Queen of Tears

So much potential, but utterly wasted by trying to do too much

If there is one phrase to describe the show, it would be "wasted potential". Honestly, up until episode 12 or 13, i was planning to give the show a solid 9/10. The writing crew and director clearly knew how to tug on the audience heart strings and watching Hyunwoo and Haein come to terms with the very real possibility of Haein dying just as they finally reconcile brought tears to my eyes. Kim Soo-Hyun and Kim Ji-won have such amazing chemistry and Kim Soo-Hyun continues to prove he is one of the best actors at subtly showing how the character is feeling with microexpressions.

BUT. There is a MASSIVE but here. The show throws any potential out the window the second we hit episode 14. For reasons that I can't even begin to guess at, the writer team seems absolutely married to keeping the character of Yoon Eung-Seung involved until the very end. Up until episode 14, it felt like he was an omnipresent threat lurking in the background. He gave stakes to the relationship between Hyunwoo and Haein, because it meant Hyunwoo didn't have infinite time to win back Haein. If he waited too long or screwed up too many times, she would fall for Eung-Seung. But once it became clear the Haein will always choose Hyunwoo every time, the bit got old. MASSIVE spoilers head - having a murder framed on Hyunwoo, and then sending him to the hospital TWICE after he gets out of prison in the span of two episodes was just too much. We spend more time trying to unspin the various webs of lies that Eung-Seung has spun for Hae-in and dealing with the drama of the murder case and all the "random" accident Hyunwoo has at Eung-Seung's hands that the relationship between Hyunwoo and Haein is left to the side. It ends up being very hastily cleaned up at the end of episode 16 and you can feel how rushed it was. The writing team needed to realize that once you wipe a character's memory, it becomes incredibly important to have them build back those memories over a decent time span so the audience can experience the highs and lows of how confusing and terrifying it is to not even know who you are. But instead, because of this weird Eung-Seung second plot, Hae-in basically magically recovers most of her memory after reading her journal and a few random interactions with Hyunwoo.

And just to put the "missed or mishandled plot hooks" cherry on top of this cake, there is an entire subplot about how the traumatic event that started their spiral into divorce was due to a miscarriage, and it's never addressed. Both characters independently seem to want to address the hurtful things they did or said to cope, but not once do they have a face-to-face conversation about it. It doesn't help that by the end, Hae-in doesn't even remember what she did because of the stupid memory loss plot line.

TL;DR - fantastic first 2/3rds of a series, only for it to come crashing into a brick wall right at the finish line. It truly feels like had they just rewritten the final 3 episodes to avoid Eung-Seung, the show would have been an easy 9 or 10 out of 10.

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did not live up to expectations...

When I first watched episodes 1 to 4 I was shocked because based on the budget and story expectations I had, the plot was cliche and there was nothing engaging...given the deep plots introduced early in the drama I thought those will be the focus point for the drama. But eventually the plot just became messy because they added every single plot possible inside without giving proper closure to some open plots.

Plenty of loopholes, still dont understand how not a single family member went with her to germany for such an important surgery. The car crash and the kidnap and the getting s**t and stuff was so redundant to be honest. The villain's story just ended abruptly after dragging it for 16 episodes....the main plots were barely discussed, why did he want to divorce, why was she so cold to him.

Yes needless to say the acting and the osts are really good, but sometimes if the plot is so obviously not linking, it removes the relatability from the drama making it harder to understand the characters. For example, first half of the drama even though she had few months to live she focused so hard on getting into the trillion group (disregarding her health), the minute she just lost her company overnight suddenly all her desires disappeared??? literally the only person who was fighting back was the aunt. Even the family, how can a director and CEO of such a big company know nothing on how to handle the situation and they just dumped everything on hyunwoo to solve....

anyway i really tried to find why this was so hyped but really it is way too overrated and overhyped.

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It didn't really impressed me

I thought this drama will go to my favourite list at first. I really liked the first episodes but later it just kept adding more clichés to the plot. I felt like they added those on purpose to made the episodes longer. I also didn't vibe with the episodes length I just mentioned. Hour and half just seems too much to me and it easily gets boring.
This show isn't anything new. Rich female lead that have it all because of her parents and her husband that can't stand for himself and is stomped on by his wife. Like I do enjoy strong female leads in drama but this just wasn't it.
Also the fake illness? Was it really necessary? They couldn't think about something more realistic so they just put a fake one there. That made me really ask myself how dumb is this going to be in later episodes.
The only great thing on this was the visuals of actors and camera angles, nothing more.

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Starpower shines, while storytelling stagnates

What worked for the show:

Major starpower across the board. Even outside of Kim Soo Hyun and Kim Ji Won, Park Sung Hoon and Kwak Dong Yeon are budding stars of their own and provide reason to tune in.

Strong middle episodes. Once the FL's family moved in with the ML's family in the rural town I was sure it was going to follow the trope of them being arrogant, rude etc, but actually the budding relationships among the family members on each side was the major positive driving force of the show.

Inverting the gender trope of the tsundre male CEO to female CEO. The drama industry needs more badass FLs.

What didn't work:

Over-focus on the antagonist in later episodes when the screentime could have been focused on the main couple overcomming the FL's memory loss. Like many kdramas this one included someone with psychopathy/sociopathy playing an overbearing evil character.

Childhood reunion trope. In this drama we find out that the ML not only saved the FL's life, but also kept her ipod as she was his first crush. I don't think this trope is natural, although extremely common in kdramas with the idea of fated love, but felt completely unnessary and forced.

Poor writing at times and overly convient plot devices. There are several issues with the plot in general, how are we supposed to support a character who actively feels relief when he finds out his partner is dying in a few months. Everything medical is spoken as a matter of fact and that medical science for experimental procedures is exact. The show treats her surgery which is a supposed rare technique with a few academic papers as a 100 percent success rate on curing her terminal cancer and highly likely to affect her memory. Medical procedures, even those not used for dramatic effect, have risk involved and uncertainty.
The certainty of how the medical side was handled made the show feel less realistic. How are the parents not following their daughter who is getting an experimental treatment in a foreign country with likely memory side effects?

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Monotonous

My opinion of this series.
- Quick plot: The villians, their relationship, their intentions, are exposed in the early episodes (1 - 4) Thereafter, it seems the screenwriter ran out of ideas and thumb sucked the rest of the episodes. This is what makes the rest of the episodes monotonous.
Even the villians were drinking tea out of boredom, because they already achieved their goal.

The series should be named "Kings of tears." The male actors are crying in every episode.

The FL should have been made the villian - she is skilled at it, hence her role in the series "The Heirs "
She is not good at being affectionate or showing emotions.
The ML was behaving as if it's "HIS" last days on earth. Viewers should be informed that the ML has swallowed a river.
The aunt of the FL is an "overacto"r
The rest of the acting was partially okay.

The music was nice.

Rewatching is not worth it, unless I feel like irritating myself.

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My Opinion

If you want to waste your brain cells by watching something with lazy writing, plot holes, bad transitions and extremely overrated romance than go ahead and watch Queen of Tears. This show was so bad I do not know where to begin.
The first episode actually did grab my interest. I was very much interested to know why these two people who were in love had begun to hate each other. To say I was utterly disappointed would be an understatement. They lost a baby and they fell out of love? There were so many potential problems that the couple could have had which would give more depth to their marital problems. But as a viewer you are left with nothing. Ok great I am just going to imagine the missing bits myself I guess
Now the chemistry between these two actors. Either I am blind or the people out there who endlessly spoke about their chemistry are delusional. I saw nothing, not saying the chemistry was horrid, but it wasn’t anything special. I have seen this actress have excellent chemistry with actors and he isn’t one of them. They are supposed to be a married couple who have known each other for years and their romance was more awkward than shy high schoolers. There was absolutely no spark between them. I failed to understand why they fell out of love just like I failed to understand why they were back in love. I saw no reason for either scenario
Now moving on to the side characters. Let’s begin with her crappy family. Why did her mother hate her for so many years? Seems extremely petty. You supposedly love your daughter but it feels like you almost wish she would have died instead of your son. I wont even mention the ludicrous reconciliation between her and her mother. And the brother that everyone on the internet called “golden retriever” is anything but. He is whiny, a loser, pathetic till the end and extremely annoying. Everyone else is so boring they aren’t even worth mentioning.
You sell us on the most ridiculous excuse of a terminal disease that she suffers with in the trailer and turns out it’s not really that important or terminal even. It barely disrupted her life. I will be honest, I did not watch the last few episodes. By episode 9 the show had gotten intolerable but I did try to watch some of it. And then I just gave up, skipped to last episode and watched the last 5 minutes. So go ahead and waste your time with the most overrated show of 2024. Bet nothing can surpass this shit.

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Boring and overrated !!!

A bit tired of these absurd stories about these "poor" rich chaebol.
A poor script, a drama that relies only on the couple FL and ML A disastrous casting choice, with the father looks as old as the grandfather (Hong family) and the son (ML's brother) as old as the father (Baek family). Useless characters to fill out an empty story. Everything in this drama sounds fake (how can such wealthy people be so naive and stupid?), and due to the lack of content, we're force-fed with repetitive crying scenes, where we are not even able to see the tears roll down on the protagonists' cheeks...

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I had high expectations but was let down by the story

Where do I even begin?

Let's start with the ML. He's so desperate for a divorce that when he finds out the FL is supposedly dying, he practically celebrates and is ready to spread his wings and fly out of the marriage. But then, suddenly he does a complete 180 and can't live without her. What exactly happened in between? That part is vague but I can still accept since he’s softhearted and he use to love her but I can’t fill in the blank as to why he stopped loving her in the 1st place?? Her family was insane yeah but she wasn’t like them !!

And the FL has a terminal illness with absolutely no cure anywhere in the world. Doctors have given up, science has given up... and then, a miracle cure suddenly appears out of thin air. One surgery later and she's completely fine.
And don't even get me started on the surgery. She has major brain surgery and somehow comes out looking like she just got a fresh haircut. No shaved head, no scar, not even a tiny bandage.i know it's a rom-com, but at some point the writers started asking us to abandon common sense altogether.

I couldn’t stand it post episode 8 but still watched hoping the story will take off but it become more and more lame and absurd .
Acting was great as both of the lead actors are amazing actors though their characters weren’t evolving that much. Baek hyun woo and Hae in will be remembered as a popular couple as their chemistry was amazing . Can’t say same about the story thou.

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Glossy romcom

It's a glossy rom com with very little to cherish tbh so far. The power tripping Fam is just crazy. Enjoying terminal illness of spouse is like a new Kdrama genre or something & that dreaded TRIANGLE whether it's love or hate. ARGH!!!

That Soo Hyun scene saying why am I cute when I drink was the best thing about this drama so far. The wedding scene was Binjin coded so much so that they even called it wedding of the century too.

The outfits that Kim Ji won is wearing is absolutely stunning 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 so far.

Let's see how it goes later on. So far I won't rate it extraordinarily for what I have seen.

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Exceptional at First, Horrible in the Middle, Kind of Redeeming at the End

The final review-
This drama was a wild ride. I started my review halfway through and focused mainly on its strengths. Now that I've finished, I'll go back to discussing the overall strengths, and also include the weaknesses because there are some big ones.
Strengths-
The cast - The cast carried this drama, especially during parts that were poorly written. The ML and FL were perfect in their roles, seemed to have a good vibe and connection during the story that made their love for each other believable. It wouldn't surprise me to hear that these two actors enjoyed working together. I really loved the actors playing Soo Cheol and Da Hye and were my favorite secondary actors.

The production value - whether it was sets, lighting, film angles, costumes, or the soundtrack, the production value was high. There were many moments during the drama that were just beautifully filmed.

The storylines/writing - The main plot and subplots were good overall. I'll discuss where the writing went off the rails later, but in general the storyline was interesting and made for a good drama. While there were problems with the writing in certain episodes, the final episode brought everything to full circle and wrapped up all the storylines well. The ending showing Hyun Woo as an older man putting flowers on Hae In's grave was especially beautiful and touching. I like the final scene with Kim Soo Hyun and Kim Ji Won facing the camera with their heads together and smiling. I just thought that was one of the sweetest endings I've seen. It was so easy to like these two characters, and this was just a perfect way to have an ending with these two.

Weaknesses-
The storylines/writing - Episodes 12-15 were especially hard to watch. I really believe that this story didn't have enough to stretch it to 16 episodes. But in order to do that the writing became repetitive, unbelievable, and stupid. There is already a certain level of unbelievability built into the typical Kdrama love story, but this took it way, way too far. Real human beings would never do what some of the actors did, the actors had to be overly dramatic and over act in certain scenes that bordered on comical because the writing itself was so poor, scenes in slow motion that stretched out exhausting and frustrating the viewer. It was a chore to watch certain parts of this drama. You can read more about my impressions below.

I think a missed opportunity that would have tickled the viewing audience would have been if Hyun Woo woke up from his hospitalization, looked at Hye In and said, "Who are you?" Now that would have been priceless. Overall, the writing in the first episodes was good, then it was just horrible, but came back to better in the final episode to wrap up the story.

After 14 episodes-
I was going to wait until I watched the final episodes next week, but decided to add to the initial impressions. I'm in the middle of episode 14, and I have to say I'm getting frustrated and bored. After Man Dae's death (Hae In's grandfather) the storyline goes downhill. Really good subplots kept this story going, but at some point, some of the subplots wrapped up, others plodded along slowly, and others seemed to fizzle. Attention came back to the main plot, Hae In's brain tumors and her inevitable death unless she receives a surgery that will destroy her long term memory. Here is where Queen of Tears becomes stupid, and I have to say, the writer missed an opportunity to show the realities of a terminally ill patient when faced with hard options. Instead we get to see a really selfish Hae In who refuses to get the surgery even as her husband and family dissolve in grief and sadness in front of her. Nope, she doesn't care in the least. She only changes her mind when faced with other womens' interest in Hyun Woo. Really?? Jealousy is what motivated you?? What a supremely shallow, selfish and controlling take on wanting to fight a terminal illness to live. Hi Darling, I've decided to live, not because I love you and want a future with you, but because even if I can't remember you, I'll be damned if anyone else can have you!!! Hyun Woo run away!!! Run as far from this woman as you can get!!! This borders on controlling and possessive behavior, and I'm disappointed in the writing. Most likely it is due to trying to extend the story to 16 episodes when really it could have been finished by 12 episodes.

The fakeness of her terminal illness really bothers me too. In the beginning it wasn't as fake as she first found out how serious the diagnosis was, but it certainly got to the point of unbelievability. I've known people who have had cancer and tumors. I've known people who have had major surgeries to remove tumors. I've known people who have had brain surgery. It's really an injustice to gloss over that part, keeping her healthy, looking perfect, and she comes out of brain surgery with a full head of hair and wearing only an oxygen mask. Queen of Tears has dissolved into scene after scene of overly-dramatic overacting that doesn't do the true storyline any favor. It's really a huge disappointment right now.

After 8 episodes -
I'll add to the review once I've finished this drama. Netflix is dropping only 2 per week. Let's start with the strengths:

The cast - The ML and FL are perfectly cast. I especially like Kim Ji Won. Talk about the Queen of Stoic! She is a master at keeping everything inside so as to remain cool, calm, and in control which is just what this part called for. Well done Ji Won!! Kim Soo Hyun balancing heartbroken, corporate, and comedic parts all at once, without missing a beat. The storyline of a couple getting into a marriage and it not being what they thought is not that riveting, but add the element of losing a child, a loveless marriage Hyun Woo's wants to end, and Hae In's medical diagnosis and you have a super-charged, "stick-to-the-screen" viewing plot that sucks you in. I'm loving it!

The Surprises - Vincenzo??! VINCENZO???!!!! OMG!!!

The sub-plots - How to take down a Chaebol family 101. Disintegrate from within. This sub-plot really keeps you coming back for more. Why? They keep revealing that those who want to take down this family are well-intrenched inside the main family. This took years! It's pretty impressive. This sub-cast of characters are amazing, starting with Park Sung Hoon, who plays dastardly so well! Kudos to the casting director for getting Park Sung Hoon, and kudos to the screenwriter Park Ji Eun for this impressive main plot and subplot intrigue. I'm glued....literally glued to the storyline.

The cinematography - There are many, many good shots, but one in particular was in episode 8 when Hyun Woo and Hae In are standing in the rain and he is helping her remember---the blending of tears, rain, camera angles, and the slow down of the rain drops with music was poetic in its dramatic value. Cinematography, editing, the music score, it all came together for so many moments in this drama. I'm looking forward to the remaining episodes.

The soundtrack - The music is really adding to the emotional highs and lows this drama takes you on. I haven't enjoyed a soundtrack this much since Our Beloved Summer.

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