Queen of Tears Becomes tvN’s Highest Rating K-drama of All Time with 24.850% in Final Episode Delivering Happy Ending After Excess of Ridiculous Plot Elements in Final Episodes

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• What an utter waste of the leads and their chemistry with the shoddy writing in the second half. I wanted to see the leads repair their marriage painfully one step at a time. Instead we get corporate shenanigans, psychopath stalker ex, and terminal illness/amnesia. I guess we should all thank the stalker ex for bringing the leads together.

  • I agree. One of the most over rated dramas I have seen. It’s ok not to be ok was so much better dealing with autism, abandoned children, trauma. This was oh my god, it was an 90s mills and boons. The author had zero creativity. It’s almost like she looked at these old romance books and wrote a story. Kim Soo Hyun has some of the worst inane dramas in k drama-land.
    Thankfully one ordinary day, it’s ok not to be ok are so good. I hope he does more dramas like one ordinary day.
    Kim ji won, her my liberation notes and fight for my way were tons better than this god awful drama. Especially fight for my way has a special place in my heart.

    • “It's ok not to be ok was so much better dealing with autism, abandoned children, trauma.”

      Lol, I'd understand comparisons with CLOY since both were written by the same writer. But where from this comparison to iotnbo when both dramas are completely different and NOT even dealing with the same subject matter and themes? Seems fans of iotnbo AND a certain actress are bitter at the massive popularity of QOT. Lol. Y'all really need to move on.

    • @winter - this. So. Much.

      What is with IOTNBO fans always bringing it up like there is any similarities minus the male lead. I am a KSH fan and while that drama was good, the comparison here is absurd. Like the fuck? What is the basis of comparing the story? One is about a man taking care of an autistic brother and falling for a woman with an antisocial personality disorder. The other is of a man who finds the love he had forgotten for the woman who meant everything to him. There is literally zero similarities.

    • if you dont share ur opinion is better..coz it look like ur opinion come from such an idiot..i feel embarrass just by reading it.! what a stupid brain! clearly know nothing!

    • the person you're replying to is an obvious ksh-seo ye ji shipper. they're such sore losers lol, they should just go back to twitter where they can all worship their manipulative ✨girlboss✨ flop queen together lmao.

      also, iontbo is also overrated, it literally perpetuate the tired ol trope of ✨true love✨ curing mental illness. and the female lead was abusive towards the male lead too (i.e. perving on the male lead and forcing him to sleep with her) but no one wants to talks about that because everyone is obsessed with ✨girlboss bad b*tch✨ characters like ko mun yeong *pukes*

    • Geez can you not rant about SYJ whenever IOTNBO is mentioned? One commentator mentioned their opinion and your responses are uncalled for.
      @winter: No, fans of YJ + IOTNBO are not bitter at the massive popularity quite the contrary really so stop the cap. We have moved on to SYJ new IG so gosh stop reaching.
      @saebyeok: Your comment takes the cake. So at one opinion you jumped at the assumption that the poster was a HyunJi-that's the name of the ship just like SooWon is the same of KSH/KJW ship. Hyunji's are not sore losers and saying SYJ is a manipulative flop Queen- haha really? Triggered much but if it warrants you being a happier person then go for it. IOTNBO is KSH post military drama and one that 'he' chose upon reading the first draft from a rookie writer.

    • I agree with you it's the worst ksh drama but atleast he's getting love and has an award nom. He seems to be too loyal to PJE unfortunately, I did admire when he took risk and work with rookie writers. With kjw, I agree again works better in lighter romcom roles. I don't think this role suited her she doesn't have that icey aura. I hope ksh next pairing is one of his calibre I'm thinking Kim taeri or park eun bin (who was rumoured to be the lead in qot)

    • Lol what this sudden hate toward IOTNBO, overrated really? He didn't even have high ratings and netz dismissed it. Atleast unlike qot it got recognised in baeksang with 8 nominations and an international emmy. Most actors would take a critically acclaimed drama over ratings, reborn rich has the 2nd highest ratings and who even remembers that show.

    • I feel none of the people have any reading comprehension. I am actually super fond of the leading actress Kim jin won and loved all her works where she is the lead, minus this drama which I did not like at all. I don’t want watch dramas because I am a fan. In this capitalist world where actors and actresses and singers become millionaires and billionaires I don’t understand this hero worship. Kim Soo Hyun I liked in movies and ordinary day.
      Basically I was trying to say I liked all the actors in their previous works including the second male lead and his Gauss electronics which I loved too.
      This drama was decent but I am amazed and what made it get the hype it got.

• I agree with the ridiculousness of the final 2 episodes.

  Like I said before, I like this drama enough but never loved it. It was an enjoyable watch.

  In term of story, I prefer CLOY but I like this couple better (since I prefer the secondary couple in CLOY).

  The final 2 episodes feel kind of rush. Some plot are just nonsensical (ie the diary that survived the incineration) and feel rather jumpy. The drama also over-saturated with "meant to be" of the main couple and too much miracle (how the heck Hyun Woo managed to escape from hospital and walked on miles of snow covered field after an accident). There were quite a lot of LOL moments in the finale.

  Anyway, it was good and fun. Not on my rewatch list but good enough to last till I find a new drama to enjoy.

• Where are the feel good happy times and sweet passionate kisses after all that suffering? That was the only thing missing.

• I really liked the OST by Kim Soo-Hyun!

  It was a fun ride! Like an old kdrama-esque soul in a modern setting.

• Park Ji Eun didn't write Dream High as far as I know?

  • Yes, that was written by Park Hye-ryun!

• I genuinely love the drama
  Yes some parts are ridiculous and just rating bait but that ok like you said - you watch her dramas and you know tropes are her favourite and she runs through them but very quickly and you cannot say it’s not entertaining
  But I really like the story basis (she has a knack for creating the context - North Korea, aliens, idols, housewives you get the drift) this time I really like the “no happily after - unhappily married” background. And I love the ending note - that it would have still be imperfect. How much I love that even hyun woo isn’t confident he can beat daily life and little fights - even after the bullets, car crash, first loves and fate. If he’s not sure / and she wasn’t too - what does that say about the rest of us lol but sometimes you just stick together and stay around - that’s all you need. And I love the callbacks - the final one being he got picked up at the end of his life by the one who he loves. Very nicely done - and gosh so well acted! Entertaining and thoughtful at the beginning and end. I have no complains

• Well that about sums it right. The last two episodes were all sorts of ridiculous but saved by the cast. Such a waste for having started out quite good. This drama worked best when the focus was on repairing a marriage that got inevitably broken along the way (but the love was still there). And yet we get psychopaths, truck of doom to the nth power, and injuries galore. Probs shouldn’t have expected more knowing how little I liked this writer’s other dramas. Still, husband and I enjoyed watching this live, something we haven’t done in a long time, and for that I give it a 7.5/10

• I feel the opposite! Drama was so promising at the beginning, I LOVED it until around episode 10 when things turned non-sensical in a rather unsatisfying way (IMO). Definitely the writer's weakest along with Legend of the Blue Sea. My faves are YFAS and Producers. Again, IMO.

  Would not bother with her dramas again unless KSH was in it.

• The last episode felt so rushed and the special story behind the fountain scene that Joo-Bin told us to look out for was cut :( There was also a post I read on X that the Korean community sites sed that Hae-In was supposed to die in 2034 not 2074 because the cancer will relapse, but the grave photo leaked and all hell broke lose so they changed it lol I really wished we got the lamp post kiss at least. I guess all those 2 second kisses in Germany are just to to tease us viewers lol darn I hope these two reunite for another drama in the future their chemistry was beautiful.

  • Nooo I prefer this ending then her dying that soon would be so bleak😭.
    I agree we were robbed off the kisses in Germany somehow when I saw the trailer I had a feeling we'd see it as a montage. But the fact all their kisses were in germany is funny. Credit to them though to do all those emotional scenes and fluffy ones within one month, damn. I too hope they reunite, usually I'm not fond of leads working together again but this pairing is an exception maybe something more slow burn.

• Did you mean Producers maybe? Because PJE definitely did not write Dream High…

  Anyway, I loved this drama through all the whacky plot. It’s a regular PJE drama and something I’ve come to expect from her. It does nothing to mar my enjoyment because her dramas aren’t about being realistic. I mean… someone crash landing from SK to NK, an alien who finds a wormhole so he can stay with the one he loves, gun shots that always seem to hit the male lead yet never one that actually threatens their lives, etc. it’s all rather crazy but I fall for it each time because she writes in such an entertaining way.

  It is amazing that KSH led the last miniseries to have achieved 40%+ ratings and now leads the highest rated tvN drama in different decades. Basically, his record is 50% of tv dramas he led are mega hits. That is remarkable. I loved this so much and let’s just say I can’t wait for the next time KSH-PJE works together again!

  • @Butterfly I loved this drama too, despite wanting to smack my head against the desk at some of the repeated ridiculousness in the final week, koala's description of it as a 6/10 drama turned into a 9/10 by the cast - let's be real, mainly the two leads, that's who everyone was tuning in for - is very accurate.

    It's true PJE dramas are very tropey and the endings can divide opinions (imo the best drama ending she ever wrote was The Producers) but she writes characters who are so engaging and casts actors who make them so which means I end up coming back week after week lol.

    • Completely! PJE is a character writer without a doubt. Yoon Seri, Chun Song Yi, Do Min Joon, Baek Seung Chan, Cindy and now Hong Hae In, Baek Hyun Woo - they are characters names that stick and people talk/will continue talking about them for years.

      I also loved Producers’ ending, but her best one for me is MLFTS. I love this ending too. I think it would have been less memorable in her mind to write a “normal” ending where the characters just live their regular lives. So she went for something more grand. They even changed the years Hae In lived since they knew people would riot if they went with the OG plan. If they wanted to, they could’ve just removed that whole scene but they kept it. I think it was the most she was willing to concede. I don’t mind it at all, but I can see why it has a different affect for some. I do respect that she stuck to the story she wanted to tell. This was always called a miraculous love story, and she wanted to hold onto that tag and come full circle which I can’t fault tbh.

    • @Butterfly - absolutely, this is the kind of drama where people won't just remember the actor, they'll remember the character names (and this is absolutely going into the kdrama canon as one of those dramas that hooks people in).

      I understand what PJE was going for by emphasising the bittersweet part at the end but I wish they had given us a few more passionate scenes between Hyun Woo and Hae In, they gave us that hilarious 'stripping off his shirt to check for injuries' scene in ep 10 and it's clear they are very physically attracted to each other but the last couple of weeks of the drama just forgets that and we don't even see them in the same bed after they reconcile except when it's....a hospital bed. lol. This is kind of like the happy version of the ending of Titanic, the pictures show you that they lived a long and happy life together and had a daughter and then ends with her coming to take him at the end of his life, like she promised. Beautiful in its own way, but now I want another KSH/KJW drama which isn't quite so chaste (even if I know it isn't going to happen lol kdrama costars rarely repeat and we're going to have to wait another 7 years at this rate)

    • @Royal We

      I totally get what you mean. TBH, I loved the coming to full circle angle PJE was going for, but I don’t actually love the ending in itself per se. I think my issues lie mostly in not giving the chairman’s girlfriend motive. She was such an interesting villain and I never figured out if she had any true love for her son or if he was just a pawn in her game of chess. Her breakdown in the car, then the subsequent ruthless way she blamed everything on him was fascinating. I wish we got that in the previous episode and explored it. I am left feeling like I don’t know her enough which is frustrating. I found Eun Seong a lot less interesting. He was just an abandoned child who did not know love and turned into a psycho after experiencing crumbs. Sad in some ways but cliche. His mom was another story. I wish we knew her motive and why it took her 20 years to make her move, why queens, why no further attempts to kill Hae In, why keep her son distant but also within reach. I feel like there’s so many unresolved questions with her and it drives me up the wall.

      On the other hand, I love what they did with Grace. She was the one that kept me on my toes till the literal final moment. I never seen a character change sides and play quadruple agents to this extent. It’s rather hysterical but also perfectly written. She is not a good person and does not even try to be. So the way PJE redeemed her without exactly changing her essence was superb. She was way more interesting than Da Hye to me. Her and Soo Cheol got quite repetitive after the first time she ran away. That was tiring. Wish Da Hye got to spend more time in Yongduri, getting to know her in laws etc.

      As for the leads, I also agree. I wish we spent more time seeing their lives together before getting to that final scene. It would have been more satisfying. But I am not overly bitter about it. I guess after the episode 15 which seriously scared the ever living daylights out of me on whether Hyun Woo would survive, I’m happy with the ending. I genuinely wavered in my PJE trust and got flashbacks of Gu Seung Jung. That is the one reason I can’t ever love CLOY. I had no issues with the ending of the leads. But Seung Jung dying killed me inside due to how unnecessary it was and if Hyun Woo had somehow faced the same fate, I would have probably never touched another PJE drama in my life. I don’t care that KSH will almost surely do another drama with her. I am out because the trauma would be too real 😂

      Sorry this is a long comment, but finally - I agree that after the first half, this drama became somewhat chaste lol. I adore all the hug scenes. We need more of them in kdramas. So much more. But the lack of kisses annoyed me too. The lack of sexual desire too. But the one thing that pissed me off was them not releasing all the honeymoon kisses. Maybe they are keeping it for the blu-ray with is kinda a jerk move but oh well. Loved KSH and KJW but let’s be honest it’s unlikely they’ll ever be paired again… the drama is way too huge and popular. I can’t think of any major pairings reuniting after such a mega drama. But i can’t wish I was more wrong. Even if it’s just a movie. Or maybe completely different genre like a period or sageuk. Tbh I still want it to be a romance, but the setting and characters can be entirely different. Let’s keep hoping!

    • @royalwe
      Pje drama's tend to be chaste but since they're married I was expecting more nearly everyone was, we're not asking for a bed scene but just more kisses and skinship, like how I could you waste the intense chemistry like that. Even mlfas had a kiss scene in the finale. I'm also hoping jiwon and soohyon reunite in a more mature romance. Reuniting is not that impossible unless the couple are dating, it just takes a while to happen.

    • @Butterfly I personally didn't have a problem with Mistress Snake not having some grand motive against the Hongs, for me it's just the story of a manipulative woman with established criminal tendencies inserting herself into a rich family through a service role (she was a housekeeper) and putting money above all, seeing her getting taken down was very satisfying for me. She doesn't need to have entered the household with some existing vendetta, she's just an opportunist who took the chance to ingratiate herself with a rich man and alienate his family which is not surprising because it's something of a real life thing too.

      Agreed that I liked the way they handled Grace and Dahye too despite how repetitive Da Hye/Soo Cheol got, I guess the message there is that people can genuinely change and repent which is not inconsistent from episode 1 given how Hyun Woo and Hae In themselves were at the start of the drama even if they weren't committing crimes.

      @alyza @butterfly - I agree with you guys on this, they are a married couple and I'm not asking for bed scenes but - a little skinship would have been nice instead of making them repeat their confessions for like the third, fourth? times! What is up with that. But it doesn't ruin what has been so far my favourite drama watching experience of the last year, maybe the ending doesn't live up to the greatness of the drama up to episode 10 or even 12 but I'm still thrilled I was along for the ride even if I'm shaking my head over the car accident+hospital escape+walking through snowy fields for Hyunwoo lol, if these leads had been played by anyone other than Kim Soohyun and Kim Jiwon I would have probably tapped out after episode 14 lol.