Undercover Relationship
Off the bat, we have a reverse trope in Queen of Tears. She is the rich guy and he is the poor lover. We start off with a kiss in the first two minutes. Kim So Hyun (playing ML Baek Hyun Woo) looks gorgeous as the New Company Recruit and Kim Ji Won (playing Hong Hae In, the Heiress of Queens Group and FL) is our beautiful rich Heiress. He is left handed, she is right handed and so are their lives. This is a very acrimonious relationship, stairs to nowhere. Queen of Tears is a Dark Comedy.Hong Hae In met Baek Hyun Woo working undercover as an intern in her own Conglomerate. Not knowing who she was, it was love at first sight for him. This drama could well be named ‘The Impossible Heiress’ or ‘Snow Queen and the Seven Airs’. After 10 minutes of viewing, you might agree with me that this drama has “Hit” written all over it. Secretly, behind the Ice Maiden veneer, there is a woman who loves her husband and a man who does not know that. This is a painfully great story, with a stacked cast. And believe it or not, this is a laugh out loud RomCom.
I like the dichotomy of the character Kim Soo Hyun is playing. Literally, his character (Baek Hyun-woo) has two faces. He is playing his character in happy times, a time in flashbacks when he and his wife (Hong Hae-in played by Kim Ji Won) were in love with each other. In the next sceen in Queen of Years, Kim Soo Hyun is playing his present self, one jaded by life and one totally saddened by his living situation and the loss of love for his wife. Kim Soo Hyun is asked somehow to reconnect to the emotions and feelings he had with his wife at first. For this character, Kim Soo Hyun has to be bipolar or living in two different worlds. I am so enthralled by how he is pulling off these polar opposite characters for his performance in Queen of Tears. Can he find the self he lost?
What I really like about Queen of Tears is a hidden message to the World of the Married. The grass is not greener on the other side. The grass is greener where you water it.
Oh BTW. Seeing Kim So Hyun after almost a three year drama lay off (His last role was Ordinary Day 2021), you might have love at first sight (again) too. There is great cinematography in Queen of Tears. One thing that is inconvenient in Queen of Tears is the close up shooting of this drama. We have to read subtitles and try to look at faces. Since the camera person is using close in shots, that camera stays on the person speaking only a split second and then moves to the the next person speaking. The camera is moving off each person too quickly. To view the faces of the actors, I literally have to pause frequently.
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QOT is the best so far for 2024
I actually like the twist after twist scenes, especially the epilogues revealed in each episodes. Every cast are unique and nailed each characters, the production choose the best cast, indeed ? . From undeniably chemistry of soohyun and jiwon to the antagonist (that really hooked me to be stressed and annoyed) is effective to set a rollercoaster emotion to the viewers. Their OST really adds up the tense, It makes you cry, scream, smile, annoyed, sad,... all the OST in this show deserve an award, I reckon. Overall it was the best, the shows realy deserves the ratings. For me, the drama is in the level of DOTS and My Love From The Star.Was this review helpful to you?
Queen of Tears: An Emotional Rollercoaster but a Must-Watch!!!!!!!
This is the first review I'm writing for any Kdrama and I will like to start by saying that I will NEVER regret watching Queen of Tears.Don't let people fool you by saying it's dull or boring. This show may be simple but it's the very BEST and FINEST that will go down in Kdrama history,
What I Love the Most:
Kim Soo Hyun, Kim Soo Hyun and Kim Soo Hyun!! This actor is a LEGEND and you will understand why when you'll watch this show. Whether he's acting cute, sexy, happy or sobbing, you will feel Every Single EMotion!! That's how good He is. I promise you won't just have a crush on him; You will fall head over heels for THE Kim Soo Hyun!!!
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Just Something Else...
I already miss this show soooo much after finishing it 3 hours ago... i literally loved EVERYTHING...from the cast and the music ,to the story and the intrigue. My heart fluttered from the family time , it ached from crying , it twinkled from the chemistry and it stopped from the thriller. I loved everyone's acting, especially Kim Soo Hyun's ,Kim Ji Won's, Park Sung Hoon's,Lee Mi Sook's, Kim Jung Nan's, Kim Joo Ryung's, Kim Gab Soo's, Na Young Hee's, Kwak Dong Yeon's ,Jeon Bae Soo's, Hwang Young Hee's, Lee Joo Bin's... Bruh,did i LITERALLY write everyone here???I was thinking of writing a few but i couldn't stop writing the actors' names. The songs Love You With All My Heart and The Reasons Of My Smiles were reallyyy good especially LYWAMH. But wait...i forgot to describe KSH, KJW, LMS, and KJN's actings : KSH was amazing,i am speechless . He could cry at any moment and he portrayed his character so well. KJW was amazing too,she could also cry whenever she wanted +she was so like IU's character in Hotel Del Luna, a seemingly emotionless person,with a broken heart of gold,and she played that character PERFECTLY ,and she was GORGEOUS ! I AM LEFT SPEECHLESS FOR LMS...She was PERFECT AND PHENOMENAL...She scared me sooo much ,because of how good she portrayed her role. Finally, KJN, was Just as good as the three i mentioned( i don't have anymore adjectives to use on her lol),she just ROCKED it though. She played a caring and loving character who wanted her entire family to reunite and reconcile and she loved them with all her heart. Just thanks,KJN for your acting...Of course, the cinematography ,writing were so good .Thank you so much Park Ji Eun for a new drama that enlightened us!!!Was this review helpful to you?
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Too Many Cooks/Troupes Spoil The Broth!!
For me, this drama "almost" lived up to its hype. The premise was strong and beautifully executed. The visuals in the drama were so scenic and beautiful making me want to visit Germany! The characters in the story had flaws and it was reasoned well.But from episode 13, the messy and lazy writing sank the ship. Too many unnecessary troupes were introduced in the later stage of drama where we should have been resolving issues from the previous episodes. Hyun Woo getting into an accident in the penultimate episode and the antagonist arc stretched till the last episode was nail in the coffin for people like me who have been religiously following the drama from its teaser and were waiting for the "Rom" in the said Romcom!!
For the last episode, too many questions and drama were left to unfold leading to a rushed and unsatisfactory ending. It was sort of bittersweet for me. I understand death is a natural phenomenon but showing in the last few minutes instead of them living a healthy life together is a grudge I am willing to hold with the writer for a long long time.
Acting was exceptional. Even If I nitpick I can't find faults. Despite how shambled the writing was, their acting made it convincing. All the aegyos made me laugh. Hyun Woo crying and breaking down when Hae In was hurt made my hurt heart. Hae In from being cold-hearted and emotionless at times made me angry but once her story was out you couldn't help but sympathize. The one kiss (Germany) gave me butterflies.
I wish they work together again in a drama where the script does them justice to their commitment till the very end! The other supporting characters also did a great job!
The OST's are one of the best that I have heard. It matched the story and theme perfectly! The placement of the OST in the drama is done well making them more enjoyable and memorable.
Overall this was a 8.5-9 for me from episodes 1-12 but so many NEEDLESS twists/turns in the last few episodes led it to 7. If it wasn't for the extraordinary acting of leads and the great and intriguing premise I would have rated this somewhere between 6-6.5!
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Tears (and interest) dried up mid-way
I really wanted this drama to have a strong finish because it started out strong. Hae-in's character was well-written and they did an excellent job casting Kim Jiwon for the role; one of the few borderline psycho female leads that was actually likeable and did not start irritating me 3 episodes in (cue IONTBO, CLOY, MLFTS FLs).KSY and KJW's acting was amazing and their chemistry was satisfying to watch, there was a good plot twist in the middle with the riches to rags thing, the drama found clever ways to play tribute to other popular K dramas and past KSY FLs, and the OST was amazing (and probably what buoyed this drama for me). But that's where the good stuff ends. It was as if the evil-doers lost their braincells after they took over the company or some disney fairy powder was sprinkled over their noses and they turned good overnight. My braincells died along with theirs and the drama became devoid of any intellectual stimulation.
Would I download the OST and hit the reply button? Yes! Would i rewatch this drama? No thank you.
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Don't watch if you are fan of the actors
"New high budget tvN/tving/Netflix drama from park ji-eun (who wrote crash landing on you) with kim soo hyun and kim ji won as leads (as married couple), How exciting is that", those were my exact thoughts before i started this drama.I know I'm being too harsh by giving it a 1 ⭐ but I would've given it 0 ⭐ if it was an option. This drama is a toxic family drama disguised as rom-com. The lead couple is so toxic that the fl is a control freak and the ml is so disgusted with her that he wants her dead, on top of that the badly written family and business drama which doesn't make any sense.
To be honest Park ji-eun does it again, In her writing one thing that I found common is a flawless male lead and an immature female lead with poor family relations. She did the same thing in my love from the star and crash landing on you and same here.
at least in previous 2 dramas the flawless male lead part didn't bother much because in former it was an alien and in later it had an in-depth backstory as explanation but here it is so obvious that she is obsessed with that which as a writer a bad thing.
The show starts at least better than how it ended and the quality declines with each episodes and don't be deceived with the high ratings and good reviews, people nowadays just see eye-candy actors and actresses and rate the series 10/10, I really don't get why they even bother to rate it ?.
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Queen of Ks
The K for K-drama is strong in this one.... offering us everything K- from the Cheobols, psycopaths, revenge bickering, hate to love, love to hate, amnesia and leads who are willing to take at least one bluet for the other.... Illnesses hidden, murder... countryside folks, evil parents, kind parents, soft tears, screamy tears You name it if it has been seen in a popular K odds are you will find it in here somewhere.While I do love my K's it also has my old nemesis healing, leads talking about stuff as one making me cringe just a little bit too much so though I did enjoy the story with all its more or less predictable twists it is the cringe that had me lowering the score but for those who can handle the cringe all the power to you!
Enjoy, for those who rather keep things clean and fluffy without the regular K-drama mess this is not a drama for you so I advise you to watch something else.
I also have to mention that Kim Soo Hyun and Kim Ji Won make a great hot and could couple and that Lee Joo Bin was phenomenal in this. The rest of the cast was pretty decent too.
P.s. None of this should be a surprise considering who wrote the script....
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The reason of my smile only for the couple interaction
It was so good from ep 1-8 then it add another "roller coster" plot twist every new epUntil the viewer not focus on which one are the main problem
Divorce? Brain Tumor? Amnesia? Queens Bankrupt ?
Haein brother dead? The grandpa girlfriend motive
And the editor or writer just hoping the viewer glup and take it or leave it for 40 minutes redemtion arc
If the writer or director can show more and focus on divorce and just solve that brain tumor and focus on how the main lead love story more it would be better
Showing the past and present of their relationship
How he got shock on haein background, how the miscariage problem more detail
Now we only left with the visual ost and the top actor actress acting
As hard carry the whole show
The reason i watch is SooWon
Thanks for potraying kim ji won and kim soo hyun, if i rewatch it again i will skip of all the unecessary part
Villian arc, the extra story of muderer etc
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Great acting, interesting story - ending both brilliant and lacking (Spoilers marked)
This series was extremely well done. The acting, all around, was great. The couples were cute, and the chemistry, when the story allowed for it, was awesome. The main couple, the Kim’s IRL, were, of course, stunning. Wow! And when they were getting along, they were so cute! But it is another Asian drama with so much trauma and sadness. We eagerly watched each episode since it was so well done, but we kept hoping for some extended period of happiness.I feel sorry for the actor portraying Sun Song (Park Sung Hoon) because he did a great job of making you hate his guts! Ha ha. Obviously great acting.
Honestly, other than feeling bad for the ML and a couple of other characters, I did not get too emotionally attached to parts of the story, perhaps because so many characters were so bad for so long. Well, and some plot holes/irrational decisions. But that is all too common in these dramas, so it’s hard to focus too much on that aspect of the series.
The ending had brilliant elements, different than we had seen before. I loved the last few minutes in particular! That part of the story will stick with me for sure.
(Spoilers Here)
But the was lacking in that the post-reunion happiness was just not long enough! They should have cut out on traumatic story line and given us an entire episode of marriage and happiness. Dang that would have been great, and would have greatly increased our satisfaction with this series. It would have perhaps elevated the rating from us to a 9… or maybe a 10???
(End Spoilers)
BTW, I have heard folks were not happy with the Mercedes product placement bonanza. LOL - I loved it! Beautiful cars, made me jealous although I’m really a BMW guy. :-) Product placement in general is something I love since it makes the show seam more real and relatable. I mean, I can’t relate to owning a US$ 100,000 Mercedes, but I can relate to seeing cars and other products I have seen IRL. Bring on the Product Placement!
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Sweet and Salty
Queen of Tears is an amazing drama that took me on an emotional rollercoaster, making it one of the best viewing experiences I've had in a long time.The storyline, characters, and production quality are exceptional. Watching a Korean drama after such a long time made me feel very nostalgic. Every episode left me feeling happy and thoroughly entertained.
Highly recommend it!?
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when love is loaded with life baggage's ..
"what if we we broke up that time ? If we hadn't got married ..we would have cherished the little happy memories we had ..there would've been no need for wounds to fester or scars to form" —Heain .This drama made me dream about it for 4 weeks ...
the amount of real emotions I received from the two main leads was unbelievable ..
the story is real demonstration of the old saying "'We don't truly appreciate what we have until it's gone" ..
the cold-hearted cheabol daughter Heain who were deprived from affection fell in love with the soft-hearted kind Hyunwoo ..
Hyunwoo with his provider instinct fell in love with a beautiful Heain who seems has no means to survive this world and zero social skills .. (not knowing she is cheabol)
the two got married and were put in a situation were they have absolutely no skills to survive ... a lot of interesting topics were explored in the show of why marriage fails .. bad in-laws pressure , bad communication , emotional partner getting overwhelmed , emotionally-unavailable partner not being able to support , facing trauma individually instead of facing it together , silently resenting each other thinking they are suffering alone ...
there is a lot of subtle details in this show that is very interesting in the perspective of married relationship ..
what makes the show solid is the established relationship concept .. the love here is not the romantic one but the dirty painful one ... its when I respect your mother and tolerate your gossiping siblings .... its when I protect you even when I resent you / or even hate you... its when I forgive you and trust you even after disappointment ...the intimacy here was as simple as holding hands in bad times but it meant a'lot .
my only issue with this show is the plot progression .. the story at some points was progressing very slowly and other times was rushed and too many serious elements was pushed fast ..
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