Queen of Tears is very complicated because parts of it were so beautiful and I also kind of hated it. The drama started off very rough because, regardless of their marital problems, seeing his excitement at her terminal diagnosis and then disappointment when there was hope in treatment was kind of disgusting. I remember watching it and thinking THIS is who we’re meant to be rooting for?! It was hard for me to get past that.

I think one of the biggest issues with Queen of Tears is that it does way too much. I thought this drama would be focused on her terminal diagnosis and this couple finding their way back to each other, but the constant kidnapping, fraud, stolen companies, murder plots, and hostage situations really distracted from the main idea. There was a huge stretch of this drama where it seemed like her cancer was completely forgotten about by not only the characters but also the writers, so it just never felt as high stakes as it should have. The villains were so poorly written that I could hardly stand it. The motivations and actions made little sense. It was infuriating to see Hae-in get abducted, held hostage, or almost murdered just over and over again. I actually thought that the storyline where her family loses the company and has to go move in with her ex’s family was one of the best parts of the show and the show would’ve been a lot better if they’d focused on that instead. Seeing her family attempt to live normally and be at the mercy of these people they’d looked down on was funny and very satisfying. I loved Hyun-woo’s mom especially and her relationship with Hae-in. Her brother’s storyline with his wife was actually a huge highlight as well. He was kind of a doofus but he was so deeply devoted to her and his child, and seeing him grow up and fight for his family was so heartwarming.

The last few episodes were infuriating because it felt like there were just constant plot holes. The way the villain got Hae-in after her surgery and manipulated her felt so crazy and her loved ones had such pathetic attempts to help her, when there were so many things that could have been done. Hae-in’s mother also really did not deserve her redemption arc and her treatment of her daughter was so heinous.

This show only worked because of Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Ji-won. Even with all of my frustration, I could not stop watching QoT because of their amazing performances and chemistry. These two actors have to be some of the best criers in the world and their emotion got to me every time. The best scenes in the show were when it was just the two of them crying, especially the car crash and the church scenes.

Queen of Tears was a true soap opera. If you want constant attempted murder and kidnapping along with your romance, this is the show for you. The writing was not great and I think the only reason this show was so popular is because of the strong performances by the two lead actors. There are some truly fantastic scenes between the main couple that made me glad I watched it but it was still a drama that left me feeling annoyed by the wasted potential.