Thanks for sharing! I’m an art teacher myself who occasionally teaches some art history to help my students understand good art, so I totally get your metaphor. I’m usually not a sageuk lover, but this makes me want to watch this one.

Kim Hye-soo was brought in to play the queen, and she grabbed the whole drama by the scruff of the neck…

What masterful prose! The mental image of this commanding actress simply taking charge of this ensemble cast is outstanding. I would be excited to see this in action. I am convinced. I shall give this drama a second chance, @kate88hammond!

I started The Queen’s Umbrella out of boredom, pretty sure I’d drop it quickly. It took me 2-3 eps and then I was every bit as rapt a watcher as described by @kate88hammond. I also didn’t think Kim Hye Soo could pull it off and BOY was that wrong! It was gorgeous (maybe the best hanbok ever), all the actors were fantastic, Kim Hae Sook was so evil! and the show set me back in my chair, thinking - wow, I could never survive in a truly cutthroat world like this one. There’s always another twist!!!
Thanks so much for pointing out the difficulty of finding “the hook” when teaching, I had somehow never thought of that as a daily challenge for teachers. It makes me love my good teachers even more ❤️

Yes! Under Your Queen's Umbrella deserves our time. Kim Hye Soo is the queen and every character should show her respect including the scheming dowager queen.

This is a masterpiece indeed and one of the dramas with intriguing themes and lessons. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us.

I've grown to be more cynical as drama viewer each year. Tired of the same trope, stupidity, incoherent story and illogical parts of a drama that I barely completed one hand in this year (it's nearing the end of 2023) that I watched fully without skipping scenes and nitpicking little details.
I don't know if I can say UTQU is historically accurate (how the queen and other characters behaves and other stuff), but the show managed in getting me hooked in the story despite the the flaws I've mentioned above.
Kim Hye Soo is like the mother hen to all the princes and other concubines and without a doubt is the core of this show.

What a great essay- beautifully constructed and wonderfully persuasive.

My wife watched this show and loved it, so I am sure that the show deserves every word of this piece.

This drama was made to be binged. I regretted not waiting longer to binge it all in one go because I had caught up by Episode 13, and I couldn't stop watching.

Kim Hye-soo was amazing. Queen Hwa-ryeong truly embodied "Under the Queen's Umbrella" by caring for all the princes, including Simso and Bogum, like her own. I sobbed over her mother relationship with Grand Prince Gyeseong, especially when she told him, "You'll always be my child." She raised two perfect sons -- the crown prince and Grand Prince Seongnam.

Grand Prince Seongnam was the perfect character. His romance was so heart-fluttering, and you really got to respect Cheong-ha's hustle in getting her man. My favorite thing was how they married for love just like the king and queen and presumably the late crown prince and crown princess.

Last but not least, Grand Prince Muan -- I loved him; he was so funny. "We're on our way to being scolded by Mother." "Mother, you're making us uncomfortable." I really wish we had known Muan's personal name like Kang for Seongnam, Hwan for Gyeseong, and Yul for Ilyeong.

This is one of the best dramas of all time. Everyone should watch Under the Queen's Umbrella.

YES YES YES!!! Everything you said, @kate88hammond! What a wonderful tribute to one of my favourite sageuks in recent memory. Your write-up on how this is a story, first and foremost, about love put into words something I’ve tried so hard to articulate before, but never truly managed to. Every story in Under the Queen’s Umbrella, whether it be our titular queen and her beloved sons (and daughter!!), or the villainous dowager queen and concubine, ultimately leads back to love and how it is the one singular force that drives the actions of humans. So succinctly and beautifully put. I have no doubt in my mind you’ve convinced many a previously-skeptical viewer to check it out for the first time or give it a second chance. And I sincerely hope they come to love and appreciate this underrated gem of a show as much as you did.

Once again, fantastic work @kate88hammond! I love would to read more of your writing in a future.

Hae Sook and Hae Soo were formidable foes!!! they are the "crème de la crème of the drama. i loved this drama so much, but admittedly, i was not drawn to the story at the start - i watched it for the female leads and dayum... it was worth every minute!!!

This drama was sheer perfection! I dont like sageuk but Queen grabbed me from their 1st poster release. Then after the 1st recap, i ff’d thru episodes 1 & 2 but ended up rewatching in full. Apart from the powerhouse performance of Kim Hye Soo and Kim Hae Sook (and the young cast that brought their A-game to match the two ladies) i loved how the writer balanced the characterisation of each person with the usual tropes and also a few surprises. The pacing was done really well too, so you never feel like the story is being dragged out. I would highly recommend this to anyone who’s not a usual fan of sageuk or maybe just trying out the genre.

Thank you @kate88hammond for such a great start to this series of posts.

Everyone who knows me knows I am the beanie who runs away screaming when a new sageuk drops but I was tempted by this one. Your write up confirms that if I ever decide to try one of the more series sageuks in the future, this would be the one that has enough of the elements I like to help me through the bits I don’t.

Beautifully written.
If I were in the mood for a saguk, you would definitely convince me to watch it.

I don't watch much historical dramas. Out of 10 being made, I watch maybe one or two, etc. If I do, I watch comedies with little politics or practically dramas with 1% historical realities. I like Korean historical dramas from the times of Japanese colonization or from the 1980s or 1990s. I don't like historical dramas focused on palace fights for power. In this drama, the plot was written so that it didn't annoy me. It was more of a "mystery drama" to watch. In addition, the drama showed several relationships in the lives of the main character's sons, which Korean dramas often omit. The private life and loves of the queen's sons were not shown typically. In my opinion, they were more realistic than most dramas. The plot twist with one of the king's sons was refreshing.

Why watch? You'll really miss out on a wonderful drama if you don't. The costumes, the conflicts, the glue that keeps it all together(Kim Hye Soo), the characterizations, the actors, the world they build and live in, it just sings of perfectly executed everything! Its more than "just another Saeguk" it is a story of humanistic love and conflicts woven together in a delightful and thought provoking way.

I liked this drama because the main focus was about the Queen's maternal love for her own sons but the other Princes too. She was strong but never malicious or vicious with her ennemies. She had a very big heart and her scenes with her sons were great.

I wrote an essay of some of Under the Queen's Umbrella but I never shared it. I felt like I was crazy to relate so passionately with that drama but now I see that there are other who understand.

This is such a good drama.

Thank you for a persuasive essay which may inspire even non-sageuk watchers!

A bit late since I have been traveling (England and Scotland) for awhile but thank you @kate88hammond for your lovely UTQU essay. I think you covered all the bases.
Kim Hye-soo’s performance was one of the 2022 kdrama highlights for me.
Let me zero in on one point. After UTQU finished airing I commented that she must have finished the drama with a whole load of new young actor friends. In particular with all the young princes she had solo scenes with all of the and SHE made all of them shine. It was wonderful watching her act with these young guys.

My favourite dramas are invariably sageuk, so I was really looking forward to Under the Queens Umbrella. When I started watching it though, I thought it was as dull as ditchwater. And because it hadn't grabbed me at all by the end of Episode 1, I just stopped watching.

Perhaps I'll give it another shot. But my experience has generally been that if the writing and acting isn't good enough to compel your interest from the start, it's very rare (though not completely unknown) that it's going to pick up after episode 2 or 3.

If it sucks, I'm coming back to complain!