Summary
Queen of Tears repositions its leads into a more romantic entanglement, but it’s a bit difficult to buy into after what we’ve seen thus far.
What are we supposed to feel about Hyun-woo? I get that this is the hook of Queen of Tears, and it’s interesting to have a male lead who isn’t a determined green flag and I’m glad we’re not just doing Doctor Slump all over again. But we met this guy being so fed up with his wife that he saw her imminent demise as a chance to profit, and the core ambiguity is that maybe he might be starting to fall for her again. There’s a pretty big gap between those things. And Episode 5 doesn’t make any of this much clearer.
There’s a lot of engaging subtext here. The class stuff is good. I like that basic things like communication problems are the root of almost every major issue that anyone has, since life is very much like that. What I’m struggling with primarily is reconciling how the show clearly wants me to feel about Hyun-woo and this relationship with the idea that our first introduction to him was him being so fed up with his wife that he didn’t mind if she died.
Anyway, picking up where we left off in Queen of Tears Episode 4, Hyun-woo heroically rescues Hae-in from her latest fugue episode. She’s touched by the concern his family shows her, especially since she’s starved of such things on her side of the aisle, but she’s mostly confused by Hyun-woo’s sudden desire to smooch her.
Again, the most interesting things here are all peripheral. It’s stuff like Du-gwan panicking about the news of the divorce getting out after mentioning it in the village. And details like Hae-in’s mother feeling jealous of Hae-in bonding with her in-laws, knowing how strained their own relationship is. Sure, it’s petty. But all family drama is petty by definition.
Hyun-woo and Hae-in Were Broken By Loss
The meat of the central relationship is explored through a deliberately vague flashback. It was obvious that Hyun-woo and Hae-in had issues beyond the obvious differences in family and class, and it seems like the catalyzing event of their marriage’s breakdown was the loss of a child.
There’s some meat on these bones for sure. It’s clear that Hyun-woo disapproves of the way Hae-in is grieving, feeling it’s too cold and too soon, but this doesn’t exactly endear an audience to him either since she’s clearly suffering too, just in a different way.
It’s clear this is private, and knowing it lends a new contour to speculation from characters like Mi-sun and Hyun-tae, who question what happened to Hyun-woo and Hae-in to cause such a breakdown in their relationship.
Queen of Tears Season 1 Episode 5 | Image via Netflix
Eun-seong Continues to Scheme
We mustn’t forget about Eun-seong, who has been invited by Hae-in’s mother to stay in the guesthouse of what Soo-cheol later explains is a connected network of Hong homes. Naturally, he takes any opportunity he can to sow seeds of discord between Hae-in and Hyun-woo, exaggerating Hyun-woo’s lack of concern about Hae-in’s closeness with his wife.
Eun-seong is doing this because he sees Hyun-woo as an obstacle. Despite the Hong family’s obvious disdain for him, his opinion does carry some weight, so he needs to be taken out of the equation for Eun-seong to get a clear run-up on his plans. The family is also superstitious, which amuses Eun-seong greatly.
Hae-in’s Health Is Worsening
As if it wasn’t obvious from the blackout episodes, Hae-in’s health is worsening and her white blood cell count is rapidly depleting, making her ineligible for the treatment in Germany. This compels her to make grand charitable gestures, presumably feeling that she might as well.
It’s around this time, after another hallucination, that Eun-seong starts getting suspicious about her health and asks Grace Go to look into why she hasn’t been getting medical checkups with the family. Hae-in remains adamant about going to Germany for the therapy despite being told outright that the researchers won’t perform the procedure with her in this state, a conversation which Beom-ha overhears.
Hae-in eventually decides to leave for Germany regardless, which Beom-ha informs Hyun-woo of.
Queen of Tears Episode 5 Ends With A Kiss
Learning of Hae-in’s departure and seeing the interview video in which she revealed her desire to travel with Hyun-woo, he packs up and leaves for Germany in pursuit of her.
In Germany, Hae-in is predictably refused the treatment, and retreats to an old spot where she and Hyun-woo had honeymooned. Hyun-woo finds her there, and the two reconcile with a teary kiss.
In a final epilogue stinger, we learn it was Hyun-woo who had drawn on Hae-in’s hand earlier when she had complained about her palm’s life line being too short. Unfortunately, that isn’t an official medical treatment.
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