Queenmaker – K-drama Episode 8 Recap & Review

Family Secrets

Episode 8 of Queenmaker begins with Jae-min reeling after being attacked on the campaign trail. The attacker is tackled to the ground while Jae-min is taken to the nearby hospital for treatment. Ji-yeon is there before Chae-ryoung, and the latter does not take kindly to her husband being all chummy with his mistress.

As for the attacker, reporters storm his residence and find that he’s a Kyung-sook fanatic. He has her newspaper articles and all sorts of other incriminating pieces of evidence against her team, while Yoon works his magic and doctors pictures of Kyung-sook right next to this fanatic to hammer home the “truth”.

Jae-min is determined to smear Kyung-sook’s image and she needs to fight back before it’s too late. The reporters have already concocted a story that Kyung-sook was responsible for the attack, but she shows up to see Jae-min before anything else is decided.

Kyung-sook points out the timing of this attack is pretty convenient and insinuates that the whole thing was staged. Jae-min turns it around and likens himself to Jesus, claiming that this is a second coming for him and he’s a hero. Kyung-sook is incredulous, as the campaign looks set to kick off properly.

Do-hee shows up at the prison and finds Yoon waiting for her. Do-hee brings up her deceased father but he tells her that this could have been prevented had she just played ball. “Murder doesn’t exist in politics,” He says, going on to mention that he won’t have his ideals shaken. Do-hee is shocked and promises to kill him, as they part ways.

Outside, she runs into Kyung-sook and the pair discuss the evil men they’ve met. The pair have more than a few things in common and they decide that when this is all over, they can buy a drink for one another properly. For now though their attention turns to looking at their next move.

It’s immediately clear that Jae-min did all of this himself and decided that it would score him brownie points by pretending to be the victim. So Do-hee decides to play him at his own game and dive into his history, finding any woman that may speak up against him.

The team do their research and attempt to find someone that will talk about Jae-min’s womanizing. What they don’t know of course, is that Ji-yeon is pregnant and currently expecting a baby. She’s six weeks gone and it’s telling that she accompanies Jae-min on his various campaign trails because Chae-Ryoung sits on the sidelines with her child.

Meanwhile, Yoon and Jae-min’s campaign guys decide they need to form a coalition to make this all the more difficult for Hyung-sook and her team to overcome. Yoon knows his stuff and he immediately goes for Na Jin-guk, the charismatic, Patriots Hope Party leader, under the promise of helping out with his funding. This puts Jae-min firmly in the lead and seems an unstoppable force right now.

The opposition have so much money and influence that there’s no chance Do-hee will be able to compete. For now, it’s on to Kyung-sook’s evening appointment, where she meets with Chairperson Gwang-pil of Mosun Group, a long-term sponsor and supporter of their party. He’s promised financial and moral support.

Kyung-sook is not happy with the idea of taking money from a conglomerate and this stunt is something she’s not prepared to do… unless they do everything above board, with everything transparent and out in the open. Oh, and abiding by the Election rules too.

Kyung-sook is not happy with Do-hee’s suggestion of playing dirty, given she’s clearly desperate, but Kyung-sook sticks by her ideals and tells Do-hee to run these things by her first in the future.

Kyung-sook next visits her ex husband and encourages Joong-seok to be part of her campaign and work as the policymaker. She knows she can trust him. Less trustworthy however are Jae-min’s victims, who are all scared stiff and refuse to open up and reveal what happened to them.

There’s also the subject of the CCTV camera footage too, which was suspiciously erased from the rooftop. Do-hee learns this and decides not to press further and endanger people. However, she does get a tip-off that there’s footage on cameras out in the streets nearby that could tell them more. And it could also show Jae-min in uncompromising positions too.

While they cycle through CCTV footage, trying to find something to use, they do learn that all the material has been taken by Ji-yeon and she’s the one who raced through to collect up all of I-seul’s belongings. Do-hee confronts her but Ji-yeon’s arrogance almost sees Do-hee lose her temper but she keeps her composure and leaves. As she does, she notices the pregnancy kit.

Unfortunately, Yoon is clever and he has a spy on the inside, working within Kyung-sook’s campaign that feeds back exactly what they’re up to. Specifically, how the group are looking into Il-seul. Up on the rooftop, Kyung-sook speaks to Cha-sun and informs her about the pregnancy and what she’s found out.

This could completely blow up in both their faces so they need to make sure they protect Ji-yeon and make sure she doesn’t do anything rash. If Eunsung Group find about about the pregnancy (and we know Chae-ryoung has her suspicions) then it could be game over.

As for Yoon though, he keeps his attention squarely on Kyung-sook’s son. While they prepare to strike, Ji-yeon heads over to a storage locker and opens it up, revealing I-seul’s phone.

The Episode Review

With the campaign trail heating up, it’s all to play for and it’s anyone’s guess who will come out on top in this game of politics. Ji-yeon is playing a dangerous game and her pregnancy could well be the sticking point here that makes all the difference.

There’s a lot to like with this one though, especially now that the two sides have been clearly defined and everything is gearing up for a very dramatic conclusion to come. The final 3 episodes certainly promise more drama and this Ji-yeon situation can surely only end badly, right?