“Queen Mantis” Episodes 1 And 2 Review- One Of The Best Premieres Of A 2025 Kdrama

SBS’s newest mystery thriller “Queen Mantis” is here at last! Lets talk about the drama’s premiere!

“Queen Mantis” is an adaptation of a French series with the same name which aired in 2017. That series had a total of 6 episodes while this one will have 8.

I was excited about this drama because when I looked up reviews for the French series, it was overwhelmingly positive. Everyone recommended seeing it if you loved mystery thrillers, which I do.

There is nothing better than watching a mystery thriller and trying to guess who the killer is. Its so much fun. Having a series to look forward to every week is fun.

So, what did I think of the premiere?

LOVED IT!!!

They get right into the story and I was shocked it would be only 8 episodes. While SBS had been the fastest of the public broadcasting stations to adapt to the shrinking of episodes count, I don’t recall SBS dramas went as low as 8 episodes often, especially for a weekend premium timeslot.

I can see how this type of script with these types of characters wouldn’t make sense to be longer, honestly, 8 episodes could also be pushing it depending on how they take the story. I say this because the team itself is quite smart and they have the help of the original serial killer so it shouldn’t be a massive struggle to eventually get to the bottom of it.

For someone to love killing people so much but also have such a soft spot for her child is… unique. Because a psychopath , if she is one, would not generally be able to feel love the same way normal people do which makes me question whether she’s also putting on a facade for the detectives and the public.

I suspect that eventually, people will learn she’s alive and will learn her son’s identity too.

People are speculating who the killer is and its speculated to be a man judging by the cuts and methods used. Some argue its a woman and I am trying my best not to spoil the plot for myself reading through the French series episodes summary, so I am still on the fence.

Some people seem to think that Lee Jung-Yeon, Cha Su-Yeol’s wife, is the killer but I think it would be too obvious. But again, I could be wrong. I am guessing we haven’t been introduced to the character yet.

Regardless, I loved the premiere. Such a solid start. Amazing writing, amazing character introduction, and acting. All around an amazing start.

Shout out to Ko Hyun-Jung who makes a chilling transformation into the serial killer role, she’s such an amazing actress. The killer character here is much less put-together than in the original French series, at least judging by the photos I’ve seen and I think its better that way.

Jang Dong Yoon does an amazing job here. Judging by the looks of it, I am sure he’ll at least earn a nomination at the end-year award ceremonies for this role. He brings so much life into his character as you can see just how much he struggles to keep a straight face in front of his mother, their scenes were the most beautiful.

Overall, I am just so damn excited for next week’s episodes. Can’t wait to see who the killer is. Who do you think it is?