“Queenmaker” (퀸메이커)

By Jae-Ha Kim
Substack
May 4, 2023

☆☆☆☆
Hwang Do-hee (played by Kim Hee-ae)
Oh Kyung-sook (played by Moon So-ri)
↑Note: Korean names denote the surname followed by the given name.

ATTENTION: There are some spoilers in this review.

One of the best K-dramas of the year, “Queenmaker” is the latest superb female-centric series led by women in their 40s and 50s. It is fast-paced and nail-bitingly good. A political thriller with plenty of twists and turns, it centers on two foes who unite to take down a corrupt chaebol family that will stop at nothing to protect their financial and familial interests.

Do-hee is the fixer for this family, working non-stop to clean up all the messes of the powerful Eunsung Corporation. And there are plenty that need to be taken care of, starting with younger daughter Eun Chae-ryeong (Kim Sae-byuk) and her escalating abuse of subordinates. Her character appears to be based on that of the real-life Korean Air chaebol Cho Hyun-ah, whose “nut rage” incident in 2014 made headlines worldwide (and resulted in jail time).

Meanwhile, Chae-ryeong’s philanthropist husband Park Jae-min (Ryu Soo-young) appears too good to be true. Deferential to his powerful mother in law, he also accepts his wife’s tirades with a smile on his face.

When his secretary accuses him of sexual assault, no one questions his innocence. Of course the woman — a former hostess at a bar — must have made it up in the hopes of garnering a substantial amount of hush money. Knowing it’s her duty, Do-hee gets to work, doing what she does best: digging up dirt and spin doctoring an alternate reality that pushes the young woman into a no-win situation.

Knowing that she doesn’t have the connections to fight the Eunsung nepo babies, the secretary apparently jumps to her death. This act of desperation makes Do-hee question everything she has done to protect this despicable family. The chaebol matriarch Son Young-sim (Seo Yi-sook), who supposedly adores her, treats to her like she’s the family dog. Because Do-hee doesn’t come from proper lineage, they literally compare her to a mutt that should be grateful to do the master’s bidding.

Eventually, an alliance is made between Do-hee and an idealistic workers-rights attorney named Oh Kyung-sook (Moon So-ri). Kyung-sook initially and rightfully wants nothing to do with Do-hee. She tells Do-hee to get lost when the latter encourages her to run against Jae-min in the Seoul mayoral race.

What follows next is a scintillating telling of greed, revenge, power and justice. Do-hee is always one step ahead of her opponents and Kyung-sook has the moral compass to make sure that true victory doesn’t entail trampling over the little people’s rights. There is a subplot where Kyung-sook is framed for embezzlement. When one of her good friends, and a fellow member of the workers’ coalition, is threatened and then bribed into lying about Kyung-sook, the latter isn’t angry. Rather, she understands exactly what happened and why Hwa-soo (Kim Sun-young) turned against her. When you are poor and powerless and those with wealth and connections threaten your family, you are left with few viable choices in order to survive.

The ending is perfection, with everything that should happen happening. It is also an ending that suggests that a second season might happen, which I would welcome. That’s how good this K-drama is.

Airdates: Eleven 65-minute episodes released on Netflix on April 14, 2023.

Spoiler Alert: Jae-min’s secretary didn’t die by suicide. He killed her.

There are a few loose ends that didn’t make sense. For instance, Do-hee’s camp has a mole. But she is seen throughout the series and appears to be genuinely cheering on Do-hee and Kyung-sook. But I found it difficult to believe that Do-hee, who knows everything that is going on, was unaware of this. That subplot felt rushed and off.

Chae-ryeong isn’t Young-sim’s biological daughter. She was adopted. I honestly can’t remember, but I believe she’s the product of an affair between her birth mom and Young-sim’s husband.

© 2023 JAE-HA KIM | All Rights Reserved