The Strongest Female Lead in dramaland!
This drama has been so far the best I watched in 2023...The Queen... where to begin. She was the epitome of her title. What a strong character who was far cunning yet kind, brave yet strong . And whatever endless title she held, be it a wife, mother, stepmother, daughter in law, grandmother, etc etc. she was mesmerizing to watch in her role.
Truly an inspiring female lead. I couldn't be in awe of this character and KHS as the queen was just utter perfection.
Would strongly recommend this drama to anyone and everyone who would love a quirky strong and brave heroine. Doesn't matter if you are looking for it in a modern or historic time period., because this queen truly transcended time.
Was this review helpful to you?
It lives up to its promise
I had high hopes for this drama ever since it was announced and they got even higher when I first saw the trailer. I'm happy to say that it delivered in every way. The titular Queen is probably my favourite Queen ever from a period kdrama. She was compassionate, smart, loving, kind, just, and ruthless when necessary. She sounds almost too good to be true but Kim Hye Soo brings the character to life in a way that makes you believe she can and does exist.The palace intrigue was intricately woven and also enjoyable. I had no real idea how things would turn out in the end but once it ended I was left feeling like it was the only possible outcome. I would watch a dozen more episodes of just the Queen trying to manage the shenanigans of her children.
Was this review helpful to you?
Applaud the show for what it did right, and this won't be a dissapointing watch.
In my personal opinion, the latter half of the show fell victim to haphazard pacing and overuse of deux ex machinas. There were too much "gotcha!" moments to the point the tension lost its purpose because the viewer was reaffirmed that things will turn out well no matter what. In a fluffy romcom this kind of reassurance is exactly what you need, but I felt like it didn't fit right with the initial vibe of *this* show.Also it had little bit too many characters (at least 2 concubine characters could've easily been cut off) and as much as I love our Queen, I felt like her demeanour was over-dramatized so the credibility of her character leaned a lil bit much to the wrong side. And the villains were quite one-dimensional.
BUT
From beginning to the end, Under the Queen's Umbrella had its heart at the right place.
It did a number of things a lot of sageuks failed at doing for literally ages after the end of the proper long sageuk era about 10 years ago. Such as;
1. Not portraying the palace women as helpless flowers waiting for the king in their rooms all day long. They had STUFF to do. They were capable and intelligent individuals of their own right. They were constricted in lots of ways than not, yes. But it did not mean they always kept their heads down and laid low.
2. Making the harem ladies care about things other than being jealous with each other all the time. Women aren't so narrow minded, yknow? In a society where polygamy was the norm, I'd believe a majority of them had other priorities than hating on another woman who is no less of a victim of circumstances than they are.
3. Not pretending like the King was monogamous with one true love even though the guy literally had a harem, AND not pretending like he'd be an evil person otherwise.
The King of Under the Queen's Umbrella was refreshing in the sense he had a harem, yes. But also he was a nice and fair guy. He and the Queen had deep mutual understanding and respect towards each other. I do wish that the drama showed more scenes of him with other concubines as well tho.
4. Not repeating the trope of overbearing mistrustful Royal Father and the Crown Prince who is always under too much pressure + other Princes feeling neglected. This King (and also the Queen) cared for their children first and foremost, and would listen and give them benefit of the doubt before blindly believing what outsiders have to say. This drama had some of the most wholesome parent-child scenes in Sageuk history in my opinion. Regardless the child was a legitimate Prince or not, their treatment was all the same.
So yeah, if you think you'd love seeing the above 4 points in a Sageuk, Under the Queen's Umbrella is a must watch in many ways than not. Do give it a chance!
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Why this umbrella has pores ??
Under the Queen's umbrella. I got recommendations as a woman empowerment series and great motherhood but1)why the great mother is unaware that her 1st born is ill over a year and constantly losing consciousness?? 2nd ones preferences, intelligence or capability?? 3rd one is transgender?? 4th one's having affair?? 5th one is good for nothing??
And she started discovering her son's when the crown prince got in death bed . So , she doesn't care about her children as long as one of them is securing throne and security??
2) the death of crown prince is absolutely Queen's fault. You're leaving him in the hand of one physician without knowing his origin ?? If she informed the king the prince could have got more physicians so physician known wouldn't dare to experiment poison on him.
3) what's fvcking wrong with crown prince selection?? Is it child's play to do better in college and doing a reality show" who's gonna bring the escaped minister " and why would the ministers choose the crown prince?? It's not like king died so they need to fill the throne immediately and have heir !
A) don't a prince needs to build political power and support of powerful families??
B) getting war achievements and public favour??
C) having strong hold of parts of the empire??
why the a*shole ministers have more saying rather than the king and the achievements of princes ?? it's not a crown scholar selection!
And I do support taekhyon or choosing the more capable one rather than choosing queen's sons even if they are soiled brats .
4) the queen doesn't even have support system after being a queen over 20 years. Concubines have support system better than her .Neither the king ! Sage king my ass more like a puppet king. Ministers are the real king here . The king asking them to stop investigation, harming his children or be partial. They're like " chill dude you're illegitimate, so we won't listen haha " they even has audicity to say queen cheated king and have a son out of affair! They don't care about treason too .
5) umm what about queen Yoon ? I don't blame physician known ( previous grand prince) a little. It would have been one of the best revenge drama from their perspective( like rise of phoenix or nirvana in fire). Okay big baddie ganny died , jealous concubine gone mad . But what's about corrupted ministers ?? Who's gonna give graruntee that another concubine won't poison a crown prince openly with the help of fvcking ministers?? Who's gonna graruntee about crown prince's safety??
6) after doing soo much bas things the dowger queen died without receiving proper punishment or suffering !
7) I don't quite understand why drag the plot soo much . Like what's about the prince being transgender?? The royalty can keep this a secret and let him be , he's a prince after all.... it's not like he's the king or having homosexual relationships! What's about having a child born out of wedlock? It's not uncommon on Those days . And even after crown prince died how can they remain so casual , when they can die at any moment. Other concubines can come and go on their chambers, investigate on queen and her sons soo easily!
8) queen has one crown prince and 4 spoiled brats. Thank God the crown prince thaught his bro otherwise the queen's umbrella has soo many pores that could have been easily drenched her total family in blood........
I personally didn't like it at all . It's soo disappointing. They made politics a joke in order to show the queen's greatness.
Was this review helpful to you?
Twists and turns
This was an interesting story. The Crown Prince died under mysterious circumstance. The royal physicians attributed it to a blood disease. But the Queen believed that he had been murdered. Defiant against all forces trying to stop her, she was determined to investigate. His death sparked off a fight for the crown prince position now out for grabs. The Queen hoped that one of her four grand princes would succeed the Crown Prince. However, the Queen Dowager, Chief State Councilor and other royal consorts especially Consort Hwang, the birth mother of the King's eldest son, were not going to make it easy.What I like about this drama?
1. The story had a lot of twists and turns, shrouded in mystery. The investigation led to the uncovering of a similar mysterious death of Crown Prince Taein, the brother of the current King. So what was the connection? The sons of the Queen, the grand princes were all underdogs - with skeletons in their closets, unambitious or disadvantaged. The power-hungry, scheming and wicked Queen Dowager was against her as well. It all seemed a losing game for the Queen.
2. Mix of humour. The drama was quite intense. However, there were moments of humorous relief.
3. The cast was good, not to leave out good looking as well. The leads were outstanding.
What I do not like about this drama?
1. It was based on yet another theme of fighting for the throne; a theme that was beaten to death.
2. Very intense and stressful to watch.
3. Not much chemistry between the male and female leads. They were not given much chance to demonstrate their chemistry either.
Overall, I rated this a 9.5 with not much else to nitpick on. Enjoy it...
Was this review helpful to you?
What a good k-drama.
I definitely loved this k-drama. It is the first historical k-drama I watched and it was very enjoyable. The story grabs you and makes you want to watch more and more. I love how the characters were built and the dynamic between everyone. The character of the queen is just great, I'm not a mother but I could feel what she felt and I was deeply touched by the way she always tried to protect her children. I would probably watch it again sometime. I fell in love with prince Seongnam, he was my favorite character. ?Was this review helpful to you?
One of the best kdramas ever no cap
Kim Hye Soo, aka the Queen, her character might be one of my all-time FAVORITE characters in the history of K-drama land. I personally am not the biggest fan of historical dramas, I always end up dropping them because they're not my cup of tea. However, I decided to check UTQU out when I saw a picture of this drama on Twitter. It was a side by side photo of the Queen holding the umbrella for her son when he was young and then again when he was old.I love this drama so much, it is SO well written and the actors are so phenomenal. The queen's unconditional love for her children is what made everything. There were so many moments that were so touching. I learned a lot of wisdom about moms and their relationship with their children through the queen. It made me reflect back on my relationship with my parents as well.
Overall, I can not stress this enough - it is worth the watch. Truly a drama that I think everyone should watch at least once in their life because we all have a mom or guardian and I think this drama is relatable to everyone.
Was this review helpful to you?
A masterpiece; a work of art. It's simply DEABAK!!
Out of all the historical dramas that I’ve watched in which the main character is the queen, I personally think this one has the best queen.Kim Hye-soo did a fantastic job portraying the Queen. She’s the perfect actress for the role. She is simply outstanding throughout the entire series. Her gesture, her facial expression, her emotion, the way she conveys her lines – everything is on point. I really like how the Queen is presented as a strong-willed, fierce and hot-tempered woman who is also a compassionate, doting, and thoughtful mother - traits that is uncommon in most historical series.
Unlike other historical dramas, this one shows a diversity of parent-child relationships. The King, Queen, and Grand Princes demonstrate how strong family ties may persist in the face of difficulties.
Even though the resolution for some villains isn’t very satisfying, I love how the ending concludes the meaning behind ‘under the queen’s umbrella’.
The supporting characters are also good, especially the Grand Princes and the concubines. Each of their roles complements the plot perfectly. Other than the Queen Hwa-ryeong, I personally like Consort Hwang (Ok Jayeon). I’ve watched other of Ok Jayeon’s projects, but it seems like she’s being typecast with similar villain character. But she nailed it anyway.
The series is sooooo good that I even watch the behind-the-scene clips and enjoy every bit of it, just like I did with the series.
Brilliant acting ✅
Emotion rollercoaster ✅
Intense conflict ✅
Pure evil villains ✅
Potential young actors ✅
Was this review helpful to you?
NOTE: Suicide ratings were very high in the historical era as well as it is in the present day in South Korea which is #4 in the world ratings. If you know someone who is having a problem... the worldwide number to prevent suicide is 988. Children are raised with honorifics and what is formal and informal. Suicide is none of them... we need to start protecting family members, friends, or those we don't know. The suicide cycle needs to be broken. Recognize the signs! Talk to your children, and teach in schools that bullying is not allowed on the world wide web. Don't become a Netizen who bullies others online.
Was this review helpful to you?
magnifique
Dans le palais existent des princes fauteurs de trouble qui ne causent que des maux de tête à la famille royale et sont sur le point d'être transformés en véritables princes héritiers. Leur mère, Im Hwa Ryeong, est l'épouse d'un grand roi. Mais au lieu d'avoir une aura d'élégance et de grâce, elle est une reine piquante, sensible et colérique. Une fois de plus sereine, elle a changé car les gens n'arrêtaient pas d'appuyer sur ses boutons. C'est une reine qui abandonne parfois sa fierté et est même connue pour jurer ! Chaque jour de sa vie est rempli d'épreuves, mais elle les surmonte toutes, pour le bien de ses enfants.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
A modern storyline under the pretext of a historical sageuk, which it is not.
If you want a drama true to its period, thus deserving the title of historical, even if a period fiction, don’t watch this one…the weight of customs, laws and traditions is purely and simply blown up here, to only keep a minimum.That’s what partnering with Netflix does. Even if under the wings of Studio Dragon.
This being said, this is a quite a gripping and entertaining drama.
The modern fiction storyline is mixed within a sageuk, the sageuk being the pretence to succession schemes, palace plotting, murder, revenge and pardon, or not….
I loved that the queen character is a truly unconditionally motherly mother, and that her sons are all warm-hearted without a hint of wickedness. That is the reason for my 10. The title says it all. She makes the drama, supported by an outstanding cast.
It is fast paced with hardly any dull moment.
There are a lot of topics that are addressed by the drama.
Spoilers:
Why a modern fiction? because the Queen will not only accept and protect her transvestite son, but also harbour and hide the baby another of her sons has out of wedlock with a gisaeng - brought to the palace by her - to be raised in secret by that son in the palace, the gisaeng being hired as a wet nurse in the palace …or when the future crown princess, the daughter of the war minister, is able to travel for many days on her own, to follow her love interest, without safety consideration, not shy in the least, speaking also freely, expressing her feeling and interest in an extremely bold manner, without any serious blame in the end.
A thousand situations that have no historical credibility in the past, but that nonetheless make it entertaining if you consider that this is after all a fiction.
What I didn’t like at all.
1. The very poor filming /production by the night crew, with shaky images when filming close up scenes that will make you uncomfortable.
The quality and beauty of the production just doesn’t stand the comparison with dramas such as The red sleeve, Yanxi palace, Love like the galaxy or Ming Lan, which is too bad because the costumes are beautiful. It makes me wonder about the director’s choice.
2. Big spoiler: and the reason for my -1, because the drama lets down here: The unraveling of the revenge plots in ep. 14 and esp. 15, is really a bit too far fetched with the twists and turns that don’t stand to close scrutiny (I watched the end after ep. 3, so I was very attentive during the unfolding of drama) - esp. with the 2 doctors storyline / one being the son of the former deposed queen and mastermind, having had a son with a concubine passed as one of the king’s sons , or the older doctor who is curing in a plagued village at the beginning of the drama, and who ends up being another revenge mastermind…. But since this is a drama to reflect on motherhood and entertain,, and not aiming at being true to the customs of that period….
Was this review helpful to you?
One of the best. Like literally.
This drama has a very special place in my heart for real. It is SO SOSOO GOOD. One of the very few K-dramas that don't have forgotten plotholes that aren't actually forgotten, it gave us everything we needed so it's safe to say it had a satisfying end. The acting was on spot, the actors did what they had to do, and they matched the characters so well too, so it's safe to say it was a perfect cast. ESPECIALLY Kim Hye Soo, I genuinley believe I wouldn't love it as much if she didn't have this role. And for once in a blue moon, they showed what an actual mother is like in a K-drama. She was harsh when she needed to be and soft when she needed to be, but she was still a loving mother thinking of her kids in all of the situations.Everyone really needs to watch it's so underrated T-T. Even my mom who's not a fan of K-dramas really enjoyed it (She was the one that introduced me to it LMAO, a bit ironic I think)
Was this review helpful to you?
