'Queen Mantis' Ko Hyun-jung Heads Straight for Her Daughter-in-Law Kim Bo-ra; Why?

Ko Hyun-jung’s character in SBS’s Friday?Saturday thriller “Queen Mantis” is headed for a tense face-off with Kim Bo-ra―and new stills capture the moment their worlds collide.

The series has viewers in a chokehold with twisty, out-of-left-field endings each week. Episode 4 closed with a jaw-dropper: the captured serial killer “Mantis,” Jung Yi-shin (Go Hyun-jung), escapes a secured care home and shows up at the front door of her daughter-in-law, Lee Jeong-yeon (Kim Bo-ra), sending the internet into a tailspin.

Since Jung Yi-shin’s arrest 23 years ago, her son Cha Su-yeol (Jang Dong-yoon) has rejected his bloodline. He scrubbed his past―especially anything tied to his mother―before marrying Lee Jeong-yeon. Lee had believed Jung was dead. Then Jung appeared alive―and under intense suspicion for killing Seo Gu-wan (Lee Tae-gu), the prime suspect in the “Mantis” copycat murders. Curiosity couldn’t be higher.

Ahead of Episode 5, dropping Sept. 19, the production unveiled images that pick up right after that shocking cliffhanger, with Jung Yi-shin and Lee Jeong-yeon finally alone, face to face.

In the photos, Jung is inside Cha Su-yeol and Lee Jeong-yeon’s home, seated on the sofa, staring back at Lee with an unsettling calm that ratchets up the dread. Lee looks wide-eyed and rattled by the intrusion. The timing is especially loaded―Lee had only recently begun to suspect Jung might still be alive.

All eyes are on Jung Yi-shin’s motive. She’s shown an unusual fixation on Lee Jeong-yeon in conversations with Su-yeol, even flying into a rage and grabbing Seo Gu-wan by the throat when he uttered Lee’s name. “It has to end now―she knows everything,” Jung warned Su-yeol then. So why risk a breakout to find Lee Jeong-yeon? And how will Lee respond to Jung’s sudden appearance?

“Their long-awaited conversation finally unfolds in Episode 5, revealing exactly why Jung Yi-shin sought out Lee Jeong-yeon,” the producers tease. “It’s a scene steeped in complicated emotion, and Ko Hyun-jung and Kim Bo-ra deliver meticulously layered, powerhouse performances. Even on set, the crew held their breath watching this face-off. Please look forward to the two actors’ remarkable focus and intensity.”

As the series rounds its midpoint, “Queen Mantis” promises bigger shocks and even fiercer acting fireworks. Episode 5 airs Friday, Sept. 19 at 9:50 p.m. KST. 

(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Sun-ae)