9/10 – A hilarious (borderline) parody of the quintessential Joseon era drama, Mr. Queen was a really clever and whimsical comedy that had a surprising amount of both heartfelt and intense moments! I really loved it a lot!
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Definitely the highlight of this drama for me was Shin Hye-sun, the gem of an actress who portrays a man from 2020 who ends up in the body of the queen in the Joseon era. LMAO. So essentially she’s a woman who has to pretend to be a man who is trapped in a woman’s body. She did a flawless job!! The nuances of her performance when she’s playing man-possessed queen vs. actual queen was honestly award-worthy. I have always heard of Shin Hye-sun being a legendary actor, and now I know why. I actually have seen her in one other drama, “Hymn of Death” – but I didn’t even realize it was the same person!! A sign of a truly good actor tbh. Someone who can disappear completely into character. Anyways, after Mr. Queen, I am a fan!!
[MILD SPOILERS AHEAD]
The story follows Jang Bong-hwan, a cocky playboy and head chef of South Korea’s Blue House, who after a hilarious accident, finds that his soul has taken over the body of Kim So-yang, the queen from about 200 years ago. As Bong-hwan navigates this extremely bizarre and inconvenient situation, he quickly gets wrapped up in palace corruption and politics, as well as the queen’s complicated relationships and past life. Shin Hye-sun did such a good job of acting like a man from the modern era, everything from his speech, facial expressions, mannerisms. The best source of humour in the entire show came from the “queen” acting completely counter-culture and unrefined, lifting “her” skirts, running around the palace, using modern-day slang, and overall fully embodying the coarse spunkiness of a spoiled rich man, lol. The most noteworthy testament to her acting abilities was when there were scenes involving the actual, non-possessed queen. It was honestly amazing how she changed so subtly but so completely that you instantly knew that this queen was different. Her voice, demeanor, posture, everything. It was awe-inspiring to watch.
And of course, with every asian drama, there has to be a male lead. And in this case, it’s King Cheoljong, the 25th emperor of Joseon, played marvelously by Kim Jung-hyun (flashbacks to his epic presence in “Crash Landing on You” uwu). Hands down the best relationship ever!! Never mind the obvious elephant in the room (aka, the fact that only one of them knows that both individuals in this relationship are technically male LOL), the development of the king and “queen”‘s relationship was so well-done. As much as there was humour and confusion, there was a lot of political and personal tension surrounding the couple. The queen’s family, and indirectly the queen herself, are aligned against Cheoljong, who was simply placed in power as a puppet king so that the Kim family could retain control of the throne. We see a lot of deep-seated resentment and prejudices, but over the course of the drama, we see the king and queen transition from misunderstanding each other as enemies, to being forced onto the same side in the fight against corruption, to becoming friends with common goals, and ultimately, growing to genuinely love and care for one another. The way the drama slowly merged Jang Bong-hwan and Kim So-yang’s consciousness was deliberate and quite seamless as far as I’m concerned, and I loved that Bong-hwan and So-yang became inseparable by the end. It was almost as if they were working together, playing on each other’s strengths and creating one person who was both brazen and clever, but also heartfelt and loving. Kim Jung-hyun did an incredible job keeping up with Shin Hye-sun’s powerhouse acting. His delivery was always so on point. Whether it was being a strong and passionate voice for the people of Joseon, or as the utterly clueless husband to a queen who was acting suspiciously like a 21st century man, haha. I was completely sold on their relationship, not just the romantic one, but the real friendship that developed as well (granted, the king didn’t know about it, lol).
A lot of the supporting cast have a special place in my heart as well. Court lady Choi and the queen’s personal maid Hong Yeon, were honestly the best hahaa. They were so loving and supportive of Kim So-yang, always worrying about her and running after her and getting her out of trouble. They were such loyal subjects, and it was so heart-warming to see the three of them become inseparable friends.
Considering the ridiculous premise and amazing comedy, I was surprised but impressed with the amount of serious exploration of how power can corrupt, and also how many touching and heart-wrenching moments there were. It really speaks to how good the acting was, and how well the main and support characters were developed. I truly cared about so many of them, and so when they succeeded I cheered, and when they suffered, I cried. Yes, I cried a couple times while watching this, which I wasn’t expecting. The drama got pretty heavy as well, and the stakes felt very real. The king and queen were fighting against a deeply corrupt monarchy system that exploited the poor, and as with most period dramas, there was quite a lot of palace politics, under-handed dealings, assassinations, etc. Perhaps my one critique of the show as a whole was that sometimes the transitions between the heavy stuff and the light-hearted stuff was a bit jarring. And that overall I just cared a lot more about the relationships and the great conundrum about how Jang Bong-hwan would get back to his time, so sometimes the political stuff felt slower. But it was still all relevant to the story, and didn’t really impact the pacing too much.
Another highlight of the show for me was how they used Jang Bong-hwan’s cooking skills as a strong asset that helped him survive his Joseon adventures. It was so entertaining to see the queen slaying it in the kitchen and re-creating Michelin-star-level dishes that amazed and inspired the royal courts. I thought the directing and cinematography of those scenes were super well-done and emphasized the humour of the situation and the artistic craft of cooking.
It was truly a privilege to follow the journey of Jang Bong-hwan and Kim So-yang. After sharing such a life-defying adventure together (all the while also sharing a body, LOL), they both leave their mark on the other and change each other for the better. I loved every minute of the ride!
One final thing I just wanted to touch on, that isn’t about the actual drama, but about some backlash that Shin Hye-sun has received by Korean netizens about her role. I personally think it is entirely unwarranted and quite frankly, ridiculous, but essentially there is some online criticism of her portrayal of the queen, saying that it’s disrespectful to Korean culture and history, and that her character’s disregard for these things should not be praised. First of all…this is a work of fiction?? There’s a disclaimer before EVERY episode that says that all the people and historical events are FICTION, and do not represent history accurately. So I mean…I don’t know what else you want the producers and directors to do. If all stories had to be perfectly aligned and respectful of reality, then we would all just be watching documentaries all day?? Those aspects of Shin Hye-sun’s character were primarily for comic relief and laughs, not to be taken as a direct slander of actual history. Second of all…it’s not even Shin Hye-sun’s personal decision or fault! She didn’t write the script. She simply agreed to lend her talents to this difficult role, and did a damn good job pulling it off. People online are mad at her for taking the role, because that somehow makes her complicit in disrespecting history. And that brings me to my final point…WHY IS SHIN HYE-SUN GETTING THE BRUNT OF THE CRITICISM? What about the other actors and people involved in the drama? No one seems to mad at Kim Jung-hyun for agreeing to play the male lead. In my opinion, the criticisms are not only unfounded, but it’s also proof that there is still so much sexism within the Korean entertainment industry, and it makes me so sad. Shin Hye-sun deserves all the awards for this role, and I hate that she’s being targeted by salty netizens who seem to have nothing better to do except be keyboard warriors and stir up shit. Okay, rant over.
Sorry I had to end on a slightly negative note. Please go check out Mr. Queen and give it the love it deserves!! Thanks for reading, and happy watching!
Thought Bubbles 