In Episode 4, which aired Sept. 13, the screen icon slammed the pedal down as Jung Yi-shin, the infamous serial killer nicknamed “the Mantis” ― and mother to Cha Soo-yeol (Jang Dong-yoon).
Yi-shin and Soo-yeol restart their uneasy alliance to catch a copycat who knows about her first kill. Zeroing in on neighbors from the time she murdered her husband, Yi-shin rattles her son by bringing up his wife, asking if Lee Jung-yeon (Kim Bo-ra) is strong enough to stand by him once the truth comes out. She then ups the ante, vowing to personally take out Seo Gu-wan (Lee Tae-gu), who knows everything.
Words turn to action fast: Yi-shin overpowers a detective, forces him to ingest poison, and escapes. The mystery behind her odd behavior clicks into place when it’s revealed she’s been secretly keeping a toxic blister beetle. She heads straight to Soo-yeol’s home, and her chilling “Hi” to Jung-yeon sends shockwaves.
Meanwhile, Seo Gu-wan bolts from the hospital fearing Yi-shin will kill him, only to die in a hit-and-run while on the run. Detective Kim Na-hee (Lee El) suspects the crash wasn’t an accident at all, raising the question: Was it Yi-shin ― or the copycat’s trap?
As Yi-shin’s escape collides with her tense face-off with Jung-yeon, the series careens through jaw-dropping twists, anchored by Ko Hyun-jung’s commanding presence at the center of it all.
Off-screen, Ko is showing a softer side. On Sept. 8, her YouTube channel dropped a video where she hosted the “Queen Mantis” cast to toast the show’s success. Between laid-back rounds of the party game Mafia, she shared favorite flowers and lines of poetry, and surprised her co-stars with thoughtful, hand-picked gifts ― a sweet, almost schoolgirl charm that’s winning over viewers.
With Jang Dong-yoon’s copycat hunt ratcheting up the tension and Ko’s past-and-present arc deepening the dread, the series is hitting its stride at the midpoint. “Queen Mantis” airs Fridays and Saturdays at 9:50 p.m. KST on SBS.
[Photo: SBS Queen Mantis, YouTube “Ko Hyun-jung”]
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Sun-ae)