Wow, what a switch-up! So the guy who I was sure was the serial killer actually was not the serial killer. You got me show! And I am happy about it. Your episode 5 and 6 recap for “Queen Mantis” is below!
Queen Mantis Episode 5 Recap
The episode begins once again with a flashback. This time, The Mantis is shown sitting in an interrogation room with Detective Choi. She asks him to look after her son, give him a new first and last name, and make sure he grows up with compassion for others.
Back in the present, The Mantis is seen calmly sitting with Detective Cha Su Yeol’s wife, Lee Jung Yeon. Jung Yeon is shocked to realize that Su Yeol’s mother is alive — and sitting right in her living room.
Su Yeol arrives quickly and immediately places himself between his wife and his mother. Before he can speak, his mother casually tells him that she has already explained to his wife how she abandoned him as a child and that a fake grave was set up for her.
Su Yeol manages to stay composed and firmly tells his mother they are leaving. He brings her back to the mansion prison, noting that it’s a relief the fake serial killer is no longer in his way. Though he acknowledges this is a good thing, he still feels conflicted and even asks Detective Cho whether he is becoming too much like his mother.
Meanwhile, it’s confirmed that Park Min Jae, Su Yeol’s old neighborhood friend, is not the serial killer. Su Yeol drives him home but warns him that he is still under close watch. During the ride, Min Jae asks why Su Yeol dislikes his mother so much. The two get into a heated argument, though most of the heat comes from Su Yeol. Min Jae cannot understand why Su Yeol treats his mother so harshly, insisting that she loved him and only targeted very bad people.
The team returns to the drawing board in their search for the real killer. They suspect the culprit has access to The Mantis’s psychiatric records, so Su Yeol and Detective Cho go to her psychiatrist’s office without a warrant and stage a distraction in order to steal the files. They discover that The Mantis witnessed her mother die in a fire as a child. She wanted to save her but was stopped by her father, which created a deep rift between them.
At the same time, another part of the team finds that all of the victims were “friends” with a woman on an app—though the woman’s profile picture looks AI-generated.
Then, a new message arrives for Su Yeol from the serial killer, showing all the victims before their deaths. The killer says they want to speak to The Mantis. When Su Yeol shows this to the team, they realize he has been hiding evidence from them and are furious. Su Yeol admits their anger is justified but insists they must move forward. He convinces them to let The Mantis speak to the killer in hopes of capturing them.
Su Yeol also asks Min Jae whether he has connected with the app woman and warns him not to meet her. Min Jae correctly concludes that she must be the real killer.
At the mansion prison, The Mantis is put on the phone with the killer, who drops a hint about their next victim. The team deduces that the attack will likely take place at an opera, and they hurry there to try to intercept the killer.
Meanwhile, Min Jae sets up a meeting with the app woman under the pretense of showing her a webcomic he is creating. Believing he has the upper hand, he doesn’t realize he is falling into a trap. His computer suddenly malfunctions, and the killer appears—using disorienting flashing lights before beating him unconscious.
Queen Mantis Episode 6 Recap
The cold open picks up with the aftermath of the attack on Min Jae. The scene is now a crime investigation site, with the team gathered outside. Su Yeol enters and finds his mother surveying the room. She notes that the attack was sloppy, unlike the serial killer’s usual clean method, and deduces that the killer must have been in a hurry.
Su Yeol is overwhelmed with guilt as he rereads Min Jae’s final message—a promise to help him solve the case. Bowing to his mother, Su Yeol vows to do whatever it takes, even thinking like a serial killer, to avenge his friend.
Mother and son begin reviewing old serial killer files to step into the killer’s mindset. They then arrange a phone call between The Mantis and the copycat.
Instead of praising the copycat, The Mantis criticizes him for being sloppy and abruptly hangs up. The team is confused, but Su Yeol understands her tactic instantly. Sure enough, the copycat calls back, apologizing for his mistakes. The Mantis accepts the apology, and the two continue their conversation about the next murder.
While the call is underway, the team is able to trace the copycat’s location to a hotel. SWAT quickly takes over, pulling the fire alarm to flush him out. They discover the intended victim alive but severely traumatized and injured in one of the rooms.
Meanwhile, Su Yeol searches the hotel garage but is ambushed and knocked unconscious by the copycat.
Back at the station, Su Yeol and his mother regroup, determined to work together. While reviewing details, Su Yeol recalls that the copycat was humming the same song his mother once hummed on the beach—proof that the copycat must also be from their small town.
This cuts to a flashback of another child who was abused by his father until The Mantis killed the man, freeing the boy. The team begins to suspect that this boy might have grown up to be the copycat. Detective Choi remains silent, but it’s clear the memory of that boy stirs something in him.
Su Yeol and Detective Kim Na Hee visit the boy’s mother, now in a mental institution, while other detectives question a friend of the latest victim about his encounter with a mysterious woman on the app.
From the mother, they learn that her son was beaten by his father for liking makeup—and that he had recently visited her, wearing makeup. Alarmed, Su Yeol and Na Hee rush off, and Na Hee confirms through visitor records that the last person to see her was a woman.
The team begins to suspect that Yeon Joong, the boy from the past, may have undergone gender reassignment surgery and could now be living as a woman. To pursue this lead, they interview members of the local transgender community.
Eventually, Su Yeol meets a nurse who describes a troubling case. Unlike most patients who feel at peace after surgery, this individual once muttered, “It feels good to be a woman because people aren’t on alert.”
Su Yeol rushes to share this with the team — but when he arrives, no one speaks to him or even makes eye contact. He soon learns why — the team has uncovered a photo proving that Su Yeol is The Mantis’s son. They immediately demand that he be removed from the investigation.
Defeated, Su Yeol goes home and confesses the truth of his past to his wife. She is left in shock.
Things have come crashing to the ground for Su Yeol, and all when they are so close! But you know things will have to get righted soon. See y’all next week for episodes 7 and 8 of “Queen Mantis” on KOCOWA!
