The Queen and I

9/10 is my rating. This is a 2012 South Korean time travel, historic romantic drama with 16, 45-53 minute episodes. Also known under the title “Queen In-hyun’s Man”.

First, I provide a unique synopsis then review. I provide the synopsis because I find, when I’m looking for a show to watch, some of the synopsis describe the series very well. So the unique synopsis is intended to provid another perspective. If you aren’t interested in the synopsis scroll down, the review is labeled.

Synopsis

Choi Hee-jin (Yoo In-na) is a struggling actress just looking for her first big break. Little does she know her now famous ex, Han Dong-min (Kim Jin-woo) tipped the scales in the favor of her getting the role so she would rise to a level of fame where it would be acceptable for him to date her again. He is playing the King in the historical drama they are in. Fate is playing some tricks as the role she is playing, Queen In-hyun, ties back in time to a political situation time traveler Kim Bung-do (Ji Hyun-woo) was involved in. Bung-do is in possession of a mysterious talisman that gives him the ability to travel back and forth through 300 years from the Josean Dynasty. Ironically, in the past, the real Queen was deposed by a scheming concubine and Bung-do is determined she return to her rightful place. Hee-jin falls in love with the noble-born scholar and he with her and the two must navigate their feelings and work through the political intrigue of the past that has strange ties with the modern day. Will a love that has so many barriers even be possible?

Review

This one is classic. It comes up top rated on so many review lists as it has all the classic elements of a great time travel, historic romance, If you are a fan of romance then this is definitely one to include in your watchlist. It is also a great addition to time travel. It has a historical component but it does go back and forth so there is a significant amount of modern time in it too. Loved it. Would rewatch.

Spoilers

It could be sad at times. Not being able to get back to her, forgetting each other, friends dying, there were many sad events. But that is often the case with historical as so many messed up things happen in ancient politics. I thought his friend who gave him the talisman, Yoon-Wol (Jin Ye-sol) was extremely sad and wish he had saved her instead.

At first, I had serious second lead syndrome with Hee-jin”s ex Hang Dong-min (Kim Jin-woo). I felt sorry for him and thought wow they were probably really good together before. I did not think she should take him back though because he cheated and had all signs of going it again [like his flirtation with the other one playing Queen, Yoon Na-Jung (Park Young-rin)]. I thought he was funny at first and he was helping her in her career so that was a positive. But then when there was that time lapse where they all got amnesia and they had gotten back together in that timeline. He was very demanding and pushy and he showed how he really was. When she just couldn’t stay n the relationship, because of her increasing memories/dreams of Bung-do and broke it off with Dong-min, he was a violent jerk about it. I completely quit liking him at that point and I wasn’t feeling sorry for him at all. Instead I was thinking wow girl you really dodged a bullet.

I found her friend and manager Jo Soo-kyung (Ga Deuk-hee) to be extremely annoying. I get that she was her manager and Hee-jin acted like a hormonal teenage girl a lot but she could be overly non-supportive towards Hee-jin. I was really annoyed when she was pushing her at Dong-min purely for the benefit of her career, she did not act as a friend should act much at all.

#TheQueenandI #QueenInHyunsMan #YooInNa #JiHyunWoo #KimJinWoo #GaDeukHee. #ParkYoungRin JinYeSol