Wow....I did not expect to have to rejig my whole review upon this drama's completion.

I still feel so..dejected. I've gone through the 5 stages of grief now and reached acceptance but man...still doesn't ease the pain. But I'll save my feelings regarding the ending for last and I'll give Queen Cheorin/Mr. Queen the proper review it deserves before addressing all that.

So first things first, this drama was absolutely spectacular. Bong Hwan A, I'll miss your character SO much.
And Shin Hye Sun, my gosh. She is the REAL queen here, what an actress.

Every episode was filled with fun and hilarious shenanigans. Seriously, no kdrama has made me laugh that hard in a long time. It was the perfect combination of comedy, romance and plot development.

Bong Hwan A (So Bong) was just so...iconic. Everyone in the palace is trying to get a handle on the queen as every episode she does something else batshit crazy lmao. Especially in the beginning when everyone thought the queen was planning something, meanwhile So Bong is just going through an existential crisis and knows next to nothing XD

And the romance! So Bong & Cheoljong will forever live in my heart. I mean where else are you gonna get: enemies to allies, friends to lovers, then to allies. Who else could do it better, they are the elite!

There is so much to love about their relationship but I still think nothing could be more iconic than the Queen's Dictionary. Cheoljong literally made a dictionary for all the strange new words he heard from So Bong so he could understand her better. He remembered EVERYTHING she ever said to him.....I need a moment.

Honestly if it wasn't for the ending, this would have been my new all-time favourite drama. I would have rated it 100000/10 if I could.

So what went wrong? Let's talk about the ending which I couldn't hesitate to call the worst and most unsatisfying in kdrama history. I can not believe they gave us a Scarlet Heart Ryeo ending but just multiply the pain by ten. And you know why this was worse? Because as heartbreaking as Scarlet Heart Ryeo's ending was, at least it was a completely sad ending. But Queen Cheorin? For some reason they gave us a tragedy packed in happy ending confetti????

Like I just can't believe (on Valentine's Day no less) that TVN decided to throw everything they built in the trash. Cheoljong loved Bong Hwan A, and loved him for who he was. Now Cheoljong has lost him forever :(
And Bong Hwan A! He has to live with the fact that he never gets to see his friends, husband, or future child ever again!!

I think I couldn't say it more perfectly than @acupofwishes (tumblr):

"The Mr. Queen writers took me to an expensive restaurant and bought me a 5 course meal with dessert, brought out a surprise birthday cake and had the entire restaurant sing to me, later that evening they reached for my hand and guided me to the dance floor and then, in the middle of our song, whispered gently into my ear that everything was laced with laxatives."

Listen I haven't read fanfiction for years but I’m seriously considering going on a hunt for reincarnation fics to heal my broken heart.

So now begs the question, would I recommend this drama? Honestly I have recommended this drama to so many people and I feel like I need to go back to them all and say 'nevermind!!' (or at the very least give them the heads up that the finale will leave them hollow inside). However at the same time... the first 19 episodes are so freakin amazing and I don't want them to miss out.....

So I suppose the decision is up to you. This drama is incredible and I had the BEST time watching, but at the same time I'll be thinking of this bittersweet ending every day for the rest of my life