[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Queen of Tears" Episode 1

With modest ratings of 5.853% in its first episode jumping to 8.66% in its second episode, "Queen of Tears" demonstrates how a misleading title can quickly be overcome by people figuring out what the premise of a show actually is. Far from being the gloomy melodrama its moniker implies, "Queen of Tears" is a weirdly dark romantic comedy. What the premise boils down to is, three years after a typical cinderella corporate heir romance culminates in a wedding, how sturdy is the relationship really?

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The answer? Not very. Hae-in (played by Kim Ji-won) first met Hyeon-woo (played by Kim Soo-hyun) when she went undercover at her own company pretending to be an intern. Hyeon-woo, a superior at this company, was alarmed at her apparent incompetence, which seemed likely to get her fired. In the opening scene, we learn that Hae-in agreed to do a public relations video story in part to show off how obviously beautiful she was, to defuse rumors that Hyeon-woo married her for her money.

The subtext of this narcissistic statement is quite lost on Hae-in, who's so cold and inconsiderate that even sitting through family meetings where separation between her and Hyeon-woo is discussed just leaves her looking indifferent and nonplussed. Hae-in treats Hyeon-woo the exact same way she treats nearly everyone at her job. Even more absurdly, she seems to find the ideas of rumors of their marriage dying more offensive than the prospect that her marriage might, in fact, actually be dying.

The nuance in Kim Ji-won's performance is quite remarkable, as is her understated chemistry with Kim Soo-hyun in all their scenes alone together. The feeling is unmistakeable that she wants him to be passionate, ravish her even, but is incapable of grasping that her stiff attitude and the broader corporate definitions of their relationship are a massive turn off for him. Indeed, the only reason the romance worked in the first place was because Hyeon-woo was more comfortable being assertive when he thought Hae-in was pitiful and clueless.

The irony is, that Hae-in is pitiful and clueless. Hae-in also frightens nearly everyone around her, which is why she likes that Hyeon-woo stands up to her and doesn't even think any of the things he's fighting about with her are actually fights. Even after three years of marriage, Hyeon-woo still doesn't seem to know how to talk to Hae-in. Much of the intrigue of the story centers around whether he'll eventually figure it out.

Written by William Schwartz

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"Queen of Tears" is directed by Jang Yeong-woo, Kim Hee-won-II, written by Park Ji-eun, and features Kim Soo-hyun, Kim Ji-won, Park Sung-hoon, Kwak Dong-yeon, Lee Joo-bin, Kim Kap-soo. Broadcasting information in Korea: 2024/03/09~Now airing, Sat, Sun 21:10 on Netflix, TVING, tvN.