My Thoughts On Queen Mantis

Ko Hyun-Jung as Jeong I-Shin

My interest in Japanese media began when I discovered anime and manga in the late 90s; over the last years, my interest shifted from anime to Japanese movies and dramas. Honestly, it's mostly what I watch, and I reached a point where I've seen what is available on Netflix or Prime.

So it was time to explore something new, and as someone who loves the crime/thriller genre, what better drama to start with than Mouse on Prime. Let me just say that I usually figure out who the killer is halfway through the show, but I was mindblown.

It was so good, I went on to watch Flower of Evil on Netflix and finished Queen Mantis just a few days ago. The latter inspired me to write this post. So who's Queen Mantis and what's her story?

Queen Mantis: A Mother And Serial Killer

Jeong I-Shin, played by Ko Hyun-Jung, was an ordinary housewife and loving mother until she was arrested for killing five men. She went only after abusers and sex offenders, and earned the nickname Queen Mantis due to the brutality of her murders.

Two decades after her arrest, the police start dealing with a series of murders following Queen Mantis' modus operandi. The senior detective working on the cases understood that they were dealing with a copycat, as he happened to be the police officer who arrested Mantis.

The murders have already caught the media's attention, and the police want to arrest the copycat as soon as possible, so they turn to Jeong I-Shin for help. She agrees to help but will only work with her son, who is now a detective.

Queen Mantis is a remake of the 2017 French TV series La Mante. I don't keep up with French TV series that much since moving to England, so I haven't watched it yet.

When Women Kill After The School Run

There aren't many movies out there in which women are shown as a loving mother by day and a serial killer once the kids are tucked in; in fact, the only movie I've seen with a serial killer mum is Serial Mom. I watched it in the late 90s and was too young to think much of it.

A serial killer mum and her detective son is certainly not your everyday plot, and that's why Queen Mantis became THE drama to watch. I was curious about the dynamic between a killer mum and a son whose job is to save lives.

It's just a work of fiction, but I've always wondered how children or the families of serial killers cope with the fallout, and I didn't know what I was getting myself into, but halfway through the show, I cared more about Mantis than her son.

At first, Jeong I-Shin seemed like a cold woman whose only joy in life is murder, but she's a complex character, and some women can actually relate to her story.

Jang Dong-Yoon as Detective Cha Soo-Yeol

The Complexity And Relatability of Mantis

"Why did a mother become a serial killer? When she was out hunting men, did she ever think about how her son would feel and what would happen to him if she were caught?"

I couldn't help but ask myself these questions when I started watching the first episode. Since becoming a mum in my late 20s, my life hasn't felt like my own because my decisions might have an impact on my daughters' lives.

I guess that's what it means to be a mum, did mantis even care about her son being labelled a killer's child, was her desire to kill stronger than her love for him, and more importantly, why did she hunt only abusers and sex offenders?

Jeong I-Shin's murders were brutal, yet she earned the admiration of some people since she targeted only men who abused women and children. Some people say nothing justifies murder, but is there a good enough reason for a father to torture their own child?

Mantis was once an abused wife and watched her husband mistreat their son, and at an age when she was supposed to be innocent and play with dolls, she and her mother went through a horrible experience. They were let down and hurt by the only person who was supposed to love and protect them; it was the ultimate betrayal.

Her reason for killing abusers and sex offenders, whatever that may be, becomes "relatable" and "understandable" once you know her backstory, but that still doesn't mean she did the right thing.

Weak Plot And Unbearable Characters

Although I like the idea of a drama following the dynamic between a killer mum and her son, I think the plot was pretty weak and could've been deeper if Cha Su-Yeol wasn't so dismissive of his mum. It isn't easy to face the woman who left you alone when you needed her the most, but He didn't try to understand why she committed those murders.

The story was draggy and didn't seem to go anywhere in the first episodes. The team of detectives working on the case seemed more interested in digging dirt on the lead detective, who happens to be Mantis's son, than actually catching the killer.

They didn't get their priority straight and seemed more bent on Cha Soo-Yeol's downfall. The latter was also too emotional, and it's a shame because the character has so much potential. I figured out the killer's identity by episode 4, but Jeong I-Shin is such an interesting character that I watched it till the end.

Queen Mantis doesn't have the best plot, and most characters lack depth, but it's worth watching for killer mum. She still has so much to offer as a character, and fingers the show will be renewed for another season.