5.10 - Episode 10 of Mr. Queen

Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 10 of Mr. Queen, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Shin Hye-sun as Kim So-yong, Kim Jyung-hun as King Cheoljong, Seol In-ah as Jo Hwa-jin, Na In-woo as Kim Byeong-in, and Choi Jin-hyuk as Jang Bong-hwan. 

We discuss:

• The songs we featured during the recap: Palace and Secrets of the Well, both by Howl
• How everyone in this episode seems to end up at the well
• How the tiny queen rescued the king from the well by carrying him on her back
• The king’s unsuccessful attempt to retrieve the ledger, but now we realize that Jo Hwa-jin has it!
• Jo Hwa-jin tries to give the ledger to the king, but the Dowager Queen thwarts her by delaying her message to the king
• We have another great cooking scene where the queen cooks a simple but amazing meal for the Grand Dowager Queen
• How this episode cleverly brought the concept of K Beauty to the show through the face mask that the queen made for the Grand Dowager Queen
• Even though it was Kim Jwa-geun who had Oh-wol tortured and possibly killed, it’s now the Jo family that is exploiting the situation by faking Oh-wol’s death 
• Kim Byeong-in suspicions of the king, his conversation with the queen, and his secret meeting with the Grand Dowager Queen
• The lighthearted elements of the show, specifically, the royal chef and Court Lady Choi screaming into the woods over their frustration with the queen, and the queen’s cooking scene
• Our thoughts about why this episode is called Living a Nightmare
• Some background information on the Andong Kim family, including the Grand Dowager Queen and Kim Jwa-geun, who were real people

References

• Howl background and songs
• Life expectancy of Joseon kings and queens
• Andong Kim clan page in Wikipedia