I’m not sure where to start with this review. Queen of Tears is a great drama and I think there are so many things to unpack that I might not even have understood completely. There is a good mix of emotional and funny scenes here that leaves one crying at one moment and laughing in the next. Queen of Tears is about a struggling married couple, Hong Hae In (Kim Ji Won) and Baek Hyun Woo (Kim Soo Hyun). Hae In is part of Queens Group, a conglomerate and Hyun Woo is the legal director for Queens Group. One day, Hae In finds out that she has a brain tumor and only 3 months left to live, which turns their relationship upside down (in a good way).
As expected from Crash Landing On You writer, there are many references to kdramaland. Not to mention, they make so many references to CLOY as well – at one point, Hae In’s mother was also watching CLOY on TV! And the two guys who follow Hyun Woo around are the two guys who never gave up searching from Yoon Se Ri in CLOY. They even mentioned, “I’m the best in Korea, even better than the CIA – I found a missing person in North Korea.” Can’t forget the iconic cameo that Song Joong Ki did – “people say he was a soldier abroad, came from space, a werewolf, part of the mafia, his name, Vincenzo.”
I was very frustrated watching our main characters, because they don’t communicate with one another, but that’s the reality of a lot of couples who get divorces. However, I do think that the drama portrays what love is really well. Unlike a lot of dramas where there are many cutesy lovey dovey scenes, the drama only has very subtle and meaningful scenes. Hae In never really expresses her love and feelings outwardly. The scene that stood out to me was when Hyun Woo brought her flowers and she accepts them with a stoic face. The moment he leaves, she tells her secretary to fetch her a vase. I also really liked the scene in episode 3 when she tells Eun Seong that “love isn’t about being happy and whispering sweet nothings. Love is when you endure the pain together. When you choose to stay instead of running away.” This was right after she found out that she had the brain tumor and Hyun Woo was doing everything to stay by her side. In Hyun Woo’s mind, he was trying to be a part of her will, but in his heart, he’s doing everything out of love.
Hyun Woo is also very quiet but shows his love through his actions. He knows how to push Hae In’s buttons to encourage her to do something, like how he riled her up with the divorce so that she can have a motive to live (motive = destroying him). The amount of times he comes to save her or protect from Eun Seong is astounding. I think the highlight (and hottest) scene was when Eun Seong was tailing Hae In’s car while she was going to the hospital and Hyun Woo cuts in front of him at a stop light to lose the tail. These two do not have words of affirmation in their love language.
A lot of the side characters are also written very well. The brother, Soo Cheol and Da Hye’s love line was great and as the drama progresses, we get to see how much Soo Cheol grows – from a mama’s boy to an independent man who can take care of his family (kinda). I think it’s hilarious that Soo Cheol chooses to stay in Yongdu-ri with Hyun Woo’s parents and every time Soo Cheol does something wrong, Hyun Woo’s dad has a flash back to when Beom Jun (Soo Cheol’s dad) says, “I feel so guilty for leaving Soo Cheol behind. It’s like leaving a bag of trash behind after a trip.” Also, Soo Cheol and his bicycle is very representative of his growth – in the beginning, he was learning to bike so that he could teach his son only for his mom to intervene because they’re rich – who needs to bike? Soo Cheol complains that he’s always been babied, that his mom never lets him fail so he never learns. And Soo Cheol does exactly that – he learns to ride his bike after falling a million times and he also learns from his mistake after falling for Eun Seong’s scheme.
Speaking of Eun Seong and the bad guys’ scheme – I never really understand why the bad guys were trying to bring down Queens Group. Were they only in it for the money? I had thought it was something to do with corruption in the orphanage, but it never really went into depth, unless I missed something. Because I don’t totally believe that Da Hye was in it for the money, unless she was in the beginning but then realized that her love for Soo Cheol was more important and then she was threatened by the bad guys to stay on their side when she tried to turn back.
My favorite character of all is Aunt Beomja. She is the realest of all and only wants the best for her family. She was the one who tried warning her dad that his girlfriend was the bad guy and she was the one who cared so much for Hae In. This drama doesn’t just focus on love between couples, we explore relationships between family as well. Although Hae In’s family is so hard on her sometimes, they cried for her so much when they found out about the tumor – and that’s when I cried the most too.
4.5/5 – The drama has a lot of funny and sad scenes at the same time – I would literally be crying and then laughing in the middle of it because they told a funny joke somewhere. Truly a great show to watch and will bring you on a rollercoaster of emotions.
