The Exorcism
We begin episode 6 of Mr Queen with Cheoljong reflecting on the strange arrogance that seems to have washed over the Queen. The Prince notices Cheoljong distracted and teases him, believing he’s thinking of a woman. Only, the Queen obviously isn’t a woman (not in Cheoljong’s eyes anyway!) and they joke that Bong-Hwan is an alien. Midway through talking though, Cheoljong realizes just why Bong-Hwan was dancing in the rain and races up to the palace. Just before he dives into the water, Cheoljong notices a note left behind reading “I came here for nothing,” signed by none other than Bong-Hwan himself. After dragging the Queen to safety, Cheoljong is furious and asks just why she tried to kill herself. Eventually Cheoljong agrees to her earlier “no touching” rule in the season but Bong-Hwan despairs as this isn’t what he meant. Obviously she wants them to live separately but for now, her dive into the lake and getting back to her own body is unsuccessful. As Court Lady Choi takes Bong-Hwan away, she returns to the palace shivering and is wiped down by Hong-Yeon. Bong-Hwan can’t help but think his mission to get back may not be linked to the lake after all. If that’s the case, how will he get back to his real body? O-Wol walks through the palace but unfortunately straight into the path of Sal-Soo, the scarred eunuch who abducted her. He stabs O-Wol in the stomach as she collapses on the ground in a heap. Meanwhile, Kim Jwa-Geun enlists a spy in the form of one of the court ladies, telling her she’s to report back on the Queen’s whereabouts. Meanwhile, the Queen Dowager arrives before Hwa-Jin and hands over a small gift. The box holds several strong and beautiful arrow-heads inside, which she graciously accepts. It turns out this actually isn’t the real gift. The real gift will be given to the King during court that day. It’s an ominous warning indeed but one that’s left wide open for now. Back at the palace, Bong-Hwan decides upon a different tactic to get back to his body. He’s going to perform a big ritual. Court Lady Choi knows of someone who can help… and brings her before the King’s Mother. Getting nowhere, Bong-Hwan eventually leaves but Daebi Jo sees this as a warning and sets to work putting her plan into action. Bong-Hwan continues to despair, worried that thee Queen’s spirit is causing mischief in his real body. There’s a hilarious segment that ensues during this moment, as Bong-Hwan imagines the Queen parading around in his body. After despairing by the lake, Bong-Hwan even tries an exorcism in his room! However, Hong-Yeon arrives with a book called “Changes of Zhou” which lists the King’s changed rule of no touching which stops her in her tracks. Despite suffering from a cold, the King attends court that day as Byeong-In is sworn in as the new head of the Department of Justice. He immediately mentions a dangerous internal crisis that gets the ministers mumbling and the King… sneezing. Anyway, the issue surrounding the Queen is brought up and the Ministers argue over whether to depose her or not after her current erratic and suicidal behaviour. Eventually Cheoljong speaks and tells them al he’s going to dismiss this case. Outside the court room, Byeong-In and Cheoljong butt heads over the best way of dealing with this and protecting the Queen. While Cheoljong wants to find a peaceful solution, Byeong-In instead wants to fight fire with fire. Eventually they come to an agreement but it’s a fragile one at best. It’s clear hostilities still remain between Byeong-In and Cheoljong, which spills over to Kim Jwa-Geun and the Grand Queen Dowager who contemplate just what to do with this news. Bong-Hwan shows up and promises to change the public opinion and get in the Grand Queen Dowager’s good books again. That comes in the form of spreading rumours that she wasn’t trying to commit suicide, she was actually try to save the royal consort. Only, this is eventually spun into Hwa-Jin trying to kill her. Word spreads like wildfire. Meanwhile, Court Lady Choi heads out deep into the woods and tries screaming at the top of her lungs to make herself feel better. Unfortunately this doesn’t have the desired affect and she winds up despairing more. Hwa-Jin arrives before the King where he admits he’s going to get the Royal Secretariat to throw out the request to depose the Queen. She agrees to help but tells Cheoljong that she wants them to spend the night together too. Next, she visits Bong-Hwan but despite Hong-Yeon telling Hwa-Jin she’s ill, Bong-Hwan makes his move and invites her in personally to her room. Things are frosty from Hwa-Jin toward him though and it’s clear Bong-Hwan’s charm doesn’t work on her. That evening, Cheoljong realizes that he’s growing fond of the Queen, despite what he says otherwise. Prince Youngpyeong warns that this could cause problems further down the line and implores him to keep a level head. While the Queen works, the Queen Dowager consults her shaman who confirms that someone is inhabiting So-Yong’s body; someone wicked who needs to be taken care of. Only, as we cut briefly to Bong-Hwan’s heart monitor stopping in the present day, the Queen collapses on the floor.
The Episode Review
Mr Queen returns with a solid episode, one that builds on the foundations set yesterday to deliver a very enjoyable and very funny 80 minutes of drama. With Bong-Hwan stuck in this world for now, the idea of getting shamans involved with the Queen Dowager is a nice touch and it’ll be interesting to see where that story thread goes later on down the line. Judging by the preview for next week’s episode, it seems like Bong-Hwan may be back in his own body…at least temporarily anyway. Court Lady Choi’s exploits are certainly entertaining but the Queen is by far the best character. I’ve said it before but Shin Hye-Sun’s acting in this role is nothing short of magnificent and she’s really made this character her own. Ironically, the King is starting to grow fonder of the Queen now that she’s acting like Bong-Hwan, which is certainly a nice little twist. For the most part though, Mr Queen has been a solid historical drama and I can’t wait to see where this one goes next week.
