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Queenmaker

 Queenmaker
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TVTItem
 Queenmaker
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Queenmaker
 Queenmaker
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Queenmaker
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Queenmaker is a 2023 South Korean television series, produced by Netflix. It was released in April 2023, and ran for 11 episodes.Hwang Do-hee is a publicist for Eunsung Group, an enormously powerful chaebol conglomerate. Do-hee has spent a couple of decades managing publicity for the Eun family, managing their scandals, protecting the family's reputation. As the story opens, Oh Kyung-sook, a human rights lawyer, is staging a protest on the roof of the Eunsung building, demanding that the company re-hire some 500 female workers that they just laid off. Do-hee tries to get Kyung-sook to end her protest, offering all sorts of carrots (a future political career) and sticks (lawsuits), but Kyung-sook refuses. She calls Do-hee a "toilet" who just flushes all of Eunsung's waste away.Meanwhile, Eunsung matriarch Son Young-sim, who hired Do-hee many years ago, is not content with the anti-Eunsung publicity in South Korea. She hits upon the idea of running Baek Jae-min, her son-in-law and husband of Eunsung heir Eun Chae-ryeong, for mayor of Seoul. A terrible tragedy causes Do-hee to reassess her life. She winds up defecting from Eunsung Group and supporting Kyung-sook against Jae-min for mayor of Seoul.
 Queenmaker
fetched
2023-10-02T20:45:13Z
 Queenmaker
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2023-10-02T20:45:13Z
 Queenmaker
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Dropped link to CallBack: Not a Feature - ITEM
 Queenmaker
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DBTropes
 Queenmaker / int_16bbbd7c
type
This Is What the Building Will Look Like
 Queenmaker / int_16bbbd7c
comment
This Is What the Building Will Look Like: Much of the plot revolves around Eunsung Group wanting to buy the land where the Sangah open-air market is, so they can build an enormous skyscraper. Chairwoman Son has a model of what the "Heaven of Asia" duty-free shop will look like in her office, and is often looking at it while she's concocting evil schemes.
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False Flag Operation
 Queenmaker / int_2dddd99d
comment
False Flag Operation: Episode 7 ends with a lunatic attacking Jae-min at a speech, slicing his head with a box cutter. Episode 8 reveals that the whole thing was arranged by Carl Yoon, who not only got sympathy for his candidate but made Kyung-sook look bad by pretending that the guy with the box cutter is a Kyung-sook supporter.
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Traumatic Haircut
 Queenmaker / int_36ae9f5d
comment
Traumatic Haircut: Seo hacks off a hunk of her own daughter's hair with scissors in episode 6, because she wants the girl looking as sweet and innocent as possible to defend her mother against corruption charges.
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Queenmaker / int_36ae9f5d
 Queenmaker / int_3c88d6c2
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Flat "What"
 Queenmaker / int_3c88d6c2
comment
Flat "What": Eun Seo-jin's response to Jae-min's surprising proposal in episode 2—give the protesters what they want, re-hire the part-time workers they fired—is made even better by her using the English word "What."
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 Queenmaker / int_3f267047
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Voiceover Letter
 Queenmaker / int_3f267047
comment
Voiceover Letter: In episode 2, Do-hee reads the Dead Man Writing email that Yi-seul left just before she jumped, saying that while she did work as a bar hostess for a while Do-hee was wrong about her, she never prostituted herself, and that she only did it to pay off her tuition.
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I Was Young and Needed the Money
 Queenmaker / int_4873cba8
comment
I Was Young and Needed the Money: When Han Yi-seul threatens to go public with how Baek Jae-min harassed her, Do-hee responds by showing how she's found out that Yi-seul worked as a bar hostess. This is a quasi-prostitute situation, but Yi-seul pleads that she was only doing it to pay off her college tuition and anyway, she only smiled at the men in the bar. Do-hee does not care.
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Flashback
 Queenmaker / int_53c9fc92
comment
Flashback: An episode 1 flashback shows how Do-hee got her break with Eunsung Group. She was one of a whole crowd of recruits greeting Chairwoman Son, when a gust of wind caught Son's scarf and flung it into a river. Do-hee waded into the river, retrieved the scarf, and gave it back to Son. An episode 8 flashback reveals that Carl Yoon, who was once an advisor to Baek Jae-min's father, was somehow responsible for the disaster that ruined Mr. Baek and drove him to suicide. Jae-min is out for revenge.
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Reassigned to Antarctica
 Queenmaker / int_5798bfbf
comment
Reassigned to Antarctica: Do-hee meets with one of her old loyalists at Eunsung Group; he has been sent off by Ji-yeon to some remote factory. He reports that Ji-yeon wiped all the CCTV footage but suggests that Do-hee check the security footage of neighboring buildings.
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Dark Mistress
 Queenmaker / int_5d245a4b
comment
Dark Mistress: Ji-yeon, initially Do-hee's assistant who eventually takes her job because she doesn't have a drop of conscience. She also becomes Jae-min's mistress and partner in evil. In episode 7 she finds out she's pregnant.
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Heroic Sacrifice
 Queenmaker / int_6439de78
comment
Heroic Sacrifice: Do-hee confesses to receiving illegal campaign donations from Eunsung Group, and goes to prison, to make sure that the investigation will take down Eunsung Group too.
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Queenmaker / int_6439de78
 Queenmaker / int_669c4caa
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Produce Pelting
 Queenmaker / int_669c4caa
comment
Produce Pelting: In episode 5 Kyung-sook goes to the Sangah open-air market and tries to explain to them that Eunsung and Baek Jae-min are lying to them, that Jae-min's promises of redevelopment are just going to wind up with the merchants kicked out. They don't believe her, and they pelt her with the produce they have in their stands.
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 Queenmaker / int_67101c52
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Rooftop Confrontation
 Queenmaker / int_67101c52
comment
Rooftop Confrontation: In episode 1, because Kyung-sook is staging a protest on the roof of the Eunsung building. Do-hee goes to the roof and tries to bribe/bully Kyung-sook down, only for Kyung-sook to blow her off, calling her Eunsung Group's "toilet" for processing their waste. Flashbacks reveal that Yi-seul's fatal fall off the Eunsung building in episode 1 only came after an angry confrontation between her and Jae-min on the roof. The last flashback confirms that she didn't jump, but in fact was thrown off the roof by Jae-min.
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Queenmaker / int_67101c52
 Queenmaker / int_67d90683
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Fictional Political Party
 Queenmaker / int_67d90683
comment
Fictional Political Party: The political parties mentioned on the show aren't real. Kyung-sook is running for the Seoul mayoralty as a candidate of the Reform Party. Baek Jae-min is the candidate of the Korean Republican Party which seems to be the conservative faction. Carl Yoon bribes the candidate of the Christian party, People's Hope, to throw his support to Jae-min.
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Queenmaker / int_67d90683
 Queenmaker / int_6a1a1f8a
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Glasses Pull
 Queenmaker / int_6a1a1f8a
comment
Glasses Pull: Assemblywoman Seo, another candidate for the mayoralty, does this in episode 5 when she is confronted during a live TV debate by her young ex-boyfriend. It's a trick pulled by Do-hee.
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And the Adventure Continues
 Queenmaker / int_716c0b1b
comment
And the Adventure Continues: Do-hee accepts going to prison herself, for accepting illegal campaign donations, as the price of taking down Chairwoman Son. She is still in jail when she's visited by an ambitious politician who says he wants her help with a campaign, and on that the series ends.
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Queenmaker / int_716c0b1b
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Smart People Play Chess
 Queenmaker / int_7bd44eb9
comment
Smart People Play Chess: Carl Yoon, campaign manager for Baek Jae-min, is shown working problems on a chess board in episode 6 while his grand scheme plays out—fabricate an embezzlement scandal to smear Kyung-sook, and kidnap Do-hee's father to stop Do-hee from responding.
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Queenmaker / int_7bd44eb9
 Queenmaker / int_81ae2774
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Evil Matriarch
 Queenmaker / int_81ae2774
comment
Evil Matriarch: Chairwoman Son, head of the Eun family and boss of Eunsung Group, a ruthless corporate shark who will let nothing stop her in her pursuit of money and power.
 Queenmaker / int_81ae2774
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Queenmaker / int_81ae2774
 Queenmaker / int_87bb6874
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Villain with Good Publicity
 Queenmaker / int_87bb6874
comment
Villain with Good Publicity: While the Eun sisters wear their sociopathy on their sleeves, and their mother Chairwoman Son is an ice-cold corporate shark, Baek Jae-min poses as a man with a social conscience, helping orphans and the environment. He gets Eunsung Group to re-hire the 500 laid-off workers, further cementing his reputation as a do-gooder. Yet he is actually an evil sociopath himself, who raped Yi-seul and isn't the tiniest bit troubled about her suicide. He also campaigns for women with the promise that women will be "happy and respected", while he's actually a rapist with a string of mistresses.
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Surprise Car Crash
 Queenmaker / int_8b5df221
comment
Surprise Car Crash: In episode 6 Carl Yoon kidnaps Do-hee's dementia-addled father from the hospital, and dumps him by the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. The idea is that Do-hee will be panicked into searching for her missing dad and thus won't be available to respond when Yoon springs his big dirty trick, the fake embezzlement scandal meant to ruin Kyung-sook. Cut to a scene where Do-hee's father is sort of aimlessly shuffling down the road. Then a big truck comes speeding into the picture frame from stage left, hitting the old man. He dies in the hospital.
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Queenmaker / int_8b5df221
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Age Cut
 Queenmaker / int_953a8ee8
comment
Age Cut: A brief flashback in episode 6 shows Chairwoman Son and her two daughters in a hearse, tears rolling down little Chae-ryeong's face as they head to her father's funeral. Cut to a shot of adult Chae-ryeong in the present day, looking melancholy as she rides in a limo with her husband.
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Egging
 Queenmaker / int_9c0f67e2
comment
Egging: In episode 1 Chae-ryeong is pelted by eggs as she attempts to enter the Eunsung Group building. It turns out that this was orchestrated by Do-hee, who paid the egg-throwers, to build sympathy for Chae-ryeong.
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Stealing from the Till
 Queenmaker / int_9e622f84
comment
Stealing from the Till: It turns out that one of Kyung-sook's underlings in the political action group for the laid-off workers was skimming off the charitable donations that were supposed to go to the out-of-work women. Assemblywoman Son finds out about this and blackmails the underling into blaming Kyung-sook and claiming that she handed over all the cash to Kyung-sook.
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 Queenmaker / int_a122bf2f
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Blind Seer
 Queenmaker / int_a122bf2f
comment
Blind Seer: In episode 8 Chairwoman Son brings in a blind mystic to a meeting with some business executives. When the blind man says he sees "the mother of a king", implying that Jae-min will eventually become president, Son bursts into derisive laughter.
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 Queenmaker / int_a46eb25d
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Election Day Episode
 Queenmaker / int_a46eb25d
comment
Election Day Episode: The last episode seems Kyung-sook win a landslide victory after the recording of Jae-min murdering Yi-seul is leaked.
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Karma Houdini
 Queenmaker / int_a70223
comment
Karma Houdini: Carl Yoon, the evil campaign manager who was responsible for the death of Do-hee's father and tried to murder Ji-hyeon, faces no consequences.
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Of Corset Hurts
 Queenmaker / int_be795a6c
comment
Of Corset Hurts: Kyung-sook complains mightily of the corset that Do-hee makes her wear for a televised debate in episode 5, saying that she can't breathe. This soon becomes a whole thing when Kyung-sook dramatically whips the corset off live on the air.
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Queenmaker / int_be795a6c
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We Can Rule Together
 Queenmaker / int_c420a553
comment
We Can Rule Together: Jae-min makes an offer to Do-hee in the last episode, suggesting that if she'll switch teams and help make him mayor, he'll make it worth her while. She laughs in his face.
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Power Hair
 Queenmaker / int_ca803242
comment
Power Hair: Chairwoman Son has the short, upswept, carefully sprayed hair befitting an Evil Matriarch and chairwoman of Evil, Inc..
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PowerWalk
 Queenmaker / int_ca870429
comment
Power Walk: Do-hee and Kyung-sook do a slow-motion power walk out of Jae-min's event, after Kyung-sook has announced, right in front of both Jae-min and all the reporters, that she is going to run against him for mayor.
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Cigarette of Anxiety
 Queenmaker / int_e3847ee8
comment
Cigarette of Anxiety: In episode 7, at the low point when it appears that Kyung-sook's mayoral campaign will be destroyed by the embezzlement accusations, Do-hee comes into campaign HQ to find Kyung-sook sucking on a cigarette. Kyung-sook ruefully says that she used to smoke "like a chimney" and she "went through hell" to quit. Then she takes another drag on the cigarette.
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 Queenmaker / int_e70127
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The Mole
 Queenmaker / int_e70127
comment
The Mole: Episode 8 reveals that Carl Yoon has a mole inside the Oh campaign. Seon-young is spying for him, and in return he's promised her a plum job with Eunsung after the election.
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 Queenmaker / int_e73f6217
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Feet-First Introduction
 Queenmaker / int_e73f6217
comment
Feet-First Introduction: The first shot of the series is Do-hee's high heels clacking along the floors of Eunsung Group, as she is rushing to manage Chae-ryeong's latest ugly publicity blunder.
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Crusading Lawyer
 Queenmaker / int_e9505dd1
comment
Crusading Lawyer: Oh Kyung-sook, a labor and human rights lawyer who is leading a protest against Eunsung Group. When Do-hee confronts her, Kyung-sook says that Do-hee is just a stooge. Do-hee eventually switches her allegiance to Kyung-sook.
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Parking Garage
 Queenmaker / int_ebee7b3a
comment
Parking Garage: Ji-yeon is just trying to get to her car in episode 10, but she's swarmed by a horde of reporters in the parking garage, and attacked by a crazed Jae-min supporter, before Jae-min's security team can whisk her away. (Do-hee has leaked the story of Jae-min's pregnancy.)
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Match Cut
 Queenmaker / int_ed503b22
comment
Match Cut: In episode 3, Do-hee, in a church, is swearing vengeance on the Eun family. She walks out and the camera focuses on a stained-glass-window picture of an angel. Cut to Jae-min, in the same pose, on a podium as he's announcing his run for mayor of Seoul.
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Car Cushion
 Queenmaker / int_fb933192
comment
Car Cushion: The first episode ends with Yi-seul, the young woman that Do-hee just bullied and forced into resigning, leaping from an upper floor and landing on the car that Do-hee was about to get into. This is Do-hee's moment of truth.
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Queenmaker

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Queenmaker
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Dark Mistress / int_592427c1
 Queenmaker
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Egging / int_592427c1
 Queenmaker
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Fictional Political Party / int_592427c1
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Job Title / int_592427c1