Queen of Tears is about a married couple with one as the legal director (Kim Soo Hyun) of the conglomerate Queens Group and the other a chaebol heiress (Kim Ji Won) who is known as the queen of Queens Group department stores as they struggle to survive and stay together through a crisis.
Kim Ji Won plays Hong Hae In. She is part of a wealthy chaebol family and is known as the queen of Queens Group department stores. She has a cold and prickly personality that intimidates those around her, including her husband Baek Hyun Woo.
Kim Soo Hyun is Hae In’s husband, Baek Hyun Woo. He is the legal director for Queens Group. He feels trapped in his marriage and with her family and just wants to find a way out. Suddenly, that opportunity comes to him in a surprising way.
Park Sung Hoon is Yoon Eun Seong. He’s had a relationship with Hae In and her family for many years, but his motives seem suspicious.
Queen of Tears was a hit drama during its run. With a large budget and star cast, it broke ratings records, and was the drama everyone was talking about. I’ve had decent success with this writer in the past, so I was hopeful and had a pretty good idea of what to expect going in. And that’s pretty much how things went for me.
It was a good watch that I mostly enjoyed, though I didn’t love it to the extent that so many did. First off, this was seriously such a slow burn for me. It took a while to really set things up and get oriented in the world.
SPOILERS BELOW
Most of the characters are also pretty unlikable at the beginning, including our heroine, Hae In. She’s so cold, prickly, and borderline robotic for a good chunk of the series. She does soften up some and definitely has some very emotional moments, but this was a difficult character for me to connect with.
Hyun Woo starts out a little rocky, but he soon develops into the most caring man you could ever meet. He gets a bit more perfect with each episode as he will go to any length to help Hae In. Kim Soo Hyun gave a terrific performance and really brought the emotions. His tears always tugged at my heart.
Now, I did like both Hyun Woo and Hae In as our main couple. This couple starts out absolutely hating each other at the beginning of the drama. I mean really hating. We see this slowly change as they grow closer together again. I liked how the drama handled the flashbacks to them initially falling in love at the end of each episode.
I would have liked to have seen their actual married life given the same treatment though. We only briefly see the initial reason for them pulling away from each other, and hardly any attention is given to the aftermath.
They go from a very in love couple to complete hatred in just a few years. While the issues they faced can easily tear a couple apart, it was hard for my brain to comprehend going from such love to so much hate. Showing more of their married journey would have helped with this.
But their present journey is an engaging and intense one. This couple was faced with incredible challenges. We see them slowly reconnect and fall in love again, but secrets threaten the relationship in the midst of Hae In’s illness.
It was so hard seeing Hyun Woo genuinely loving Hae In but eventually seeing her pull away as she finds out about the divorce. He stays faithful to her though, and slowly wins her back over. He ends up being the most kind and dedicated husband ever.
One of the biggest drawbacks for the series was the really long episodes. Many episodes clock in at over one and half hours. This created some pacing issues and resulted in a lot of plot filler. The main story was solid and entertaining, but it did mosey along at times.
We also have a whole lot of supporting characters, and they get a lot of time in the drama. Aside from our main duo and villain, I was interested in Soo Cheol (Kwak Dong Yeon) and Da Hye (Lee Joo Bin) who had a very unique relationship.
Everyone else, I was pretty neutral towards. Some are good, some are bad. Everyone ties into the main story well. There is decent character growth from many of them. I just wasn’t feeling most of them.
These things might not be such an issue for you though if you fall in love with all of the characters and the atmosphere in the drama. It’s a well-built world, so you may enjoy just spending time in it.
Those last few episodes were also something else. This is a drama where things sort of go off the rails, and old school melo elements come crashing in hard. They are filled with so many convenient plot devices, character decisions that don’t make sense, and all sorts of illogical happenings. This took some major check your brain at the door effort that even I found a bit difficult at times (and I’m really good at that! lol).
Overall, Queen of Tears was a fun watch though. Even though it had some issues, the production value is high with a solid story throughout. The main couple is engaging with a very strong, independent woman in a Hae In and a dedicated, loving, and swoony man in Hyun Woo. There’s a lot to see with this one, so you’ll just have to check it out too see what all of the hype is about.
My Rating: 7/10
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