Queen for Seven Days

June 5, 2017

Chae-gyeong (Park Min-young), the daughter of a nobleman, is betrothed to Crown Prince Yi Yoong (Lee Dong-gun) — the man who will become King Jungjong. The MBC Dramia palace sets establish the Joseon court world.

June 5, 2017

The political forces that will eventually force the king to depose his own queen — introduced at their most innocuous.

June 12, 2017

Chae-gyeong's marriage and her arrival as queen — the brief period of genuine happiness the drama's title already tells us will be cut short.

June 12, 2017

The ministers whose political interests require the queen's removal — the institutional machinery of court politics.

June 19, 2017

Period village sequences at the Korean Folk Village in Yongin — the world outside the palace that Chae-gyeong represents.

June 19, 2017

The conspiracy to remove the queen building — each minister's calculation of what they gain.

June 26, 2017

Yi Yoong's genuine love for his queen — and the political impossibility of protecting her.

June 26, 2017

The queen at her midpoint — loved by her husband, threatened by his court.

July 3, 2017

The countdown to the seven days that give the drama its title.

July 3, 2017

The forced deposition — the king compelled by his ministers to divorce the queen he loves.

July 10, 2017

Chae-gyeong's life after deposition — the specific survival of a woman removed from power.

July 10, 2017

Yi Yoong's grief — a king who gave up what he loved to keep his throne.

July 17, 2017

The drama's engagement with the actual historical record — what happened to the real Queen Dangyeong.

July 17, 2017

The impossible reunion — two people separated by the political decisions of others.

July 24, 2017

The court's judgment on its own decision — the human cost of political calculation.

July 24, 2017

A reimagining of what seven days as queen might mean, looked back on.

July 31, 2017

Yi Yoong's lifetime of regret — the drama's most emotionally devastating episode.

July 31, 2017

Chae-gyeong's grace in the face of everything that has been done to her.

August 7, 2017

The full weight of the historical tragedy — what the real people lived through.

August 7, 2017

The finale. Park Min-young's finest pre-Her Private Life performance — a sweeping historical melodrama about love that was real and power that was merciless.