Mr.Queen has just ended its series last month and I, as a person who has finished watching the drama in a single day, my mind was blowing up with thoughts concerning this series. So, this blog post specifically betokens my whole opinions on this drama.
Even though Mr. Queen phenomenon has taken the pleasure out of my Twitter's timeline while the series was still airing, I was not influenced at first, because I still had a long list of other series to go through, until I accidentally slipped into one of the hijinks parts of the drama through a video someone shared on Facebook.
That few minutes of short viewing particularly got me hooked on the whole series of Mr. Queen and I was confident enough that there must be a lot more entertaining parts other than just this part.
Thankfully, I was not wrong :D
To be honest, I'm not a big fan of any historic political dramas because all these conflicts usually remain predictable like any other sageuk (Korean historical dramas) but Mr. Queen is far from our usual because the comedy itself is TOP SHELF.
Throughout all the chaotic episodes, I had the persistent feeling of baffling about what would happen next or how it could possibly end, but out of all, I still enjoyed the ride. Most of the whole 20 episodes of Mr. Queen contain a mix of dramatic tensions and roller-coaster emotions, with all sorts of subplots suddenly popping up.
It was indeed a great roller coaster ride.
The story starts with a brief scene that explains the protagonist character, Jang Bong Hwan, a chef at the blue house (someplace similar to White House). He is free-spirited and somehow wacky in his own way. One day, an accident occurred that leads him unconscious. As he woke up, he suddenly finds himself in the body of Kim So Young, a queen in the Joseon period.
The future himself was now inside another person's body from the past! Being stuck in that weird situation, he tries to get back to his body several times, but in the end, all his attempts failed. Was left with no choice, he ends up just adjusting to his new life in Joseon to make the most out of it.
It was almost ridiculous the way Bong Hwan struggled to put his identity crisis in place but still manages to do something else batshit crazy in every episode. Everyone else in the palace thought the queen was planning something shady out of her clan while the truth is, So Bong (Kim So Young-Jang Bong Hwan) was just going through some character chaos lmao.
Not to mention, Shin Hye Sun's performance as Song Bong is top-notch. She did not only steal the show, but she is the show. The way she talks, she walks, she smirks, she sits, she reacts to the circumstances around her, were just so natural to her that perfectly narrates a male trapped in a woman's body.
She is a woman in appearance, but a man on the inside: I like how she tweaked her acting between a male and a female at the same time. Her acting made the drama has less predictable plots, bringing her dramatic chops character as hearty as her comedic scenarios. She can plays multiple emotions at a particular time: love, grief, and anger. Every moment she is on screen, you could never get drawn away from her character.
Well, she's the real QUEEN of the drama :>
Other than that, I love the growing bonds between So Bong and her associate, court maid Hong Yeon and Court Lady Choi. Their skylarks around the palace, especially in the royal kitchen with the royal chef Man Bok, got me to burst out with laugh most of the time. So Bong was indeed blessed to have them by her side.
Honestly, any contacts So Bong had with anyone else in Joseon would definitely give you countless bustling joy during the whole watch. She is wild and has unruly behavior (because Bong Hwan was inside her). Everyone in Joseon was shocked by her inappropriate actions, weird modern tongue, and generally who-gives-a-craps attitude, which was totally different from the real Kim So Young. But, that's what makes other people likely getting close to her.
Remember, she is the show haha.
[minor spoilers ahead]
I also love the idea of making Cheoljong, a half-witted puppet king, turns into someone who was actually covering his true self while waiting for his revenge. He looks totally meek and foolish as a king but So Bong slowly sees her husband's true self while uncovering his dark past.
To start with, he wasn't in love with the queen even though they're married until Bong Hwan entered the queen's body. Cheoljong always expected So Bong to act in a certain way but she didn't. The more he expected her to behave well, the more he finds himself becoming more and more bounded by her personality.
He literally made a "Queen's Dictionary" for all the strange new words that she ever said to him so that he could understand her better while not knowing someone else was inside the queen's body. HE REMEMBERED EVERY WORD. Nothing could be more iconic than this tho. The plots were so random but their chemistry has grown stronger over episodes.
Perhaps, the only thing that makes me disappointed was that important part, the ending.
They failed to stick the proper landing :'(
When things went back to 'normal' in the last episode, in which both Bong Hwan and So Young had already got their own control with their own body as he gets booted back to his modern time, I think it's unfair for So Young to reap gains from all Bong Hwan's efforts. She would never have her happy ending if it was not because of him.
Ironically, it was Bong Hwan's slang and quirk attitudes that create all the connections she had now. It was Bong Hwan's cooking knowledge that helped the king getting through the chaotic moments during the festival. Bong Hwan literally does all the works while So Young was not there.
Cheoljong was charmed by Bong Hwan's personality, which was not entirely So Young's. So Young just won't be able to give him the same thing as Bong Hwan does. And the fact that Cheoljong never believed the story that he ever heard from So Bong that he was not So Young, and never get to know who was actually Bong Hwan after both have returned to their own bodies, makes me sad.
That's when the drama starts to lose its sparks. AT THE VERY LAST EPISODE :')
And the most frustrating part that I found out during the last episode was So Young was actually been inside her body along with Bong Hwan all this time. But she has no control over her own body like she's dead or something, so Bong Hwan got all the control. wthshshsh
Anyway, I wouldn't punish the whole drama just for one episode. This drama indeed has an equal amount of tension and hilarious scenes. If it wasn't for the ending, I would have rated it 1000/10 if I could. Even if the destination was a bit unacceptable, the whole journey of the first 19 episodes was a breath of fresh air for any historical series. I had the best time watching it.
Well, you can never expect a perfect ending for any time travel genre, right?