K-Drama Review: Under the Queen's Umbrella (2022)

Under the Queen's Umbrella is a Korean historical period drama series, released in 2022, that is currently streaming on Netflix. 

16 intense episodes. Viewers gave this series 4.9 out of 5 stars. I totally agree.  Kim Hye-Soo's performance as Queen Im Hwa-Ryeong is award-worthy. But giving credit where credit is due, quite frankly, all of the actors and actresses in this series gave exemplary performances. They played their roles as if they were real historical figures in the Joseon Era.

The worth of the flowers in the palace, i.e. the king's women, is judged by how many sons they bare the king. Queen Im Hwa-Ryeong (played by Kim Hye-Soo) has been very fortunate. She bore five (5) sons for the king. Her oldest son is the crown prince, but he is suffering from a life-threatening illness. He could die any day! If he were to die, who would take his place? The crown prince already has a son of his own, so according to the line of succession, his son, her grandson, should be heir to the throne. Then as alternatives, one of his brothers, her four other sons who are grand princes, could be chosen. But her sons are perfectly content to never be king. She would have been content to allow them not to pursue the throne EXCEPT … the deposed queen (i.e. the queen before her) also had many sons.  When she realized the lives of her sons were in jeopardy, she immediately made up her mind that her sons would not suffer the same fate as Queen Yoon and her sons.

Queen Im Hwa-Ryeong now understands that THIS IS WAR!

Read full review at My Sageuk Addiction on Medium.com.

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K-Drama: Boys Over Flowers (2009 Korean TV series) Gets My Five Stars

K-drama television series are addictive. Why? Because of their special ingredient called “adorable cuteness”.

Example and Recommendation:

Boys Over Flowers (2009 Korean TV series)

Image credit: viki.com

It’s official! My kids have decided that their mother has lost all the marbles in her head. Why? K-drama television series. Very pleased with the business decision by Netflix to add such programs into their database. Even more pleased that many of the programs are available for viewing online free at various websites.


Can’t explain my reactions. Grew up on American television. My husband got me started watching foreign films. Once my kids began subscribing to Netflix and other similar video streaming services noticed that some of them were into binge-watching. One particularly boring day at home decided to binge-watch a BBC mystery because BBC television mysteries are my favorite. From that point, binge-watching became my way of treating myself to a healthy dose of doing … The Nothing! You know. Those days when you just decide you have earned your “Goof Off All Day” reward and no serious work will be done on that day!



However, even when indulging myself in binge-watching, never lost sleep over a TV show; and certainly never really thought any series was worth watching more than once. Might watch a few particular episodes a few times more. But never the whole series!

Did I say BBC mysteries “are” my favorite? Sorry. Meant to say “were”.

• Netflix Junkie (Especially BBC Mystery)

Huh?? Duh??!!
That was how my children reacted.
– (???) What could possibly make mom choose an alternative for the BBC?

Answer. Those silly cute adorable Korean drama television series that have incredibly simple yet intricate, seemingly never-ending storylines with each episode, that leave with the thought”: ‘Gotta find out how this ends!!’

 My first taste of K-drama was a movie called “Commitment”. It was intense!!

Then my husband found a more light-hearted TV series called “Tamra the Island” It’s a romantic dramedy (drama and comedy blend) that was “Inspired by the real story of a Dutch explorer, a young Englishman discovers Kdrama in the 17th century Joseon Era”. (Quote source: dramafever)


One of the main characters was played by this tall handsome guy with the “skinny little body” whose name in the series was Park Gue, whose real name is Im Ju Hwan. I was impressed with him so search for more programs where he was playing a character.

This is where “Boys Over Flowers” comes in.

My research indicated that Hwan (Park Gue) had made an appearance in this show. Started watching the program only looking for him. Got stuck on it!! Got so stuck one night and didn’t go to sleep until about 4:30 in the morning!! Hwan did make an extremely brief appearance, after about 20 episodes. Talk about an Easter egg hunt! Anyway … glad someone realized this young man’s acting abilities and gave him the lead role in “Tamra the Island”.

Disappointed at only catching a tiny glimpse of Hwan in this TV show. However, my decision to view the entire series was filed under “Happy R&R Time Well Spent”.   Took me a few days to finish all the episodes. Will say no more because people hate spoilers. But if you like romantic dramedy, you’ll like “Boys Over Flowers”. Wonderful love story. It’s so cute!! 

Content previously published at BlogJob.com

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