The Drama of 2022 That Has Everything You Could Ever Want
I think it's safe to say this is one of the best things I've ever seen.I loved this drama so much.
I've never written any reviews on here before, but I think this one deserves it.
The drama has ended, but it will always be with me.
I was sceptical about the drama having only "16" episodes (there were so many stones unturned), but everything was executed well.
They gave us an excellent, satisfying ending; it has to be one of my favourites. Everything tied together perfectly at the end.
I have a lot of respect for the writer; it was their first drama, yet all the elements were perfect, and they included so much in just 16 episodes!
The characters were all complex and interesting.
I love Kim Hye Soo, and she was brilliant in this. Her character is one of the best female leads I've seen. She's strong, understanding, kind, and just the best. All of the Grand Princes were perfect; they had their flaws, but that's what made them so lovable. I adored getting to know them and their stories.
All of the characters were fantastic, including the Queen Dowager in all her evil glory (I despise her guts, but her character is admirable).
I think Under The Queen's Umbrella is severely underrated; people automatically deem it boring because it's a historical, but I have to say, I never felt bored, not even for a second.
This is one of those gems that surpasses all your expectations. (Even though I actually had a lot of expectations because I love Kim Hye Soo)
Historicals have a stereotype, one of being boring, but sometimes you need to look at the broader picture and give things a shot.
This drama is full of everything you could want: mystery, action, romance, politics, strong characters, and more!
This was a heartwarming and lovely show, and it is one I will rewatch time and time again.
Highly, highly recommended!
If it's not obvious already, I give it a 10/10.
No, scratch that; this drama deserves a 1000/10. (I still can't believe it is the writer's first drama. Everything, and I mean everything, was perfect.)
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Under the Mom's umbrella!
At first i dropped it after watching the beginning episode but GLAD i had started watching again bcz what a masterpiece i was gonna miss!!슈룹/Syurup is TVN's best Sageuk drama this year, set in Joseon Dynasty with fictional premise. A Dignified Queen Hwa-ryeong embarks on a journey to rein in her mischievous troublemaker sons in order to make one of them the next king of Joseon, while her competitors vie to snatch the throne.For the very initial episodes, Bae In hyuk totally stole Hearts with his guest appearance as the perfect Crown Prince she raised. And then, suddenly with the loss of him, the monarch faces It's Crisis, & in order to protect her sons, Queen Mother is determined to transform them into deserving Princes Through education & personal Growth.
Queen Hwa-ryeong is the best Mom character & one of the most well written Female characters in any kdramas I've ever watched....Kim Hye soo is just Outstanding in her role,the strategic brilliance of the plot & amazing execution of it deserves all the praise & Awards out there. The ending Credits where grand Prince seongnam hold the umbrella for his mother,the queen..summarizes the drama in all aspects...all the Prince characters were well written and their character developments were EPIC ... very little fight scenes unlike other historical dramas, & comedy elements and light scenes are well proportionated besides serious emotional scenes.
Really had a wonderful watch throughout 16 episodes in emotional rollercoaster! Gonna miss my fav characters Yi Kang aka GP seongnam and yoon cheong Ha...! Goodbye Under the queen's umbrella!
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phenomenal
This drama is historical and I've been seeing a lot of complaints towards the genre as a whole, saying it's boring. I haven't looked too into the review for this one, but I can say my opinions towards it are very positive.To start off, I think it is incredibly underrated. The production of the drama is insane, and it is beautiful in every shot. Every shot is detailed and adds to the premise of the story, and none of what is shown is filler. It comes down to even the little moments that focus on hands, rain, etc. The cinematography is stellar and from a directing standpoint this drama is nothing less than that. What comes down to making this drama really good is all of the elements coming together. A lot of shows can have a good cast with a bad script, or a bad cast with a good script. This one pulls together what it had so well and is not overdone. The cast is pretty much star-studded, quite literally as you have SF9's Chani included as well. I have seen some complaints about the secondary characters not being acted as well and that the main lead Kim Hye Soo is carrying the show, and to that I will explain. Kim Hye Soo is a veteran actress who has been doing this for years, and she is by far the best actress here. I can see that she may overshadow, but it is all the credit to her. She is just one of the best actresses out there and her co stars are young and haven't done it as long. What I am getting at is that she is amazing and the other acting isn't bad at all, she is just so so so good at acting that you might compare her to her co-stars.
With that being said... I am pleasantly surprised by all the acting efforts of the whole entire cast. With some new faces that I haven't ever seen personally in a drama, none of them are over or underacting at all. The story is pretty easy to follow, a Queen's ambition for one of her sons to succeed and become a crown prince. The story may be simple, but every character is picked apart and that makes it very interesting.
Each prince has their talents and things they are good at, but they are all very flawed. Each flaw gets its turn to shine, and each talent does as well. You can sympathize with even the princes that aren't directly the Queen's son. Every young person in this drama has a lot of weight held over them and they don't take the situation they are in lightly. The drama starts off lighthearted, but it descends to be deeper and more emotional. It's a story about family and survival, and a beautiful one at that.
There are a lot of characters in this show and you would think I would forget a few or get lost. I haven't gotten lost at all, instead I grow further intrigued by each episode and scene with every character.
The only complaints I have is the Queen Dowager... I hate bad people just thinking they are superior without having anything to back them up. She feels superior having put the King in his position. She wants to have everyone wrapped around her finger.. I dislike that woman so much honestly but that can't really be a complaint. It is credit to the drama for doing its job to make me dislike her.
To wrap it up this drama is so good and I recommend for someone that wants a heartbreaking, heart-racing watch.
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A Golden Umbrella ☂️
I have to applaud the writer for being able to incorporate so much into one drama as we don't see that often and only a few shows are able to pull that off well.This drama is absolutely golden and beautiful. It was so good in just episode 1 I thought it was too good to be true, so I waited for 4 episodes before leaving this review.
Many seaguk don't focus or touch more on polygamy which was obviously present at the time period. I like that this drama is realistic and very informative. It touches many subjects and shows the lives of so many characters.
I foreshadow some tragic events but one thing I've learned from watching many good dramas is not to let the tragedy overcome many good parts of the drama. Overall It's very heartwarming and beautiful.
I absolutely cannot hate on any of the princes as I can see why they act the way the act and how their family have influenced them growing up.
Lastly, the crown prince is such a beautiful soul ❤️
Edit: I completed all 16 episodes and have to give credit to the queen for being such a strong woman. This drama gave me so much comfort.
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MOTHER
In most dramas, it typically gets less interesting as the episodes go on, but this is not the case with this gem. As the story progress, its getting better and better and ended with the most beautiful and perfect denouement. Yet, viewers can also continue the tale if they want to in their imagination.The acting and the music is top notch. The pacing is excellent and the comedic timing, chefs kiss.
Also the way she was portrayed as a queen, a mother, and a woman was so pure and glorious. The queen is a mother , not just to her offspring. depending on the circumstance, can be firm or gentle demands, and they are all made out of genuine love and concern, women protect women. This also shows us that just because they are a mother and an adult does not mean they are right all the time, and I think that is so okay and humane.
A must watch for its one of the best historical dramas to have recently been released. It has good writing, smart decisions, and is intriguing.
As the queen says if I remember correctly, "Even between parent and child, it takes time for wounds to heal, such that some things are unspoken but still understood," .that is so real. And at the end of the day, the children will also protect their mother.
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A masterpiece in every way possible
I think this may be one of my first reviews here but this drama was SO good that it deserves my review.i started watching it because i saw everyone was raving about it and i'm so so glad that i did. if you're onw of those people that are always afraid to watch something if the majority loves it, so go for it. you'll completely understand why we all love it so much.
from the beginning i just love love love the queen. she's different from all the queens in historical drama, they're almost always boring, let's be honest. she's just SO SO bright and so caring, loving, sincere that you can't help but love her from the get go. her personality is golden every since the beginning.
now the children: i just loveeeeed every single son of the queen, i love how they're all very distinct from each other and they have such a beautiful bond.
the bond of the family, the queen with her children is one of the highest points of the drama and i'm always a sucker for it, her love for her children and her bravery when it comes to protect them is out of this world. she's one of the best characters. and the princes, their love for each other, specially the first crown prince and seongnam's love for their brothers is what drives them forward and it's so beautiful to see.
the king was such a pleasure surprise, i also normally hate kings in historical dramas bc they're always full of themselves and never do anything to help neither the palace or the people, but he's different, he has made his mistakes (you'll see them), but he paid for them with his life, till the very end of the drama.
the villains. THIS IS SOOOOO GOOD, i'm a sucker for dramas that make me pull my hair out with rage with villains and this is one of the dramas, the highness queen (i think that's what she's called, the mother of the king) IS THE WORST PERSON ALIVE she made me angry every single chance she could, i was kinda disappointed with her ending, but it was good nonetheless.
anyway, i won't be going too much about the story itself, but every single episode left me on a cliffhanger, i couldn't help but click onto the next episode and the next and the next, till the point that i finished it in a day and now i wanna forget it all so i can re-watch it.
this is one of the best dramas i have ever watched in my life and it's not even a stretch.
they brought so many important topics in this drama, gyeoseong story was so so pure and beautifil till the end.
the photography, filming direction, writing, acting, everything in this drama from the beginning till the end is pure gold and you should watch it. you won't regret it.
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Rule by compassion, not by fear.
One woman show filled with schemes, betrayal, twists and turns that kept me entertained till the last second. With a rather large set of villains and antagonists, you never know who will be the next target and how the dynamics will change. And in the center of that was Queen Im Hwa Ryung with her dedication to keep her sons safe.It’s honestly a strange drama. The same aspects I love, I also thought were flaws. For example - the villains/antagonists. I actually liked many of them, found their motivations and reactions to everchanging circumstances entertaining. That said, they never truly felt like a threat. Which is strange because the stakes were high, people were actually dying. And yet, none of the bad guys felt intimidating - entertaining sure, but not intimidating.
I also loved Queen Im Hwa Ryung and how smart she was. She was great at reading the situations, knowing who works with whom and how to use that information. At the same time, she also knew that showing compassion can form better loyalty and actually set the person to a proper path, compared to fighting them with power and fear alone. But I wished her judgement was at least once wrong. That someone whom she gave a second chance stabbed her in the back.
Then we have the princes - all fun, all lacking depth. Each one of them presented a completely different story, be it being related to taboo subjects of the era, their relationships with their mothers, ambition or lack of it. But at the end of the day the only two princes that actually touched me on an emotional level were Grand Prince Gye Sung finding his identity and Prince Sim So about his relationship with his mother. All the rest was fun, but flat.
Touching on the plot, I feel like this is one of the better paced historical Korean dramas I have seen - it’s fast, but even and digestible. Every episode brought something new to the table, there were no filler plot lines - at the end everything connected, everything was used to create a larger and fuller picture. No actions and decisions existed in the vacuum - they all had a smaller or bigger impact on all the characters. Every time I thought a certain chapter was closed, new information kicked the door open for new possibilities to explain the past event, direct present time and shape the future of the characters.
The drama is listed as historical, comedy, drama, and politics. I am not so sure about the comedy here. It had amazing comedic timing and some of the better jokes I have seen in quite some time, but the overall tone and plot do not truly match the comedy genre. Just because there are good jokes in a show does not necessarily mean it is comedy. On Korean websites it’s listed as a black comedy and I would probably agree that’s a better description.
Acting wise, Kim Hye Soo delivered a phenomenal performance. Saying she carried the show seems unfair to the rest of the cast, since everyone did a great job, but it’s undeniable she stood out so much with her portrayal of Queen Queen Im Hwa Ryung. My second favorite performance probably goes to Kim Eui Sung as Hwang Won Hyung. I don't know why, but his reactions to everything that was happening was so expressive and funny to watch, even though I knew I should not side with him, he was so fun to watch I wanted to just see more scenes of him.
Visually stunning, but not overstimulating. Sometimes I honestly get tired when dramas try to look like a beautiful painting at every frame - it’s distracting. This show knew exactly when and what to highlight to create amazing pictures.
Overall, I just feel like the drama failed to evoke any negative feelings in me, which is strange with how many on paper awful and frustrating assholes we had in the cast of the characters. But I was kind of vibing with them, and found them more entertaining than threatening.
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Wall to wall hard-core intrigue and girl-power
I’m not in general a great fan of historical dramas centred around court intrigue, but if that’s your thing then this one is pretty good. Kim Hye Soo makes it so in her desperation of Queen Im Ha Ryung. Add to that beautiful performances by other female actors, in particular, Ok Ja Yeon as Royal Consort Hwang and Kim Hae Sook whose cold calculation as Queen Dowager Cho is chilling and believable, and you have a strong women drama par excellence. This is a drama that examines how and why women take power and exploit it.The writer, Park Ba Ra, has no other dramas listed against her name on MDL. If she is new to drama-land she is definitely someone to watch. Her ability with female characters is reminiscent of Kwon Do Eun (Search WWW, 25/21) a writer whom I always watch out for. However, they share the same propensity to under-deliver on male characters. Whether that’s a weakness or a deliberate strategy so as not to bring competition into the mix is unclear. But the result is disappointing male characters. They are likeable but lack depth and contrast, or in the case of antagonists, are fairly one-dimensional. The male characters here are lightweights in comparison to the women and are merely the pawns shunted around the board in an effort to reach the goal of becoming a court piece.
The first three episodes had me enthralled but then it started to become a long political power struggle and very little else, with no real character interactions and developments and I found myself enduring it rather than enjoying it. But Kim Hye Soo is such a compelling watch that I had to continue.
With so many characters the plot was way too complicated and unwieldy. It often introduced minor characters as a convenience. Also, characters with vital information conveniently disappeared for long periods of time and failed to pass on that information even to their allies. This had an undermining effect on the credibility of the action and increased the perception that the characters are merely there to serve the plot. This drama contains a handful of really strong characters and imo it would have been much improved with far less characters (particularly the princes and consorts/concubines) and the time saved spent on developing core characters. This would have streamlined the action and given it more way more depth and credibility.
In amongst the wall to wall intrigue are a few lighter moments of quasi romance that sit uncomfortably alongside the wailing wall of desperation. They were also totally unbelievable in terms of the expected behaviour of noble, unmarried girls.
The mainstay of this drama is the towering presence of Kim Hye Soo, whose intensity doesn’t drop below deep saturation from start to finish. Impressive? Yes, very. But a little shade in the blinding light helps you to endure the intensity for longer. By half way through I felt like I’d been enduring questioning by the secret service for eight hours and all I wanted to do was curl up and sleep. However, even though this is not my type of drama, I recognise that in its genre it is outstanding, hence the generous rating.
What my rating means: 8+ A great drama with interesting content and good writing, direction, acting, OST, cinematography. But didn’t quite have the requisite sparkle to bump it into my all-time fave list. Worth watching.
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A MUST WATCH
Outstanding. Nothing describes this drama better than the word “outstanding”. Right from the start till the end, you really enjoy the story as it goes. It keeps you hooked right from the first episode, right from the first scene, and the way it developed is something to forward to!
The QUEEN! Absolutely loved Kim hye soo’s character as the queen. The love she has for her sons is something that highlights the entire drama. You can just tell that she loves them more than anything else in this world and that they mean everything to her! The way she loves them, protects them, cares for them and is even ready to sacrifice herself is JUST something very appreciable! The way she accepted the bitter secret of Prince Gye Sung and also supported him throughout definitely was my favourite topic from the entire drama. The scene where his portrait was being made and she was waiting for him in the rain, literally has my entire heart!
Not only her children, but also the love she showed to all the princes was something that made her character stand out. While every concubine was busy making her own child the crown prince and playing dirty politics, the queen was just concerned for their safety. Even when Prince Simso tried to commit suicide, she was the one who got him out of it, she was the one who consoled and soothed Prince Bogeom when he was forced to quit the competition. She was there for everyone when they needed a hand to hold and the shoulder to cry on. She was truly the umbrella that protected the princes from the rains.
Kim hae sook as the queen dowager was the perfect villain and I’m fully satisfied with her performance. God, she never disappoints! What actually surprised me was Ok ja yeon as Consort Hwang! She could literally kill people with her looks..omg! Her acting was top notch and she portrayed her character really well!!
Choi won young as the king and his chemistry with Kim hye soo was really underrated. The love they had for each other and they way the understood each other proves that they were deeply devoted to one another.
I really really loved all the grand princes and princes! The chemistry between all the grand princes was so heartwarming! To be honest, Chani as Prince Uiseong was a very bad person but ngl, I felt very bad for him in the end. It hurts to know that he was told to kill his own father:(((
Overall, the queen’s umbrella has to be one of the best sageuk dramas . I’m a very picky and selective person and very few sageuk dramas actually fit into my taste and ‘the queen’s umbrella’ has to be one of them. Right from the plot, to the cast, cinematography, OSTs, everything was fantastic.
And the ending, of course. When the Crown Prince holds the umbrella for the queen in order to protect her from the rain was his way of telling her that ‘you’ve done enough, now it’s our turn to protect you’.. so heartwarming this was<3
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A very intersting story of power, deceit, family, and love.
I approached with series with a little bit of apprehension about the story line. I tooka few episodes to get into it; however, once I did it was gripping. It was an interesting story and you hold on right to the last half hour to see how everything turns out. But, well worth the watch.Particular credit must be given to Kim Hye Soo for her excellent protrayal of a Queen who values and protects her family, her hisband (the King), the people she comes in contact with, and the country. Kim Hye Soo was excellent in this role.
Also worthy of mention is Oh Ye-ju as Yoon Cheong Ha. As a relatively new actress, she was excellent in her part. Bubbly, energetic, empathetic, and in-love she brought light and energy to every scene she was in. I suspect we will see much more of her.
And, this a bit of a spoiler, the cameo appearance by Jung Ji-hoon (Rain) in a scene with Yoon Cheong Ha was entertaining and fun. Oh Ye-ju is an actress under Rain's agency and it is said that his cameo was in support of his actress.
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The Strength of a Woman and the Love of a Mother
Under the Queen's Umbrella deserves to win an award for the bold exploration of often overlooked themes. There are so many thoughts and emotions running through my mind while writing this that I will try to distil them as clearly as possible!1) Firstly, this was undoubtedly a women-driven show. The women were the stars of this show. The men played their complementary roles with charm, but this was a show about women. While it can be said that the handsome young princes were easy on the eyes, the main focus of the entire show was on the Queen, a mother of 5 boys, wife to the King, adversary to the Dowager.
The Queen Im Hwa Ryung was impeccably cast. I cannot imagine a better actress to play the Queen. She was graceful, fierce, protective, benevolent, sassy and vulnerable. She wore every single emotion as elegantly as I imagine a real Queen would. I love how it put an "older" woman as the star. I feel that with the huge number of strong female-lead shows coming out of China and South Korea - we are definitely moving in a more progressive era of entertainment.
The men played fantastic supporting roles. They held up the women so well and let the women actresses really shine like diamonds in this series. The King needed the Queen to help him make right decisions. The princes needed their mother to guide and protect them. The Crown Princess found the love of her life and pursued him. Unlike some older dramas which typecast opinionated Queens as power-hungry (cue almost every other palace drama), crown princesses as wishy-washy and weak and waiting for their prince, this drama portrayed them as women who knew what they wanted in life and went out to get them. It was absolutely refreshing. I really hope more such shows follow this.
2) Secondly, the special unbreakable bond between a mother and her son
This was undoubtedly a show that focused on the mother-son relationship. While some may question why the daughters were not featured in this show, I think for the limited episodes, they made a choice to just focus on the sons.
For such a long time, the mother-son bond has always been ridiculed. Men are called "Mama's boys" if they are too close to their mothers or mothers-in-laws are always stereotyped as "wicked" or "evil" or "selfish". I just loved the relationship between the Queen and the (new) Crown Princess - which was one of mutual respect and even admiration. Although she also had a deep relationship with the (old) Crown Princess. While some of the relationships between a mother and son in the show have brought about tragic endings, the relationships themselves have never been ridiculed or questioned - just the eventual actions and ambitions these women (and sons) have. In fact, for many mother-son relationships, the purity and beauty of their bond was the only redeeming quality for some of the pairs. The director and scriptwriters were very respectful of the bond between mother and son and even at the very end, the King struggled with coming to terms with what his mother did because of the great love and respect he had for her. Every conversation between mother and son was lovingly crafted, every scene and interaction almost sacred.
3) LGBTQ+ issues
I was very surprised to see that even the LGBTQ+ theme was brought up in a way that was extremely respectful and so tenderly. The bond between mother and child made it even more emotional because a mother would do anything to keep her child safe and yet the Queen went beyond keeping him safe, and made him feel seen. In the real world, not to mention that era, most parents would try to keep their own children to the "straight" lane because they think that's the way to keep them "safe" from external harm, but I love how she knew the way to keeping him safe from himself, is to also make him feel seen by himself or his own mother. It was so emotional.
Under the Queen's Umbrella was really one of the best Korean period dramas I have watched to date. The cinematography, script, acting, soundtrack. There is really nothing I can fault. I am also so delighted that these women character driven shows are now no longer the exception, but now, dare I say, becoming the norm! *my inner feminist is doing a happy dance*
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This is an extraordinary entertaining and unique drama
This is unique in the following ways:1-King trusted the Queen very much and vice versa. They have a very good relationship and understanding of each other.
2-King is not a puppet to the ministers. He does what he think is right or goes around them.
3-This is the only drama that delves deeply into the Queen's life. Her struggles, pains, duties and crazy life as a mother.
I really enjoyed this show and eagerly looked forward to each episode.
I hope they do a sequel ir something similar.
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