Mr. Queen (2020)

No Ta chi

The story was very unique. It had some LGBT elements that had to be handled with a certain level of care and awareness. Unfortunately, at least in my opinion, the writers decided to go down the safe, less gay, route without realizing that the ending completely destroyed the plot.

** SPOILERS **

The drama was about Bong Hwan (BH), a 21st century man, traveling back in time and waking up in a body of a princess soon to be a queen. It was filled with very funny and clever moments that kept me very entertained. But, after episodes 14-15, the plot kind of became stale. The scenes were not as funny anymore but annoying. I eyerolled at the scene where the queen threw a temper tantrum over Lady Choi eating all the yogurt. However, this wasn't the biggest problem with the show. The biggest problem was the ending.

The story was about BH's relationship and subsequent love story with the king. Nowhere in the drama did the writers elude that BH and So Yong (SY) ever fought for control of the body, or that sometimes it was BH and sometimes it was SY who was in control. It was always BH. This was even confirmed in the queen's last conversation with Byung In telling him that "she" did not know where So Yong was or whether she was even alive.

The king, Cheoljong, fell in love with BH in SY's body. BH's unorthodox behavior, unpredictability, straight forwardness, lack of manners was what was attractive. If the king wanted a meek and polite young lady, he would've stayed in love with Hwa Jin.

Everything the king did - writing the queen's dictionary filled with new words that BH introduced to him, writing a journal about new fighting and exercise techniques that BH taught him, reforming the country, was because of his relationship with BH, not SY. SY by herself was a very minor character and appeared in only a few flashbacks. Even SY's ideas about women's rights were BH's ideas and not hers.

And, what do we get at the end? BH goes back home without even saying "good-bye" to anyone. The king ended up with SY, who was not the person he fell in love with. But, that's ok, so long as SY looked exactly like the person he loved, we were supposed to accept it. What a terrible, horrible, no good message.

I am not sure why the writers did not go down the incarnation route where SY and BH were the same person living in different eras, and, at the end have SY and BH's souls and personalities merge as one in SY's body. There was already a premise for that with the queen's identity crisis "her" being a man in a woman's body and having a romantic/sexual relationship with the king.

It was also strange how the king did not pick up on the fact that after BH left, his wife became a completely different person who could no longer cook and had an entirely different personality. Or, that SY ended up lying to the king about who she was and did exactly what Hwa Jin did. But we are supposed to ignore it.

Shin Hye Sun is an actress from god. She did an amazing job portraying BH and SY as completely different people, they even spoke differently. SY was soft spoken. BH was coarse and aggressive. It was rather strange to assume that the king, who was head over hills in love with BH, did not see that his wife was different, considering that the differences in SY's personalities after the suicide incident were consistently addressed in the show. We did get a scene where the king somewhat realized that he lost something, but that scene looked like an afterthought rather than a serious and tragic realization that something important was lost.

Even Byung In, whom I hated, became a sympathetic character at the end because he actually confronted BH about SY and was the only one whose love was authentic. The writers made it look like it didn't matter to the king who he was married to so long as that person looked a certain way.

I honestly thought that BH would return to the king in one way or another, but the ending left me completely flabbergasted. Nobody ended up with the person they actually loved and the king's relationship with the queen was based on a lie. The attempt to paint SY to be more like BH because she started cursing was a lousy cop out. What made BH different was his boldness, a sense of justice, and ability to form close relationships with servants and nobility alike. SY just capitalized on it and ripped rewards from everything BH accomplished, without achieving anything on her own. What a stupid way to destroy an awesome story.

The rewatch value is like in the Game of Thrones. Everything is awesome until it all falls apart at the end.

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different from everything, crazy funny and taboo free

Without spoiler:
this drama is really fresh, different, soo much funny and catches you from the first 10-20 minutes. there are so many things that are soo different from usual dramas.
what was great:
1. FL (though she kind of is ML) - character like who we haven't seen
2. phenomenal acting from FL. others are good too, but not near to her.
3. humor, oh God, I haven't laughed that much soo long
4. cliche and taboo free, for example I don't remember drama with so much sexual/intime undertones, they act so natural and show so real chemistry and sexual tension, passion...
5. very unusual story, I mean gender switching is normal in dramas, but there are so more unusual storylines in this drama, few times I was like "no way, they wouldn't goo so far..." but this drama really breaks many drama taboos
6. the whole mood of the show, with perfectly fitting music and acting, there are soo right mood, soo funny
.... there are many really good things too, you should watch )))

what was bad:
main problem is the end, 1-2 little different scene could be make this drama completely perfect.
Spoilers:
the whole story clearly showed, that it was only SY's body and then some memories, BH even blamed female body for wanting king. Even if there was some piece of SY which helped BH fall for king, the character we watched for 19,5 episodes was BH. King fell in love with BH and then changing him even and King didn't even noticed it... that's just not logical.

There was scene, when BH/SY says to that guy who loved her, that it's just her body and if he loved her how he couldn't notice that now this is different person, so same goes to king, even more because king was his husband and was all the time with her, so how he doesn't noticed?
Ok I understand if they would stay together and happy anyway, because he already loves her and even if noticed that she changed, he wouldn't just stop loving her in one day, would see her in good way anyway and get used to even new herself, it is realistic, on the other hand SY not saying "you know, I'm not the one you fall for" is realistic too, she loved king whole life. But at list they should show that king sees difference, is kind of confused, misses how she was or something like that. He loves his wife but misses something, that wouldn't destroy happy ending or anything.
We can't say that they afraid taboos or gay theme, because this drama had so many brave scenes, so much sex/intime undertones, they already showed us practically two males fall for each other. one gender theme was in side characters stories too. So why back at the end?

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Despite the main character being a man trapped in a female body, there is a certain focus on women within this drama; their lives, roles and work within the palace, which I enjoyed. Shin Hye Sun is absolutely amazing in this role and can switch from comedy to drama with great easy. It never feels forced to too harsh of a transition. I enjoy her so much in this role. And considering that this is a comedy about gender-swap, I never really found the humor that demeaning or like it talked down to women, or even homosexuality for that matter, as the romance became more prevalent. It wasn’t perfect, but I had expected worse, and it never really got on my nerves personally.

Whether we need this gender-swap to tell the story I am on the fence about. I think but that the story could have worked well enough if the main character was just a woman from the 21st century. Sometimes it seemed to me that they were brushing over things that should have underlined the struggle that a person who is not in that time, not in their body, would deal with. And I don’t think this is the radical or feminist take that some might have wanted about of women or the gender. But I also don’t think the drama ever intended to be a big commentary on society or gender roles. It just wanted to be a comedy sageuk with a twist.

I liked pretty much all the female characters in the drama for different reason. There was a range of characters and even the more comic relief ones had more to their roles than just that. Most of my favorite moments in the show had something to do with the main character’s friendship with their maids as well as the mutual respect that existed between them.

The sort of regular, everyday life of the court, especially for the women in the highest positions, was something I enjoyed too. Those moments are usually more in the background in these dramas. And I found the humor mostly revolved around that; life in the palace, the people who worked there, a little bit about politics and power struggle, but also the fact that the main characters was from another time period and how that person did things differently from the others and the conflicts that created. Much more than the actual gender-swap. Which is why I think we didn’t need it.

It took a while for the drama to mix the humor with the more serious tones of the drama that boosted the suspense in the story. The humor that led the drama in the beginning, but the more political bits never felt too jarring to me. And after a few episodes I felt like they managed to mix those two elements well enough so they worked together.

Despite some complaints about the politics taking up too much time, Mr. Queen was always a comedy and manages to keep the humor up throughout the drama, despite the politics and all the power struggles taking place. But even in the darkest, most tensest moments the show always manages to mix in lighter and funnier moments in. I never felt like the overall tone of the show dropped, or that it become too heavy. The humor never dried up and the story never became too dreary.

Many people do not like the high stakes, which never feel that high compared to other such period dramas, or the politics and just want the romance and the comedy. But personally I think dramas like these could not keep the story going with just funny moments and no politics. There have to be stakes and in the palace stakes comes with political maneuvering. Most stories are based on some kind of tension, risk and conflict.

The conflict here comes out in subtle fights for power, very under the table political tactics to, shifting of allies and clashes between several powerful clans within the Joseon era. But those conflicts never took over the whole story. It is the usual shenanigans that you usually see in these period dramas, but just a bit more woman focused, which I enjoyed a lot. How the women used their power and manipulated the court and people around them. The king has his focus as well, but the is surrounded by really smart, calculating women.

Overall I felt like Mr. Queen was a pretty standard period drama that tried to have a little bit of a different angle on things, that just aimed to be very fun and entertaining. It never took itself that seriously, but I also didn’t think it was saying that much either, although criticizing society through comedy is what the genre is sort of made for. Yet the light-hearted spirit that was always persistent through the drama, the character and just the amazing performance of Shin Hye Sun, made Mr. Queen overall a really easy and entertaining show to watch.

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The best historical series ever

I really am both excited and happy about such a cute,fun and happy series.i was doubted to watch it at the first episodes were released due to a man came to a woman but when i started watching it the only feeling that a had was happiness with loud laughter and pure love .i was never stressed or deeply sad as the happy moments went after the sad ones and the revenges were not that poisonous to darken our hart,i really care about ending of series so the happy and open ending- which make me hope that it could be Mr Queen 2 in near future- was really pleasing.the Ost is one other thing make me connect to the story and luckily the ost did go to the story line very well i really will miss this series i really hope that they come to decide to make the second Mr Queen series .....thanks to all cast and crews.wish to see you soon.

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Great show with full of comedy and refreshing idea, but losing it in the last episode

The Show has broken through many types of clichés, and for the first 19 episodes are gold. Great comedy, amazing acting, good script as well. But, seeing the season finale, it gave me a disappointment.

*SPOILERS*

Because we kind of lost one of our main character half-way in the last episode(Bonghwan), where he went back to his lifetime and left Soyoung's body with her soul (and here I thought she is dead for the whole 19 episodes!). After that, Soyoung just lives in her body but apparently, also adapting Bonghwan's behaviour. Now, I don't know what to feel about this. Because Cheojong fell in love with Bonghwan's character, his persona and everything about him (he admitted this in the ealier episodes), and now he was left with someone, who is completely stranger to him, and us. I thought he is going to realize that the person inside of Soyoung's body is not really her, but the writer seems to ditch that off. It's kind of what I've expected because writer-nim also did that with Byung Im (he is completely oblivious with Soyoung's new behaviour and still think that it IS her).

Anyway, now Cheoljong will live a life, where he thought the person who he loves is right besides him, but actually not. And what about Bonghwan?? Are you already forget about him, who has already done everything to save Cheoljong and everyone in there, while Soyoung had done nothing and just enjoy all of his hardwork up until now?

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Excellent 19 episodes, trash finale. Queer baiting trash.

This is a completely hilarious show with an interesting premise that produces a queer leading character - a man in a woman's body. It's extremely unfortunate that the finale is such a cop out, which renders the entire show another example of queer baiting. This is an exciting roller coaster ride that at the end throws you off your seat to your death.

Spoilers below:
1. The king is explicitly in love with the spirit of the male MC, not the real queen. He noticed that the queen is out of character but did nothing. They’re now just another straight couple.
2. Is the MC bisexual now? Ending it this way makes it another queer baiting show. The writers are also trying to backtrack and say that both characters' souls are inhabiting the same body but remember how the queen's body almost died because the MC went back to the 21st century? The doctor said her body was in a soulless state. This is the only time where the queen's soul took back control of the body and their explanation is that she's in hiding all along? Also, none of the queen’s feelings for other characters stayed, not her feelings for her childhood friend/maid, cousin, or father, only her feelings for the king, whom she met once as a child, “remained.” But why? Is her entire existence anchored around her love for the king? The MC certainly rationalized it as the queen’s feelings when he first felt his attraction to the king. At the same time the MC certainly has enough control and agency to do whatever he wanted unrestrained by the queen's years of etiquette training, including acting on his attraction to women. Bullshit.
3. The original queen is literally the most useless character on the show but gets to reap the fruits of the MC’s labor. In fact, she is a(n abusive) damsel in distress saved by straight male MC. This is not feminist at all.
4. All the reforms they did led to an identical Korea in 2021.

Bad ending on all fronts. 0/10. Just don't watch the finale.

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There's a power that comes from watching a show after it's ended. It means that you can watch after you've confirmed that it did do what you were worried it was going to do. Korea is simply not ready to tell these stories, although this pushes the boundaries more than I expected it to.

Based on the (controversial, censored) Chinese web drama, Go Princess Go, Mr Queen tells the story of a modern day man who finds himself living in the body of Joseon Queen. The first two episodes were unwatchable slapstick but I persisted for one major reason: the acting, the amazing acting. These are two transcendent performances from some of Korea's finest actors.

I won't spoil anything for people who haven't seen it but this is a fusion Sageuk romp with a fun script, wonderful acting, brilliant production values and an ending that was as disappointing as it was inevitable. The show's attempt to backcast the themes as some sort of quest for justice or campaign against corruption rather than a romance is jarring but it doesn't mean you can't enjoy the ride, even with its last-minute attempt to walk back The Gay.

If you think about it too much you might get annoyed so, as with most fusion Sageuks, it's best to not think about it at all. Just enjoy. And there's a lot to enjoy. Especially around Shin Hye-sun and Kim Jung-hyun proving they are A grade actors with amazing comic timing and genuine gravitas.

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SPOILERS AHEAD

I am proud to say I'm an anti fan!
This drama had everything. Interesting storylines, out of the world acting, fantastic music...
The King and the Queen were ultimate couple goals. Personally I believe that after the second lake incident So Yong started to resurface along with her memories and she was unconsciously directing Bong Hwan. So the King wasn't only in love with Bong Hwan's character and charisma.
The only thing that I wasn't fine with was the death of Byung In, this guy had me frustrated for 18 episodes and then he made me like him in 5 seconds, damn you second lead syndrome...
Lastly, I have to talk about my favourite secondary character... Kim Hwan was stealing the show without even trying. He is precious someone protect him.
Definitely gonna rewatch this drama.

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The best show I have ever watched

I don't normally watch historical movies by this one was fantastic. It was just a great show everything was perfect from comedy to romance, thriller. I was always at the edge of my seat and expectant but this how never failed me, The idea was great, the bromance was touching. I cried a lot and laughed a lot when they started to fall in love i was just so elated and proud. I wish we saw the baby boy or girl and I wish he stayed there longer Definitely will watch it again and honestly everyone should watch it you won't be disappointed. Hopefully, there will be a season 2 with a much better ending.

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A winner in subverting expectations- and taking your heart

"You will lose. Even so, I want to go all in with you."

This drama deserves every bit of praise it has gotten so far. If you're wondering why, and more importantly whether you should watch it, then let me elaborate.
It does not matter whether you`re a fairly new drama fan(like me), or you have been watching Korean dramas for as long as you can remember, it is an undeniable fact that the time travelling and soul/body switching(though in this case it isn't really switching) plots have started to become a bit of a trend in recent years. Hell, in the last two, I can name at least half a dozen of such dramas. What I'm trying to say is, the world of two periods or personalities isn`t as fresh as it once was due to oversaturation, coupled with some other factors. Keeping this in mind, "Mr.Queen" also had to face the status of the Korean remake, expecting some possible negative attention of the Chinese original`s fans. But despite these problems, this historical drama managed to reinvigorate and change its genre, by creating some of the most relatable, endearing and down-to-earth characters in recent memory. I LOVE them. All across the board, I adore the level of attention that was paid to character building. Due to the obvious talent and effort of the whole cast, I know by heart, all of the characters` names and their temperaments. Their quirks and motivations. From the Royal Chef Man Bok to Court Lady Choi, I even love Kim Jwa-Geum and Kim Byeong-In(for whose sake I`ve cried like four tissues worth of tears). They are so engaging that I`m more than willing to overlook some plot holes in an otherwise tight story. There is such a feeling of life jumping from each and every scene of this drama. The sets are lively and beautiful(albeit at times a bit empty), the OST, while probably being the weakest link here, is by no means bad. It`s good, appropriate, but is there for a purpose and nothing more.(except for that NORAZO track. I laugh dearly every time it comes on)

And now, we get to the heart and soul of our drama: The Queen and the King. Oh, how I love these two. I`ll start off with King Cheoljong and his spectacular actor Kim Jung-Hyun. Much like Shin Hye-Sun, he gives me hope with his talent. In a sea of pretty faces and average acting, both he and SHS have established themselves as acting forces to be reckoned with and I`m so, so, so glad that they were given a chance of working together, because they fit just right. Kim Jung-Hyun plays the role of a seemingly carefree, breezy and somewhat dim King Cheoljong, whose secret agenda is actually what separates his arc and turns it into something notable in its own right. He`s at his funniest when he`s clueless, unsure of his own surroundings. Without spoiling it too much, just like almost everything in this drama, his character subverts expectations. Not only is he the type of character you`d find to be a supporting character in most other dramas, he`s a lead because these kind of characters deserve the spotlight now. His emotions are palpable, raw and he delivers his lines with much security. He`s the perfect jin to So-Young`s/Bong-Hwan`s jang. Ah, the Queen. The reason why, unlike many reviewers, I`m not addressing So-Young/Bong-Hwan as such but as simply Queen is:a) I can`t be bothered but b)because by the end, she just becomes a Frankenstein of both So-Young and Bong-Hwan where it just seems wrong to opt for one option. And I`m pretty sure that was the goal of this story. While I understand many have gripes with the story`s portrayal of Bong-Hwan and Cheoljong`s relationship and really, the ending, I would like to offer my own interpretation, backed by some research and knowledge about the Chinese version. I`d like to ask new watchers or those considering becoming one, to see Bong-Hwan in a form of a narrator, or how Cheoljong describes him subconsciously: a spiritual guide. Once again, your expectations will be thwarted, but for me, much like the rest, I like the ending, when compared to the alternatives. I don`t LOVE it as much, but I contextually understand it. As for the Queen herself, she`s a blast. *insert that Lady Gaga gif here. You know the one.* The comedy mostly stems from her and what is happening in her vicinity, however, as a character, she`s layered just enough to stop it from being one-dimensional

For those who`d like to understand why and don`t mind being spoiled, in the original story it is mentioned that Bong-Hwan`s and So-Young`s souls were coexisting in her body and what`s more, Bong-Hwan`s soul was always meant to be born in Joseon era, only it didn`t happen for some reason(I didn`t get too much into it). With this knowledge, I started seeing the presented story in a new light. While I wish they at least mentioned this somewhere, or hinted at it, I`m also glad they didn`t get into the whole mechanics of it, because so many other stories like this do. Even though I`d like for Bong-Hwan and Cheoljong to at least meet in the present day and even be together, I can`t deny that I liked the ending more than most because I well understood that Bong-Hwan was never meant to stay. For the lack of better words, I like how they decided to stay consistent and not fulfill our wishes. Whilst it`s bittersweet, it`s by miles better than having them die or be killed. Yes, those were the alternatives in the original. In my mind, best ending would either be:Cheoljong and Bong-Hwan meeting each other in present day and being together, which would tie well with the themes of rebirth, while Cheoljong is with So-Young in the past OR that the Queen would live as a mix of both characters(that`s my selfish wish, because it wouldn`t be right for either Bong-Hwan or So-Young). Finally the comedy in this is top notch. Many jokes land on the back of their punchlines which are very clever sometimes too. You need to make sure that you`re doing slapstick right, otherwise it is grading and almost surreal, so it can take you out of the experience("Strong Woman Do Bong Soon"). And here, it was done just right.

Finally, I don`t want to make this review too long, but this drama warrants your attention and keeps it throughout. You`ll laugh, get mad, cry but most of all, you might get the feeling I got when I was done with it and its spin off "Mr.Queen: The Bamboo Forest", which I urge the watchers to see after this, as it might answer some of your questions. The feeling of satisfaction you get when you walk out of the theatre after seeing a good play and the actors bow. You were invested, interested in the lives of the characters you saw and that is the biggest compliment this type of entertainment can get. So do yourself a favor, watch it and don`t be deterred!

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I quite liked the show

Well, to start with I quite liked the lightheartedness of the show. I laughed throughout the entire season. The lead actor and actress did their job pretty well. I was already a fan of Hye Sun' s acting ,now Jung Hyun is added to the list. About the ending, well I am happy with that too. The soul of the chef returns and the queen realises her wild side. I think the production has gone for the safest choice. Being a kdrama fan, J would have definitely loved to see them somehwere in the real life, but guys to be honest I didnt mind as long as the king and queen were together.

What bothers me is no one is taking about Na In-woo. Like my heart broke into pieces when he died. Such a brillant actor. He deserves more for sure.

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