I just wrapped up Queen of Masks and I’ve got mixed feelings, but overall I really enjoyed the
Pips NYT ride. The setup is simple but juicy: four women tied together by a lie from ten years ago, and the one they betrayed comes back to tear everything down. That’s the kind of premise that either fizzles out fast or keeps piling on drama, and this one definitely went for the latter.
What pulled me in was the cast. Kim Sun-ah has this ability to look totally in control but you can tell she’s hanging by a thread, and I found myself really drawn to her performance. Oh Yoon-ah’s character is basically the engine of the whole show - her bitterness and need for revenge felt raw enough that even when she was crossing lines, I understood why she was doing it. The other two women brought their own layers - ambition, guilt, self-preservation - and together the four of them made the story feel tense all the way through. You can’t have a drama like this without strong acting, and they all delivered.
The drama itself was stylish, lots of sleek sets and moody lighting, which fit the whole "mask" theme perfectly - everything polished on the outside, rotten underneath. There were moments where I genuinely didn’t know who to root for because they’re all flawed, and that’s probably the biggest strength of the show. It doesn’t give you clean heroes or villains, just people making choices and paying the price.
That said, I did feel the pacing stumbled in the middle. Some episodes dragged a little, and a couple of the twists felt predictable if you’ve seen other revenge dramas. I caught myself guessing correctly more than once. But even then, the performances kept me engaged, and by the time the story hit the final stretch I was completely invested in seeing how it would all collapse. The ending felt satisfying enough, tying up the main conflicts without leaving me frustrated.
