Summary
Queen of Tears suffers for its length a little more than usual in this episode, but it does maneuver several narrative pieces into interesting positions.
I lightly complain about the lengths of these episodes, but nobody cares – which is fine, obviously. But Queen of Tears Episode 9 makes me feel a little vindicated. It was obvious after the circumstances of Episode 8 that this outing would be character-focused, a little silly, and a lot introspective, with the respective families of Hae-in and Hyun-woo crammed under one roof. But a feature-length runtime for that premise leaves a lot of room for idling.
By the end, you might feel like you know more, but you might also feel interest waning. It’s a lot, and it ricochets between modes too often. Bad? That’d be far too bold of a claim. But it’s not the most riveting 86 minutes of drama I’ve ever seen.
A Change In Circumstances
What I will say out of the gate is that this episode is important, since it brings the show’s thematic underpinnings into starker relief. Generally, film and TV works on the level of upper-class and rich = bad, poor and working-class = good, which is simplistic but largely holds true. With the Hong family having been betrayed, protested against, and ousted from their homes, what they realize in the embrace of Hyun-woo’s family is that money and influence are nothing; that basic kindness and decency are more desirable than any fortune.
The execution is a little hammy, though. The radical change in the Hong’s circumstances is very made-for-TV, and the development in Hyun-woo and Hae-in’s relationship which continues to unfurl in the background is playing for time, as in a back-and-forth subplot about an MP3 player – remember those? – that doesn’t have a payoff until the epilogue.
Double Agent
Meanwhile, Eun-sung is somewhat unsure of his scheme, since he thinks his mother has gone too far and he still naively believes that Hae-in will eventually find her way to him, romantically. I’m not sure I buy this, honestly, but it keeps the plot chugging along. Hyun-woo plays double agent to a certain extent, convincing Eun-sung that he didn’t get any alimony in the divorce and wants a good deal from the Queen Group, all the while gathering as much information as possible from people at the company and those protesting outside, looking for a smoking gun.
The takeover seems to affect Soo-cheol most of all, since he has lost his wife and son in the betrayal; he has to reckon with the fact that his entire life is a ruse and his kid isn’t even his, which is understandably hard to take. Similarly, the rest of the Hongs, especially Hae-in father’s, has to reckon with how alone the family feels in light of all the public scrutiny. When they were up, they couldn’t count how many “friends” they had. Now they’re down, people are running for the hills.
Hae-In’s Condition
In the background of all this is, of course, the state of Hae-in’s health. Beom-ja is trying to keep her condition a secret, but with everyone bundled under the same roof, it’s getting harder and harder to do. And it affects everyone else, too. Hyun-woo is trying to focus on being there for her despite the circumstances of their separation, and Eun-sung wants to become her guardian (sorry, what?) so that he can be given her medical information from the hospital and strongarm the doctors into finding a way to save her.
Understandably, Hae-in is fed up with the whole thing and would prefer it if everyone was free of the burden.
The Chairman Is Due To Wake Up At the End of Queen of Tears Episode 9
Eun-sung and Seul-hee’s new position is contingent on the Chairman not waking up, but they keep disagreeing about it, so Eun-sung relocates him. After, he’s going to wake up soon.
Meanwhile, Hyun-woo notices someone following him, who turns out to be the broker he plans to sue and a bunch of goons. And in a final stinger, Hae-in is confronted outside Hyun-woo’s home by none other than Eun-sung.
It might have not have been the most riveting episode on its own terms, but Episode 10 should be pretty dramatic on the strength of the development that occurred here.
