Ko Hyun-jung is stepping beyond her tightly guarded house arrest once more in SBS’s crime thriller "Queen Mantis," turning up the dread all over again.
The Friday-Saturday drama centers on Jung Yi-shin (Ko Hyun-jung), a ruthless serial killer mother nicknamed “the Mantis,” who enters an uneasy alliance with her detective son, Cha Su-yeol (Jang Dong-yoon), a man who has spent his life hating her. The series has been drawing raves for Ko’s radical transformation and commanding, against-type performance.
Inside the story, Yi-shin remains an enigma―whether she’s truly helping her son or merely using him is anyone’s guess. One of her rare moments of visible turmoil came when fellow criminal Seo Gu-wan (Lee Tae-gu) uttered the names of Su-yeol and his wife, Lee Jeong-yeon (Kim Bo-ra). After Yi-shin first slipped out―armed with a lethal toxin she’d harvested―Seo Gu-wan died in a mysterious hit-and-run.
On Sept. 25, the production unveiled a still from Episode 7 showing Yi-shin leaving the residence again, sending viewers’ nerves into overdrive.
In the image, Yi-shin strides past Kim Woo-tae (Gil Eun-sung), the security chief who monitors her every move, heading out through the garden. She then turns back as if to say something to him―her gaze icy, his expression suddenly shaken. What did she whisper as she crossed the threshold?
Another cut shows Detective Choi Jung-ho (Cho Seong-ha) watching her departure with a cool, penetrating stare, suggesting he may be the one accompanying her. With a “Mantis” copycat now coming into focus, the questions mount: Why is Yi-shin being allowed to leave without Kim’s intervention, and where are she and Choi headed?
“In Episode 7, airing tomorrow (the 26th), Yi-shin steps outside the residence,” the producers tease. “It’s a perilous but inevitable choice―one that could cost her life. Even so, she remains unnervingly calm and chilling. Ko Hyun-jung’s towering expressiveness and commanding screen presence will be on full display.”
The last time she escaped, someone ended up dead. Now she’s stepping out again―and the unease is palpable. Episode 7 of "Queen Mantis" airs Friday, Sept. 26 at 9:50 p.m. KST on SBS.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Sun-ae)