Queen Woo (2024)

Not for mass audience

Okey..... I have just finished this series and am still thinking about the ending ? Hope we get Season 2. Let's Talk About The Series. The story is phenomenal. You won't be bored for a second. The cinematography was insane, the direction was top-notch and let's not forget about the outstanding performances by all the actors and actresses(especially Queen and Ji Chang wook). For me, this is not a fully perfect drama. But one thing is for sure that this is one of the best historical kdrama ever (personal opinion tho). And yeah, there are some negative things in this drama. But Nude/Sex Scenes Are Not The Problem. Actually, the main problem was they did color grading too dark, and the story telling should be improved. End Of the day Watch this if you like historical drama. Don't listen to the haters happy watching ?

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A Queen's epic of existence

I want to start by saying that I liked the series. But just because I liked it doesn't mean that there are no aspects to criticize. First of all, I can say that it was very meticulous, no expense was spared, everything was done perfectly in the production, be it the costumes, the casting, the crowded cast, the locations, the scenes. The action scenes were amazing. However, there was a kind of imitation. I especially sensed an imitation of the Game of Thrones series. There are many similar scenes. I even compared the clothing and images. These are not at all similar to the clothing and cabinet member styles in other Korean series. You will say that these are the early days, when the tribes were at the forefront. There will be differences. I understand, I say. There are deep differences. For example, shamanism is very prominent. Nudity and sex scenes are interspersed, there were many especially in the beginning episodes. It was cut later. Maybe one was necessary, I think the others were unnecessary. The aim here is, yes, there are those, war, turmoil, fights, ambitions, jealousies, a lot of things, of course there was sex too. It seemed like they were shoved in our faces as if they had a sex life. It could be. The writer and director must have known something of course. But some of it was unnecessary. I liked the actors. Especially our queen Jun Jong Seo is very successful, she made a great effort to make herself felt in that attitude despite her body and youth, I congratulate her. I also found Ji Jang Wook successful. Especially her image suits her very well, she was shown differently than she is. She was quite majestic. I liked it. Kim Moo Yul is one of the rare actors who can achieve this with his calmness, I found him extremely successful. He showed this in every scene. He maintained the same style for a long time. Well done. Jung Yu Mi, Jo Han Chul, Lee So Hyuk, Park Ji Hwan, Lee Hae Woo were the actors who caught my eye. I also congratulate Park Bo Youn for his courage. Someone who says that role is his cannot and would not play it. As far as I know, her husband is also an actor and they did a hard job. I especially congratulate this actor. Bravo. I think there will be a sequel to the series. Because the war ended instead of starting. What happened, what ended. We don't know. We are waiting for the next season to find out. I recommend it to those who haven't watched it.

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Wasted Potential - Failed on Story & Acting trying to be Korean GoT

With a star-studded cast & premise, it had promises of a great sageuk - but it just came close to being meh. It failed as it tried to be the Korean GoT (even some of the sigils were similar + unnecessary nudity) but its main downfall was the weak confusing narrative and some of the main actors not living up to their potential (the Queen and Prime Minister).

► Story: Too much of anything is bad
The constant back and forth between past and present in every episode got boring and did not help in creating a seamless storyline. Some of the twists/turns were badly explained or rather left to interpretation - making situations illogical, with gaps. They just increased the volume of the background music, giving that epic heroic vibe but failed to showcase it through story and characters on-screen. Adding nudity just for the sake of it - does not help the story either. It does not work like that - at least for me for a Political/Historical drama of such repute.

► Acting:
• The Queen carried the Resting B*#ch Face which I guess was supposed to emote that she was a noble figure and her mind was strategizing moves way ahead - but it did not feel that way. It just felt inexpressive - and I do not dislike the actress per se - but this is her third work, that am seeing - the previous one being Burning and Money Heist (Korea) and seems like this is ongoing phenomenon. Sad to say but I do not think she is an expressive person, and therefore not a good actress in my books now. Just by doing some bold scenes and keeping a stoic face does not cut it for me.

• Most surprising and disappointing was Kim Mu Yeol as the Prime Minister, Eul Pa So. His character was supposed to be the twist, but it was delivered so flat and lifeless. You'd expect a twist to be delivered with some kind of shock value in the revelations but this did not, in fact the narrative was so bland we did not even realise when the twist for his character even came in. Not sure if I should blame the writers or directors, cause I have seen other works of the actor and he is one of the most talented actors in the industry who literally make any role their own.

• The only saving graces were Lee Soo Hyuk, with his flawless portrayal role of the barbaric 3rd Prince; AND even in the limited screentime Ji Chang Wook (the late King), Jeon Bae Soo and Jo Han Chul (Queen's father & uncle) and Park Ji Hwan (Commander) delivered their characters to a perfection. But sadly, they could not salvage everything else that was going wrong with this drama.

► OVERALL:
With all the negative points highlighted above, the drama does has its positive moments. For example: it does try to keep a level of excitement for the audience to know what the Queen will do to survive. But the bad parts overshadow the good by a long margin, and I have seen some other gems in similar genre and themes. And if the story and acting is weak, then nothing can save this drama, no matter how good the action, visual effects and feeble attempts of suspense were. Therefore, I have given it 7/10 which for me means a good/decent drama - had potential to be great but was missing a lot, especially with the ingredients it had in hand.

Would recommend to watch only if you have nothing else.

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Queen Woo draws parallel to British film Elizabeth (1998)

I was intrigued by Queen Woo after seeing two versions of the series on Viu - "Why is there a censored version?". Read article and viewers' opinion on the explicit content which further led me to watch this series. Glad that I did!

I understand if the series creator and writer wants to dramatise the tale of Queen Woo as this technique has been done in Hollywood many times. I don't understand the fuss about its historical inaccuracies - if viewers wants Queen Woo's story to be true to history, then they should search for documentary not a tv drama.

What I liked:
1) Plot - I don't watch Game of Thrones so can't comment on the similarities with that series. However when I watched Queen Woo, I got this Elizabeth (1998 British film starring Cate Blanchett) vibe. That character growth, dynamics with prime minister and stance on political marriage (or in Queen Woo's case, remarriage) in particular.
2) Queen Woo characterisation - Queen Woo started off as a chess piece in the kingdom of Goguryeo and the 5 tribes. It's great to see her character acquired certain skills (fight training, military strategy/analytical thinking) before the untimely death of the King and used those skills confidently to revamp the top management of her nation. Jeon Jong Seo was excellent as Queen Woo. Her emotions were expressed in her eyes, mouth and body posture.
3) Prime Minister Eul Pa So - What a compelling character! He was cunning even from episode 1 I was suspicious already! I was drawn to Kim Mu Yeol - he was magnetic on screen.
4) Dynamics - I enjoy watching different dynamics between King Gu and Queen Woo and between Queen Woo and Eul Pa So. Ji Chang Wook did great in expressing different feelings of King Gu for his Queen - the gentle gaze, soft smiles and later part, indifference and Queen Woo's reactions to those feelings. I also like the chemistry between Queen Woo and Eul Pa So. The battle of wits, either through military strategy discussion or chess games, seemed like foreplay between them. Though it is not implied, I would not be surprised if he is attracted to her. I want them to be romantically together!
5) Battle scenes - Those scenes were thrilling & done well - - good choreograph and amount of gore.
6) Supporting characters - I enjoyed watching these characters on screen: Moo Gul, Mo Chi, Woo Sun, Bal Gi, Mil Woo. They enrich the series with their intent, motivations and actions.

What I disliked:
1) Explicit sex and nudity scenes - I was bothered by the explicit sex and nudity scenes because I feel that most scenes were unnecessary. The only ones that add value to the storytelling are Woo Sun / Shaman Sa Bi / King Go Nam Moo (she was drugged which led to that fantasy) and Third Prince and his wife (she was forced/coerced to have sex with him and overall that scene just showed how vicious he was) .
2) Side characters - I find some side characters were overdeveloped (too much screentime) e.g. Yeon Bi while others were underdeveloped e.g. Crown Prince, the clan in black robes. I would love to see more backstory from those characters / clans so me / viewers understand the importance of that tribe to Queen Woo's alliance and eventual ruling.

Favourite scene:
When Queen Woo confronted her sister. I didn't expect it would go down in that manner.

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Money wasted

Bad lighting
Not a good plot
To fast / only action / no chemistry
Lead actresses was not good / same facial expressions/ men in kdrama took her spot light.
Horrible ending- don’t need season 2
Only good - the sex scenes were good lol. This is my opinion and I know everyone will not agree. I did not rate it low because of the sex scenes. I honestly feel like the sex scenes is the only good entertainment of wow factor. But yeah , I want make it to season 2. I think this show is not for everyone maybe like 40% of kdrama lovers will like this show. That’s all.

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SJJ killed this series for me single-handedly!

I feel like I would have loved this series more if SJJ wasn’t the female lead. Gosh, I think I’ll be a proud anti-fan of hers for life. Honestly, she has zero range. She tried the romance genre and failed spectacularly because she can emote, what, 2-3 expressions max if she tries really hard? Both on and off camera. Her eyes are dead—like, actually devoid of life. If she ever got botox (heaven forbid), what little movement we see around her eyes when she "smiles" would disappear completely, and we’d be left guessing if she’s happy or channeling her inner psychopath.

Look, I know plenty of people (myself included) who have RBF, but I have never seen an actor whose entire character repertoire is just RBF. Except now, thanks to SJJ. Google her images. Go ahead! I pulled up the first 10 photos, fed them to ChatGPT and even ChatGPT could only detect three expressions. **Three!** Even Han So Hee, who’s been called stiff, manages more variety in her expressions.

Honestly, Hiroshi Ishiguro’s bionic robots emote more than she does. Just get Ishiguro to build a SJJ robot, throw in some AI for voice, and we’re all set—no need for her to even show up. I actually ran another experiment and added her name with various expressions in Google images. Same photos popped up for almost all emotions. I was dying laughing. Did the same with Han So Hee, Son Na Eun, Cha Eun Woo, who are all accused of stiff acting, and guess what? Different images for them for different emotions with maybe a little overlap! Shocking, right?

Honestly, I think a block of wood could do a better job. I have zero respect for her as an artist because she’s utterly lacking in talent. She is just riding on the coattails of her boyfriend. She’s getting more chances because of him, who, let’s be real, got her foot in the door to begin with in the industry.

And let’s not pretend she didn’t have chances to show emotional depth in this series because the character is "supposed" to be strong and confident. She’s being *chased* at the end for God's sake for her life—there should be a mix of desperation, strength, conviction, fear, etc. Instead? Nothing. Even dictators like Stalin and Hitler showed more emotional complexity towards the end of their reigns. Meanwhile, here’s Queen Woo, a woman at a greater disadvantage than any man in her position in history, displaying zero emotional range. Being strong doesn’t mean you’re never afraid or vulnerable. Fear is a survival tool; without it, you’re just overconfident and dead. And that’s why I’ll die on this hill: she has zero talent. She thinks she understands the characters she plays, but really, she’s just on autopilot, which is why all the characters she plays look the SAME.

Also, her so-called "strong presence" that she is being lauded for? Yeah, it looks more like condescension in disguise. Acting is >50% facial expression and the rest is body language and dialogue delivery. If you’re missing >50%, congrats, you’re a below-average actor. Simple as that. And let's not forget, she looks and sounds like a baby wearing a costume in this drama.

Man, JCW and the rest of the team carried the one star I gave this drama! You could tell everyone else tried their best, but the writers and SJJ sucked on it big time!

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POORLY DEVELOPED EPILOGUE...

The drama started strong, teasing us with an epilogue of the queen fighting and winning, setting the stage for a gripping conclusion. However, those scenes only resurfaced in the final moments of the last episode. It felt like the writers and editors were telling the audience: "Figure it out for yourselves, the clues are there."

With a budget of 235 million US dollars, it’s clear the resources were meant to cover just 8 episodes. But the real problem was trying to fit everything into such a short span. This story clearly needed 15 or more episodes to unfold properly.

The writer overcomplicated the plotlines and ultimately failed to tie them together. In the end, many questions remained unanswered, and the resolution felt rushed and incomplete. It’s as if the mysteries and their solutions were brushed aside, leaving viewers disappointed with a poorly developed epilogue.

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Lacking in both story and characters

This was more like a parody of a historical drama Queen Woo than the actual drama. Putting this much money in the hands of virtual amateurs was a very bad decision. And giving them the best kdrama actors, to only appear in short and random moments. Queen Woo is the ultimate failure in storytelling. All you get is violence, shock effects and 2 minute characters. A drama that is unique in a very bad way. Queen Woo lacks a fully developed storyline. We don't get to know the characters, which is highly unusual for a k-drama. We don't even get to SEE the characters actually, because it's all in the dark.

We hear that writer rewrote this 90 times. I'm tempted to say that obviously the rewriting involved removing all the dialogues. Because the characters mainly do not speak. If they do, it's max 2 sentences per each character. Except for the soldier arguing about pay - he's not exactly a comedic sidekick but close to one. And the only character getting something of a distinct character,

This content and situation would easily have made a good 20-40 episode sageuk. We would have learned all about why the clans fight with each other, what is at stake. We would know how the situations and strifes evolved, from the very start. We would have started from the childhood of the main characters. We would get to know all the characters, including supporting ones, through and through. We would have deeply cared about happens to them. We would have understood every party's motives and goals, and had the chance to reflect ourselves on where people make mistakes. We would have been shown how the new king or prime minister is just as ruthless as the previous one after all this fighting (as in Empress Ki).

Many who say this is "one of the best historical dramas" or "refreshingly different historical drama" have not actually watched the classic sageuks at all. With classic sageuks I mean (of course) Six Flying Dragons, Tree With Deep Roots, Scarlet Heart Ryeo....I don't think I can ever forget the personalities of the main characters in these dramas. Now we get 2 minute characters. And a lot of meaningless killing and violence which we're supposed to enjoy? (with the 2 minute characters).

There was no build up to the important moments, like putting the swords on the table. Who were the 2 older guys with the swords? Nobody knows, nobody cares. The queen's explanation of why she chose to go into war came like an afterthought, in the last episode. One minute given to that. Which actually needed an extended buildup. And her addressing the army should have been a long speech, with an extended buildup (again). I doubt the armies would have followed a woman if they were just addressed at the door for one minute when the enemy was already there.

Eun Pa Sol was given the most screentime as the key person trying to solve the kings's murder. Plot twist: no, actually a weird traitor who kept his grandpa's skeleton in his closet. So why did he end up supporting the queen? Nobody knows, nobody cares. What was the point of introducing the cult? Just to shoot an impressive scene of some crazies wallowing in the pool. And then a fight afterwards, none of it visible bc the screen was all dark. We got more of the gritty sex scenes which from a mind so dirty no amount of soap will help to clean it. The sex scenes were like a nail which busted the balloon, bc of their out of context and degrading nature.

JWC proved his virtuoso acting and I hope all the k-drama veterans at least had fun sitting together and drinking after each days shooting. JJS as FL: I don't know how people don't see or hear how she is just not good enough in this role. The mistakes and awkward moments (scenes and lines that needed to be reshot) are in plain sight in Queen Woo, imo Just like in Wedding Impossible she's just saying the lines in a completely flat tone, there's no sparkle in her. I guess people just buy the idea of what she's supposed to be and don't see the failure in delivering it.

Although this drama isn't actually boring and the fools will lap it up like dogs on a hot day, I assure you it's not good for your immortal soul. Congrats to those who can edit it their minds to make a fully fleshed out story and characters. That's a talent I don't have, all I saw was a sketch of a drama instead of the actual drama.

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Enthralled

I loved how fast paced the show really is. I also LOVE strong female leads and not only is Queen Woo depicted as a good warrior but also great strategically. She is a true leader and she learnt from the best. If you like such characters, you would definitely enjoy this show. However, it is not for the weak-hearted. There is nudity, sex scenes (even assault) and gore. Some have even compared this to Game Of Thrones. However, I would classify this series as mild in that context.

The cinematography is good but like GOT, there are some scenes that need one to adjust their screen brightness. I wish directors figured out the right balance for such scenarios. However, it still doesn't affect our enjoyment too much.

The characters are definitely interesting and everyone did a fantastic job. There is some criticism regarding the female lead not having a wider range of emotions. The show is actually set in a very critical time frame where she doesn't have time to emote. She knows what her position as a leader is and the urgency of the situation. But we do get flashbacks of happy times. The actors portraying the king and his brothers performed exceptionally to depict the complex situation and era.

Although, I genuinely enjoyed every aspect of the show, there is one question that doesn't really get answered. I am not sure why. Perhaps it doesn't affect the situation so it wasn't addressed. So this and the assault scene are the only reasons why I am not giving this a perfect 10. This series can have a second season but I don't believe there will be one.

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A Woman against Patriarchy

Honestly i was super suprised at how people reacted to the nudity in the show. i do think there can be shows where the nudity just seems obscene and unnecessary but i didn’t rlly felt this when watching the drama. they’re also some scenes where nudity isn’t connected to anything sexual and “just because”.
i think if you watched this show you are probably at least over 16 and to think nudity ruins a show is honestly crazy thinking to me.
The story is so much more but people only ever talk about omg boob here breast there like wow… are y’all really so immature?!
i can understand that they’re some people that don’t like these kind of shows, but it does seem worrying when people think nudity in a drama ruins the “korean” aspect of it and its westernization of a drama (which is a crazy thing to say about a historical drama btw).

like yeah western shows in comparison show more explicit scenes than kdramas but that doesn’t make them bad? i feel like in the recent years kdramas have been way more open about explicit scenes or even just hinting about more than just kissing and to me it seems like a good direction.

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