Queenmaker: Episode 1 (First Impressions)

by missvictrix

And we’re off to a running start with Netflix’s new series Queenmaker! We meet our heroine straight away in the trenches, and she is a force to be reckoned with. But when a crack starts to form, will it be enough to undermine her pitch perfect loyalties?

Editor’s note: This is an Episode 1 review only. For a place to chat about the entire drama with rampant spoilers, visit the Drama Hangout!
 
EPISODE 1

I hate to start off a review this way, but I’ll say it anyway: this drama is way better than I was expecting! Cold political thriller it is not. Or at least not yet. Instead, it’s the compelling story of a woman who’s worked as a “fixer” for an insanely powerful chaebol group for most of her life. That woman is HWANG DO-HEE (Kim Hee-ae), and that insanely powerful chaebol group is Eunsung Group.

At this point you’re probably thinking what I was: isn’t this a story about Seoul mayoral candidates, not chaebol families and their loyal servants? Well, it will reach that point, but the backstory for it is so much more interesting and intertwined than I thought (or than we were led to believe). It’s one thing to go up against the powers that be as an underdog; it’s another thing entirely to go up against the chairwoman that you served faithfully for decades. And when we say “served faithfully” what we mean is “did all the family’s dirty work.”

When we first meet Do-hee she’s years into her role, and has worked her way up the ladder by being in the good graces of CHAIRWOMAN SOHN YOUNG-SHIM (Seo Yi-sook). She’s basically the family’s right-hand woman, and she’s done it by: a) being willing to humiliate herself again and again as the “loyal dog” and b) to be ruthlessly effective.

We see that effectiveness at play straight away, when Do-hee is “fixing” the latest disaster of Eunsung’s heiress EUN CHAE-RYUNG (Kim Sae-byuk). About ten lightyears beyond the typical chaebol heiress hissy fit, this woman is violent, explosive, and certifiably disturbed. However, Do-hee works some sleight of hand, and we watch her take a catastrophe and turn public opinion like a true puppet master. In the space of an afternoon, the public has gone from hating on Chae-ryung to sympathizing with the plight of this poor woman whose mental health and maternal rights have been abused. It’s amazing to watch unfold, not only tactically — because it’s ruthless and graceful — but also because Do-hee knows through it all that she’s just spinning lies.

We don’t learn much about Do-hee yet beyond her servitude to Eunsung Group, but since Kim Hee-ae can do anything, we are immediately attracted to this character, even if we don’t necessarily like what she’s about, or how she operates.

In a company and family full of harshness and lust for power, one ray of humanity seems to be Chae-ryung’s long-suffering husband BAEK JAE-MIN (Ryu Soo-young). Though his rank is apparent in their interactions, it’s clear the two have an understanding of sorts. In one scene, Do-hee provides him his necktie and notices when he’s missing a cufflink. In another, Do-hee bandages the gash he’s gotten from his abusive wife while he muses that he and Do-hee and the only two “outsiders” to have made it this far up in Eunsung in one piece. He seems to confide in Do-hee — as does Chairwoman Sohn. In the midst of tasking Do-hee with seemingly impossible assignments, she tells her that the Seoul mayor is making Eunsung’s life too difficult and she’s going to replace him… with her son-in-law Jae-min. That’s the level of power we are seeing flexed here. Don’t like the mayor? Nepotism can help!

To the backdrop of Do-hee’s role as powerful-attaché-but-also-loyal-servant is an ongoing union strike against Eunsung. They’ve laid off a bunch of female contract workers, and they’ve been striking and making a fuss. Do-hee, of course, is tasked with dealing with this pesky gnat of a problem for the chairwoman — and that’s when she meets her match.

The ringleader of the movement is a human rights attorney named OH KYUNG-SOOK (Moon Sori). She’s in the middle of a solo guerrilla protest camped out on the roof of Eunsung Group’s skyscraper. And she’s completely the breath of fresh air — and bit of lightheartedness — that this drama needs. She makes a mix coffee for herself from rainwater that’s gathered on the tarp over her tiny tent. She gets ramyeon delivered by drone and eats it on a livestream. And she’s ready to target our heroine.

Sure enough, Kyung-sook’s live feed from her rooftop protest winds up on a major broadcast network who’s fighting with Eunsung in a pissing match of sorts. Kyung-sook holds back not at all, exposing Do-hee and her role in Eunsung, deciding that she’ll be referring to her as “Hwang Toilet” from now on, because that’s what she does — flushes away Eunsung’s waste, shall we say.

So far, none of this episode has gone how I expected, and I love it for that. I thought we’d meet Do-hee in political power, and Kyung-sook struggling for it and asking for help. The opposite is true. It’s Do-hee who discovers she’s not really wielding power at all — and it’s Kyung-sook who points it out. When the two women first meet on the rooftop, Do-hee plays her usual hand of bribery and coercion to get Kyung-sook to disappear. But this is a foil she’s not met before. Kyung-sook can’t be bribed. She says she’s doing this to make the world a better place.

Right now, both women are on opposite sides of the playing field, and seem diametrically opposed. But actually, they’re more alike than they realize. Both are brimming with this raw energy — but while Do-hee is domesticated, Kyung-sook is feral, and you can just see they they’ll be an unstoppable force when they’re on the same side.

Though Do-hee seems to have all the power in this equation — and the ability to “disappear” Kyung-sook and her protest in the blink of an eye — it’s also clear there’s a threat rising in Kyung-sook’s party. Hence the chairwoman’s desperation to silence it. There are also some other players emerging, like the young man who gets in Do-hee’s face a few times. His name is YOON DONG-JOO (a super squishy Ki Do-hoon — arise, rookie!), and he seems to work with Kyung-sook and company, though we have little to go on yet except his playful yet threatening stance against Do-hee.

As if we haven’t felt Do-hee’s exhaustion enough yet, her day is about to get even more hairy. Jae-min texts her to meet up and he’s day drinking — not a good sign. He gives her the bad news: he is being blackmailed by a young woman on Do-hee’s staff. As Jae-min explains the situation we get a quick replay played out: the woman worked closely with him, was crushing on him, threw herself at him, and when he fought the temptation despite liking her, now she’s threatening to expose him for assault.

Do-hee asks Jae-min point blank if he slept with her and he says no. Then, she says, this isn’t even an issue. Do-hee walks off with the confidence of knowing she can deal with the pesky staffer and not have Jae-min’s spotless reputation take a hit.

And then we see her do it. Do-hee stays up all night and has all the ammo ready to go when the woman — HAN YI-SEUL (Han Chae-kyung) — arrives in the conference room. It’s not pretty, because Do-hee knows exactly how to play her cards and in about five minutes everything has flipped. Despite Yi-seul saying Jae-min assaulted her, soon it’s Do-hee doing the blackmailing, and Yi-seul who’s begging for mercy. Do-hee fires her and walks out, ready to move on to the next fire with clean hands.

As Do-hee walks outside, however, Yi-seul’s body lands on the very car she’s about to climb into. A horrified Do-hee falls to the ground… and that’s when she sees Yi-seul has Jae-min’s missing cufflink in her hand. OMG. While the suicide was a little bit expected (since K-dramas often work the same camera angles to set such a scene up) — the twist gave me chills. And it’s quite the cliffhanger to get folks to press play on Episode 2.

Is this the crack that starts to break Do-hee’s staunch loyalty to Eunsung? I mean, the one person she has had a good rapport with lied to her face — convincingly! And while thanking her for trusting him! — so this is a big deal. It’s also an even bigger deal if you’ve followed the drama’s promos and know that at some point Do-hee will be managing Kyung-sook’s mayoral campaign against Jae-min. So, it just got personal.

And actually, it’s the personal and human aspect of this impending political power struggle that is going to make it riveting. It’s also the element I was expecting this drama to be missing — it seemed cold and not rooted in anything relational — so I’m really quite pleased that they’ve taken the time to set up our characters’ relationships and personalities before pitting them against each other (Do-hee x Jae-min) or getting them to form a united front (Do-hee x Kyung-sook).

For a first episode of laying groundwork for the battle to come, this was a really strong start. And in perhaps the highest accolades I can bestow, Queenmaker feels less like something out of the dark Netflix imagination, and more like a drama JTBC wishes they bought production rights for.

 
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