Summary
The penultimate episode of Queen of Tears feels like it’s trying too hard to tie everything off, but it ends with high drama just in time for the finale.
There are a lot of expectations on a penultimate episode, especially one for a series that is among the most popular K-Dramas of all time. But Queen of Tears Episode 15 flounders a little in its efforts to tie up loose ends and build to a dramatic finale. All those feature-length episodes are catching up.
Luckily, the strength of character and performance in this show has earned more than enough goodwill for a little lagging in pace and logical consistency. We’ve seen in the viewing figures how much the fans are into this show, and nobody who has stuck around thus far is going to bow out ahead of the finale.
But, you know… facts are facts.
Eun-sung Continues to Put the Moves On Hae-in
Regardless, let’s dig in. Episode 15 picks up after Episode 14, in which Hae-in memories were lost as a result of life-saving surgery and Eun-sung enacted his master plan of ingratiating herself into her life in Hyun-woo’s place.
At the start of the episode, we see Hyun-woo reading the diary Hae-in left him, and then Eun-sung finding and burning it, which makes the point pretty clear. The diary was saved by fortuitous snowfall, but Eun-sung continues to feed false information to Hae-in, inserting himself in stories about her and Hyun-woo to cloud her recollections.
At this point, Hae-in doesn’t know any better. They return to Korea and Eun-sung continues the ruse, even warning off Seul-hee, whom he discovers was behind the attempt on Hae-in’s life in Germany. Eun-sung clearly sees this as his future, as deranged as the whole plot may seem.
Of course, Hae-in’s memories aren’t buried too deeply. The MP3 player brings something back, and when she goes to see Hyun-woo in prison, there’s a clear shift. Even while on the surface paying to heed to his warnings, it’s quite clear that there’s still a deeper connection to her husband under the surface.
Hyun-woo Is Acquitted
Queen of Tears Episode 15 (via Netflix)
Eun-sung’s plan is contingent on Hyun-woo being sent to prison, so Episode 15 includes his hearing. He was framed for the murder of the broker, but it’s almost laughable how little evidentiary basis this has.
Not to be nitpicky, obviously, but as the hearing proceeds it becomes increasingly obvious that there’s nothing of substance to convict Hyun-woo on, and that Eun-sung must have known this on some level. It’s a nice coming-together moment for Hyun-woo’s allies, but when he’s eventually acquitted, it isn’t the big moment it could have been since there was never any real suggestion that he’d be convicted.
After the hearing, Hae-in follows Hyun-woo around with Secretary Na to get a sense of his behaviour and the “odd” family dynamics which obviously don’t cohere with a lot of Eun-sung’s claims. With the diary having been found back in Germany and shipped to Hae-in, it’s feels a bit overly obvious where all this is going.
Episode 15 also goes out of its way to provide nice arcs and payoffs to secondary plots like Beom-ja confessing her feelings to Yeong-song – and the whole village hearing it – and Soo-cheol and Da-hye confessing their love for each other after the former saves the latter from her ex-husband.
Eun-sung’s Plans Begin to Fall Apart
Things go increasingly badly for Eun-sung. His mother has orchestrated a vote for his dismissal from Queens Group, and his investment fraud comes back to bite him. Hyun-woo has a hard drive from Da-hye that proves it.
And his lies to Hae-in aren’t holding much water either. Before losing her memories, Hae-in had organized an informal wedding ceremony for her and Hyun-woo at an aquarium, so the two end up meeting there, where Hyun-woo reiterates once again not to trust anything Eun-sung says.
And she begins to discover evidence to support his claims basically immediately – the video from the hidden camera, the lack of injury marks on Eun-sung’s hand. The penny drops, to a certain extent, and Eun-sung’s sudden, drunken proposal and suggestion to abscond seems even more ridiculous.
Is Hyun-woo Dead?!
When Hae-in returns home she discovers a parcel from Germany containing the diary, and, as predicted, reading it brings her memories flooding back. She runs to meet Hyun-woo, and they spot each other at a crossroads.
However, the teary moment is ruined by the sudden arrival of a bus that kidnaps Hae-in, and then a car that knocks down Hyun-woo as he tries to find her. Eun-sung, increasingly obsessed and dangerous, arranged the whole thing. What might he try in the finale?
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