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