Hi everyone!

Today I thought I’d share my episode 1-2 notes on Queen Of Tears, because I’m really enjoying it (more than I’d originally thought I would, actually), and I was wondering if you’d like to join me? 🤗

These are my episode 1-2 notes, exactly as they appear on Patreon, ie, without screenshots (I’m saving those for the actual review).

I hope you all enjoy, and I hope you’ll consider joining us over on Patreon, for the rest of the discussions! ❤️

Episode notes:

E1-2. This show’s been high on my list purely for its cast; I just loved the idea of a Kim Soo Hyun-Kim Ji Won pairing. 🤩🤩

Leading up to its premiere, Show hadn’t told us much at all, about its premise, except that Kim Soo Hyun and Kim Ji Won are a married couple who used to be super in love, and are now feeling the opposite of that.

And so, I think we all assumed that this would be a melodrama about how these two people find each other and find their love for each other, all over again.

Which means that there are likely to be at least some of us who are surprised to find that this isn’t showing itself to be a melodrama at all – at least, so far.

In fact, I estimate that going into this without a sufficiently appropriate lens adjustment, could actually break this watch for you.

The reason I say that, is because of what Show does for most of episode 2, with Kim Soo Hyun’s character, Hyun Woo, saying and thinking happy thoughts about being released from his marriage to Kim Ji Won’s character, Hae In, because she’s been diagnosed as only having 3 more months to live.

Big yikes, if you’re watching this with a serious lens, and were expecting or hoping that Hyun Woo would be jolted out of his extreme negative feelings for Hae In, upon hearing her prognosis.

Especially if you’re in a marriage where you’ve ever entertained the thought that your otherwise distant spouse would sing a very different, much more caring tune if you had a health crisis; I think this would make the events of episode 2 especially difficult to swallow.

I know that I’ve had such thoughts before, which is why I positioned it that way. But perhaps you find it hard to swallow, despite never having entertained such thoughts. 😅

Overall, I’m concluding that the best way to approach this show, is to think of it as a black comedy, because black comedies are where shows make fun of things that are otherwise too sensitive and taboo to make fun of, like death.

Your mileage might vary, of course, but I find that with this lens on, I’m enjoying this one quite well, actually.

There’s an intriguing tone here, I feel, with a fair bit of hyperbole shown in episode 1, particularly when it comes to Hae In’s unreasonable behavior, meshed with comedy.

Yet, underneath it all, there are flashes of poignance that help to ground everything.

Plus, we realize in episode 2, that episode 1 was basically all from Hyun Woo’s point-of-view, and so, it’s quite possible that his strong feelings of unhappiness, had skewed Hae In’s behavior towards the wildly unreasonable, and her behavior hadn’t been as terrible as Hyun Woo received it to be.

Additionally, we learn that Hae In’s condition makes it such that she does suffer from hallucinations and loss of memory, from time to time.

This also presents more factors that would either explain or mitigate her behavior.

Like, we see that it’s not that she’d missed her appointment with Hyun Woo on purpose, although that is how Hyun Woo understands it.

Rather, she’d blacked out, mentally, and had only come to a proper awareness of herself and her surroundings, long after Hyun Woo had left the restaurant where he’d asked to meet her.

By extension, I take this to mean that it’s also possible that when she’d appeared to be distant or uncaring at other times, it hadn’t been intentional.

In fact, I find that Show’s approach, where we see much of episode 1 from Hyun Woo’s point of view, and then much of episode 2, from Hae In’s point of view, quite interesting.

It sometimes offers different perspectives of the same moment, and I find that thought-provoking.

Besides the incident where Hae In doesn’t show up to meet Hyun Woo at the restaurant, there’s also the moment where they run into each other at the elevators, and Hae In asks Hyun Woo to go somewhere with her.

It’s reasonably subtle, in that, if you’re not paying much attention, you might actually miss it, but there’s a difference between the scenes, in that, when we see things from Hyun Woo’s point of view, Hae In’s voice is sharper, while Hyun Woo sounds more neutral.

And then, when we experience the same moment from Hae In’s point of view, it’s the other way around; Hae In sounds more neutral, while Hyun Woo sounds more curt.

It’s quite thought-provoking to me, because isn’t that so true to life? We often think of ourselves as the more neutral party, amplifying our own neutrality, while amplifying the other person’s curtness or rudeness.

The truth likely lies somewhere in the middle, in our own experiences, as well as in this scene between Hyun Woo and Hae In.

As in, I don’t think we have actually seen an objective presentation of what had happened at all; all we’ve seen is the way Hyun Woo saw it, stacked against how Hae In saw it.

The flashbacks to all their happier times, from their courtship to the wedding, are all really cute and sweet – and beautiful.

Gosh, this couple looks beautiful, and the wedding scenes look like they came straight out of an airbrushed picture postcard; everything just looks so ethereally gorgeous. 🤩

Again, though, could we be seeing this through their airbrushed memories, where everything in that past is just so perfect and so beautiful, while everything in the present is so painful and ugly, in comparison?

I will say that I laughed more in episode 1 compared to episode 2, despite my lens adjustment.

The scene that I found most entertaining in episode 1, is when Hyun Woo is all drunk, and bemoaning his cuteness, like, WHY DID I HAVE TO BE SO CUTE?!? WHY?!??!? 😂😂

I found Kim Soo Hyun’s delivery of this scene just fabulous; I’m reminded that his comic sensibility is really good. I just couldn’t stop giggling at this scene. 😁

Another (different) thing I find funny, is the casting of Kim Jung Nan as Beom Ja, Hae In’s flamboyant aunt with tyrannical tendencies.

I mean, I’ve mostly seen Kim Jung Nan in more demure roles, and most memorably, she played the head housewife among the North Korean village housewives, in Crash Landing on You.

I can barely recognize her as Beom Ja, with her fierce glares and wild antics. 😂

Oh Jung Se’s cameo was great too, with him playing Hyun Woo’s therapist.

His deadpan delivery was quite perfect, particularly, when Doc calls his wife after the session, just to tell her that he loves her and is very, very, verrrry happy – all because he’s put his life in perspective, after hearing all about Hyun Woo’s struggles – to which Wifey gets all suspicious about what he’s done wrong now. 😂

I found it comparatively less funny, when we see Hyun Woo actively hope for Hae In’s quick demise in episode 2, but reminding myself of the black comedy lens helps a lot, and I find that I’m fine to roll with it.

Certain bits I didn’t find so funny though, like when Hyun Woo puts on an exaggerated sad face to go check on Hae In, to see why she hasn’t woken up yet. That wasn’t very funny, to me.

But I did find it rather amusing when Hae In gets all touched by the sight of the internet searches that Hyun Woo’s done, on cancer patients who beat the odds, when in reality, he’d felt quite concerned, thinking that he wouldn’t actually be free from Hae In after all.

I’m glad that Show appears to be moving away from this particular strand of Funny, because otherwise Show would feel quite like a one-trick pony.

I find that I’m not opposed to the idea of Hyun Woo falling for Hae In while pretending to be nice and loving towards her.

(It actually reminds me of the premise of Wedding Impossible, kinda, because the male lead there is also pretending to be loving and suave towards the female lead, and it’s clear as day, that he’s going to fall for her for real, and eat his words about dumping her once he’s stolen her heart.)

I’m also not opposed to the idea of Hae In rediscovering her love for Hyun Woo, as he puts all this effort into role-playing the perfect husband.

In my head, rather than this being a fake-to-real sort of scenario, it feels more like this role-playing will remind them of the real feelings that they’d felt so strongly for each other, in the beginning, and thus reawaken those real feelings, in the present.

I do like the idea of that.

Plus, Show introduces Park Sung Hoon’s character, Eun Seong, and he looks like he will be a big catalyst, in getting our OTP to reawaken their love for each other.

On a tangent, I wanted to say that I’m pleased with Park Sung Hoon’s casting, coz I do love the opportunity to have him on my screen wearing a sharp suit.

On the other hand, his rather psychotic outing in The Glory must have left a deeper impression on me than I thought; in that scene at the hunting grounds, I seriously thought for a hot second, that he would point his gun at Hyun Woo. 🙈😅

Honestly, I really struggle with the concept of hunting, coz these are live animals that are shot – for FUN. 😭🙈 I found this very uncomfortable to watch, no lie.

I had to forcibly tell myself that this is one of those stupid rich pastimes, and it’s not surprising that a chaebol family like Hae In’s, would indulge in such a pastime.

But, as a silver lining, it does give us that set-up, where Hae In gets one of her mental blackouts, and it’s Hyun Woo who saves her, by shooting that wild boar that’s charging towards her.

I appreciate that this tells us, very clearly, that Hyun Woo’s instinct isn’t actually to want Hae In dead.

If he’d wanted her dead, he could’ve just let that wild boar charge at her, yes? Instead, he puts himself between her and the wild boar, and shoots it, despite clearly disliking the entire idea of hunting.

I guess this is one of those times when actions speak louder than words. He does care, and more than he thinks. 🥲

Of course, this begs the question of who’s behind the wild boar attack, since the enclosure had clearly been cut.

Circumstantially, it looks like Secretary Ko had done it, but who did she do it for? She seems to be pandering to quite a few folks?

Hae In’s mother seems to be someone whom Secretary Ko wants to please, but regardless of Mom holding a grudge against Hae In for the death of a child of her named Su Wan, I find it a stretch to think that a mother would orchestrate the possible death of her own daughter.

Although, this is a chaebol world, so what do I know? 🤷🏻‍♀️

Overall, I found this an enjoyable pair of episodes, and I do sincerely want to see how these two people stumble their way back to loving each other, perhaps even more than they even did, to begin with. 🥲

*This show is being covered on the VIP Early Access (US$15) Tier on Patreon*

To view episode 1-2 notes in Patreon, along with everyone’s comments, you can go here!

You can find my Patreon page here, and for all future episode notes for this show you can click here. Currently, notes are available for episodes 1 through 4.

Episodes 5-6 notes will be out on Friday, 29 March 2024! I hope you’ll consider joining us!

It’ll be a way to have fun, and support me at the same time? ❤️

PS: For more information on what the Patreon experience is like, you might like to check out my Patreon update post for March, which you can find here!