Queen of Divorce: Episodes 5-6

21 February 16, 2024February 16, 2024

by Unit

This week in Queen of Divorce, the battle of the exes continues, and we get an insight into some of our characters’ motivations for joining the team of divorce experts.

EPISODES 5-6

Queen of Divorce: Episodes 5-6

The week begins with a comforting hug between Dae-ki and Sara. The show then reveals that Dae-ki had leukemia — not cancer like I assumed last week — and Sara ended up being his stem cell donor after his brother bailed on him. Apparently, Sara registered as a stem cell donor ten years ago, and while she was in prison, she got informed that there was a patient whose DNA matched hers. Agreeing to go ahead with the surgery meant that she could apply for parole, so it was a win-win situation for donor and patient. So that’s why Sara got out of prison early!

In the present, Dae-ki thanks Sara for saving his life, and while she’s surprised to hear that he was the patient, she’s equally grateful to him because the letters she got from the patient helped her through some dark days in prison. As to how Dae-ki obtained his donor’s information, he admits to hacking the system. He also applied to Solution as a way to repay her with said hacking skills, and it’s giving loyal puppy vibes.

While Sara and Dae-ki reminisce, Ki-joon takes to the bottle after witnessing the comforting hug from earlier and mistaking it for something romantic. “I was totally getting ahead of myself when she wasn’t on the same page,” he thinks, as he drowns himself in the Soju of Misunderstanding. Anyway, Ki-joon’s misery doesn’t last because he soon finds out that Dae-ki and Sara are not in a relationship.

Queen of Divorce: Episodes 5-6

Back to Yool-seong and his political ambitions, he uses Ji-in’s sex tape to force her to play a part in his political drama. Her role: to publicly get attacked by one of the protesters questioning Yool-seong’s candidacy since he’s the son-in-law of a disgraced assemblyman. Of course, the attack is staged, and Yool-seong jumps in to “defend” his wife. He gets slashed in the face, but he gains the title of a protective husband in the media. Sex tape aside, Ji-in goes along with the charade because Yool-seong promised to get her father out on bail if she cooperated with him.

Ji-in soon finds out that Yool-seong didn’t submit her father’s bail application, and worse, he makes a promise on live TV that he will stop his father-in-law from getting bail. Way to throw your wife under the bus to uphold your candidacy. Then again, only a fool would trust Yool-seong. Sara launches a campaign against him, and as his ex-wife, the video goes viral. Yool-seong storms Solution to scream himself hoarse, and he also tries to bargain with her using their son. But Sara calls his bluff because thanks to Ji-in, she’s already in contact with their son’s nanny — who agrees to send her pictures of the boy every month.

Yool-seong then calls for a press conference to clear the air on Sara’s allegations against him. Ji-in is also present in the role of supporting wife, but when it’s time for her to corroborate her husband’s statement, she jumps ship to team Sara. The Yool-seong Ex-wives Association is back in business! Ji-in reveals that Yool-seong blackmailed her, and his approval ratings take a nosedive. Consequently, the party nominates someone else for assemblyman, and Yool-seong is back to square one.

It’s ominous enough that Yool-seong declares that he wouldn’t forgive Sara, and it gets worse when he calls for a meeting at a shady location. On a rainy night! Against Ki-joon’s advice to wait for him, Sara goes in alone believing that Yool-seong won’t hurt his child’s mom. Her trust in the goodness of his heart is… astonishing. Then again, she only knows him as a shitty person, and not as someone with two murders on his hands.

Yool-seong makes an offer of half a million dollars in exchange for Ji-in agreeing to be the guilty party in the relationship, but Sara refuses his terms. Furious, Yool-seong attempts to strangle her, but his right-hand man pulls him away before he can do much damage. Nevertheless, he locks Sara up and leaves her alone in the building after vowing that she would never see their son again. Within a few minutes, the building is up in flames. But no, Yool-seong isn’t an arsonist, this is just an unfortunate case of lightning and electrical faults. Dammit! If only Sara watched enough dramas, she’d have known that bad things always happen when it rains in situations like this.

Yool-seong makes a U-turn on noticing the fire from afar off, but by the time he arrives, he sees that Ki-joon has already rescued Sara from the building. For all his fury earlier on, it would seem that Yool-seong still cares about Sara. But who cares about his feelings when Ki-joon exists? From chasing after Sara’s kidnappers to rushing into a burning building to save her, Ki-joon is out there being the hero we all need. Sparks are flying, y’all, and not just the fire or electric kind. Sara is beginning to realize just how much Ki-joon cares about her, and it looks like those feelings she used to have for him are resurfacing.

Queen of Divorce: Episodes 5-6

As Ki-joon continues his investigation into Yool-seong’s mistress’s death, he gets her old phone from her grandfather, and sees the pictures of Mistress and Yool-seong in the gallery. Hee-jin finds the pictures during one of her snooping sessions and assumes it’s part of Solution’s evidence in the ongoing divorce suit. Of course lil Ms. Spy has no idea that the situation is bigger than her assumptions, so she tattles on to Yool-seong and urges him to hasten the divorce before things get worse for him. Dinner, lunch, and now this? Maybe Hee-jin is eyeing that wife #3 spot — which is now open because Yool-seong agrees to Ji-in’s terms for their divorce.

Ki-joon goes over to collect the signed papers, and issues a warning as “Kim Sara’s man,” that he won’t let it slide if Yool-seong ever puts Sara in harm’s way again. Kim Sara’s man. I love the sound of that. What I don’t love is the sound of Chairwoman Cha storming Solution to slap her ex daughters-in-law because they messed with her son’s political ambitions. Tsk. Like mother like son. Anyway, to celebrate their newfound friendship, Ji-in gives Sara some documents containing dirt on Yool-seong in the hopes that it can help Sara get custody of her son. How sweet!

Solution wraps up the case with Sara’s ex-husband and his ex-wife, and they take on a new client who is none other than… Ki-joon’s ex-girlfriend. Pfft. I swear, if you Google the word “ex,” this drama will come up in the search results. I know dramas like this tend to connect all their cases with each other, but it’s starting to get ridiculous. Sheesh! Back to our new case, Ki-joon’s ex claims she suffers from her husband’s jealous delusion, but that is the least of Sara’s worries at the moment because someone is feeling a little jealous. And it ain’t no deluded husband. Hehe.

Ex’s claims don’t add up, and it’s soon revealed that she made the whole thing up because… Yool-seong sent her to Solution to separate Sara and Ki-joon. What in the makjang…?! Yool-seong even promises to raise Ex’s payment by 20% if she gives him evidence of successfully sleeping with Ki-joon. Like she should make a sex tape or what? Fortunately, Ki-joon can smell the conspiracy a mile away, and Sara actually overhears a conversation that exposes Chayul as the mastermind of the conspiracy.

The makjang scale climbs up when Solution drops Ex as a client, and takes on her husband instead because Ex hurts him on purpose and then takes care of him on live stream to rack up her viewer count. Ex’s husband has been covering up the violence because he doesn’t want anyone to know what he’s going through, but with Solution’s encouragement, he files for divorce — after exposing her on the live stream she loves so much. This case also gives us a little peek into Bom’s backstory, as we learn that her mom was a victim of domestic violence. This plays into why she joined Solution to get rid of bad partners.

Speaking of reasons for joining Solution, Ex plants seeds of doubt in Sara’s mind about Ki-joon’s “ulterior motive” for joining the firm. Sara eventually learns about Yool-seong’s five-membered committee involved in lobbying for the Chayul law school project, and to her surprise, one of the committee members, PROFESSOR SEO, is the person of interest who jumped off the roof after Ki-joon summoned him. Sara also learns that Ki-joon has been looking into Yool-seong’s associates as well as her divorce, and she gets upset thinking that Ki-joon used Solution as an avenue to get closer to Yool-seong.

Sara storms out to the rooftop, and Ki-joon goes after her to clear her doubts. He joined Solution because of her, and he tells her not to get distracted. “Fine. Then you shouldn’t get distracted too,” she replies, before pulling him in for a kiss. Okay, that was not how I thought their first kiss would go. Sara might as well have directed her “don’t get distracted” reply to the rest of us, because she’s only kissing Ki-joon out in the open so that Yool-seong can gape at the scene from down below in his car. Ha! Using one ex to get back at another ex. It can only be this show.

To be fair, the drama already established its makjang tone in the first week, and mid-level makjang doesn’t bother me as much so I’m still enjoying the watch. However, while I come in every week for Ki-joon and Sara, I’m not particularly pleased with Jang-mi’s lack of screen-time. You cannot cast Kim Sun-young in a show and make her character appear in only one or two scenes per episode. Come on, Show, we need more of Jang-mi in the office and less of Hee-jin the spy.

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1 Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️

February 17, 2024 at 12:20 AM

I am still enjoying the show but I am struggling with the disrespect for the audience expecting us to accept that the female lead who has a qualification as a lawyer and is a wronged woman is able to switch of her highly suspicious self when it comes to interactions with her ex and his family. Every week they give her something ridiculous to do, such as going alone to meet her ex in a dodgy place and allowing her ex mother in law to walk the length of the room to perform the double slap manoeuvre while chatting rubbish. The last action was the show’s casual approach to point out they have full cctv not just in the interview room. I had been wishing they had it so they could use it to identify the spy in their ranks, now I am annoyed that as an agency they have not been monitoring this footage as they would have caught her snooping and cut her loose.

I hope the show can build on its strengths which is the mix of clever legal approaches with comedy capers to help more victims to win their seemingly impossible cases. I want a speedy wrap up for Sara and her son. I also want Kijoon and Sara together before he gets seriously injured in his weekly rescue attempts.

Re the dark elements of the story. Finally, a glimmer of hope in the under the radar investigation into the professor with the evidence that professor’s connection with the murdered student is not as dodgy as first appeared. This would make him an unwilling member of the dodgy boys club and would explain why they cut him loose so quickly. I am also wondering about the motives of the henceman as it seems his taking the professor’s phone was not a direct request from Yoolseong. Is he another person working reluctantly as a chaebol cleanup man in order to pay bills for a sick relative (insert alternative life or death situatIon that ‘justifies’ selling your soul).

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Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️

February 17, 2024 at 12:28 AM

Sorry @unit I forgot to thank you for the weecap and pointing out that show is currently leaning into the makjang elements and would benefit from looking to exploit some of the underused strengths hiding in plain sight.

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Seon-ha

February 17, 2024 at 8:29 AM

If only the show were a weekender, able to change directions and take your advice, Reply!!

I'd choose to really highlight the tragedy of our villain. More male trauma please, this time villain-style!!

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2 Gum Shoe

February 17, 2024 at 2:35 AM

I dropped the show so I can’t fairly comment on these episodes. But the show poster in the header of this recap is channeling Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody vibes (Is it deliberate or accidental? Who cares?). I can hear the five heads of Queen (of Divorce) singing “oh, mamma mia, mamma mia, mamma mia, let me go . . .” Actually, the whole song may be applicable to show. . .

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3 Blue (@mayhemf)

February 17, 2024 at 4:05 AM

I wasn’t expecting the legal cases to make much sense but this week took it to a level of eye rolling. The ex case was really nonsensical and its resolution more so.

The dead kiss was disappointing. Very. Whatever cute chemistry these two had died that moment.
Also, Sara’s jealousy made no sense given that she was married and had a child. Was she expecting him to not have dated??

I wish the show gave us the past. Because I find the dynamic between the three leads interesting, especially Sara and her ex. I want to know how she ended up with him. Did he really love her back then?
I wish the chaebol son was written better. The actor is bringing some second lead angst to the show. I know I should hate him but he definitely has my attention.

So the chaebol mother is pissed because she wanted his son to divorce and wasn’t happy to pay an alimony 600,000 dollars?? Just how greedy is she!? Aren’t these people filthy rich??

The leads need to step up their game and relationship. I want their cuteness back.

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4 Mrs Buckwheat

February 17, 2024 at 5:18 AM

Thank you for the recaps unit.
I was planning to try and hang in here watching for KKY as he is such a great actor, finally in a lead role but the farcical level up of the makjang this week is too much.
The character Sa-ra annoys me no end.
The show needs to pick a lane- basically is she stupid or not ?
Should I wipe the first couple of episodes from my memory?
That kiss at the end of the episode with Ki -Joon is cruel, it brings her right down to her ex husbands level.
Ki-joon, you are too good for her. Run, fast, now.
I've only ever seen Lee Jia on Sea of Hope, a reality tv show and she showed a far greater range of facial expressions there than what she does here.
I agree with you unit, the second best thing this show had going for it was Kim Sun-Young and she disappeared in these episodes.
What a waste of a fabulous actress.

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5 Seon-ha

February 17, 2024 at 8:27 AM

Ah, @unit, yes. The Soju of Misunderstanding. The second worst soju after the Soju of Noble Idiocy.

I still like this show, despite its obvious, obvious flaws. Perhaps because I have a pet theory.

Maybe I'll just keep saying this until I am hoarse in the fingers, but between the ongoing "I'm Kim Sa-ra's man" behavior of Ki-joon and Sa-ra's consistent behavior as a typical ML (single-minded revenge; using kissing as a weapon; starting first with violence and only then turning to reflection)...they're doing some traditional stereotypical gender role flipping. It's not working well, but they're trying.

I put it to you that this is also why that fire was so disappointing. Sa-ra should have been saving Ki-joon. That would have made much more sense and would have been WAY more interesting. Say my theory doesn't hold water, @lordcobol. I dare ya.

PS: I'm sort of excited to find out how the "DNA match" between Dae-ki and Sa-ra isn't just the roll of the dice...

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6 hacja

February 17, 2024 at 8:55 AM

Thanks, @unit for your somewhat skeptical recap, and the other commentators who reaffirmed my sense of disappointment, as an average viewing Joe looking to watch a fighting heroine avenge injustice.

Instead Sara
1. is amazingly ungrateful to Ki-joon for saving her life.
2. Still gets "jealous" of Ki-joon, and needs to overhear the putative client actually say "its not working he not interested" to believe Ki-joon's denials.
3. Gets enraged when she finds out Ki-joon is investigating the murder of her ex-husband's mistress and accuses him of working with her so he can get close to her ex-husband?!?
4. Fake kisses Ki-joon only to make her ex-husband jealous.

This all happening while her "desperation" to see her son waxes and wanes according to how often she sees her ex-husband, which is remarkably often. And then there is the original abandonment of Ki-joon for unexplained reasons. But clearly, Ki-joon is not the end-game for her, and the choice of whether to unite with a man who would run into a burning building to save her life versus one who cheat on her, throw her in jail, and kill her mother, is six of one, half-dozen of another.

As our Saussurean expert in lead signifying, @attiton pointed out this week, this is not a rom-com with a traditional male lead. But if instead, it is a makjang battle between two women--the mother in law and ex-daughter in law, why aren't we seeing more of the mother in law?
And I ask that for a variety of reasons, only some of which to do with the plot. The actress Na Young Hee is beautiful and just my type.

In fact, now recognizing that Kang Ki-young is going to be the exploited stepping-stone rather than a genuine partner in a fight for justice, I decided, from this point on, to only watch this show for the beautiful mother in law. I'm hoping for a plot twist where Sara reunites with her ex-husband, and they go to coed jail, where they live 10 years to life happily ever after, while the Chairwoman falls in love with Kang Ki-Young who becomes part of Chayul law firm, and together they raise her grandson.

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Seon-ha

February 17, 2024 at 9:02 AM

I'm honestly not sure that you could have brought more evidence for my theory that the brief behind this drama was "Let's make all the women behave like (stereotypes of) men, and all the men behave like (stereotypes of ) women" if you'd truly tried!!

Also, your fantasy rewrite is really damn creepy. Respect.

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hacja

February 17, 2024 at 10:23 AM

Your theory makes a lot of sense, if Sara is a male submissive in an S-M relationship. My rewrite is creepy and by your theory this show is not? I think we need to deconstruct what "creepy" signifies here!

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Seon-ha

February 17, 2024 at 10:48 AM

You've done it. I'm speechless.

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hacja

February 17, 2024 at 11:09 AM

Back to the creepiness, which your remark made me think about---it was very weird when the ex-husband locked Sa-ra up and said "she needs to defecate and urinate on herself" Now that IS creepy, as opposed to my imagining a redemption arc and noona romance for the beautiful mother in law.

Seon-ha

February 17, 2024 at 11:26 AM

Well, to me, "creepy" constitutes making the decision to raise the son of your first love while she's in jail with that child's father...by marrying your (now) son's grandmother.

I see, though, that--in what some might consider to be irony--while I had been looking at it from the male point-of-view, you had been looking at it from the female point-of-view; that is, that of an older woman who was simply misunderstood in her vicious, no-holds-barred battle for money and power--one in which she would do anything and everything, the mental health of her own son BE DAMNED!! I see that you too like redemption arcs for female villains!

Creepy also definitely constitutes saying, "She'll come to her senses when she shits herself." That was, indeed, OTT.

I dunno. Is this actually the best show ever???

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hacja

February 17, 2024 at 12:29 PM

Well, I just can't get "I'm my own grandpa" out of my head when it comes to this show.

Anyway, IN ALL SERIOUSNESS (I'm sure you believe that) I totally buy your theory of gender reversal when it comes to what in other shows would normally be the male lead, Ki-Joon, so the main thrust of the characterization. But it doesn't fit for me for this show overall. Sa-ra is for a variety of reasons is not that much of a stereotype male lead, especially in her willingness to take punishment in a way that is not nobly idiotic--just punishment for what? her love of the villain? Also, if I could note something else that doesn't fit-- Sa-ra, the writers, and many of the female viewers who commented on the show, have a great deal of sympathy toward Yul-seong, as a misunderstood, good-looking bad boy, even though he's three times a murderer. That is not a sympathy that is ever granted the second female lead, nor, could I say, the beautiful villainous mother in law!

Seon-ha

February 17, 2024 at 1:00 PM

Im Si-wan is a terrible runner.

hacja

February 17, 2024 at 1:49 PM

Im Si-wan is a terrible runner. You're right about that!

too_much_tv

February 17, 2024 at 7:23 PM

OK, I don't get what you mean about not knowing why Sara left Ki-joon. She didn't leave Ki-joon. She decided not to run away with Ki-joon from her wedding the next day to the schmuck she married. Why? Because she was pregnant. Did I get that whole business wrong? It sure seemed like that was the meaning of that flashback.

Also, I think you are ahead of me one whole episode, because at the end of the last episode I saw (and I think that was summarized here) we were left with a "did she or didn't she" situation. I also assumed she faked the kiss.

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7 chichiri

February 17, 2024 at 4:17 PM

How insane is it to go to an abandoned building on a rainy night to meet your ex-husband? that’s like a normal episode of true crime😓… and even after that, she talks to him to taunt him and answers his calls as if he didn’t just nearly choke her to death.

I’m still watching though because of my man Kang Kiyoung, who I’m still waiting to do something interesting.

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8 Cecee

February 19, 2024 at 3:18 AM

I'm trying. I feel I'm trying so hard to like this show. But... I don't know. I appreciate it doesn't have to make sense all the time, but at least some of the time would be great. I'm asking for the bare minimum: a writer who isn't completely demented, someone who can string a few ideas together without losing all sense of sanity. It doesn't have to be a great story but at least something where the characters remain consistent for more than 12 seconds at a time. The bar is really incredibly low, so I'm not even sure how the writer still manages to miss it.

Everyone sounds and looks a little off here. I'm blaming the writing and the direction for now... But some actors still manage to sound and look more off than others. Why can't I stand the living shit out of Lee Ji-ah? Is she that bad or am I just profoundly biased against her for some reason I have not yet managed to identified (is that her pebble-like emoting abilities or is it just Kim Sara's profound level of absolute incompetence at every single aspect of life that gets to me?)

Anyway, the struggle is all too real.

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Mrs Buckwheat

February 19, 2024 at 4:36 PM

I feel the same :).
It's really disappointing overall for KKY as the show started out with promise and has quickly gone downhill.
A big part of the problem is the ridiculous script and lack of consistency of the characters especially Sara. Far from feeling any sympathy towards her, a lot of us are frustrated and annoyed by her actions.
I have only ever seen Lee Ji Ah in the Sea of Hope which is a reality show from 2021. She was really lovely and quite expressive on this show but I find it very difficult to watch her here as her facial expression doesn't really change or emote anything. I find this confusing as she is supposed to be like the queen of kdramas and is very popular.

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9 Minnie🫘👩🏻‍🚀Pioneer and Teacher 👩🏻‍🏫🌱🏹

February 21, 2024 at 8:51 AM

I started this show just because I was so taken in by the premise of an avenging wife and of course, Kang Ki Young.
But 5th episode in (I have still to watch the sixth) and I am struggling to understand:
a) Why Sara keeps giving her pos husband time of the day;
b) Why does she treat Ki-Joon like a pos he is absolutely not
c) If they were close enough to be running away (my guess is she was raped, got pregnant and decided to marry the pos ex), then, as I understand, there is no way he could not have met Sara's Mom at some point. So he didn't recognise her from those clips?
d) Whu do I like Yeol Seong the best in this drama? No really, the screen comes alive when he is on screen, and his evil vibes has me cackling.
e) lastly, why do I not feel any chemistry between Ki Joon and Sara? Am I the only one?

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Queen of Divorce