REVIEW: ‘Queen of Tears’ Episodes 15-16

The sword of fate has swung down repeatedly in Queen of Tears. Hong Hae-In (Kim Ji-Won) and Baek Hyeon-Woo (Kim Soo-Hyun) have weathered a series of ups and downs, with their relationship constantly put to the test. In Queen of Tears Episodes 15-16, they must overcome a final round of challenges if they are to achieve happiness. The finale is an emotional rollercoaster. Tears fall yet again, and Hae-In and Hyeon-Woo do everything possible to fight for their fated love.

Queen of Tears Episode 15 starts off in the German hospital. Hyeon-Woo has been arrested, and Yoon Eun-Sung (Park Sung-Hoon) is removing any evidence of Hae-In’s memories. He finds the diary she wrote for Hyeon-Woo to give her after waking up and tosses it into an incinerator. Whether due to luck or happenstance, the diary survives. It’s one of the many ways luck intervenes on behalf of the couple.

Hae-In survives the surgery with her memories erased. Luckily, the surgery is successful. The success of this surgery is barely mentioned. Eun-Sung works hard to plant seeds of doubt in Hae-In. He blends lies with the truth, making it easier to sow discord between Hae-In, Hyeon-Woo, and her family. It works to isolate her, but it’s not long before Hae-In is suspicious.

Over the course of Queen of Tears Episodes 15-16, Hae-In slowly regains her sense of understanding. In Episode 15, she confronts Hyeon-Woo face to face while he is in prison. Her body remembers him while her mind does not, but her reaction after their meeting says otherwise. Later conversations with her secretary (Yoon Bo-Mi) help fill in the gaps further on both her family and Hyeon-Woo. With the arrival of a package from Germany containing her missing diary, it becomes clear that she’ll fill in the dots.

Funnily enough, Eun-Sung is key to her regaining her senses. His actions to ruin Hyeon-Woo and his obsession with Hae-In trigger further spirals in Queen of Tears Episodes 15-16. Eun-Sung foolishly frames Hyeon-Woo without understanding how adept his team was. The court battle, while predictable, reveals that someone else was responsible for the murder—not Hyeon-Woo. Hyeon-Woo’s proven innocence and his rejoining the Queens Group rattles Eun-Sung. It also shows Hae-In that maybe, just maybe, Hyeon-Woo is okay.

Eun-Sung’s attempts to warp the truth come back to haunt him in Queen of Tears Episodes 15-16. In his defense, he didn’t count on Hae-In to plan out the future. Hae-In orchestrated a potential wedding ceremony in an aquarium, the same aquarium where Hyeon-Woo first proposed to Hae-In.

While neither of the lovebirds understands why they are there initially, the scheduled event provokes more questions in Hae-In. Hyeon-Woo’s words also plant seeds of doubt, forcing her to pay more attention to Eun-Sung and his words.

As has been the case throughout Queen of Tears, there are discrepancies. Upon visiting Eun-Sung, she notes strange things. His drunken state, clearly off-putting, hides the coward he is. She accidentally uncovers a secret camera that’s been recording her familial home.

Where he previously stated he injured himself trying to save her, there are no clear injuries. Whereas Hyeon-Woo’s hand is covered in scars. What ultimately pushes her over the edge is the discovery of her diary. Upon reading her words back to her, she realizes how wrong she has been.

At the end of Episode 15, the two lovebirds dramatically meet up. Hyeon-Woo sees her across the street, but confusion sets in once she disappears suddenly. While a predictable ending, Hyeon-Woo ends up hit by a car. The last footage we see is a drunken Eun-Sung speeding towards Hyeon-Woo, implicating him in this attempted murder.

However, Episode 16 absolves him of this responsibility. Another driver is shown to have hit Hyeon-Woo, but for the first time in Queen of Tears, Hyeon-Woo’s fate is left up in the air. Sustaining injuries that should have him down for the count, Hyeon-Woo forces himself to find Hae-In.

This leads to him returning to the Queens Estate, where Eun-Sung and his mother, Moh Seul-Hee (Lee Mi-Sook), call home. Hae-In has been kidnapped by Eun-Sung’s men, and he is the most unhinged we’ve seen him. He acknowledges that resentment toward Hae-In is a risk if she denies him, and the silent threat of death wavers in the air.

While she feigns compliance, Hae-In finds a way to escape. This leads her to run into Hyeon-Woo, and they both make a run for it. Noticing Hae-In gone, Eun-Sung is in hot pursuit. Cops are not far behind, having been summoned by Hyeon-Woo and his friend.

A massive standoff between Eun-Sung, Hyeon-Woo, and Hae-In takes place, a path that Eun-Sung would always walk down. If no one can have Hae-In, he’ll take her out. Hyeon-Woo protects her, taking the gunshot meant for her, and the cops kill Eun-Sung in response.

Hyeon-Woo’s life hangs in the balance. But it is his life that brings everyone together now. From his family to Hae-In’s family, everyone comes together to ensure Hae-In has the support needed. Hyeon-Woo eventually wakes up, and the two share heartfelt ‘I love yous.’ Queen of Tears Episode 16 naturally slows down from this pivotal moment onward.

There’s still the issue of Seul-Hee, but Hyeon-Woo gathers enough evidence via Cheon Da-Hye’s (Lee Joo-Bin) confession and Grace Go (Kim Joo-Ryung) handing over a USB revealing Seul-Hee’s confession. With these two key elements in hand, the issue of the Queens Group and the family fortune is resolved. Being sent back to jail seems a fitting enough punishment for Seul-Hee. The difference now is her son is dead, and she has nothing left to live for outside the jail walls.

Queen of Tears Episodes 15-16 spend much time wrapping secondary storylines. Hong Soo-Cheul (Kwak Dong-Yeon) finally stands on his own two feet. He takes everything he’s learned and defends Da-Hye with his fists, becoming the man he’s always wanted to be. With the time taken over the season and actor Kwak Dong-Yeon’s earnest approach to Soo-Cheul, this moment feels the most earned. His ending the season waiting for Da-Hye with their son in tow verifies the success of both their arcs.

Hong Beom-Ja’s (Kim Jung-Nan) storyline has shifted towards a new romance in the second half of the season. Her target? Yeong-Song (Kim Young-Min). In Queen of Tears Episodes 15-16, we finally see the progress we’ve been waiting for. Beom-Ja confesses to Yeong-Song, but due to mic-related snafus, the entire village hears it.

All encourage them to get together, but Yeong-Song’s hesitance makes things awkward. It isn’t until Episode 16 that he admits he hasn’t dated, but Beom-Ja is willing to go at his pace. Taking romance one step at a time, the two have their happy ending.

What Queen of Tears Episodes 15-16 fails to do is give closure or any substance to the miscarriage Hae-In had. The original catalyst for their marriage to fall apart is the unspoken plot point in the room with little resolution. In the finale, Hae-In has a dream about this moment in her life.  Not much else is explored beyond her sharing this dream with Hyeon-Woo. While the topic of miscarriage is still a taboo, having an actual discussion dissecting this pivotal moment to address what happened would have paid off more than some of the secondary storylines.

Case in point: Hyeon-Woo’s sister, Mi-Seon (Jang Yoon-Ju), and the village women are heavily featured in Queen of Tears. This scene contains a lot of gossip, but for the most part, it isn’t wholly necessary to the overall plot. For whatever reason, a plot surrounding Mi-Seon’s desire to divorce due to some suspected infidelity distracts more than not. Despite this plot being resolved in Queen of Tears Episodes 15-16, the time could have been used to dive into the miscarriage storyline.

There’s also the fact that in Queen of Tears Episodes 15-16, little is discussed about the success of Hae-In’s rare illness being cured. Given how quickly she was deteriorating, the experimental surgery’s success should have been at least mentioned at some point. However, much like the miscarriage storyline, it’s a footnote. With Eun-Sung’s and his mother’s treachery needing to be resolved, it’s understandable. But still an oversight.

Regardless of storylines dropped or left unresolved, Queen of Tears Episodes 15-16 deliver plenty of emotions. After breaking hearts every week, the ending for Hae-In and Hyeon-Woo gives everything we could have wanted for this duo. Whatever you do, try not to bawl your eyes out in those last five minutes.

Queen of Tears Episodes 1-16 are now available on Netflix.