Final Episode of tvN Sageuk Queen Cheorin Brings Ratings High of 17.371% and Plenty of Heated Commentary About the Ending
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Well well well, the ending is here for Queen Cheorin (Mr. Queen) and I’m not sure if I should talk about the ending or just let it rip in the comment section. I don’t want to “spoil” any plot point but this ending is really quite special, as in I think it would take a really special viewer to find it thoroughly satisfying. I’ve been checked out since before the midway point when I realized the writer wasn’t going to commit in any meaningful direction and now I feel like one of the lucky ones not to get seppuku’d at the end. The ratings did end with a lovely series high of 17.371% and sets this drama one of highest rated in tvN history but it may also go down as one of the most frustrating of all time. For me, the ending of what I thought the writer would go with (it’s safe if not totally nonsensical) so my heart goes out to all the diehard fans. Don’t worry. such pain will recede with time and also becomes a toughening lesson in drama shipping.
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Agree Koala! The ending was painful! It should have ended with LeeSaeng Mang and Jolcheong riding a horse into the sunset and swimming together in some lake or something and travelling. The second half of the episode was so disappointing but anyway Jeona and MaMa’s acting was so so good.
I honestly think the ending is fine. The drama hasn’t set it up as a serious drama with depth and it has exceeded well beyond expectation as a fusion comedy sageuk. Both SHS and KJH have established through this drama their A listing credentials – and indeed perfect casting to balance an extrovert and introvert delivery.
As a viewer, I don’t think it’s fair for CJH’s character to be trapped forever in SY’s body. His return to modern time is the sensible way forward. It’s smart for the producer to insert ‘love at first sight before marriage’ subplot in Mr Queen The Secret to neutralize the ending.
Im with you. I liked it. Im glad the whole time So Yong was just in “hiding” allowing bong hwan to take over believing he is in a better position to help Cheoljong than she did. I was afraid the writer will succumb to pressure from the public and stick to the non fiction reality based ending. Loved it. Sending off the drama with a heart full… goodbye cheoljong and cheolrin, you will be rewatched with gusto soon. Looking forward to Shin Hye Sun and Kim Jung Hyuns new projects. Added them into my must watch artist list ^^
I wish the ending a little better. But I guess Bong hwan’s feeling towards the king was mostly soo young although the one King fell in love with was Bong hwan. I think the writer tries to make it safer with no BI love which could get banned somewhere. But I am fine with the ending.
They want to let go of Our OTP who was with us for 19 episodes already. It hurts me thinking CJ will always feel something is missing and never actually gonna find out. He has been cheated by twice already, first with HJ and now SY. Do you really expect to see this?
BH will not be the same as he used to be anymore. Probably he could never find his true love, he would feel heartbroken whenever he thinks of CJ, Joseon and history.
Congratulations to the whole MQ team!
I am amazed at how Kim Jung Hyun bounced back after hiatus, now both of his comeback dramas, CLOY and MQ are on the list of top 10 highest rated cable kdrama in history.
I’m happy he could come back stronger, more success for him. He is really talented, he deserves everything.
KJH and SHS’s chemistry is insane, they deserve more than this. Hope both of them can reunite as leads again in a modern drama, although it is rare in Korea.
For the ending, I am satisfied because at least we got to see KJH and SHS end up together.
I expected this ending. South Korea isn’t ready for this. They won’t go that far by taking another risks, they already received some backlash criticism at the beginning.
First, this is not a BL drama which normally casts two male actors as leads. We have ML and FL like other romance dramas. So, The King and real Queen are the endgame.
If they would go this way, the real Queen should come back to her body earlier than this, or maybe on and off like Oh My Ghost drama did. This ending is meh.
Bong Hwan was just a helper to win Cheoljong’s love and trust for So Young.
So Young is 2nd Hwa Jin now, she got everything without her efforts.
Cheoljong is the victim twice for the same love-deceiving plot.
I don’t even how to connect with all of this
I haven’t watched the whole serie, so I’m going to ask, is JBH trapped in SHS’s body until the end? If yes, could this be categorized as gay romance?
This is my first time seeing Actor Kim Jung Hyun. I kinda regretted I only noticed him now. He is so talented and chrismatic on screen. Something about him is so attractive. I find him very handsome too. Can’t wait to follow his career. I will support all his future works from now on.
And, I love Cheoljong character as well.
you should watch his drama welcome to waikiki.. I bet you gonna love it
The best part of this drama is the acting and chemistry. It’s like the ensemble cast lineup with two brilliant leads, Shin Hye Sun and Kim Jung Hyun with two capable veteran actors Kim Tae Woo and Bae Jong Ok. The chemistry between the leads is off the charts. The only actor I dislike was the one who played as her cousin, he is so bad at acting.
Overall, I enjoyed the whole drama, including the ending. It would be better if the chef meets a girl who is the reincarnation of the King in modern day. So, the chef will have his own happy ending too.
I’m so glad I waited until the drama ended. Now I know I don’t have to waste my time. I read the comments from mdl and I don’t like how it ended at all. It doesn’t make sense how I can support this kind of ending if I watched the drama based on its premise. The king fell “completely” in love with the chef not the real queen. Also the chef is the main character not the real queen. So that’s more than enough to shutdown any interest in checking the drama :/
RWTMR: I can focus all of my energy on this drama instead and pray that it won’t disappoint from beginning to end ?
Why do you sound happy that Mr.Queen had a bad ending, while you don’t even watch this drama? Please respect Mr.Queen fans like us. I know you want to promote your bias’s drama. But, this is not a right time.
Still, Mr.Queen was a successful drama which broke many records, with no A-list or hallyu star leads. Now, the leads hit the stardom.
@daisy
I did the same with cloy, I waited until it ended and waited for feedback once it ended because that drama also had a silly premise which makes it skeptical for me to check out but it turned out to be good from beginning to end and therefore I checked it out.
I’m not happy it had a bad ending. I’m happy that I didn’t waste my time watching a drama with a bad ending.
If someone wants to mention another drama, it’s their freedom to do so, it doesn’t hurt anyone. And it’s done all the time.
No argument from me that Mr. Queen isn’t a successful drama 🙂
@Laura
Maybe you could give Mr. Queen a shot? Knowing the ending (whether disappointing or not) means you can go in with zero expectations and just go with the flow. You can always drop it if the drama isn’t working for you. So many dramas in the sea!
RWTMR premieres today, right? Cool! My live-watch list has been a bit hollow since the end of Awaken, True Beauty, Cheat If You Can and now Mr. Queen. Good thing Sisyphus and Vincenzo are also coming soon.
@aurora
Thank you for the suggestion! That is true since my expectations are now low. I’ll consider it ? it’s just that I was so hoping for the hilarious chef to be with the king so it’s difficult for me to start on a drama where I know the outcome won’t be in their favor haha
Yes RWTMR, Sisyphus, and Vincenzo are all out this week 🙂 I wanted to watch all three! I’m a fan of actors/actresses from all three dramas ❤️ I’m not sure if I’ll have time to watch all three simultaneously but we shall see haha
@rjpv
I read comments of those who liked and disliked the ending. And I read the comments throughout the airing due to curiosity.
From other perspectives, the feelings the king had for the original queen was limited and wasn’t developed. Also even if they are merged, they didn’t do a good job of showing that the real queen was active the entire time. If the king loved the merge queen… then what does that mean when they unmerged? The chef is portrayed as the main character, the real queen played a passive role. So I wouldn’t considered both characters as equal. I trust my friends online perspectives of the drama on other sites. I give their viewpoints more gravity than online strangers 🙂 thank you for sharing your viewpoint.
if you watch dramas based on other people’s pov its your loss… the drama still has an 8.9 rating in mdl which is really high and ended up being one of the highest-rated dramas even without any super popular cast…
you didnt watch the drama and you know that the king fell completely in love with the chef but you dont know that the king always had feelings for the queen and he fell for the merged soul of both the chef and the queen… the main character is the merged soul of both the chef and the queen…
you would have known all this if you watched the drama instead of only considering the comments of people that only accept a BL ending…
That’s why I did not watch this. Unfortunately, kdrama land doesn’t have the guts! I never believed from the beginning and I saved myself from all the frustration. Only few mainstream kdrama ever had a main BL love line and gave them pretty positive endings. Life is Beautiful which aired in 2010 is such a rarity, even after a decade it’s still the only one! Mr. Queen is not even a true BL, they could have ended the OTP together which still follow convention as he is already in a woman’s body, but they can’t even handle that.
I read comments that even the Chinese version and all of its alternative endings was more daring and better than Mr. Queen ending. Which was a surprise to me because China is more conservative than South Korea. Also some of recent Korean dramas have actual gay characters in them. So Mr. Queen could had a better ending and for the most part, it would have been accepted by most viewers.
Only difference is the censors in China has now BANNED all those dramas you mentioned above from any and every platform available. Its not that they “have a more open mind” but more that they missed it due to the producers adding elements to distract from a BL storyline. No one is more homophobic than the current chinese regime. Korea – not even a yardstick close.
That’s why I did not watch this. Unfortunately, kdrama land doesn’t have the guts! I never believed from the beginning and I saved myself from all the frustration. Only few mainstream kdrama ever had a main BL love line and gave them pretty positive endings. Life is Beautiful which aired in 2010 is such a rarity, even after a decade it’s still the only one! My Queen is not even a true BL, they could have ended the OTP together which still follow convention as he is already in a woman’s body, but they can’t even handle that.
This is so painful for the whole QC fandom including me. It’s like they separated our beloved OTP and replace with a twin. We didn’t even learn much about So Young. Our poor ML will never find out about Bong Hwan. Even if he noticed something wrong with his wife, he will stay with her, there is nothing he could do. So Young also will never tell him about Bong Hwan anyway. A piece of his life is always missing. His life ahead will be full of puzzles.
I feel cheated, it’s like BH is just a plot device to match the real OTP, CJ and SY. SY is not different from HJ. They both tricked CJ in the exact same way. It hurts me thinking that BH is going to miss CJ so much for the rest of his life. CJ probably won’t find out the real answers.
My Cheolbong heart is breaking ??? I am not okay ??
Ouch!! I was waiting to binge watch this series because Shin Hye Sun is one of my favourite actress and the drama was getting positive feedback too..Butttt…seems like the ending wasn’t satisfying..Hmmm should I still invest my time in it?? I will wait for more reviews..
Anyways on another font, congratulations for hitting it big in ratings department.. especially KJH ..who has now starred in TVN’s no. 1 and no. 5 rated drama.. Honestly, I really thought it would easily break 20pc ratings and beat CLOY with the way it’s initial ratings were going up..Besides it had 20 episodes overall.. However unlike CLOY, which had a steady momentum gaining numbers with each passing episode throughout its run, Mr. Queen seemed to have struggled too long around that 13-14pc mark..
Still 17 pc is also a big feat.Big claps?
I can’t believe they ruined the brilliant drama with the most frustrating ending ever. Like WTF are we supposed to believe Cheoljong didn’t fall for Bong Hwan’s soul? And we’re supposed to believe Bong Hwan didn’t feel anything after struggling with his sexual identity and accepting Cheoljong’s kiss?! What was the point of showing us BH’s struggles when in the end he just returned to the future alone and without saying goodbye to anybody?!!
What happens when Cheoljong asks So Yong about military stuff?
Ikr? There will be no new word to add in his Queen’s Dictionary.
Right?? And all the food ideas, future innovations….. But the worst part is that BH didn’t even get the chance to say goodbye to CJ.????? breaks my heart omg
The writers took us for a 19.5-episode ride. Not a very satisfactory ending probably because it was too abrupt. The viewers (or I) got used to the idea of CheolBong and out of a sudden, Soyong gets reintroduced. Not hating on her truly, it’s just that I do not know her at all.
Right, the instant SY was the only one in her body I just got this cold feeling and couldn’t really relate to her anymore.
I suppose I would agree that the drama had so much potential to be so much more than what was produced/created. However, even with its flaws and limitations, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was watching it from the point of view that the Queen’s body has 2 souls/personalities and they might actually be the reincarnation of each other, so for me, the ending was satisfactory. It would have been better if the writer allowed us to get more glimpses of SY each episode, she and BH could even be talking to each other, to establish that SY has always been there and some of the Queen’s actions/decisions were actually from her. At any rate, I will list Mr Queen as one of my faves. The 2 leads are awesome, they simply nailed their parts, can’t think of a better combo to do this. Can’t wait for their next projects.
I think I’m one of the few ones whose fine with the ending. I liked what I’ve seen of the real SY and wished the drama showed more of her.
Cheoljong and So Bong were the ideal King-Queen team we ever had. So Young could not support Cheoljong as much as So Bong did, no matter how much she tried. It was never So Young’s Beauty which attracted him, but So Bong’s personality. We are robbed.
I have mixed feelings , but the one who was dumped ,is the King, at the end he is with a woman who is only a part of the person he fell in love with . I don’t know if you’ll get my meaning ( poor english sorry !) . For people who didn’t know the actor , you can watch him in Laugher in Waikiki (very fun drama) and in School 2017 with Kim Se Jung and Jang Dong Yoon ( both are doing great too) The “School series” made us discover true gems !
I’m now searching to watch his other dramas. I will watch Waikiki first, since a lot of people recommended me to watch. Kim Jung Hyun has raw talents and charisma, which makes me his fan. I’m impressed with his screen presence.
I am ok with this ending. I enjoyed this drama overall. We got to see amazing onscreen chemistry and acting performances of the lead actors. SHS performed very well as usual. This is my first drama of male lead Kim Jung Hyun. I’m so impressed with his acting and screen presence. His expressions are on point. I wish to see both of them together in another drama.
See that koala,
I told U it will be BL love story,thanks god the writer returned it at the last time..
Its just my opinion and if there is someone hates it here i am fine with it,but never in the million way i accepted lgbtq hehe
Will see in the future what about it,theres so many pontential pro and contra whether media trying to make it blend with the culture or robe our heart with this beautiful movie,even in the soft ads entertainment at some point..
I agree. When in doubt, I preferred not to watch the drama. But now that I know the ending is correct, I will be able to watch it. There is already to much activism in real life or western series, I don’t want that in a drama.
Wowwww really interesting to see some homophobia going on here. So it doesn’t matter if the 2 people who loved each other don’t end up together as long as we have an heteronormative ending. Sickening
I honestly feel CJ loved SY. Everything he did since the beginning was for her. When his brother warned him in the 2nd episode about not letting his feelings get in the way all of CJ’s pent-up anger made sense to me. He was angry at himself and her because he had fallen for a Kim. What was his solution? He decided to insert HJ in the equation and force himself to stay with HJ. The problem is that when BH shed some light on who SY really was, CJ no longer had the same willpower to stop himself from pursuing what his heart wanted. This is why he started to realize that HJ wasn’t who he loved and that he hadn’t been able to fully move on from SY despite his anger. Remember the episode when he saved her from the lake? His expression when he was underwater was utter desperation, so that was the first moment he realized that he didn’t want her dead. Then he apologized and offered the “no touching” deal as a way to get to know her and repair the pain he had caused her (this was all for SY, not BH). The second wake-up call was when she almost died in the kitchen. This was the moment he was forced to face that he didn’t want to lose her to anyone (“She’s my woman”) and that he’d do everything to repair the hurt he’d caused her. The last slap he needed was provided when he kissed her to avoid getting caught and he realized that, unlike what he thought, he had no control over his feelings for her. That’s when he stopped fighting his feelings & started allowing himself to love her despite her “flaws” & because of her flaws.
The thing is he always did this because he initially liked SY. All of those feelings had stemmed from an original interest in the real queen. This is why I never really thought CJ loved JBH. From his perspective, it was always SY he loved, in whatever form and with whatever characteristics she had.
He was curious about JBH’s firecracker nature, that I agree with, but were these traits something he couldn’t live without? No. He always felt SY had bumped her head, or something like that, and this had changed her personality. He never believed what JBH said because he probably thought those were SY’s delusions after a traumatic experience. From his perspective, who he loved was SY and who he wanted to be with was her, even if her personality wasn’t the ideal queen he needed by his side.
As for JBH, I think he was bisexual and had feelings for CJ, but those feelings were never strong enough to make him want to stay in Joseon without his family and his life as a Blue House Chef. It always felt as if he was settling for the life he had in Joseon against his will.
NOW, having said that, I do believe the execution of the romantic plot was weak and misleading. The writer should’ve shown more SY so that the viewers could see that CJ loved the original queen with her own personality, and because he did, he was willing to accept the one he perceived as full of flaws.
I agree with you. People should think from CJ’s perspective. I also did not believe he loved HJ, because clearly he didn’t. But, this ending and spin-off are making CJ into a player who could fall easily for women. I know he is not like that. From his perspective, this is only one woman he loves, she is his Queen, it doesn’t matter she is SY or BH.
I agree with your analysis too – what struck me was the two times Cheol jong was definitely spellbound in the main drama series with his Queen: 1. when he perceived her as a free spirited lady dancing in the rain, almost similar to the cousin BI remembered (until all was forgotten with the ultimate comedic effect with the blackpink dancing)
2. When she was sitting quietly sitting and sipping tea in the pavillion
and in the spin off series
3. When she was reading her erotic novel but he saw her sitting as a refined lady
All these alluded to the characteristics SY possesses as well and I find that to be a very convincing end for myself.
Um, no. The king didn’t even meet an adult SY until after he was with Hwa Jin Jo for two years. Even before Bamboo Forest came out with little prequel (which only showed a one-sided crush on her end and some curiosity on his own because she looked familiar), it was established that SY didn’t know what the king looked like so they had no interaction before he started disdaining her. As for the comment about the feelings…I interpreted that as the fact that he was basically going to go kill an unarmed woman. The feelings in question being a conscience b/c that was indeed pretty cold. Thank goodness for her cousin. Like the queen later said…this guy was like a serial killer of his in-laws. LOL BH didn’t shed any light on SY’s personality. SY had no personality (other than crushing on CJ, beating innocent maids to try and get out of the palace, and running away from her problem).That’s where the writers dropped the ball. They made the whole show about Mr. Queen. Which is fine if they were going to follow through with it, but if they always had a SY/CJ ending in mind, they should have developed her character more. I’ll admit that a proper queen is probably what CJ needs in his life right now as he’s shaping the country, but it’s homophobic bologna to say that SB (I refer to her as that because she’s not fully BH and SY’s memories and body do change – read change and not control – her) didn’t fall in love with CJ and it was her personality that CJ fell in love with. Not in the way you seem to allude to as if she’s a flavor of ice cream and he can sub it out with something else just as good…I mean she as a person is whom he fell in love with as a human being. The swap at the end was horrifying. Even worse, he didn’t seem to notice, even though in a prior episode Mr. Queen acting proper freaked him out. Just really bad continuity issues. Reminds me of how the writers botched Game of Thrones.
Mr Queen never intended to be a BL story line….South Korea remains deeply traditional, they addressed it as far as safely possible without risking backlash which there would have been had they really gobe there. Sure International and a section of Korean audience would respect them much more for it had they done so..I just felt cheated like Gong Yoo did in coffee prince. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t love it, because I did. The ending was unsatisfactory but I still love it to bits. I loved the characters enough to not let it ruin the entire experience. I am glad it ended on a high note for them.
I never thought I hate an ending like this. It’s like God’s gift : 14 days all over again. I was so invested with mr queen and king for 19 episodes,aren’t they deserve a goodbye like closure?? Why did kim so yong suddenly appear there? She killed herself, jang bong hwan took took care of things for her , and she return to herself , having a loving husband , a child, enemies gone.I can’t wrap my head around this
Completely agree with this. A goodbye would be the least they could’ve done.
That’s just bad writing.
Bad, lazy and predictable.
I went in knowing it’d go with the conventional romcom ending even though it had potential otherwise.
I mean Korean romcoms are very predictable. Even the way they end is predictable.
A betrayal. That’s how the ending felt. The drama was Mr. Queen. The trailers touted “Match Made in Heaven.” The entire storyline (sans the political intrigue) centered around SoBong’s character development and love story with Cheoljong. Even the source material was built on the same premise. Everything started culminating beautifully and organically and in the next to last episode we finally have a scene where it all but spells out that SB is deeply in love and that gender doesn’t matter…love is love. Then episode 20 hits and not only undoes everything preceding but marginalizes the main character. No one notices a thing. All that SoBong did was either credited to someone else or never mentioned again. The man who loves him doesn’t even recognize that he’s now with completely different person. BH has this weird sort of butterfly effect that changes his life but with no real logic as to how. Deus ex machina on crack is what all of this is. First of all, they should have stuck with the Cdrama/novel premise and had either a complete switch or SY dead and gone and later have HB given a choice to stay or go – I would have been happier with that scenario even if he chose to leave because at last he would be acknowledged and mourned. However, they did this weird mishmash of events instead which just muddied the waters and then let homophobic fears dictate a thoroughly incongruous finale that left the taste of ash in my mouth. Reminds me so much of Game of Thrones with its brilliant setup and soul-crushing finale. All hail SoYong – the kdrama version of Brandon Stark.
The ending was every bit of TRASH and managed to destroy everything the show had stood up for. One thing I regret for sure was the fact that I invested my time, energy and feelings in a show that ended in such a disrespectful way. Sobong and CJ will always live in my mind rent free though. What a waste of potential.