Kdrama 2018
Queen Of Mystery Season 2 (Kdrama Review & Summary)
- Genre: Action, Mystery, Romance, Policing, Forensic, School
- Release Date: 2018
- Origin: South Korea
- Kdrama: 16 Episodes
Cast:
- Choi Gang-Hee as Yoo Seol-ok (Mystery Queen)
- Kwon Sang-Woo as Detective Ha Wan-Seung
- Park Byung-eun as Woo Sung-ha (Profiler)
- Kang Hyun-sook as Kim Kyung-mi (forensic apprentice)
- Lee Da-hee as Jung Hee-yeon (Cake Lady/First Love of Det Ha)
- Oh Min-suk as Team Leader Gye
- Kim Tae-woo as Ha Ji-seung
- Kim Won-hae as Head of a Section Jo
- Min Sung-uk as Corporal Gong
- Kim Min-sang as Team Leader Hwang
- Kim Jong-soo as Chief Shin
- Hong Ki-joon as Sergeant Yook
- Kwon Mina as police officer Shin Nara
Episode 1
Yehey, it is back. Season 2 is here. I hope it is as good and thrilling as Queen of Mystery 2017.
It was only right that it comes back because there was no closure as far as the sizzling chemistry between the leads during season 1 of 2017.
Now the first episode shows that Seol-ok is no longer a housewife. She divorced her cheating prosecutor husband but seemed to have kept her ex-mother-in-law.
She is now training to become a police officer with the help of her best friend, Kyung-mi.
This episode also deals with fraud crimes, where the handsome son of a fraudster would marry a rich unsuspecting woman, take her money and then kill her. And repeating this several times over.
Seol-ok helped the police by working as an undercover, pretending to be a naive but rich woman, who was prepared to marry the handsome son. She was actually very pretty in her wedding outfit.
Detective Ha arrived just in time during the ring ceremony. All hell broke loose, lots of fighting and kicking.
As always they got the baddies.
During this time Seol-ok and Detective Ha have started to cautiously date.
He bought her a ring but drunkenly gave it to another girl, thinking it was Seol-ok. As Seol-ok did not say anything about the ring, he thought that she was a bit of a con. 🙂
The episode ended with a mysterious woman, who was supposed to be Detective Ha’s first love, walking away from the police station after leaving her business card.
Episode 2
Seol-ok is so good with forensic work but for some reason she can’t pass the police exam.
However due to a television coverage of the marriage fraud investigation, which Detective Ha let it be known was a case solved almost entirely by the civilian Seol-ok, the police had to make Seol Ok an honorary policewoman, a civilian /auxiliary policewoman same as UK’s PCSO (Police Community Support Officer), who is not fully warranted!
Anyway, this episode is about serial arsonists. The arsonist is some sort of vigilante against misbehaviour of neighbours and the community.
But there was a bigger menace, who has not been caught yet. An arsonist who wears a mask and seemed to target a bakery and its franchise, which sell expensive top of the range of cakes.
The episode ended with Detective Ha being woken by smoke. His new apartment has been set on fire by the vengeful man behind the mask.
Can’t wait for next week.
Episodes 3-4
These episodes are about a child, who turned pyromaniac, due to parental neglect and lack of discipline. It also makes one think what sort of sites children visit online that might influence them badly.
Episode 5-6
I have to say these two episodes are more real to my taste. The first four episodes are more on saying goodbye to some of the much loved original casts and introducing the new ones.
I have to admit I do miss Lee Won-Geun who played that really sweet adorable young cop during the first series. I think this drama could have done with him around.
Anyway, five and six are more true to the first season, where Seol Ok was busy investigating on her own terms.
There are also more sweet moments between her and Detective Ha. It was hilarious when she made him a meal of vegetables. Serving him a whole head of broccoli was so funny. She has always been the worst cook! 🙂
Anyway, it is usually a different case for every two episodes but not this time.
They are still looking for the killer of a shop/building owner near a university, where Seol Ok is doing her cramming to pass her police exam, which she has repeatedly failed.
Episode 7-8
I have to admit that the first few episodes were rather banal compared to the first season of this excellent drama.
But from episodes 5 to this current 7-8, there is a great improvement that captures the charm and eccentricity of the original drama.
I am loving these latest episodes because Kyung-mi is featured more. I love her laughing scenes with her professor. She is just so charming.
I also love that there is more subtle romantic interaction between Seol Ok and Detective Ha. I do love cute flirting. I love Seol Ok because her character is not defined by Detective Ha. Though they are in a subtle relationship, she still does what she wants without asking for his permission or approval first.
But most important of all, Seol Ok is back being a Miss Marple or Jessica Fletcher investigating murder and mayhem which seems to happen everywhere and anywhere she goes. She attracts death just like Miss Marple and Jessica Fletcher do.
Anyway, Seol Ok is now really getting desperate to pass the police exam and she heard that a rather remote boarding school, high up in the mountains, with a high rate of the pass, is just starting a new semester. She packed her bag and went without Detective Ha knowing.
What do you know? Before she can start opening a book at the boarding school, the students were dropping like flies.
Fortunately, Detective Ha was able to get into the school after it was cut off from the outside world due to an earthquake.
Episodes 9-10
Detective Ha and Seol Ok finally talked about the ring and they are now investigating its whereabouts. They tried to trace their footsteps during that drunken night of the ring. 🙂
They eventually ended up in the posh cake shop Genoise, owned by the cake lady.
Detective Ha began to remember that he gave the ring to the waitress to hide it as a surprise within the slice of cake to be given to Seol Ok.
In the background, the cake lady is shown to have kept the ring.
Is Secretary Kim, Jung Hee-Yeon?
Seol Ok has given up for now becoming a policewoman as she has been convinced by Detective Ha that being Admin Assistant is way better. 🙂 She gets to see the crime reports first. He just wanted her where he can see her all the time.
Loving it, can’t wait for new week’s instalments.
Episodes 13 & 14
There is plenty of revelations in these two episodes. We now know who Secretary Kim is. He was the retired policeman who had been helping Detective Ha to locate Secretary Kim. Very cunning.
Poor Ming Joo, the student revising for her police exam; her body had been found. She was a victim of the pervert who has graduated to abduction and murder.
Jung Hee-Yeon, the cake lady, is Detective Ha’s first love in a different face and guise after a series of plastic surgery.
No wonder she was very attracted to the Detective Ha and took it upon herself to take the ring meant for Seol Ok from Detective Ha during a drunken proposal to Seol Ok. 🙂
Can’t wait for the final episodes next week.
The drama has a lot more mileage. It has a lot of charming and not so charming characters, who are equally watchable. I would like to know how the romance book being written by the office manager pans out.
Episodes 15 & 16
Talking about mileage, there are lots and lots of it still. This riveting crime drama ended up in so many unanswered questions that surely a season three is planned by this drama’s creator.
In Mystery Queen 1, it was really about the growing attraction between a married woman and a rather frisky detective.
I am sure most of the fans of this drama had looked forward to the culmination of this line of the story. Will they – won’t they kinda thing. 🙂
Sadly in Mystery Queen 2, the latter episodes barely touched on this.
But there was a hint that the romance was more of a friendship rather than passionate love was when Jung Hee-Yeon (the cake lady) quizzed Seol Ok about her relationship with Detective Ha. Suddenly you think, yeah cake lady was right. There was really no frisson between Seol ok and Detective Ha in later episodes.
It turned out that Detective Ha was really more in love with the cake lady rather than Seol Ok.
Seol Ok is his muse. She inspires him to do his investigations because she is so good at it.
Too many questions still to be answered:
- Who is Secretary Kim, what is his character motivation? What led him to be so monstrous after being an exemplary policeman?
- Why was the girl, Seo Hyun-Soo (aka as Jung Hee yeon) got kidnapped by Secretary Kim?
- Why did Professor Ha become a bitch of Secretary Kim? What would happen to this brother of Detective Ha?
- Who was the masked arsonist in the first few episodes?
- What would happen to Seol ok fan club now that there is only one member?
- Would Seol Ok ever going to become a policewoman?
The ending is very rushed. Nice camaraderie between the team. It was lovely to see in the end as if promising another series to come.
FINGERS’ CROSSED!