Queen of Tears

A stairway to heaven type Makjang, in this era. Really?

When the drama started and became very viral, I was very reluctant to watch it. It has happened to me that they have made some dramas very popular and when I decide to watch it, I'm like "So much fuss about this?" That's really what happened here.

When I read that Koreans themselves started calling this drama "Makjang" I assumed something was really going to go wrong. And I wasn't wrong at all.

It is truly a "Makjang". You know those dramas where meaningless things begin to happen here and there, deadly diseases that magically disappear, overly typical topics like memory loss and starting over again, again.

The first part was good. I'm not really going to make a big deal out of what the reason for their divorce was. As the protagonist explains at the end, many times when you get married (I have never been married but I say this because I am the daughter of divorced parents) or when you go out with someone. There is no single reason to separate from that person you love nor is there a single reason to overflow the camel's back. There are thousands of reasons, stupid fights that begin to become more frequent and wear down the couple, not sitting down to talk to solve problems, not communicating to your partner that attitudes that bother you about their character in a calm way, no, everything always ends. in fights and in a sentencevery typical but real "Can't talk to you". So that ends up wearing down the relationship and you end up making the decision to leave that person. It is also very common that when there is a loss of a baby, couples end up separating. It seems stupid, but losing a baby does a lot of damage to the relationship and even more so when neither party manages their feelings and supports each other in that difficult moment. So I really don't think there is one reason, there are thousands of reasons why a couple ends up breaking up. So I won't be too harsh in that regard.

But the second part is a disaster, really stupid things happen, why? not at all. Just to add more unnecessary drama.

And the ending... ugh I'm not going to lie, I did cry at the ending. After everything the protagonist did for the protagonist, does he see himself as an adult visiting her grave? When I saw that older man climbing the stairs they climbed together when he was younger I already feared the worst. And everything came true, when I saw the name of the protagonist embodied on her tomb.

I really don't know what I expected if this is a Makjang. It was obvious that things were not going to end well and the ending would be sad. Like any drama of this style. But at least I would have liked to see more moments of the couple again and not just random flashbacks that conveyed nothing to me.

The acting was great and the cinematography was great too, but actors alone can't save a poorly written drama. Even if they are the best actors. At least their performances made this a little lighter to watch.

I recommend it? I'm sorry to say this, because I love both actors, but no, I don't recommend it. Unless you like Makjang dramas.

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Enjoyable, but overrated

OVERALL
This drama has an almost makjang-esque quality that makes it both old and new. Watch it if 1) you like the sassy, confident FL, 2) you're into the re-romance trope, 3) you're looking for DRAMA (with capital letters). If you have low tolerance for clichés or bipolar series, skip.

THE STORY
I enjoyed Queen of Tears. I really did. But when I hear people say it's one of the best K-dramas ever made...I'm confused. This drama is basically a melting pot of recycled clichés. Zero originality. FL is the child of Song Yi (My Love from the Stars) and Moon Young (It's Okay to Not Be Okay); ML is basically a watered down ML from It's Okay to Not Be Okay. The plot is also filled with the oldest and most annoying tropes in the drama book: misunderstandings, terminal illness, despicable mom, crazy psychopath third wheel, and more. There are definitely elements that are promising at the start of the drama. I loved the idea of seeing a relationship crisis through both perspectives (ML and FL), or watching the main couple mend wounds from the past. But the drama never really delivers what it promised. There is never a return to the breaking point of romance, the main leads never identify and resolve the issues that made their relationship fail the first time around (which is not only super important but also the most interesting part of the setup). As for the perspective aspect...after the first ep, the drama kind of gives more importance to one perspective than the other, so that too ends up being disappointing. Recycling clichés is perfectly fine when you do something new and refreshing with them. Unfortunately, I did not get that feeling from Queen of Tears.

There are entertaining things in this drama, of course. I enjoyed the growth of FL's family members and the cute romantic scenes. Some parts are fun, and the excessive, bombastic drama is enough to keep you going. But really, I found that halfway through the drama, I was no longer emotionally invested because nearly everything was predictable. I also had a hard time with the wishy-washiness of genres (but that seems to be the trend in Kdramaland these days). It's hard to combine romcom and melo in a way that feels coherent and seamless. I feel like the drama did not quite succeed on that department.

Bottom line: It's a good drama to watch with your mind off, but I expected a lot more, to be honest. Some people have said it's better than Crash Landing. Not in my world. Crash Landing was both original and superbly written. This one is none of the above.

THE ACTING
That was fab. Nothing else to say. I love Jiwon and Soohyun! They also have awesome chemistry (though nothing to make me forget the Jiwon-Jin Goo duo in Descendants of the Sun).

THE MUSIC
Not to my taste, but not annoying or ugly.

REWATCH VALUE
Rather low, I'd say.

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Falls short of 'Crash Landind on You'...

In writing this review I wanted to provide my perspective for those who were potentially looking at watching Queen of Tears because of them loving Park Ji-eun's 'Crash Landing on You'.

Queen of Tears is centered around a marriage, how those two characters interact with each other in varying circumstances, and on the larger scale, how their families respond to events that unfold.

Crash Landing on You is centered around two people that grow to like each other despite being from different worlds, about comradery and support among friends, and about the moments that change your life.

Here is the thing, Queen of Tears attempts to copy the above formula they used for Crash Landing on You too, but falls short on captivating that emotional impact.

SPOILERS BELOW

Take for example one scene where the FL in Q.o.T reveals to the ML that it was HER mp3 player he had all these years later, and the ML reveals he tried so hard to find the girl that dropped it all those years ago. The script in that scene was just so dry and matter of fact that I felt like I was watching the news rather than a drama. In C.L.o.Y in comparison, the lead up and reveal of the ML and the FL discovering the ML was playing the piano of the music piece that helped the FL with her will to live - that was a masterpiece... cathartic, deeply emotive and the fulfillment of the viewer's greatest desire in wanting something to happen. This for me is the epitome of how the dramas differ: Queen of Tears attempts to replicate the C.L.o.Y formula, but ultimately failed because it didn't tell its own unique story, it went to clichés and over-used plots.

Is it still worth watching? Yes, probably. Will you skip scenes centered around their families? Yes, also likely. But ultimately, as a word of caution for the hopeful: It might not captivate on the level that the characters in 'Crash Landing on You' did.

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so much wasted potential

the queen of tears started off strong. with the perfect chemistry from the main leads, brilliant acting from the whole ensemble of casts, stunning cinematography, and well-crafted soundtrack, queen of tears immediately captured my attention and got myself captivated with the story. but then, the writer had the brilliant idea of putting every trope in the latter episodes. from unnecessary car crashes, dramatic and unrealistic kidnapping and gunshots, to greedy and messy family politics, the plot that was supposed to focus on the rekindling of relationship between a married couple eventually turned into a messy and predictable korean makjang. the villians' arc has stretched on until the last episode, making the plot of the story rushed and poorly executed. if it is not due to the superb acting of kim jiwon and kim sohyun, i would have dropped this drama after episode 13. such a waste of potential.

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Every masterpiece has a copy !! QOT feels likes a copy!

I was eagerly waiting for this drama and successfully avoided all the spoilers. Queen of tears broke records and it added more to the hype. I got even more excited.
It’s good for a one time watch but I will not sit through 16 episodes to watch it again. Especially the 2nd half of the drama is absolute chaos and not in a good way. It’s not even average but plain terrible.
I didn’t entirely dislike the drama but there were some parts that get on your last nerves. For instance the part when FL gets amnesia and ML goes to jail. It was absurd as there was no originality in the plot.
I constantly felt like I have watched the same things in some other kdramas. Specifically last episodes felt like copy paste from crash landing on you except the ML took the bullet for the FL and in CLOY the FL took the bullet to save ML in the end. And the way hyu woo was walking in snow in the middle of no where to find hae in. Same scene in cloy. It kept bothering me until I couldn’t take it anymore and didn’t watch most of the last episode bcz it was soo obvious.
I feel like strong cast couldn’t make up for the weak and incomplete story line.. the writer had nothing to add in the story that they copied from other dramas. Lastly there was just too much crying all the time it got me annoyed.

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Trash packaged stylishly

As a lover of K-drama, I never thought I would ever write this kind of review for any k-drama,. QoT reminds me of some terrible Indian soap operas that aired 25 years ago, had the ratings soar through the roof and killed the Indian TV entertainment industry by robbing its audience of great dramas it used to be famous for forever. The world has advanced and yet Indian TV is still stuck there. Its producers, who had produced some of the iconic slice of life dramas before that, swamped and suffocated the industry through power play because of the clout they garnered. Having such bad scripts get this kind of sky-rocketing ratings can push out seriously good scripts forever in an industry that's already struggling to survive. It's even more worrisome because now many of the good scripts are not even being aired on local channels in SK (for example, Moving, Soundtrack #1 and #2, Parasyte the Grey, A shop for killers etc).
The stars I gave were for the beautiful leads. That's it.

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Eyecandy with lazy writing

This drama has everything BUT a good story line. I believe that people are so blinded by the good looking actors that they don't even think critically about the plot. Sure, the acting is perfect, the production, the visuals, the music... But when it comes to the story, it's messy, boring and repetitive.

The first half of the show is more about the push and pull relationship between the leads. He loves her, she loves him but they refuse to communicate like grown up adults and think that the other doesn't like them anymore and the love is over.

The middle part of the drama revolves around the female lead's sickness and how she and her husband come to terms with her being a terminally ill patient. But still, they don't talk about their feelings and think their relationship is doomed.

Then, the second half of the show becomes UNBEARABLE. It's basically a makjang with good looking actors. The bad mother and son steal the family's wealth. The bad guy is obsessed with the female lead and wants her all to himself while planning on killing her now ex husband. The story becomes so boring and repetitive that at some point I just wanted the female lead to finally die so that we can be over with everything. Also, of course the ending couldn't get any more unrealistic.

I honestly believe this is a highly overrated kdrama that is only popular because it had a lot of promotion on social media and one of the main actors is Kim Soo Hyun. All of the cast are talented actors but their good performance is not enough to save the lazy writing. Also, the screenwriter Park Ji Eun really needs to stop with the unrealistic happy endings. Why is she so afraid of sad but realistic endings? She's like: "I want a sad ending but not really. Also, the public wouldn't want a sad ending" (see "My Love from the Star", "Crash Landing on You", and now let's add "Queen of Tears" to the list).

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Poor execution of a good story

When I watched the first episodes I thought I would love this series. If this series was only about confronting relationship problems and the healing of a broken family, the series would be at least a 9/10, since it confronts a serious topic, however still adds a funny note every now and then. The actors are great and I surprisingly liked the side couples. However, what could have been a deep story about marriage was turned into the most stereotipical and superficial story. Every episode was filled with unnecessary car accidents and sacrifices. Everyone somehow had a childhood connection with the other, which made no sense as it is very often showns hiw everyone has such a different status and family background. The hate of the main character of his wife just suddenly turns into him giving his life every three seconds for her. Instead of escaping the unhappy life he lives, it somehow gets more miserable. I think less episodes and less "tipical kdrama plottwists" could've made this show into something very special. Instead it got turned into a whole a** mess.

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Wasted potential.

Full disclosure: I made it until halfway through episode 10 before I called it quits. I started this drama having high hopes for a love story of a married couple whose relationship is on the verge of divorce, them rediscovering the reasons why they used to love each other, rediscovering their attraction to each other and then painfully working through the issues that tore them apart in the first place. By episode 10, the leads were divorced. Thus far they hadn’t any deep, vulnerable conversations about that went wrong in their marriage, they both spent the last 10 episodes doing the same dance of not communicating, having moments of attraction to each other, and then dismissing them and deflecting. Their scenes, although they started off good in the first couple episodes, quickly became repetitive - like a hamster wheel with no forward movement.

This story had so much potential. I would have loved to see the main leads figuring out together how to navigate her shitty family situation, with the ML from a small farming village, marrying a wealthy heiress, and then feeling trapped in this prestigious family who completely controlled his life, his job and their marriage. I would have loved to see more development on how the FL was drawn to this innocent, upright small town man who was far removed from the kind of life she lived, and to see more of that dynamic with the pressures she was under as the heiress to this major conglomerate. I would have loved to see them explore how she has to be ruthless and cold and distant in order to survive in her world, and with such a family that she had. I would have loved to see the leads process the loss of their child, how differently they each handled grief, and how their difficulties in grieving together and was what began creating that rift in their marriage. I would have loved more emphasis on her and her husband’s journey with her terminal cancer. I would have loved more dialogue, more of a character-driven story.

Instead, all of the elements that drew me to this show in the first place got swallowed up by a menagerie of less interesting, inconsistent side characters, side plots, and filler scenes with characters I didn’t give a shit about. Her powerful, controlling family turned into a joke. The FL’s cancer diagnosis as of episode 10 felt more like an afterthought, basically just accepted by the leads and not really emphasized much. Oh, but there was some psychopathic, possessive SML who cared more about the FL dying than her own spouse. Instead of open and honest communication with the leads, we had episode upon episode of refusing to communicate, misunderstandings, pushing each other away and basically nothing getting talked through or resolved.

Perhaps these issues would have been addressed in the last six episodes, but with the leads having maybe 10-15% of the total screen time in each other’s presence (and hardly satisfying scenes at that), the hope for more resolution and better development between them stopped being worth the other 85% of filler BS with all the other side shit going on.

The show should have stuck to the simplicity of a love story between these two complex people whose love for each other over the years has been impacted by grief, controlling in-laws, fame, social status, societal pressure and differences in socioeconomic backgrounds.

The two stars I did give were solely due to the great acting with the leads.

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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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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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