Queenmaker 2023 Episode 3

Episode 3 of Queenmaker begins with Do-hee writing her letter of resignation. Before she sends it, the team move swiftly and instead, terminate her on the spot. Even worse, Do-hee is leaving without getting her severance pay. Do-hee is livid and Ji-yeon stops her from seeing the Chairperson too, as she slowly realizes that she’s being made an example out of.

Ji-yeon is also sporting glittery stilettos and has made a bold decision to climb higher than Do-hee and make it to the upper-echelons of the company no matter what.

Do-hee wants to do right by I-seul… but there’s a problem. Ji-yeon shows off a pen to her, which happens to have audio of the meeting between Do-hee and I-seul, which she promises to use as blackmail and to show I-seul’s mother too, insinuating that Do-hee is responsible for her death.

“That greed will turn you into a serpent,” Do-hee warns, but on her way out she realizes that she’s lost everything, including the company car and residence. She was warned this could happen and she’d be thrown out, but now that it’s happened, Do-hee can’t quite believe it.

This situation extends out to Do-hee’s family too. Her father’s transplant surgery has been called off as the kidney donor has retracted their offer… apparently. This is all Eunsung’s doing, and even worse, her father needs to vacate the hospital in 2 days.

Do-hee shows up to see Chairwoman Son who believes that Do-hee’s father’s death is a necessary “consolation prize” for Do-hee’s refusal. Do-hee comes to the realization that what she really needs to do, to get back at the Chairwoman, is completely destroy everything she’s built from the ground up and get her revenge. “Do your worst, please” The Chairwoman goads, as Do-hee walks away, making a promise to avenge I-seul and all those others who have been wronged by the company.

As this occurs, Baek Jae-min puts his name forward officially as a candidate for Mayor. He already has great brand recognition and even worse, the previous Mayor’s scandal is still a massive sticking point.

Do-hee shows up to see Kyung-sook, pointing out that she’s no longer working with Eunsung Group. She wants her help but Kyung-sook refuses, pointing out that her push off the rooftop is enough to not entertain anything she has to say.

As the campaign heats up, Jae-min organizes a big rally for the workers as they all end up eating outside. This is all part of Eunsung’s grand plan, as Jae–min wants to use Kyung-sook to be part of his campaign. She sees right through this and heads in to see Do-hee. Do-hee points out she was trying to protect her conscience as she has a lot of blood on her hands that she wants to wash off.

Specifically, Do-hee wants Oh Kyung-sook to become a Mayor and usurp everyone else standing forward as candidates. The market is being redeveloped and with Jae-min managing to command a flock of sheep to his side, Do-hee points out that all of this is for show and there’s not really any redevelopment going on. At least not there anyway.

Do-hee knows that people from the bank will show up that afternoon, tempting the merchants with great offers for loans. Then, the Sangah Market will trend on social media, articles will flood the net… and then the development will fall through, all to line the pockets of Eunsung and make the poor even poorer.

Do-hee continues on, hanging over an incriminating pen-drive that includes exactly how the Mayor was taken out so Jae-min could move in to his space. Do-hee points out that Eunsung will go to any lengths to get what they want. The redevelopment ploy, getting rid of the mayor, and even death; there’s no stone this group won’t turn over to have their way.

Do-hee brings up I-seul’s death too and admits, teary-eyed, that I-seul’s death is on her, as she worked to protect Jae-min’s squeaky-clean image.

Kyung-sook brings up I-seul that night during one of Jae-min’s big dinner rallies. Jae-min flinches, slightly, pointing out that I-seul died of her own causes, but Kyung-sook interprets that as him trying to shift the blame away from something far more guilty.

Kyung-sook prodding the hornet’s nest sends several of the raging, angry insects out to proverbially bite her, as Jae-min retorts that she doesn’t want to be responsible for sending these workers back to their hell. After seeing a taste of his true self, Kyung-sook decides publicly to withdraw from her campaign and run herself.

As a result of this, the workers turns against Kyung-sook who believe this is a betrayal of her values and think she’s dooming them. Do-hee decides the best course of action is for her to go out and face them and apologize, calming down the mob who are currently outside her door, pounding to try and get in. Instead, Kyung-sook goes and hides under a blanket.

This turn of events has clearly rattled Jae-min and his campaign, as Hwang Do-hee’s revenge mission begins. Chairwoman Son tells Jae-min he needs to quieten her down, and he does so through Ji-yeon, whom he tells to get it together and make sure they win this election. As they talk, Chae-ryoung happens to be watching them from afar.

As the episode closes out, drastic measures are taken as Do-hee heads home, the opposite direction to Kyung-sook. On the way, a car looks set to plough into her but thankfully she moves at the last second thanks to Dong-joo calling for her to move. The car barely brushes against her back but the wing mirror slams into her spine, sending her flying.

The Episode Review

Things are starting to turn nasty now and the campaign idea to have Kyung-sook running against Jae-min is a stroke of genius. This is exactly how you take the rug out from under Chairwoman Son, and Do-hee knows the group well enough to really do some political damage to them.

Although this episode is a tad slow, it appears we’re going to be moving into the territory of Do-hee helping Kyung-sook with her campaign, setting her up with an unshakable image that’s going to leave Jae-min in the dust. The thing is, he has just as much to lose as Do-hee and we know that Son is ruthless and will kick him to the curb if he messes up.

Everything is left hanging in the balance now though and it’s anyone’s guess how this one will turn out next.