{"id":40995,"date":"2025-09-27T12:22:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-27T12:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/40995\/"},"modified":"2025-09-27T12:22:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T12:22:13","slug":"k-drama-queen-mantis-asks-can-a-serial-killer-mother-still-love-her-child","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/40995\/","title":{"rendered":"K-drama \u2018Queen Mantis\u2019 asks: Can a serial killer mother still love her child?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Go Hyun-jung\u2019s chilling transformation into a serial killer mother has seized viewers\u2019 attention. The SBS drama “Queen Mantis” follows Jung I-shin, a notorious murderer who brutally killed men who targeted women and children. After 23 years behind bars, she is released to help investigate a copycat case \u2014 and to reunite with her estranged son, detective Cha Su-yeol (Jang Dong-yoon).<\/p>\n

Despite the polarizing nature of the crime thriller genre, the response has exceeded expectations. The series reached a nationwide rating of 7.5 percent with its fourth episode, becoming the top Friday-Saturday drama, and climbed to No. 1 on Netflix Korea. I-shin\u2019s contradictory nature \u2014 seemingly loving and longing for her son while also tormenting and using him \u2014 is portrayed with powerful charisma, fueling the show\u2019s intense tension.<\/p>\n

With just two episodes left before the finale, Hankook Ilbo\u2019s culture desk reporters take a closer look at the disturbing and complex relationship between mother and son.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A scene from “Queen Mantis” \/ Courtesy of SBS<\/p>\n

Kwon Young-eun: Why did Jung I-shin volunteer to cooperate with the investigation? Even as a psychopathic killer, I think she was driven by a strong desire to see her son again after so many years.<\/p>\n

Kang Yu-bin: She is far from ordinary, but she is not completely devoid of maternal love. She shows no guilt over her murders, but I believe she feels regret for not being there for her young son and for turning him into the \u201cson of a murderer.\u201d The first condition she set when confessing was to protect her son. In the scene where she first meets Su-yeol and calls him by his birth name, \u201cJung-ho,\u201d her hands tremble and her eyes waver.<\/p>\n

Song Ok-jin: On the other hand, didn\u2019t the son also feel curious about his mother? After hearing that I-shin once changed their identities to protect him, Su-yeol visits her with her favorite Yirgacheffe coffee. He becomes furious and disappointed when he hears of her escape. Deep down, he holds onto hopes like \u201cMaybe my mother isn\u2019t entirely evil\u201d or \u201cShe does love me.\u201d Parent-child relationships are often built on both love and hate. This drama amplifies that dynamic by portraying them as a detective and a ruthless criminal.<\/p>\n

Kwon: Su-yeol seems anxious that he might become like the mother he\u2019s hated all his life. That fear is also why he refuses to have a child. Jang Dong-yoon\u2019s portrayal of Su-yeol \u2014 someone so obsessed with \u201cliving righteously\u201d that he probably never littered \u2014 contrasts sharply with scenes of emotional turmoil, where his acting feels slightly stiff. The scene where he confesses to his wife, \u201cI\u2019m scared of myself. Do I like the smell of blood? Do I want to shoot people legally?\u201d is especially disappointing.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A scene from “Queen Mantis” \/ Courtesy of SBS<\/p>\n

Kang: Go Hyun-jung\u2019s performance, however, is unmatched. \u201cWhen a saw cuts through the neck bones from side to side, the torso vibrates. Drrrr, drrrr.\u201d The way she describes her brutal killing method so casually, closing her eyes and feeling pleasure, is pure psychopathic. It instantly freezes the atmosphere, reminding viewers of the show\u2019s thriller nature. The tension is vastly different in scenes with and without her.<\/p>\n

Song: A female psychopathic serial killer is something we have rarely seen before, which feels refreshing. At the same time, the fact that she kills as a form of resistance against male violence feels like a repetition of familiar tropes. Before her first murder, I-shin is portrayed as a warm mother who even cares for a neglected neighbor\u2019s child, but she suddenly turns into someone who enjoys killing \u2014 a transformation that lacks convincing motivation. Perhaps the remaining episodes will reveal more of her backstory.<\/p>\n

Kang: Su-yeol believes that I-shin kills simply because she enjoys it. \u201cShe chooses people who have done something wrong, just to justify killing them,\u201d he says. Up to episode six, the show seems to deliberately blur the line between I-shin\u2019s true self and the real reason for her release.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A scene from “Queen Mantis” \/ Courtesy of SBS<\/p>\n

Kwon: I-shin\u2019s presence is so strong that it overshadows other major characters. The rest of the cast feels dull and frustrating by comparison. The subplot about ace investigator Kim Na-hee\u2019s divorce, for example, feels unnecessary. Her impulsive reaction \u2014 grabbing a key suspect by the collar and inadvertently helping his escape \u2014 seems unrealistic for a seasoned detective.<\/p>\n

Song: The investigation itself has many flaws. The police\u2019s lack of skill is so obvious that it becomes distracting. Why did it take them so long to find a victim trapped inside a hospital laundry machine? With so many security cameras between the abduction site and the hospital, how could they fail to track the route? Most importantly, the show\u2019s main premise is that I-shin is helping the investigation \u2014 but we still don\u2019t know what she\u2019s actually done to help.<\/p>\n

\"Director<\/p>\n

Director Byun Young-joo, actors Jang Dong-yoon, Lee El, and Jo Sung-ha greet the audience during an outdoor stage greeting for “Queen Mantis” at the 30th Busan International Film Festival in Haeundae District, Sept. 21. Yonhap<\/p>\n

Kwon: Director Byun Young-joo is known for speaking out on human rights issues. In episode six, when transgender character Eddie explains gender-affirming surgery in detail, I was reminded, \u201cAh, this is a Byun Young-joo production.\u201d The series is unusually short for a terrestrial TV miniseries, with only eight episodes, but the pacing still feels sluggish rather than tight and concise. Shorter, seasonal dramas are a smart strategy for today\u2019s audiences, but \u201cQueen Mantis\u201d doesn\u2019t quite make it work.<\/p>\n

Kang: With fewer viewers watching live broadcasts and rising production costs, TV dramas are increasingly adopting OTT-style formats to fit platforms like Netflix.<\/p>\n

Song: The trend toward shorter, more provocative dramas is inevitable. To capture viewers in the short-form era, stories need to be more intense and fast-paced. It\u2019s unfortunate that slower, subtler dramas \u2014 like a bowl of plain Pyongyang cold noodles \u2014 are losing their place.<\/p>\n

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Go Hyun-jung\u2019s chilling transformation into a serial killer mother has seized viewers\u2019 attention. The SBS drama “Queen Mantis”…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40996,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[146,85,46,411],"class_list":["post-40995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40995"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40995\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}