Queen of Mystery 2 is the sequel to the last year’s Queen of Mystery, a K-drama spin on the
Sherlock Holmes-Dr. John Watson formula, where in this case, “Sherlock” is Seol-ok,
an ajumma who loves solving
mysteries, and “Watson” is Wan-seung, a rugged police detective. This follow-up series, with 16 fresh
episodes, picks up some time after the previous series. Seol-ok is now divorced, and is aspiring of
getting into the police academy. Meanwhile,
she still helps Wan-seung, who has transferred to a different station, in his cases.
I didn’t like this series as much
as the first one. First of all, there is
a new supporting cast. I really prefer
the old supporting characters, and it’s as if the chemistry that the main
characters built with them is wasted. A
couple of the original supporting characters show up in the first episode, but
they aren’t in the rest of the series. Among
them, only two – Kyung-mi and Inspector Woo – remain regulars in this
series. Seol-ok and Wan-seung eventually
develop adequately likable dynamics with their new supporting cast over time, but
I definitely cared more for the first series’ supporting cast. Moreover, the absence of a couple of them
doesn’t really make sense. It’s like
they just suddenly evaporated from Seol-ok and Wan-seung’s lives.
Second, the writing isn’t as
strong and smart. Their
cases aren’t as interesting, and characters aren’t as effectively fleshed out. The tedious pacing is also more of a
bother. The bantering between Seol-ok
and Wan-seung remains a lot of fun, but the quality of their mystery-solving-duo
synergy isn’t as compelling.
Overall, Queen of Mystery 2 does not yield the same rewards as its
predecessor. However, there are still
some thrills to be had. Most notably, its
overarching storyline – which follows up on the cliff-hanger of the previous
series – stimulates a potent sense of intrigue, building up to the delivery of some nice, surprising
twists.
But the thing that surprised me
the most is probably its audacity to end with another setup for a third series. Though it ties up the loose threads of the
previous series, (SPOILER) including the revelation of the identity of the big
bad, it concludes with him escaping to scheme for another day.
In the end, despite this series
disappointing for not living up to the original, I guess I’m still up for Queen of Mystery 3. But I very much prefer to have a Signal 2 instead.
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