Queenmaker

I liked the sound of the plot and the series had some very good reviews so I decided to give it a go. After a slowish start, with the scene being set, the drama, skulduggery, Intrigue, mayhem and more began. The story depicts a rich and powerful Korean corporation and the lengths they would go to to broker deals and gain power. To help them with this, they employ a Fixer. Hang Do Hee, who is adept at manipulating anything to the corporation's advantage. She has been a loyal servant for ten years. Something happens to make her question her loyalty and the story begins in earnest. The acting is excellent throughout, with really nasty baddies and really good goodies. The plot has more twists and turns than the Nurburgring! It depicts a world of politics where trickery, corruption and bribery are rife, with the media and the police all in the pocket of the wealthy corporation - nothing like real politics then! 😁.

My wife and I enjoyed it enormously and 11 episodes was just the right length. There is some talk of a second season and there are certainly more avenues that could be explored. Well worth a watch if not a binge watch! A 9 from me.

I hesitated for a long time before seeing this South Korean drama series, then I took the plunge and what a nice surprise I was able to discover. A splendid series full of twists and a rare intelligence, gave me incredible pleasure with each episode. Moreover this series owes its value to its actresses and actors of an extraordinary veracity, to arrive at the end with an unforgettable series. The wonderful interpretation of: Moon So-ri, Kim Hee-ae and Ryu Soo-young, for me these two actresses and actors were really exceptional. Of course, the entire cast was also of high quality. To end my feelings on this series, the direction of Oh Jin-seok was also magnificent and finally the superb screenplay was by Moon Ji-young. A very great Netflix series.

I have to admit: after watching episode one I thought this would be one more on my list of Korean turn-offs. How wrong I was. The second episode really grabbed me and it did not disappoint. What a great, well executed drama on corruption, human evil and the struggle to have honesty, righteousness and justice prevail. It has some weak moments, but overall this series is outstanding and approaches for instance House of Cards. Acting and dialogues are generally top notch. This series will keep you on the edge of your seat while the storyline develops with an absurd mix of strikes and counterstrikes between political opponents. The good should prevail of course, but right into the last episode it is unclear if it will. Can't spoil yet, as I'm currently watching the last (11th) episode. See for yourself.

So far Korean cinema has not been able to make me a fan because of overacting, hysteria and poor storylines in many series and movies. Queenmaker however is a true gem. Definitely recommended and hoping for more of this in the future.

Kim Hee-ah plays Hwang Do-Hee who is a fixer for the Eunsung group and is labelled as an attack dog with the lengths she will go to defending the family behind the company. In carrying out her role a young girl seems to commit suicide and then the companies employees go after Oh Kyung-Sook (Moon So-Ri) an activist lawyer who is causing the company embarrassment. Do-Hee realises she has been lied to and to honour the young girls memory she encourages Kyung-Sook to run as mayor of Seoul against against the husband of the daughter of the Eunsung group played by Ryu Soo-young. It is a predictable drama with pantomime villains but does enough to keep you interested in the drama. My favourite characters were the daughter and adopted daughter of the Chaebol family who were completely messed up but because of this the most entertaining.

Queenmaker is an exception to Netflix Originals. It is a great series with a clean ending; you don't have to wait for season 2. It has no foul language, no f words, no drugs, no explicit sex of any kind. House of Cards, Money heist, Delhi Crime, Queen's Gambit, and Marcella are good examples of what Netflix should focus on. It also licensed excellent tv series like Revenge so that we could watch them without commercials. That was the biggest value proposition for us. Many of the Netflix originals are pretty bad, full of explicit sex, drugs, and f words. The Night Agent is another exception, excellent story, well produced and directed. Many of the originals have actors who do not belong in the script but are there to satisfy diversity. We love the Korean, Northern European, some other foreign shows.