Queen of Tears

A-list Korean actors in this series save it from being another banal treatise on the excesses of the super rich. Kim Ji-won does an outstanding job as the brittle, cold, and superficial FL (Hong Hae-in) who is fabulously wealthy and--as it turns out--tough as nails. The ML, Kim Soo-hyun plays the kind, honest, handsome, athletic, intelligent Baek Hyeon-woo, who (for some reason) can't get enough of Hae-in, who deigns to throw him a crumb now and then. In spite of the threadworn plot, the writing and acting give this drama a boost and elevate it to a higher level.

Unlike other Korean series, this one showcases some secondary characters who can actually hold the viewers' interest. Eight stars.

To get the good parts out of the way first, I must say that the acting was great, especially when it comes to Kim Soo Hyun and Kim Ji Won, but not only. They all delivered top notch performances.

Besides that, the OSTs were so beautiful, the cinematography was gorgeous, the sets were beautifully built and the costumes were always magnificent, especially when it comes to the female lead.

That being said, I now want to talk about the parts that I consider to be not so great: the plot, the story and the villain.

Storywise, the first half was well done. We got to know the characters, their personalities and their beliefs, we got to know the situation they're in and what they want to achieve and we got to see the villain and his accomplices' work being done slowly but steadily, which created the anticipation that was needed for the midpoint of the series.

Because of the great twist, the 2nd half was promising but it fell short. The characters changed, yes, but those changes weren't enough to overcome the power of the villains. The rich familly got closer and learned how to love each other more, but they remained just as unintelligent as in the first half.

More than that, the second half was way too much abut the villains. It felt that the main leads were playing a secondary role in their show. They started to be so passive and just react at the changes the villain was making.

Plotwise, the series started losing its charm in the second half as well. The amount of scenes that felt repetitive and the back and forth between the main leads only showed the lack of creativity of the writer.

But the thing that annoyed me the most was that some things happened just because. No set-up beforehand, no nothing, they just happened.

Let's take Hae-In as an example here, she had one wish up until episode 13 and she wanted to fulfill her wish no matter what, but when she got the opportunity to satisfy it she immediately turned it down. Her perspective and wish changed in a fraction of a second, and the reason for that was something that was not true to her character for the last 13 episodes. It was a decision that just popped up and set up episode 14 to be the biggest back and forth between the main leads in the entire series.

Finally, the villain. They tried so hard to make a memorable villain, that people would talk about, that they started to lose the identity of the show. They invested so much screen time in his character that the theme of the series started to lose it's spark.

I respect the fact that he had a scope, that drove his actions the entire time, but at the same time I hate that he was built that strong.

He was the type of villain that had everything: money, power, connections, everything. He was invincible. He appeared everywhere at every time. He was just too strong to feel real.

He had his weak point, yes, but it wasn't something so important since he always recovered in a heartbeat when he was hit by others.

This was my point of view and I hope you'd respect it.

I would recommend this series mainly because of it's cast, but no other than that.

Love everyone involved in this from the excellent leads and supporting cast to those behind the camera crafting this. Beautiful to look and a great start to the series with funny dialogue and tragic scenarios leading up to everyone's present. My anticipation racheted up after the first couple episodes.

However, if I had one problem with the story, it was that the leads didn't have nearly enough screentime together not spent fighting evil. I waited patiently episode after episode for quiet scenes spent in comfort with the leads getting reacquainted emotionally but the end of the day, we didn't even get a hug in the final moments of their happily-ever-after. In the end not nearly as satisfying as it should've been.

This series gives us a very satisfying story of love conquering against all the odds. With two such wonderful actors in the lead roles and a plot full of evil villains and multiple challenges to be overcome there is every reason to get on side with our heroes and cheer them on.

The entertainment is deepened by the characters of the two leading characters. Neither is straight-forward. She is a controlling, power-hungry and money-grabbing woman evincing little empathy and few emotions. He is an out of love husband desperate to escape both her and her horrible family.

Then crisis hits and everything is turned upside down. Witnessing their journey is a joy. As the best Korean dramas do, this effortlessly combines romance, thriller and comedy into pure entertainment.

My only reservation is that the medical condition that drives much of the plot seems to appear when the plot needs it and then disappear until needed again. This series would otherwise merited a 10 instead of a 9. If the joy lingers I might return and upgrade the score.

It's after a long time I actually liked a romantic Kdrama. This was funny, emotional, intense and at the same time stupid. The story in the beginning is a gem, as it progressed it was predictable and frustrating. The one thing which saved this show and made me rate it so high was the acting, an absolute delight. It reminded me of the emotional intensity when I first watched CLOY, which I'm grateful that I could feel it again. I actually sobbed again which is a testament to how good some scenes actually are.

Do give it a try, it can be frustrating and stupid at times but surely watching the acting would flutter your heart. And most of it all is that this has a good ending.