Queen Mantis Episode 1-2 Review
Director: Byun Young-joo
Date Created: 2025-09-07 02:06
4.5
Queen Mantis Episode 1-2 Review: The terrifying new SBS K-drama 사마귀: 살인자의 외출 has finally arrived on Netflix, and with it a swell of tension and psychological thrills. Directed by Byun Young-joo and scripted by Lee Young-jong, the drama is based on the French thriller La Mante but recrafted in a distinct style. The drama features Go Hyun-jung as notorious serial killer Jung I-shin and Jang Dong-yoon as her wayward son Cha Su-yeol. Supporting the cast are Jo Sung-ha, Lee El, Lee Hwang-ui, Kim Min-ho, Kim Tae-jung, Han Dong-hee, Lee Tae-goo and Kim Bo-ra, along with various sturdy supporting turns.
With two episodes releasing every Friday and Saturday across a total of eight, the series sets itself up as a tightly woven mystery with family trauma at its core.
Queen Mantis Episode 1 Recap
Episode 1 of Queen Mantis started on a grisly murder scene, the viciousness of which immediately draws the attention of the police. What alarms veteran detective Choi Jong-ho most is how similar the circumstances are to those of Jung I-shin, the infamous “Mantis” who preyed on abusive men and terrorised the nation twenty years ago. The similarities are just too exact to be mere chance, and the prospect of a copycat killer sets the case into panic.
The drama cuts back in time for emotional impact, recounting for the viewer I-shin’s arrest. Once dreaded for cold efficiency in murdering, she rationalised her crimes by saying she targeted men who had mistreated women or children. Though she explained, the public viewed her as merely a monster. Su-yeol, her youthful son at the time, was marked for life. Now a grown man and police officer himself, Cha Su-yeol bears that burden every day, struggling with the stigma of being the killer’s son. His current problems at work do not improve matters: after shooting a woman who tried to kill her own child, he is disciplined and even contemplates quitting.
In prison, Jung I-shin lives comfortably, having secured privileges in exchange for her confession years earlier. When the authorities approach her for help with the new case, she agrees—but on one chilling condition: she will only cooperate through her son, Su-yeol. At first, he refuses. He has spent his whole life resenting her, avoiding even the thought of contact. But as more bodies surface, his duty as a cop outweighs his personal hatred, and he reluctantly agrees to meet her.
Their reunion is tense and emotionally suffocating. I-shin treats the meeting as if no time has passed, while Su-yeol can barely contain his disgust. She calmly analyses case files, explaining her past methods with unnerving detachment. Su-yeol, disturbed by the way she speaks about her crimes, warns his superiors that she is manipulating them. Yet, despite his resistance, the task force sees value in her insights.
And finally, I-shin is taken to the real scene of the crime. The way she looks at the area—smiling by half, nostalgic for the exhilaration of bloodshed—gives everyone in the room the shudders. She offers an insightful detail: the killer would not have been able to utilise vintage news reports, because only an individual who had access to court transcripts would have such precise information.
This piece of information greatly lowers the possible list of suspects. The episode closes on a silent but telling exchange of glances by mother and son, suggesting the deadly psychological control she still wields over him. Kdrama Queen Mantis Episode 1 is a chilling setup that sets the stage for a dysfunctional partnership neither of them wants.
Also Read: My Lovely Journey Ending Explained: Did Yeo-reum and Yeon-seok End Up Together?
Queen Mantis Episode 2 Recap
Episode 2 of Queen Mantis opens by stripping away layers of Cha Su-yeol’s background. We see him as a child being bullied ruthlessly by schoolmates for having a murderer mother. We never see him stand his ground and fight; he takes the insults inside. The person who ever stood up for him was Detective Choi Jung-ho, who made the suggestion that Su-yeol would redeem himself by saving lives by becoming a police officer. This is why he is so determined now and won’t give in, even if it costs working with his own mother.
Then we move to where Queen Mantis ep 1 left us, the case of investigation continues. The detectives discover that the news report of the original Mantis murders had inadvertently reversed an image. The current crime scene, however, matched the real body layout. This verifies that the copycat killer had not accessed open-source materials but had accessed the sealed trial documents. Only limited individuals—the judge, the prosecutor, the defence lawyer, and the psychiatrist—had access to these documents, and nefarious questions arise as to how they were leaked.
Their breakthrough comes when the defence attorney admits that certain case documents had mysteriously gone missing. Suspicion falls on Seo Gu-won, and soon the police uncover disturbing evidence: Gu-won’s apartment contains extensive surveillance data, detailed dossiers on multiple people, and even a 3D printer being used for sinister purposes. Just as they close in, he slips away, disguising himself and setting his own twisted plan into motion.
Gu-won kidnaps a family, bullying them as the detectives race to locate him. The outrage heightens as Su-yeol finds that Gu-won was writing letters to Jung I-shin. Aghast, he confronts her, but she faces him with cold contempt and accuses him of entering her life without reverence. Their meetings turn into a war of mind games, challenging Su-yeol’s determination.
The team subsequently arrests Gu-won, but the victory proves short-lived. His weak psychological state deteriorates further during interrogations, especially after I-shin insults him in a cell. Violently attacking, he goes on to shoot himself, robbing the team of important questions. With Gu-won incapacitated, Su-yeol makes a risky assumption—that the disappeared father of the kidnapping family might just still exist somewhere that connects to their pasts. Acting on gut, the team canvases a hospital and retrieves the man held imprisoned at the laundry factory. The rescue proves Su-yeol’s instincts to be invaluable, but simultaneously makes real how high the stakes really are.
With the dust cleared, another thread is exposed. Behind prison walls, Jung I-shin is shown to be involved in a different nefarious scheme of her own, a reminder that she’s far from an innocent bystander to these events. Queen Mantis episode 2 enlarges the scope of the mystery, combining by-the-book detective work and abuse of individuals, and has viewers pondering how much of a hand I-shin actually has.
Queen Mantis Episode 1-2 Review
Korean drama The Mantis: Original Sin is giving us a cracking meld of psychological family drama and crime thriller intensity. Rather than gratuitously using gory murders to shock the senses, the program grounds its tension upon the strained relationship between Su-yeol and his famous mother. The tension of their interaction provides substance to the case, such that every revelation feels professional and deeply personal. The pairing makes the program not just another procedural but also a story of inheritance, shame, and, if there is such a thing as redemption.
Go Hyun-jung steals the scene as Jung I-shin. She’s creepy in the way that she plays it straight; her icy stares, deliberate movements, and periodic smirks convey menace without melodrama. Jang Dong-yoon proves the ideal foil, capturing Su-yeol’s inner conflict with subtle intensity. The scenes they share with each other sizzle with tension, pulling us into a war of wills in which the ultimate prizes are manifestly greater than mere catching a murderer.
The pacing of Korean drama Queen Mantis is deliberate, and in place of the use of the jump scare or the shock value, the tension builds by degrees. The deliberate approach pays dividends well for patient viewers, and each encounter and each suggestion lands more forcefully.
By episode 2 of Queen Mantis, the setup for a conflict that goes beyond the confines of the investigation itself is established. With unseen wires being pulled by Jung I-shin and Su-yeol stuck between his responsibility and his own hang-ups, the drama sets us up for more engrossing showdowns to come. If these initial hours have anything to do with it, this drama is set to become the year’s best thriller and keep us on the edge of our seats as the twisted love at its centre keeps unfolding.
