Early Access: Mr. Queen E1

E1. My main concern going into this one, is how k-humor often doesn't jive with me. Given this story's premise, Show going heavy on the humor is a given. The question was, would I find it funny?

So far, one episode in, I feel like this show could grow on me yet. I'm not rolling on the floor crying with laughter, but importantly, I'm not curling my toes in cringe, and I even found myself chuckling from time to time. That's not a bad start at all. Also, depending on how Show settles in the coming episodes, I feel like there's room for Show to grow on me.

As expected, Shin Hye Sun knocks it out of the park playing a modern man trapped in a Joseon lady's body. I have to admire the no-vanity, all-in way in which she throws herself into every scene, even when said scene includes awkward elements like her character bending over to gaze between her legs, looking for her missing male bits. Eep. Okay, I did cringe a little from the secondhand embarrassment, but happily, Show doesn't go too ham on it, and I find myself able to roll with Show's punches quite well.

Kim Jung Hyun is playing his king with an even sense of restraint that I rather enjoy, so far. It's a nuanced performance with subtle cues, and he does very well at giving us a sense that there's more to the king than meets the eye. Clearly, he's only playing dumb, and has more complicated thoughts that he's keeping close to his chest. I actually find this fake persona thing quite intriguing; perhaps more so than our queen's body swapping troubles.

I do enjoy the fact that Bae Jong Ok is playing our Grand Queen Dowager; she's got just the right kind of condescending, scheming, matriarchal energy, and I'm anticipating that she's going to be quite something to contend with.

Clearly, there is a lot scheming and politicking going on in our drama world, and Show's doing a decent job of clueing us in to the parties involved. I'm interested in seeing how our new queen is going to affect all of the political machinations, given how unpredictable she is to everyone else.

I'm not a huge Choi Jin Hyuk fan - I find his delivery a little stiff, in general - but he's perfectly serviceable in this because, 1, we don't see much of him except prior to the body swap, and 2, his voiceovers work nicely because his deep voice provides a fun contrast to Shin Hye Sun's ladylike visuals.

Not a bad first episode, overall. I'm curious to see where our story goes. I'm also curious to see how our queen will get out of consummating the marriage with her new king.