Under the Queen's Umbrella (2022)

I love this drama.

I finished watching this drama and the scenery, costumes, acting, plot were just perfect. One of the best dramas I've ever watched. It took a place in my heart next to Moon Lovers. I highly recommend watching it.

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I love this drama. This really is one of the best dramas of 2022.

The queen will do anything for her sons. The queen will do anything for her sons. I also like that the king seems to respect the queen and her opinions. He seems to be fair and is not easily influenced by the scholars and the dowager queen. I'm curious to see what will happen to Grand Prince Sung Nam and Cheong Ha. Will they fall in love and be together?

I love Queen Im Hwa Ryung. The title of the drama really fits the plot. The queen protects the grand princes under an umbrella and I really like references to that. She is understanding and her support for Grand Prince Gye Sung was touching.

Great plot, actors, acting, costumes and cinematography. 10/10 for me.

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The palace is full of monsters and everyone is trying to bring you down, take your position is not a completely new concept for the genre or this type of story. But when it’s done right, when all the pieces of the puzzle come together in a cohesive way and the narratives is full of well-calculated, fun political moves and clever twists with some very interesting characters and tense moments is sure a recipe for a good time. But it’s not so easily done.

Under the Queens Umbrella seems to have got this mostly right with some lighthearted quirks thrown in there to keep the tone never too heavy or dark. The tension and emotional beat of the story is never too high or too low most of the time, but just moderate. I would have really liked to see more humor with maybe a bit of a darker side to it, but that’s just me.

Although I think the tone of Under the Queens Umbrella is fun and the un-seriousness that is present within the story works well there is still a good amount of dramatics and intensity there as well. There is a balance to it that the drama achieves really well. The tone is never too hasty or inappropriate, but flows well with the scenes each time.

I would personally not call this drama a satire or a comedy with a gloomy undertone, which is what I thought the drama advertised itself as, but more just a light-hearted approach to palace life and the world there as well as the status of the women in there. A theme that has come up in various historical kdramas in recent years. But it’s a take that I enjoy quite a lot.

The plot is a little predictable at time, especially if you are very familiar with these kind of historical dramas. It knocks a bit of a wind from the story, especially towards the middle, and there never seems to be any particular point that the story truly gets at, or leads us to. The plot doesn’t truly matter; its all about the characters and how are they handling these obstacles that the plot provides.

Many of the characters are well written and interesting and I’m talking especially about the female characters in the drama (because most of the princes blend into one for me) who pull you in so you don’t really think too much about the actual plot but just how interesting they are. The cast is awesome. It’s like one big empire of great female character and there’s a nice contrast between them all, with a few other interesting characters in between.

But the main and most interesting characters are the queen herself, the concubines that wants to be queen and the queen dowager for me. And sometimes when the story moves away from their story, the central story, it became less interesting. They are the ones who are playing the main game in the story after all and shine the most. I would liked to see a little more intensity and depth from the women who work under them. I don’t think this story gets me as well as e.g. The Red Sleeve when it comes to this power struggle within the male-dominated palace in a very male dominating society.

I really didn’t care about some of the side stories about who will be the crown prince and everything else that the narrative brought, but it almost didn’t matter that much because I was enjoying the characters and their moments so much. This was a slow-burn character study to me. The goal of the story was to allow the characters to shine and not be pulled by the story, but to control the flow.

I just liked seeing these actresses being great at what they do, in these kinds of roles and this kind of environment.

Some stories are really driven by plot twists and fast-paced narratives, while others let the characters just pace the story themselves and have their movements. The Queens Umbrella is very much the latter of those stories, to me at least, and for the most part it succeeds in that. Although in The Queens Umbrella has perhaps a little too many supporting characters that perhaps distract a bit from the storylines of some of the more interesting characters.

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The great mother vs. one-note villains

A story about the effort and sacrifices of Queen Im Hwa Ryeong to protect her royal family in the middle of palace intrigues

So, first of all, the good: I’m really happy to see a sageuk representing a strong female lead in the Joseon Dynasty. The acting is phenomenal. Kim Hye-soo portrays the Queen as a warm-hearted mother yet a strong woman who can stand up for herself and her loved ones well.

The story is so good up until episode 7. This drama is really compelling, and I’m already attached to the characters. Hwa Ryeong really takes action to protect her sons. She storms through the palace at a breakneck pace. The palace intrigue develops as fast-paced as her footsteps and I’m on the edge of my seat! I love how it highlights the claustrophobia of the royal court.

Afterward, I was severely disappointed with the very monotonous conflict resolution: all about survival in a cutthroat court. Although it makes an interesting premise, the plot is not satisfyingly executed. There's really not much to tell than the usual jealousy between Hwa Ryeong and the villain characters, it wasn't an equal match. They do not give threats to our heroes. Another thing, I don't understand what message they want to tell regarding the story of the prince who seems to be a transgender.

If you're not a fan of sageuk, this drama might catch your interest. For me, the conflict resolution is a bit lackluster, but the pacing is great. The side characters have their own unique stories. The political intrigue wasn't complicated; the writer does well showing what's going on.

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|| OVERALL ||

A unique historical drama with a competent queen that takes matters into her own hands. As such, the story could get quite unrealistic as it defies the usual perceptions of what a queen embodies, but nonetheless an entertaining drama to watch.

**I recommend this drama to those that like unorthodox historical dramas. A mixture of lighthearted scenes and the usual political turmoil in palace dramas.


|| DETAILS ||

= Story =
*Premise - The story of how a competent queen navigates the usual palace politics, reveals hidden truths, and takes care of her sons.
*Genre - A historical drama with some focus on comedy and romance.
*Main plot - The main plot of deciding the heir, the king's legitimacy and the palace politics was nothing special as most historical dramas have that type of thing. The highlight of the story was really the queen not being the usual quiet, reserved, minds her own business, gets taken advantage of type of person. To be honest it was quite satisfying to have a queen this competent that can sleuth and scheme, while being so caring and wholesome. However, her flawlessness and invincibility felt like she was just smoothly sailing through everything. She always had countermeasures and always seemed to have the upperhand, which just didn't seem too realistic. I guess it had to be this way to save plot time for other story arches. Either way, I was entertained throughout and really liked the character of the queen. Another part of the plot I enjoyed was the competition for the grand princes which was fun to watch. On another note, it is very rare that both the king and queen are reasonable righteous people, not to mention majority of the secondary characters are "good" compared to "bad". Those that are meant to be antagonists just seemed very inadequate - as if after enthroning the current king the way they did, they lost their ability to do effective bad deeds. It's quite new and fresh, but again, unrealistic.
*Side plot - There are lots of side plots with the concubines and their sons, each of the grand princes' problems, and the whole Consort Hwang situation. It was a bit here and there, each taking part of an episode. It was nice to give them screen time but I felt like it didn't add much to the plot, and some might've even taken away from the story of the crown prince and crown princess which I'm sure the audience wanted to see more of. The whole Consort Hwang love situation and son plotting treason was a bit random, as it was just mentioned and nothing really came of it.
*Ending - Just like how everything seemed to go smoothly for the queen, everyone in the end just seemed happy, and everything seemed solved. Summarized the drama cleanly.

= Cast =
*Acting - Kim Hye Soo. That's basically it.
*Chemistry - Nobody can beat the chemistry between the queen and her thoughts. She just overpowers everyone and everything it seems. Joking aside, for the supposed main love line between the crown prince and crown princess I felt like it could've been a lot more if there were more scenes, also if the crown prince had more expression (sorry but his acting fell a bit short and was a bit dead).

= OST =
There weren't many songs, nothing really stood out.


|| A LESSON ABOUT GROWING UP ||

For children with loving parents / guardians, it feels safe and sheltered to be cared for. However, there comes a time when you move away from the umbrella and let the rain fall on you. That way, you can learn how to prevent the raindrops yourself. At some point, you grab the handle and can then shelter your parents / guardian or your own children. Alternatively, there also comes a time to let go of the handle and let the one you've always cared for learn to care for themselves or let them care for you.

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This show was a political drama - but it was also about Motherhood

I think for traditional Sageuk fans - this story may not be what they are expecting. Yes - the political elements were a key part of the story - but they were not the main part. This shows strength comes from diving deeply into the absolutely batsh!t things mothers will do for their children. Or what they ‘think’ is ‘best’ for their children.

We get to see this play out in multiple ways throughout the drama - because this show covers the many consorts of the King. This part is usually glossed over or romantized in most historical dramas. In UTQU, it is at the forefront, as each mother is putting her child in the running for being the next King.I cannot emphasize how important these depictions of different kinds of mothers - the good, bad and ugly - was to me. I felt for each and every character - even those I hated - in this show. It will stay with me for a very long time, and I really would recommend it.

Firstly, we have Kim Hye-soo who excellently portrays Queen Im Hwa-ryeong, a dedicated, loving, and absolutely spitfire of a Mother. In the beginning, her goal is to turn her four unabashedly troublesome sons - the Grand Princes - into dutiful, filial children. Her eldest son - the Crown Prince - is for all purposes perfect - studious, produced an heir, and heavily involved in Royal politics. Queen Im Hwa-ryeong has her hands full of very boisterous and mischievous sons - but I love each of them, and so does she. She went to desperate ends to protect each of those boys, her biological sons and their half-brothers as well. On top of that, she also truly wants to help them live as happily and authentically themselves as possible. She did this without sacrificing a shred of her morals either! However, the misbehaviour of her sons, is pulling the attention from the Queen Dowager - played by the absolute legend Kim Hae-sook - and not the good kind of attention. The conflict between these two mothers - the mother of the current King, and the mother of the future King, is the strong undercurrent of the show.

I think the best part of Queen In Hwa-ryeong's methods - in comparison to the other mothers on the show - is that she did not resort to backhanded tactics. Yes, she uses information and she manipulates situations, but never does she resort to harm. In fact, she spends a lot of her energy trying to find a solution that benefits the most number of people. This is in stark comparison to the Queen Dowager - Kim Hae-sook is a veteran actress, and she’s excellent in everything. Her portrayal of the Queen Dowager was so devilishly wicked. She used others - even her own son and grandchildren - to get what she wanted. She was the definition of a manipulative witch, caring only for her own wants.

I cannot talk in detail about the boys - the sons of the king - without giving major spoilers. Their individual narratives were fullfilling and heartfelt. My personal favourite was Prince Seongnam (Moon Sang-min) - for obvious reasons - I love a stoic boy with a hidden warm heart (a tsundere, if you will). He also does have the most involvement with the plot.

I liked Grand Prince Muan (Yoon Sang-hyun) and Grand Prince Gyeseong (Yoo Seon-ho) getting properly developed storylines as well, although I didn’t find them as grounded in the setting of the story as the rest of the brothers. I could see the intention - but I doubt that their stories could happen in history as happily.

I felt bad for the remaining Princes - especially Prince Bogum (Kim Min-gi) and Prince Simso (Moon Seong-hyun) - they definitely had the worst luck. How their respective mothers approached them and their upbringing was so interesting to me - they both cared so deeply about their children, but it showed up in the most misguided ways. What an excellent narrative choice as a comparison point for our MVP mother Queen Hwa-ryeong herself.


10/10 would recommend.

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Beautifully written and told!

This historical drama starts off strong and ends even stronger. The title of the drama is very apt in so many ways and when you’ve finished this drama, there is a lot of positive reflection when you think about what “Under the Queen’s Umbrella” means to all the different characters.

It’s not just who she is to her sons but also to the King, her daughters-in-law, her grandchildren, the consorts, the consorts’ sons and even the deposed queen. She was their shelter and it was heartwarming to see some characters change for the better under her care.

Sets and costumes were gorgeous. Cinematography was mostly good but I wasn’t a fan of the side ways angles. The story had the usual palace drama elements but with a fresh story and some interesting twists, it was extremely entertaining.

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get under the umbrella

WOW. What a breathtaking roller coaster of fun and intrigue. I'm partial to Sageuk dramas so I have watched my fair share and I have to say this is definitely one of the most unique ones I've ever watched.

A lot of times my frustrations lie with the cheesy left state minister and all the politics, but this was done fantastically written and woven with plot twists that you couldn't help but be captivated from the beginning to the end.

You won't be bored the whole 16 episodes.

Sure do I have unanswered questions like why are there no daughters out of this many wives etc but at the same time that would be nitpicky of such a masterpiece.

What I also loved is that it showed us a layer of the palace that we rarely see- the competition between wives and their children, as well as the real intense mothering that must be happening when you have nothing else to live for, but your prince.

The brotherhood was also the ultimate bromance!

The queen really stole the show. She was dimensional- loving, kind, shrewd, brilliant, defensive- every single thing you would ever want in female lead.

That being said- the rest of the cast was incredible from the princes to even the king. This show had heart, emotion and a lot of love.

DON'T miss this one!

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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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