Fit for a Queen's Throne, Yet Just Shy of Brilliance

The TL;DR would be that this show is a flawed masterpiece. The premise, though not unique in any way, was interesting enough to hook me in from the get-go. A seemingly perfect couple leading to a strained divorce, it leads you to wonder how two star-crossed lovers become seemingly indifferent strangers living in the same house. Through flashbacks, current events, and interactions between the characters, the veil behind the two main leads slowly unfolds, revealing the road leading up to the story.

The casting and acting were nothing short of perfection. Each of the actors delivered a masterful performance that brought the characters to life. Every gaze, action, speech was filled with emotions that brought depth and nuance. This especially holds true for our two main leads, both delivering stand-out performances worthy of a standing ovation. Kim Soo Hyun embodied each emotion his character and expressed it so well you could feel his tears and joy. Kim Ji Won, on the other hand, with her body language and subtle movements, perfectly portrayed the duality of her character. Park Sung Hoon once again masterfully plays the antagonist, creating a villain so well done that he had to come out and apologize and stress that it was just an act.

However, the shine of the stars was not enough to cover up its pitfalls. The performance of the cast members was largely held back by the mediocre story filled with a number of loopholes. Though the original premise and starting episodes were interesting, it quickly fell into a generic trope of power play between two conflicting parties, quickly becoming predictable in its final episodes. It also tries to introduce many elements and troupes, but fails to properly explore them with enough depth, leaving only a shallow touch of elements that makes it seem cheap. It's a real shame as the start showed a lot of promise and potential to be different but wasn't delivered. But, this does not mean that it is bad. What it lacks in plot development and uniqueness, it makes up for in its characters (mostly). The main characters are very well-written, and aspects of their personality not reflected in words are done so through actions and small details. Supporting characters are fleshed out and explored, turning some generic characters into thoughtful and nuanced human beings. However, the main antagonists are, in my opinion, poorly written. Though their backstories are well-explored, it frustrates me how predictable and cliché they are and could have been given some more love in developing their motivations.

This really hurt the story, especially since they spent so much time building up the impact of the antagonists, only to reveal their flimsy motives and backstories that honestly felt like they forgot to write about at the start and tacked it on as an afterthought. On that note, I personally think that the ending was rather weak. Though it was lovely and wholesome, I think it undermined a lot of the stakes and obstacles they faced. They spent so much time invested in developing the challenges the couple faces, and it was really well done. It made them look more humane and relatable and made you want to cry and laugh along with them. But the ending felt cheap and not very impactful, as if all the tears and hardships served no grander purpose.

With all that being said, I still enjoyed Queen of Tears. The story between the two main characters and development of a few side characters were beautiful, and I thoroughly enjoyed the dynamics and how they changed over the course of the 16 episodes. Though the writing wasn't the best, the slight focus on slice-of-life comedy paired with an amazing production/OST made it all the more enjoyable. The actors' performance deserves praise, and the two main leads stole the show with their chemistry and portrayed a wonderful, challenging love story that denotes the ugly side of love but showcases how that ugliness in itself is also a form of beauty.

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