Drama Critics Share Divided Opinions On The Controversial Ending Of “Queen Of Tears”
Some drama fans expressed dissatisfaction with the ending of tvN’s series “Queen of Tears” despite its high ratings
According to Nielsen Korea, episode 16 of “Queen of Tears” recorded 24.8% in nationwide rating, beating “Crash Landing on You” to become the highest-rating drama in tvN history.
Despite breaking the record, many viewers complained about writer Park Ji-eun’s plot with frustrating developments, saying “Without the actors such as Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Ji-won, this drama wouldn’t have been this famous”.
In the last episode, Baek Hyun-woo (Kim Soo-hyun) rushed to the villa to save Hong Hae-in (Kim Ji-won), who was kidnapped by Yoon Eun-sung, even after getting hit by a car. Following the car crash, Baek Hyun-woo even got shot but he still survived. Seeing these unrealistic details, viewers found it hard to sympathize with the character.
In the last scene, the timeline suddenly jumped to 2074 and Baek Hyun-woo got old with gray hair. The drama ended with the scene indicating that Baek Hyun-woo and Hong Hae-in have both gone to heaven, drawing complaints from viewers.
Pop culture critic Ha Jae-gyun said, “‘Queen of Tears’ has been highlighted as a drama with freshness. However, its freshness has been tarnished by common cliché in K-dramas such as memory loss and traffic accidents”, adding “In the second half of the drama, the writer kept dragging the story and creating unnecessary conflicts. It’s obvious that the female lead had to undergo surgery because it’s a rare disease, but she kept arguing with the male lead about whether she should do it or not. Problems in Park Ji-eun’s previous dramas were repeated in the latter half of ‘Queen of Tears’.”
On the other hand, critic Jung Deok-hyun expressed his opinion, saying “Park Ji-eun has been writing many romantic comedies so far and showing a general fairytale-like world”, adding “The ending with repeated dramatic situations received many viewers’ complaints. However, it’s typical for a drama to maintain the tension of conflict until the last episode before showing the happy ending. The fact that viewers reacted so intensely means they were very immersed in the drama.”
