Mr Queen failed its own protagonist

*Warning; this review is not about the overall show, it's mainly my gripes with the way Bonghwan's character was handled. Please keep this in mind before continuing.

As much as I enjoyed this show for its comedy, I definitely believe the writers did Bonghwan dirty. We never really learn much about his life outside of being a chef and in a coma, we don’t know anything about his friends or family, or why he even wants to go back so badly. They don’t properly flesh out his motivations, and treat his desire to go back home like a joke throughout the entire series. I wish they further explored all the trauma he went through; waking up in a different era and in a body that isn't his own, being referred to as Kim So Yong while his own identity is slowly erased, adapting to a female body (i.e. periods, pregnancy, etc) and then having to deal with all the palace politics and violence as a modern man. Bonghwan literally went through the most shit on that show and the writers never addressed it or took it seriously. Not to mention how they kind of forgot how Bonghwan was stuck in So Yong’s body in the second half and instead treated him like an eccentric version of So Yong. I literally had to keep reminding myself that this was Bonghwan inside the body because this show was trying really hard to erase his existence for the sake of the romance. Like I literally know nothing about him as a character separate from So Yong. even though he was the protagonist, Bonghwan was one of the most neglected and underdeveloped characters within Mr. Queen.

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