This review may contain spoilers
Sisterhood in a man´s world. Let yourself get both annoyed & inspired by politics behind the scenes
What a wonderful power show inside out politics. Yes, it's ugly and you might want to smash right into it. Often enough and plentifully. But it also has its heart in the right place. Repeatedly. Dealing with politics may make you doubt the meaning and purpose of democracy. But it doesn't get any better without those intrepid heroes willing to stand up for a better world. One may sometimes lose faith in something like a democratic gene in people. But one can always hope and fear. The game is only over when it is over. The election is not over until the votes have all been counted.Stupendous women. On both sides of the front. And the men? Oh well. So and so. (And if many people complain about Lee Geung-young because of his scandal, he at least prefers to choose the role of the challenging guy, where one can wholeheartedly consider him disgusting...)
Well, I consider the sisterhood thing being the crucial message for me in this story. Yes, there are strong, competent women, who, against better female instincts, cling to old structures and customs - in the wake of the Jaebeol clan. Yet there are those competent, motivated, witty, loyal to higher ideals women, too, who are sharing those ideals with others and walking side by side. Even if tempted and seduced they still sense what is right and wrong and act on that when in doubt. Using and abusing (interchangeable lackeys) for personal gain vs. appreciation and recognition (of brothers and sisters) are very sensitively compared here as common HR strategies and management styles.
With 11 episodes (only), Netflix slips through the story fairly quickly - only the most necessary input about the protagonists are given. However, especially the actresses don't let the story rush past you. Kudos to (in this case in particular) the heart and soul of the Ahjummas and a storytelling that, while strikingly handling the political landscape for its stringency, nevertheless spreads the complex mixture of motives, hopes and fears in a well-sorted manner.
Does the end justify the means? This age-old question apparently never ages. "Queenmaker" makes you think, but also often leaves you terribly annoyed about the way things are. The KDrama makes you angry, demoralizes, and yet: at the same time it gives hope. Strong women, a strong story, an often enough an ugly world in which, however, once again each individual contributes to the fact that it could be one way or another...
Obviously I would recommend it - if you´re in the mood for something like that. And: obviously there are no Idols and no Love Story involved. People may die, but it is no crime story. It isn´t funny, either. Nevertheless, I would say, you should check it out and let yourself get both annoyed and inspired by politics behind the scenes.
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Sometimes Justice Comes At The End Of A Fearless Woman’s 6 inch, Red Bottomed High Heel
Queenmaker is a story of two ferocious women on a quest for justice wielding power politics and pantsuits in their own unique ways.It is a tale of a powerful friendship formed between a ruthless corporate strategist on a path to redemption and an idealistic lawyer who believes in doing good at all costs- together they are phenomenal and a force to be reckoned with.
I am going to be honest, Queenmaker started off slow and tacky for me. Essentially, its premise is one we have seen many times before.
You know, the whole evil Chaebol family VS righteous underdog story that has been done 110 times in every other k drama. In the beginning, it felt dry and over the top like these dramas usually are and even a bit unrealistic.
However, soon enough it built up momentum and succeeded in hooking me in enough that I was easily able to ignore all of these flaws. I have to admit a lot of it had to do with Kim Hee Ae and her glorious power walks, short boss lady hair and the excellent OST that hyped up most of her scenes.
The drama is filled with veteran actors and the acting is spectacular across the board with the two women in the forefront stealing the spotlight.
Kim Hee Ae, 3 time Daesang winner comes through with her badass character out for revenge and justice. Nobody portrays a mix of ferocity and vulnerability quite like her. Her chemistry with Moon So Ri, who holds her own is great on screen and gives birth to one of T.V’s best sismances.
As far as the plot goes, I do think that the viciousness of politics is done quite well. While a bit dry and redundant at first, it gets more riveting as the stakes are raised and the battle of wits between our good guys and the wicked skyrockets.
It’s also nice to see how balanced the two sides are. Our protagonists face real problems and setbacks which makes the victory all the more well-earned and sweet.
The antagonists are also entertaining to watch on screen and despite their overall horridness, the writer tried to give each of them some well needed layers and substance so they weren’t just evil for the sake of being evil.
The fashion, style and music in the show are top notch with some crisp cinematography. The character development is fantastic. So much so, that at the end of the show both our leading ladies have seen significant growth in character.
Overall, the drama feels much longer than 11 episodes and while it does make use of the usual plot devices like “the deadliest of exposers aka tape recorder”, the writing is, on the whole, pretty sound.
This show is undeniably a show about women, with women and for women. However, what I really like about it is that it gives some pretty strong messages about what it’s really like for a woman to rise in power in a man’s world without being preachy or in your face about it.
The drama is definitely a big bowl of feminist soul fuel that touches on the possibility of what could happen if strong women start to back up other strong women.
Definitely worth a watch and 100% Jeana Approved.
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Good premise marred by cliche storytelling
Firstly, this show blows the bechdel test out of the waters. There really is nothing more attractive than powerful women, ambitious women, women being straight out "badasses". This was something Samuel L Jackson said often about The Long Kiss Goodnight, that the industry needed to produce more of these "women being badasses" shows because they just rock. Despite this, I could not give this series a high rating.To begin with, I found Do Hee's redemption arc implausible, to say the least. The plot pivots around her "awakening" from having seen an employee "commit suicide" after Do Hee had been hard with her. Really? She's never caused someone's death before in all the years she's worked under psychopathic chaebol matriarch Young Shim? Really?!? Mine eyebrow is duly raised. Secondly, how did Kyung Sook manage to camp herself on conglomerate property for her protest for so many days? That's clearly trespassing. How did she manage to evade security?
Also, the whole series relies on Do Hee's capability in the performance of her duties however, when the employee says that those messages were not txted by her, that should've alerted Do Hee to the need to verify. Something as simple as ringing the phone number on the txt msg, which she does later on, should've been the first point of order, but no. She just brushes the employee's comments aside. She believes the guy's word for it completely without doing any investigation into the veracity of his claims which doesn't come across as competence but extremely incompetent. One doesn't investigate because one distrusts a party's claim but to know the full scope of what to expect, what needs to be protected, and what reprisals would be forthcoming from the victimised party. Queenmaker? Hmmm...
The rest of it are stereotypical "gotcha" games where a male powerbroker's weakness is always connected to his groin (mistress, indiscretion etc) and so he is easily blackmailed that way. As someone who's familiar with legal procedures the rest of the series really devolves into WTFs. While finding out the truth of corruption on the enemy side, it's all easily subverted by them with tearful pretentious displays and mercurial social media moods. However, when the enemy side makes up a "truth" about Kyung Sook and her campaign, we are led to believe that her past allies will just forget about their past friendships and loyalty and public won't ask for an investigation into whether the evidence stacks up or not. For the enemy, there needs to be solid evidence which is easily subverted; for Kyung Sook's team, the enemy side just needs to fart a BS and the whole house of cards crumble to the ground. It is just too implausible. Are the Korean public idiots? The part where her son was charged with a criminal offense was just... what am I seeing here...?!?! I don't know how the Sth Korean justice system works but it's not a given that the minor will go to jail just because the antagonists say so. There are systems in place to ensure a fair trial. I'd like to believe that the prosecution isn't so incompetent as just to be easily bought out. Plus, there are evidentiary requirements too. And I'm making this conclusion from legal kdramas I've seen which shows that Sth Korea's criminal justice system doesn't deviate so much from where I'm at.
Plus the male counterpart strategist was just another WTF buildup to a nothing. Dragging an old senile man and leaving him in an unfamiliar place where he eventually got run over was not strategy. It was criminal. For all the talk about Carl being THE kingmaker, the character was nothing but an amateur and a thug who brought a chainsaw to a surgery that required a delicate scalpel.
There were several, several, nails on the coffin—when Do Hee doesn't even clean up her loose ends well enough to ensure that her father is out of danger, when she doesn't even ensure her own safety, but the crowning one: when there were moles in Kyung Sook's team. It's always the same sh#t—they need money so they're willing to betray their principles. Seriously? Why even bother doing anything if money is the common denominator. It's too cheap and too easy of a plot device to use and, as a psychological motivational tool, too illogical. Kyung Sook has spent time with the protestors. She's put in effort and heart into their fight. She represents their suffering and the overcoming of it. To have us believe that a single parent would go against her own survival, and that of her children's, by doing something so short-term as getting monetary gratification now... these people were screwed over by the very conglomerates offering them bribes now, are we to honestly believe they'd side with them again to stab Kyung Sook in the back? The writers need to research into the various electoral results in the democratic countries that Sth Korea shares governmental constitution with, as well as union members' community spirits. Corruption has not been met well regardless of how much a politician has tried to show a "caring parent" side to them nor do union members forget whom their allies were in their times of fight.
Despite all this, I do look forward to season 2 as it looks like they're pushing for one. It would be interesting to see if the writing would get less cliche and much more in line with the premise of this project.
Would I recommend this? Honestly... I would. If only because I know series like this are rare as a hen's tooth so the first few attempts would be shite to begin with but, as per economies of scale principles, it should improve as more of these types of shows are made. Plus... there is one memorable part in the series where I ended up applauding at the screen. There was a scene where young Dong Joo slams himself against a moving vehicle to stop them. I had never seen such a ridiculous move before—using a flesh and blood body against a hard, metal and iron object. It was memorable for the extremely creative application of physics.
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Each episode is bursting with fantastic acting from veteran actresses and actors!
How should i start! I finished watching all the episodes in one go.So glad this is not a webtoon. Webtoons have weak plots.
In Queenmaker, All actresses and actors are so captivating.
So happy that this drama stayed clear of idol and those with only-visual-no-acting-talent-skills cast! If not it would have ruin the entire atmosphere of the drama. There was no rom-com shit and nonsense in this. The plot was so tense.
Lead actress Kim Hee-ae (Hwang Do Hee) is showcasing what worldclass acting skills is like.
Moon So-ri (Oh Seung Sook) is my favourite in the show. She was raw and rugged. She articulated the transformation from a human rights lawyer to a mayor seamlessly and clumsily.
Not forgetting amazing acting from Ryu Soo-young (Baek Jae Mi), Seo Yi-sook (Son Young Shim), Ok Ja-yeon and so on.
Everyone is amazing.
The plot exposes the ugly reality of politics.
One thing for sure, a man who can't keep his lust in control, always wind up in shithole.
When will Kdrama makers learn, stop featuring idol actors/actresses or those with only-visual-no-acting-skills.
And you'll get quality productions like that.
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Disappointing last episode
My review is based off the last episode from this drama. To me the last episode should be the nail in the coffin. The final closure from all the other episodes that took place in order to get to the finale right?Not this one.
It was well over an hour long so I thought everything was going to be pieced together and everything that happened in the first 10 episodes will close out in the 11th.
In my opinion it was a let down. It didn't seem like justice was really served. The first episode had me eagerly anticipating how the bad guys were going to pay but in the end it fizzled. There was too much emphasis on one thing when that could've been wrapped up either in the first 10-20 minutes or so or the last 10-20 minutes. I was given more fluff than I needed. Plus everything went on for so long that most of the plots just ended by story telling from the news. Korean dramas have a tendency to do that. If they can't act it out they'll talk it out in a news segment and that's why my overall score is the way it is.
It ended as if there may be another Queen Maker drama. For this drama's sake I'm so set against it. I'm glad there were only 11 episodes. I don't think it would've lasted for the normal 16.
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Brilliant drama marred by fantastic impossibility
This drama is packed with good storytelling and great acting, and I would give it a higher rating if not for the main thing I'm here to talk about. Spoiler alert: In one the early episodes one of the female leads is pushed off a tall 30 or so story building and we assume she must be dead because there is no other possible outcome in real life, but the next thing you know we see her in a hospital bed with a sling on one arm and apparently no broken bones or other serious injuries.This show is otherwise a serious drama about serious situations, not about the supernatural or a cartoon, but here is this woman that miraculously survives a fall from a skyscraper and not a single character ever questions it or otherwise even makes a single remark wondering how she could have survived it or how unusual and fantastic it is. This is the second drama I've watched recently where a character falls from a skyscraper and survives and no one questions it at all, so I'm wondering if it's a uniquely kdrama inside joke or a new trope that writers are playing with to deliberately tease their viewers.
A Hollywood production or really any kind of production I've ever heard of could not include such an event and be taken seriously thereafter because viewers would be angry at such nonsense. It was a very interesting and fun drama otherwise but that stunt left me puzzled and confused at what is going on with that.
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Best election theme kdrama to date
The initial story building is extremely brilliant, the setup packs a lot of punch and it was executed cleanly with great impact. Then the story shifted onto the main theme of election campaign, at here we're getting a full range of political agendas and modern election mechanism that are relevant to the real world. The political war is so intense but also very realistic, the direction is clear for each sides of the candidacy in the run, with tactics that are all plenty interesting to watch. Even until the closing part it was still able to shock viewers with its final blow and give the drama a satisfying ending, making it one the best election theme kdrama to date.Was this review helpful to you?
Still okay to watch
LIKENot too bad a fight between few political parties seeing how they smeared each others' reputations
DISLIKE
Schemes not intense enough to make me feel the punch
MUSIC - personal fav
Glass Ceiling - Naakyeum
REWATCH VALUE
It doesn't matter if I re-watch or not
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A compelling story that explores complex relationships and sisterhood
A lot of shows that have a feminist theme often fall trap to the principle before plot, when the show focuses solely on delivering a message and not as much on delivering a compelling plot. This is not the case, a person who is not interested in a feminist analysis of this show could watch it perfectly fine without ever even thinking that this show focuses so much on sisterhood. What i mean is that this show, while carryingsuch a heavy message also puts up a show worth watching for anyone, not only those who are interested in how the patriarchy affects women, but also just those who want a good watch.The relationship between Oh Kyung Sook and Hwang Do Hee is complex, really fucking complex. And so raw and strong. This is the first time i see in a kdrama such dedication to female characters, we often see this cind of nuance and complexity among male characters-but this is my first kdrama ive watched that gave me such a warm feeling in regards to the relationship between two women. Even when we see strong and amazing female characters, the screen often shyes away from giving her meaningful bonds with other female friends that dont fall under shallow tropes. On top of that TWO female main characters. Which of one has a husband, but he is not the point of the story. Oh Kyung Sook is not portrayed or reduced to a romantic interest at her best, which we so often see with main and secondary female characters. And Hwand Do Hee is divorced, with no push for a romantic relationship with her ex-husband. Yet they are both taken seriously and are carried with the most utter elegance and intellect.
We have a strong, independent woman who is ready to kick ass. And not in "ooh im a super sexy girl in a tight leather dress and sharp heels that has men around my finger thanks to my womanly charm", oh no these people fucking fear Hwang Do Hee, and they should. Most positions of power, amongst the main cast is held by female characters, yet they never make a fuss out of it.
Like many shows will go out of their way to let you know that they have the position they have thanks to a man. And even if that is the case, the women are not stupid in this show. Even the worst archetypes this show has to offer are switched around and made human by the end of it. Like there was one female antagonist whom i hated at the beginning, trust me her first impression was...like a bomb. Literally. She is portrayed like this cynic crazy woman, not capable of empaty or any kind of grown up emotion. Yet by the end of the show, i felt like despite all shed done, i could emphasise with her. Obviously the show did never do this as to excuse the antagonists actions. It was always very clear what was wrong, and that they should pay for their wrong doings. But the show didnt shy away from giving their antagonists humanity. Like i cant even express how thankful i am for this show, for really normalising women in media, in a non toxic, diverse, and nuanced way.
The moral of the story was not: man = bad / woman = good. No definitely not. There were utterly evil, greedy and awful women in this whole ordeal, but they were treated as any well written antagonist should. Not reduced to their archetypes and tropes.
(In my heart Hwang Do Hee and Oh Kyung Soo are married and live happily ever after. I dont care that one has a husband, this is not up for debate.)
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The Drama Queen
While it may have had a gripping introduction and an attractive selection of cast, however, it couldn't maintain its momentum later on. It started off as a fully fledged political drama then added a mix of other genres and cliches with an overpowering flavor of Netflix-esque type of production. Within a few episodes, it quickly lost its creative edge and began to recycle and re-skin the same attacks and counter-attacks between the involved parties. It made the scoop of the drama quite limited for its +11 hours runtime. It's a female centered plot so naturally the spotlight was on them. Each received decent characterization, good introductions, showcased interesting dynamics, and donned fashionable attire. However, by the end of the drama, all of them blended into a bland and vexing mix, losing their initial allure. The drama may have been alright but it's not quite there. At least it didn't stretch for the typical 16 episodes so that's a small win. On another note, the superheroes slo-mo walking shots were cringe. And the brief teaser at the end for a potential 2nd season was tasteless.Was this review helpful to you?
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Not Good Enough
Korean Drama " Queenmaker " is a political drama with two strong female leads.The drama indeed establishes itself on its two main leads. Their performances were what carried the whole drama, actually, as did their personalities that complimented each other.
However, when it came to the story, "Queenmaker" didn't have much to offer. The story was basic political drama, with few twists here and there that were more or less predictable, especially when it came to the 'bad' guys. I should point out though that the start of the drama did offer some suspense.
So, overall, four out of ten for this political drama.
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