Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 11 of Mr. Queen, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Shin Hye-sun as Kim So-yong, Kim Jyung-hun as King Cheoljong, Seol In-ah as Jo Hwa-jin, Na In-woo as Kim Byeong-in, and Choi Jin-hyuk as Jang Bong-hwan. Ernabel Demillo guests on this episode!

We discuss:

• The songs we feature during the recap: Like the first snow by Kim Jung-hyun and Rebellion by Kim Deuk-su.
• We finally know what is in the ledger, but we wonder why the queen’s father recorded all of his corrupt transactions.
• How Jo Hwa-jin gives the ledger to the Dowager Queen.
• The problem with revenge is that you never know who you will actually take down.
• How the queen is struggling with Jang Bong-hwan’s spirit and Kim So-yong’s memories.
• How the note exchanges between the king and queen are hilarious and we know this is not going to end well.
• How everyone has something planned for the Suritnal festival: Kim Jwa-geun is going to reveal the king’s incompetence, Jo Hwa-jin plans to take down the queen with a real arrow, Prince Yeonpyeong and Captain Hong will show off their men’s real skills, the scarred eunuch will derail food shipments for the festival, and the Dowager Queen will tell the Grand Dowager Queen that the queen has been deceiving her because she’s been serving the king all along.
• The hunting tournament between the queen and concubines. The queen wins because she makes a deal with one of the eunuchs.
• The amazing martial arts demonstrations during the Suritnal festival, especially the battle with fans between the king and Kim Byeong-in.
• At the end of the episode, Jo Hwa-hin has an arrow pointed at the queen and she lets the arrow fly. The king and Kim Byeong-in leap in to the air in battle.
• The episode is called The Unforgiven because there are so many people who can’t or won’t forgive someone else.
• We share a little bit of history about the Pungyang Jo family.

References

• Tessenjutsu: Why Metal Fans Are So Strong Video
• Pungyang Jo clan in Wikipedia
• Kim Jung Hyun singing Like the First Snow
• CUNY-TV on YouTube; look for the Asian-American Life Playlist
• October 2023 episode of Asian American Life: Asian Americans Lifting NY