Queen of Tears

My rating: 8/10

I almost feel generous saying 8/10. If it wasn’t so well acted and beautifully filmed, I would have rated it lower. It just wasn’t my thing. I never reached that “oh good, I can watch an episode (or two)” feeling—it was more like enduring it, hoping Hong Hae-in’s character would turn around. I think it was aiming for a bit of a Notebook vibe: “I love you even if you don’t remember me.” She is terminal throughout most of the show, so if that kind of heavy sadness bothers you, maybe pass. This is one of those shows where, if I see it on someone’s list of “good shows,” I’m going to question their entire list. Oh, you prefer highly dramatic, overall emotionally draining dramas? I mean, it is complex—I’ll give it that. But, in terms of the romance, I am not sure the writers had any idea what good, healthy love looks like. I think they might have been going for “there are all types of love, including imperfect love.” I don’t want to watch imperfect love, though. Would I watch it again? Absolutely not. I had a hard enough time getting through it the first time. Recommend it? It depends. Do you like emotionally heavy shows about people who probably should be better off apart but somehow keep landing back together? Does that messy, “real” feeling appeal to you? Then maybe you’d like it. Personally I would leave the room if it was on or turn the channel. I’m not sorry I watched it—I was very curious, and it shows up pretty often on “shows to watch” lists. But it will now be an indicator for me. If someone likes it, I will assume our taste does not align.

Spoilers  

The Backstory of Their Marriage and Hong Hae-in’s Coldness

I waited nearly the entire series to understand how their relationship got so bad as reflected in the beginning of the series. Why they were sleeping in separate bedrooms, why her family treated him like a servant, why Hong Hae-in didn’t do anything about it, and why she was the queen of cold. The show tried to explain it way too late with flashbacks to when they were first considering marriage. She tells him her family is very different from his and that no matter how lonely he becomes, she won’t be able to take his side. That was supposed to exonerate her from how she treated him early in the marriage and explain how they became so cold and distant. It was also supposed to show it was partially his fault because, after all, she did warn him. I think they wanted to portray Hong Hae-in as a tsundere—cold on the outside but warm on the inside—and they tried to make that an okay or even good thing. The flashbacks and her “warning” were meant to paint her behavior as understandable or even romantic, like she was always secretly caring deep down. I did not buy that at all. She did not have to be that way—she chose to be. It was emotional abuse. And, even after the surgery, she never significantly change. Even in the last episode she says something about him proposing but that she doesn’t know him that well again yet. He did take a bullet for her, though, so she would have to find a way to turn him down without hurting him. She was still being somewhat distant. I just saw her as cold and selfish from beginning to end.

Fated Childhood Connections

The show piled on way too many “destiny” moments, and it started to feel silly. For the main couple, there were two big ones. First, the childhood angel story where he saves Hong Hae-from drowning as kids. Then later their encounter as teen-agers over the music player. The villainous second guy even tries to get on the destiny action by claiming he was the one who saved her from drowning. And, as if that was not enough, there is the real incident between 2nd villainous guy and her where he bashes the dog with a rock to keep it from attacking her. Where did the dog even come from? Why was it attacking her? And since he had already mentioned killing dogs like a psycho earlier, was that an accident or just an excuse for him to bash a dog with a rock? It felt forced and weird. On top of that, they had to pile another destiny like encounter with Hong Hae-in’s brother and his wife and some fated childhood connection at the orphanage with the strawberry shortcake story. So you end up with multiple overlapping destiny flashbacks for the main couple plus side characters. It made the whole “meant to be” theme feel overdone and ridiculous.

Unbelievable Plot Elements and Medical Realism

So many things in the show stretched believability. Hong Hae-in has an initially inoperable brain tumor that causes her to go into dreamlike states and lose track of time and where she is. Yet she has these really long lucid stretches where everyone acts like she’s relatively normal. And, knowing she has these episodes, they let her drive and just go about herself. That would not happen. With a brain tumor like that, you wouldn’t be well enough to go about your normal life. The people who cared would notice and be sure they did not leave you alone. So, her whole brain tumor thing was strange. But, they seemed to like the theme of people having a horrible illness or injury and just shrugging it off. When he gets hit and they say it broke a rib and virtually destroyed his liver—he leaves the hospital to go after her. He would not have been able to function that well, even with adrenaline. He has a brain tumor, grandpa gets poisoned and that isn't enough they also have to add amnesia. I seriously dislike the amnesia trope, but it was particularly annoying here. She had written all these things for herself, and of course the villain/second guy gets ahold of them and tries to burn them. And of course, by some miracle, they don’t burn.

The Over-the-Top Sadness and Action Beats

I am not one for sad movies, but this was comically sad. You know how in a horror movie they try so hard to scare you that it starts to be funny? That’s how I felt about this. Oh, now he’s hit by a car. Oh, now he took a bullet for her. The hunting grounds scene where the villain is chasing them with a rifle (“If I can’t have you, no one will”) felt so cliché. When she is going into surgery and says “What if I forget who you are? What if I am mean to you?” and he says “Then it wouldn’t be the first time.” That is sad. I really felt like the world was saying they shouldn’t be together. Queen of Tears? She was the queen of his tears. Always making the man sad. Family Dynamics, the Villain, and Sad Side Stories

The villain’s mom horribly neglected him—that’s why he was so crazily addicted to Hong Hae-in. So it even felt a tiny bit sad when he got shot in the end. The grandfather being killed by the woman he so horribly misjudged—not listening to and preferring her over his own daughter—was still sad. Hong Hae-in’s mother being so jealous of her and being cold to her because the brother died and she lived. The mother says that later. How ridiculous that would be—angry at a child for living. Sad and unnecessary actions and behaviors throughout the show that just made the tone overall sad.

Redemption Arcs and Side Character Moments

I did like how Hong Hae-in’s brother learned to box and was a bit of a badass saving his wife. I liked seeing him get some redemption-type arc. His family was also very mean to him and then he married someone who thought he was an idiot. Their "romantic" fated arc was really her just conning him out of his things and bullying him. I mean, then later she just thinks he is stupid and sort of winds up loving him by accident.

Forgiving People

The main guy forgives main girl for her cold behavior all over the place and all the time. The way she was with 2nd guy even when they were still married was wrong. You don't let another man be that close to you when your spouse is right there. That is hurtful. But he never called her on it. They forgive Grace? Why? She was horrible and just did a couple of redeeming things here and there. But she tried to break the main couple up, made their relationship worse, helped embezzle money, and turned on them any time it benefitted her more. Nothing redeemable about her in my opinion.

The Ending and Final Reflections

He wakes up in his hospital bed after taking a literal bullet for her and she apologizes to him for once again treating him coldly and not remembering him—and he apologizes to her? For what? For forgetting how much he had wanted to be with her and how he should have just been willing for the family to treat him like a lesser human and for her to be cold to him? Yeah, I’m not okay with that. There is nothing romantic about one person showing love all the time so much more than the other. Whoever wrote it had the weirdest sense of love and romance. Then they have to end it with him being alone again. It is supposed to be beautiful—the old man putting flowers on the grave just like she envisioned. That is the saddest and loneliest time in anyone’s life: losing their life partner. It was supposed to be beautiful. She was there to greet him when he died. Why did we need that on top of all the other crud they put us through? No thank you. Did not like this. A sad and depressing take on life, love and relationships. Not at all the type of show I like to watch to feel joy in life.

Summary  

• Year ran: 2024

• Number of episodes: 16

• Average time per episode: 80–90 minutes

• Genres: Romantic Comedy, Drama

• Country of origin: South Korea

  
  

Synopsis

In the high-pressure world of South Korea’s wealthiest families and corporate empires, a powerful third-generation chaebol heiress and her grounded lawyer husband from a humble rural background watch their once-happy marriage begin to crumble under mounting personal and professional strains. When an unexpected crisis strikes, the couple is forced to confront long-buried issues, navigate complicated family loyalties, and rediscover the love that first brought them together.

Major Characters  

• Hong Hae-in (Kim Ji-won): The formidable third-generation heiress to the Queens Group department store empire and CEO of Queens Department Store; the main female lead whose icy exterior hides deep vulnerabilities.

• Baek Hyun-woo (Kim Soo-hyun): Hae-in’s devoted husband and the legal director of Queens Group; the main male lead from a modest farming family in Yongdu-ri who strives to support his wife amid intense family pressures.

• Yoon Eun-sung (Park Sung-hoon): Hae-in’s old college classmate who is secretly in love with her; a shrewd M&A expert and businessman who schemes to take over the Queens Group empire as part of his pursuit of her; son of Mo Seul-hee.

• Hong Soo-cheol (Kwak Dong-yeon): Hae-in’s younger brother and an executive in the Queens Group conglomerate; the second child in the Hong family.

• Cheon Da-hye (Lee Joo-bin): Hong Soo-cheol’s wife (and therefore Hae-in’s sister-in-law); a key family member who betrays her husband and the Hong family by secretly working with Yoon Eun-sung to undermine the company.

• Hong Man-dae (Kim Kap-soo): Hae-in’s grandfather and the powerful chairman of Queens Group; the family patriarch whose decisions shape the entire conglomerate.

• Hong Beom-jun (Jeong Jin-yeong): Hae-in’s father and a high-ranking executive in the family business.

• Kim Seon-hwa (Na Young-hee): Hae-in’s mother; part of the immediate Hong family navigating the corporate and personal conflicts.

• Hong Beom-ja (Kim Jung-nan): Hae-in’s aunt (sister of Hong Beom-jun) and a chaotic, larger-than-life family member known as the “crazy aunt” who was previously imprisoned.

• Mo Seul-hee (Lee Mi-sook): Yoon Eun-sung’s mother; a calculating figure who betrays Hong Man-dae and becomes deeply entangled in the family’s corporate power struggles.

• Grace Go (Kim Joo-ryeong): The eccentric and outspoken “crazy matchmaker” figure who inserts herself into the Hong family dynamics with dramatic flair.

• Baek Du-gwan (Jeon Bae-soo): Baek Hyun-woo’s father and the village head of Yongdu-ri; a proud rural family patriarch.

• Jeon Bong-ae (Hwang Young-hee): Baek Hyun-woo’s mother and owner of the local supermarket in Yongdu-ri; the warm-hearted matriarch of the Baek family.

• Baek Hyun-tae (Kim Do-hyeon): Baek Hyun-woo’s older brother; part of the close-knit rural Baek family.

• Baek Mi-seon (Jang Yoon-ju): Baek Hyun-woo’s older sister; another key member of the supportive Baek family from Yongdu-ri.