gave the initial opportunity for feelings of trust, security and eventually romance to start to develop. The gradual shift in emotions between the two leads was extremely smooth, and it is a great credit to the writers that Cheoljong never came off as a two-timer despite him being…kinda a two-timer.

So Yong's sass was also top level

The plot for ‘Mr Queen’ was overall pretty simple- the King is trying to gain power in order be a King that benefits the people of his country, and in doing so he must dismiss all the corrupt officials. And then Bong Hwan is thrown into the Queen’s body to complicate things a bit. I think the simplicity of the plot is actually what worked in the show’s favour. I was never confused about who the characters were or what their agendas were- I could simply enjoy watching the tug of war between the Cho and Kim clan, with So Yong being stuck in the middle as a member of the Kim clan, but also the King’s wife.

Every costume in this drama was on point

The plots going on in the palace could be overly simple, but it was entertaining to watch how So Yong was able to combat each issue and emerge victorious in her own way. I thoroughly enjoyed all the kitchen scenes and seeing how a modern day chef used their cooking ability to impress and amaze people in the Joseon era. It was a good way to remind us that despite how well So Yong was managing in the palace, she was actually an outsider and someone who didn’t belong. The kitchen scenes were a great source of humour, and I actually really liked all the characters that came to congregate there. At first I found the Royal Chef to be a bit abrasive, but I warmed up to him pretty quickly, and quite enjoyed his romance with Court Lady Choi. The acting was all really fabulous, and all the actors matched each others’ energy really well. After watching ‘Zombie Detective’ last year, I found out that I love Choi Jin Hyuk in comedy. In the starting episodes when we had Shin Hye Sun acting with Choi Jin Hyuk doing the internal monologues and voice-overs I was in absolute heaven. Shin Hye Sun brought a similar style of comedy that Choi Jin Hyuk had shown in the first episode that was set in the present day, and together the two really sold the idea of a male chef in a historical Queen’s body. I was a bit sad when we lost Choi Jin Hyuk as So Yong’s internal voice, but do agree that it was needed as a way to move the romance forwards. The supporting cast were all fabulous too- Bae Jong Ok did a phenomenal job as the Grand Queen Dowager- she could appear very threatening and cunning, but could also soften that hard edge so that her character could still fit in believably in a show that was heavy on comedy.

I also kind of loved that the political drama mainly centred around the female characters

I think being a villain in a comedy show can be tricky- if the villain is too threatening it takes away from the humour, but if they aren’t threatening enough then the plot can start to drag and lose momentum. Bae Jong Ok hit a great balance between the two and made an interesting antagonist for our main leads to fight against. Cha Chung Hwa was a particular stand out for me also. I tend to find over-acting for comedy a bit cringe inducing, but Cha Chung Hwa was able to push those boundaries a bit without her or her character becoming ridiculous.

Man, I did not expect this friendship but it was wonderful 

I thoroughly enjoyed the style of comedy that she brought to the show, and both her and Chae Seo Eun (who played Hong Yeon) were a great support to Shin Hye Sun and the tree made a great, hilarious team. While I wouldn’t say that Kim Byeong In was a character that made smart decisions in this drama, I did like the way that Na In Woo portrayed him. I feel a bit sad for him in that while almost every other character had a comedic edge, he (and also Seol In Ah as Hwa Jin) had to be almost completely serious. It’s not something that I consciously noticed while watching the drama, but looking back Na In Woo didn’t really get to trial out any comedy. That being said, he is a great emotional actor, and he bought a lot of depth to his character. While I thought Byeong In made a lot of unintelligent choices, the emotions that Na In Woo brought were always very real, and despite knowing that Byeng In was doing a dumb thing, I could believe Byeong In’s convictions behind his actions. There were a whole host of interesting and fun characters in this drama, and watching them all come together and interact was great to watch. The only downside I would say was Prince Youngpyeong who was far too serious for this show (and not in an okay and believable way like Byeong In). He was pretty bland and in the background for the majority of the show, but his severe and unwarranted distrust of So Yong in the later stages of the drama were a bit boring.

The Prince so didn't even need to be in story

By that stage So Yong had proven her loyalty to the King and his cause so many times that the Prince’s doubt of her was quite grating and made him a bit dislikable. Unfortunately I just didn’t think Yoo Min Kyu had the gravitas nor the raw emotional pull to really sell his love for Hwa Jin, so their whole reconciliation and love-line fell pretty flat at the end. 

What Was Great:

Leads:

Shin Hye Sun for me has always been bit like Seo Ye Ji. My mind has told me ‘wow, this is a very good actress’, but I have never been that excited seeing Shin Hye Sun’s name attached to a project, and I never suuuper warmed up to her or her characters (though I did like both her performance and her character in ‘Thirty but Seventeen'). But just like Seo Ye Ji blew me out of the water last year and made me fall in love with her in 'It’s Okay To not Be Okay’, so to did Shin Hye Sun here.

She brought SO much energy to the character and to the drama as a whole

This was a brilliant role for her. She felt like she had more fun in this role than she has previously, and the type of comedy in this show suited her acting talent really well. Shin Hye Sun manages to never really over-act anything, so I think bringing her in here for a role and situation that is inherently ridiculous helped to ground the comedy a bit and not make it seem too forced or far-fetched.

Watching them go from enemies to lovers was such a wild, fun rid

And that’s not to say that Shin Hye Sun was serious- far from it. She was very fun and much of the humour of the show stemmed from her character and her reactions and interactions with the other characters in the palace. She had wonderful chemistry with Cha Chung Hwa and Chae Soo Eun who played her Court Lady and Maid and the scenes that had the three of them together were truly enjoyable to watch. She also had great chemistry with Kim Jung Hyun which was good to see. Kim Jung Hyun can be really great as a romantic character, but I think he struggles if the actress with him isn’t up to scratch. The romance between So Yong and Cheoljong was very believable, which is a great feat considering that for most of the show’s run, So Yong was actually a man’s spirit/soul inside So Yong’s body. The dynamic between the leads was fun and filled with humour, but there was enough sincerity and emotion between the two that gave gravitas to their relationship, and the story as a whole. Kim Jung Hyun delivered a strong performance, and the slow reveal of his true colours to his Queen was lovely to watch unfold. He played both the ‘naive’ puppet king and the strong, scheming king well, and was able to really draw the audience into Cheljong’s struggles and help us viewers feel the weight of each of Cheoljong’s decisions. Individually the two leads were brilliant, and they were also brilliant on playing off each other and using each others’ strengths to really bring us a lively, fun show. 

Having them each become the other's biggest supporter was so lovely

Not So Serious Sageuk:

Ever since ‘Moonlight Drawn By Clouds’ was being promoted, I realised that I really wanted to watch a more light romance in a Joseon setting.

Can we have more like this please?

But barring short shows like ‘My Only Love Song’ and ‘Splash Splash Love’, all sageuk romances that I have watched seem to disintegrate into over-complicated palace plots of treason and ministers and boredom. Even ‘100 Days My Prince’ which told us it was going to be a fluffy rom-com ended up this way! And now finally, finally, I have a drama that has satisfied my craving. ‘Mr Queen’ wasn’t exactly a light drama, and there were certainly major plot points that revolved around politics, but for me it hit that perfect balance of silly and serious. It didn’t delve so far into the palace politics that we lost out on the romance or the fun happening between our leads or the other characters, but it also didn’t run out of storyline- the show never felt stagnant and there was always something happening in the plot that moved the story and the characters forward. This was a thoroughly enjoyable show from start to finish, and I think so much of that was due to the right tone and balance being found between the humour and the emotion of the story. 

What Wasn’t:

Second Leads Mentality:

I struggled a bit with getting to like the two second leads, Hwa Jin and Byeong In. While by the end of the show I really liked their trajectories and how their storylines both played out, I wasn’t 100% sold on how we got there.

Get it together, Byeong In

Because So Yong was such a fun character, at the start of the show it was a little easy to forget that the palace was a world where people are killed all the time for very inconsequential reasons. So of course Byeong In and Hwa Jin don’t want to trust anyone new and put themselves and the people they care for at risk.

Hwa Jin- guaranteed to make any situation worse

It was just a little frustrating as a viewer to watch how So Yong/Bong Hwan continuously did the right thing- she protected King Cheoljong and she always told Byeong In where her head and heart were at so he could never misunderstand. And yet Hwa Jin never trusted her and constantly thought So Yong was an emery, and Byeong In for some absurd reason known only to himself thought that killing the King would make So Yong safe and maybe even love him? Yeah he gets double stupid points for that one. The show managed to redeem Byeong In’s poor choices at the end where he ended up dying so So Yong could find the King and return to the palace, but unfortunately there was less of this for Hwa Jin. She is exiled from the palace because her character tries too hard to mess around in the King’s plan (and ends up putting him in more danger), and she just sort of seems to come around to So Yong not being an evil manipulator while she’s exiled. I maybe would have liked her to have had a bigger impact in the story towards the end, as her character just quietly diminishing, while great news on one hand due to the King not having to ditch So Yong for Hwa Jin anymore, did just kind of turn her into a lame character that didn’t really contribute much to Cheoljong’s victories. 

Recommend?

10000%. This drama is great and had the perfect balance of romance, comedy and political intrigue. 

It's been a while since I've enjoyed a rom-com this much

Live

Live

7/10

Live

Genre:                                                   Episodes: 18                                  Year: 2018

Melodrama

Synopsis:

The drama follows the officers based at Hongil Patrol Division, and their joy, sorrow and pain as they attempt to protect justice.

Cast:

Jung Yoo Mi (Han Jung Oh)

Lee Kwang Soo (Yeom Sang Soo)

Bae Sung Woo (Oh Yang Cheon)

Shin Dong Wook (Choi Myung Ho)

Bae Jong Ok (Ahn Jang Mi)

Sung Dong Il (Ki Han Sol)

Jang Hyun Sung (Eun Kyung Mo)

Lee Joo Young (Song Hye Ri)

Jo Wan Ki (Kim Min Seok)

Lee Shi Un (Kang Nam Il)

General Thoughts:

This was an absolute diamond in the rough. I don’t know if there was much talk about ‘Live’ before, during or after it aired in Korea (it seemed to be a pretty big ratings hit for TVN), but it was kinda ignored over here in the West, with other dramas with lower ratings gathering more buzz (eg. ‘Pretty Noona Who Buys Me Food’).

It may not look like much, but it's so much better than a lot of other K-Dramas 2018 has offered up

There’s nothing really in this drama that is super eye catching off the bat- no huge names, no specific genre, no promise of revenge or romance or hilarity. But what this drama did, it did well. In previous crime dramas we’ve always focused on the detectives or the victims or the prosecutors.

Just your friendly neighbourhood policemen

The guys standing around in hi-vis guarding the crime scenes were no more than walk on extras with no lines. But this time around it was those previously ignored guys in the hi-vis who were our main characters. Rather than taking place in the Violent Crimes Unit (like ever other crime drama), ‘Live’ takes place at your regular neighbourhood police station. While that admittedly does sound more boring, what this did was allow a lot more room for character growth and development. My usual gripe in crime dramas is that they just focus way too much on the crimes, and the detectives solving them just become these genius machines who do nothing but catch criminals all day every day (I’m looking at you here ‘Voice’). While this drama was decidedly slower in pace, it still had the intensity that other crime dramas had, but also paired this with an amazing sense of character growth. When the drama first started I hated Yang Cheon. He was just the worst. But 18 episodes later when he’s wheelchair bound after getting stabbed and his partner is up for suspension for shooting his attacker, I really felt for him.

Talk about serious character growth

I wanted him to be okay and be able to be a police again, and I wanted him to work things out with his wife and return to his family. And that is a long way to come from wanting someone to smack him hard. I probably would have rather enjoyed seeing him get stabbed around episode 2. While Yang Cheon is definitely the most developed character, the others also had a good, steady progression. Sang Soo came a long way from simply being a police officer only because he had no other choice, and his journey was mostly about finding his sense of duty and figuring out how to become a good police officer.

Before the bromance began

Unlike Yang Cheon, Sang Soo was always a likeable character, but he wasn’t always a good cop. It was an enjoyable experience watching him learn from Yang Cheon on when it was important to stick to the manual and go by the book, and when it was important to trust your instincts. These two men also had a wonderful relationship development, with Sang Soo learning to trust and rely on Yang Cheon as they were put in various,

Nice as Sang Soo was- I was still on Team Myung Ho

often dangerous scenarios. Just as us viewers were learning that Yang Cheon wasn’t as harsh as he appeared, and that he actually always strove to do what was right, so did Sang Soo. Watching the two grow closer and actually start to develop a real friendship was charming to watch, and really made you realise why people in jobs like these love and depend on their partners and coworkers so much. The acting was amazing all round, with not a single weak link in the cast- right down to the victims and the perpetrators who had very minor roles. Jung Yoo Mi did a great job with a character that was very closed off, and despite Jung Oh’s outward lack of affection, I warmed to her pretty quickly. She wasn’t the most likeable character, and as I move on and start watching other dramas I’m sure she won’t be the most memorable character, but in the moment I identified with her emotions and understood her reactions, and that came as a result of both the good writing of the character and Jung Yoo Mi’s excellent portrayal. I always enjoy seeing Lee Kwang Soo in roles where he isn’t being played for comedy or being asked to essentially play his character on ‘Running Man’. I think this was a great project for him as it broke him out of the stereotypical goofy roles that I feel he was starting to get pigeonholed into.

He even got a little bit of romance

He’s a fine actor, and he was brilliant at bringing in the more emotional beats of the show, particularly as the drama neared its final stages and his character was right in the centre of a very fervent situation. Bae Sung Woo and Bae Jong Ok were total show stealers though. They both have immense experience and it really showed here. They were able to bring their characters and their emotions to the forefront of any scene they were in. They completely threw themselves into their characters and as a result we got not only a dynamic pair of characters, but a dynamic, engaging relationship between the two of them.

This was my favourite romance in the series by far

The plot was cleverly developed throughout the series, with the tension rising with each new case. We started out pretty lightly with the struggles our three rookies faced with getting into the police force and then moved on to the tedious, far from glamorous police work that usually goes on at a police station- such as taking care of drunks.

I'm assuming regular officers don't come across dead bodies every day

We then started to move forward into more confronting cases- such as sexual assaults and homicides. Because the drama had chosen to start out so low-key in showing the day to day goings on at the police station, these more serious crimes felt much more dark and horrible, and indeed felt like something people shouldn’t have to deal with. Because there’s so much violence in dramas and movies, we all get a bit desensitised. But because this drama went about in a way where these horrible crimes were shown as something out of the norm, they felt much more confronting than in a crime drama that only shows various serial killings. Because we were going through this drama from the view of these rookie police officers who had never seen or been in these situations before, we too felt like these situations were new and dangerous, even if we have seen a handful of crime shows before. This drama felt unique in the way that it often focused on our characters’ responses to these crimes rather than the crimes themselves. While there was definitely importance put on catching the criminal, because our main characters weren’t from prosecution or violent crimes, we often left these cases before they were completely resolved.

Character focused dramas are so much more emotional than plot-driven dramas

The focus became much more about how the regular police officers have to cope with thinking on their feet and making snap decisions as they respond to emergency calls, and how they have to learn to deal with the highly confronting things they see on the job. As we neared the drama’s close, the plot started to turn more towards the corruption inside the police force and how younger, lower-level officers were used as scapegoats to protect the force’s pride and keep public criticism at bay.

This show certainly made you appreciate the hard work of your regular cops

The way the plot gradually changed course felt smooth and natural, and ensured that there was always something interesting going on in the drama, and that we weren’t just watching a slightly different case over and over again.

What Was Great:

Realistic Development:

What made this drama so much fun to watch was definitely the experience of watching these characters grow and develop. They all came so far from where they were at the start of the series.

Solid 10/10 for character development

It’s not only that the characters simply developed as people, but also that as the show progressed and we started to get more details on the characters and spend more time with them, we also started to understand them more. We saw that Jung Oh’s coldness was just a way to protect herself, that Yang Cheon’s argumentative nagging was his way of showing concern, and that Jang Mi’s apathy towards her husband came from a place of hurt, not indifference. As we started to understand more about our characters, so did the other characters in the drama. As much as watching them grow individually was interesting to watch, watching them grow together was so much more enjoyable. Jung Oh and Sang Soo’s relationship was more of a bonus side-story, but the relationship between Yang Cheon and Jang Mi was one of the most emotional aspects the show.

Before realising he'd been a total jerk

At first it confused me how Jang Mi was suddenly so fed up with her husband and ready to divorce him without telling him why, but as the story progressed we really started to see how Yang Cheon had taken her for granted all those years.

After realising he'd been a total jerk

Not only this, but as I continued to watch, I highly doubted that Yang Cheon’s actions would have changed even if Jang Mi did voice her opinions. I became convinced that abruptly spending time apart with the distinct possibility of never reconciling was the best way for Yang Cheon to realise how inattentive he had been to his wife and children, and how hurt they had been by it. As we learned more about each of their personalities I also came to believe that this was the best way for both of them to move past the hurt and recommit to each other. Yang Cheon realised that he needed to make far more effort with the woman he loved, and Jang Mi realised that she sometimes had to start taking the lead in their relationship rather than always being a passive observer. The two relearned how to communicate effectively and how to comfort each other. The scene of Yang Cheon whispering swear words to Jang Mi after the police used her as a scapegoat really solidified their reconciliation to me, because seriously- how many girls would that work on?

What Wasn’t:

More Characters:

While the development of the characters is something I found this drama did well, I did find that it was pretty laser focused on just a few characters. Namely Sang Soo and Yang Cheon. Which isn’t that bad- I really enjoyed watching these two men grow and mature, but I did find myself wishing that perhaps a few of the others in the precinct could get some more attention.

As much as I enjoyed watching these two, some screen time for the others wouldn't have gone astray

Hye Ri was sidelined for most of this drama, and didn’t actually get to do very much. Most of her screen time was delegated more to building on her mentor’s character and story. Hye Ri quite often came across as surly, and while it was suggested that she was hardened from witnessing and accidentally causing the maiming of her father,

If you break up with the lead, your screen time's gonna suffer

I do wish Hye Ri had got a bit more attention and development. It was a similar case with Myung Ho. He never really moved beyond the sweet, likeable, reliable sunbae. The drama toyed with giving him some backstory in the form of his deceased girlfriend, but it never really got explored to its full capacity. It was kind of thrown in as a way to prevent Myung Ho and Jung Oh from getting too romantically involved. In fact, after Jung Oh and Myung Ho decided it was best to leave their relationship as a sunbae-hoobae relationship, Myung Ho was all but written out of the story. He went from being a character that was so important, and was in practically every scene to someone who was just lurking around in the background as just another member of the police department. While I wouldn’t necessarily say that I wanted a bunch of screen time taken away from our four main leads, by the time this drama came to a close I did find myself thinking that I wish we’d spent a bit more time with characters outside of the main quartet. 

Recommend?

Yeah, I think this drama is a winner for anyone who enjoys crime dramas or slice-of-life dramas.

This drama was exciting and relaxing all at once