Under the Queen’s Umbrella (슈룹) is a historical Korean drama series directed by Kim Hyung-shik, and stars Kim Hye-soo as Queen Im Hwa-ryeong, Kim Hae-sook as Queen Dowager, and Choi Won-young as King Lee-ho. Others joining the show include Moon Sang-min as Grand Prince Seong-nam, Bae In-hyuk as Crown Prince, Yoo Seon-ho as Grand Prince Gye-seong, Kang Chan-hee as Prince Ui-seong alongside other cast members.
The series takes on tvN’s Saturday-Sunday 09.10 PM timeslot previously occupied by Little Women. Under the Queen’s Umbrella Episode 6 has a runtime of 68 minutes.
Netflix describes the series as:
A SPIRITED QUEEN TRIES TO REIN IN HER ROWDY SONS IN ORDER TO MAKE ONE OF THEM THE NEXT KING OF JOSEON, WHILE HER COMPETITORS VIE TO SNATCH THE THRONE.
-Under the Queen’s Umbrella Episode 6 Recap Contains Spoilers-
As the entire palace is in mourning for the Crown Prince’s death, Won-hyeong carries his agenda forward and initiates the investigation, claiming his demise to be a result of poisoning. Other councilors recommend ‘taekhyeon’ and appointing the wisest prince in the lot to take over the position. However, as soon as a conspiracy at play is hinted, the King recoils from assenting ‘takhyeon’, with the investigation becoming the priority.
Won-hyeong keeps at his ploy to drive Queen Hwa-ryeong out of the court, fuelled by the accusation that she poisoned her son. And as expected, the rumors flood the palace in the blink of an eye.
Hwa-ryeong prepares the Grand Princes to own their acts. With the Crown Prince’s absence, they can no longer do as their whimsical needs drive them. While she keeps up the looks of maintaining her composure, Seong-nam can’t. He asks for his mother’s permission to leave the palace but she reminds him that it took a lot on the part of the Crown Prince to bring him back to the palace.
On the other hand, the Crown Princess isn’t dealing well with the situation either. She feels unsafe on the palace premises and believes that the people who killed the Crown Prince are also after her and the Grand Heir. Hwa-ryeong takes her in and guarantees an investigation into this suspicion as well, meanwhile, the King also gives his word of looking into it discreetly. By the looks of it, seems to all that she’s given into her delusional state ever since the passing away of the Crown Prince.
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Physician Kwon is being tortured endlessly, while Won-hyeong lures Court Lady Shin for interrogation as well. Hwa-ryeong catches on quickly and realizes that this investigation is but bait and that he just wants to clear the path for ‘taekhyeon’. Consort Tae overhears the Queen discussing the medicine brought from outside with her court women.
Turns out, Consort Hwang had her hidden hand in this game as well. It was she who asked physician Kwon to slip something into the Crown Prince’s drink, which ultimately resulted in the blood clots. Afraid that her role might be disclosed, she asks her father, Won-hyeong, to call off the interrogation and spare Kwon’s life – the two also have feelings for each other- and so can vouch for him to keep things under wraps. Conversely, Hwa-ryeong, unaware of it all, only hopes for him to keep Seong-nam’s name out of this matter.
While the Chief Councilor acquiesces to his daughter’s request, tensions rise between the princes. Bo-geum calls out Ui-seong for wanting to ride the high horse of becoming the Crown Prince. In retaliation, he attacks Bo-geum, who is then rescued by Seong-nam. As expected, Ui-seong can’t let him be in peace and has to add fuel to the fire. On being caught, Seong-nam is punished by one of the teachers and is asked to stay back at Jonghak.
All this while, the palace recedes into a state of severity on all sides, and standing at odds with this image is Councilor Yoon’s daughter Chung-ha, who’s hung up on Seong-nam.
Preparing an ice bath for strengthening the Grand Princes, Hwa-ryeong flags off the training of her sons. Bo-geum speaks his heart out to his mother about ‘taekhyeon’. On the other side of the court, a spy informs Queen Dowager about Hwa-ryeong meeting the deposed Queen. Even on her own, Dowager continues to wedge a gap between the King and Hwa-ryeong.
Perplexed by Bo-geum’s words, Consort Tae asks Councilor Yoon to side with her son and support him wholeheartedly for ‘taekhyeon’, in return she turns on the Queen. Giving Hwa-ryeong’s secret away, she tells him about the medicine brought in from outside, and the same is delivered to Won-hyeong through him. Picking up the pieces from thereon, he cross-examines the testimonies given by all those who worked with physician Kwon. And in classic Won-hyeong style, he confirms his way out by threatening their lives.
Under the Queen’s Umbrella Episode 6 Ending
An official interrogation is called up in front of the King, Queen Dowager, and Queen Hwa-ryeong where Physician Kwon is questioned for using herbs from an unknown source, making him a suspect in the Crown Prince’s murder. It also gives Won-hyeong leverage to seamlessly drag Hwa-ryeong into the questioning. However, she knows her way around the witty cross-fire and links the former Crown Prince Taein’s death to the case. Queen Dowager can’t have any of it and once the interrogation is adjourned for the day, she intimidates Hwa-ryeong to admit everything the next day, or else the news of her meet-up with Queen Yoon will be announced to the rest.
Expressing her dislike for Hwa-ryeong, Dowager accepts it as her greatest failure that she couldn’t stop her from becoming the Queen. Regaining her composure, she greets her grandson in her quarters. Testing the food prior to feeding him, she confirms there’s nothing wrong with it.
Nevertheless, as soon as her glance wavers to the drawing made by the young boy, she catches that he’s been pricked on his thigh by his nursemaid in hiding, calling it a “secret game” shared between the two. Hwa-ryeong disrobes him and finds the red spots on his thighs while the spoon she used to feed him meat from the other side of the same plate starts to change color, leaving her with no choice but to forcefully compel her grandson to spit it out.
Under the Queen’s Umbrella Episode 6 Review
As mentioned in the last episode’s review, this one stood up to the challenge and shed light on the brimming disagreements openly while also balancing out the conversations held behind closed doors. It’s clear that most of us love to hate the confrontational dynamics between Queen Dowager and Hwa-ryeong, and even in terms of that, this episode delivered the best.
Speaking of bringing things out in the open, the issue of nepotism’s prevalence within the palace, commanding the chain of power, is also brazenly highlighted. Watching Bo-geum secluded from his brothers due to the same fact and his eventual argument with his mother was heart-rending, but it also opened up the series more, shifting the focus from the Crown Prince to other living instances of the palace that need attention.
The to-and-fro between Won-hyeong and Hwa-ryeong consolidated the contentious struggle to stay alive in the cut-throat environment provided by the palace. No one is safe in terms of survival as well as staying innocent till the end. Sometime or later, each of these characters will turn on the other, with Consort Tae also having turned her back on Hwa-ryeong.
After a long time in a while, we also witnessed Consort Hwang lose her calm, making for a distinctive and unusual reaction from her, thus, turning the tide around. A balance was meshed out between all kinds of emotions that ruled this episode as comic reliefs too found their (long-awaited) way back to the narrative while each character played a crucial role in propelling the politics further instead of just Kim Hye-soo calling the shots.
Under the Queen’s Umbrella Episode 6 is now streaming on Netflix.
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