Queen of Tears – K-drama Episode 2 Recap & Review

Episode 2

Episode 2 of Queen of Tears begins with Hyun-woo trying to convince Hae-in that he loves her and is worried about her, but Hae-in is suspicious of the sudden change in attitude and asks Hyun-woo to die with her if he so loves her. Hyun-woo is taken aback and changes the subject.

The scene changes to a flashback where Hae-in receives a call from the doctor. She asks Hyun-woo to go somewhere with her but he coldly rejects it and leaves. Hae-in arrives at the hospital but experiences sudden hallucinations.

Time seems to pass by precariously and she finds herself in the doctor’s room. Hae-in finds out that she has a rare tumour that can neither be cured through surgery nor medication. Her illness results in sudden hallucinations, headaches and memory loss. She sometimes finds herself lost in thought for hours on end and misses appointments. 

Back in the house, as Hae-in finishes recollecting the events at the hospitals, she goes into an angry monologue about  the unfairness of it all since she has never drunk any soda or eaten junk food in her life. Hyun-woo suggests to confirm the diagnosis once more. 

That night, Hyun-woo sleeps so peacefully that his skin shines brightly. He visits Hae-in in her room and thinks she is dead. However, she wakes up and comments on his bright skin, sarcastically insinuating that Hyun-woo is happy about her illness.

While going to the hospital, we learn that Hae-in doesn’t have good relations with her family. She is adamant about hiding her illness from her family lest they begin dividing her assets amongst them.

At the hospital, the diagnosis is the same. Hyun-woo reconfirms about the probability of the supposed “miracles”, trying to gauge his losses if such a miracle were to happen and Hae-in is able to live. The entire scenario is amusing. 

Elsewhere, Hong Soo-Cheol gets an earful from Hong Man-Dae, his grandfather, as he overpaid 8 billion in corporate tax which was spotted by Hyun-woo to be rectified. Soo-cheol is so stressed that he gets a panic attack. 

Later, Hae-in’s mother visits, trying to get to Hyun-woo for making too big a deal about 8 billion corporate tax leading to Soo-cheol’s panic attack. We understand from their exchanges that they have a rocky relationship. 

At a ridiculously crowded restaurant, Hyun-woo meets with Kim Yang-Ki, his friend, who agrees to become his lawyer for the divorce trials but the situation has now changed.

Hyun-woo tells him about Hae-in’s illness later in a secluded area. They rejoice over the fact that Hyun-woo can escape from the Hong family unharmed. Yang-ki also instills an idea in Hyun-woo about winning Hae-in’s love and getting his share of Hae-in’s will. 

The very next day, Hyun-woo gifts Hae-in a bouquet for their third marriage anniversary and we realise how fickle Hae-in is. She scolded Hyun-woo for being dramatic on their first anniversary and then scolded him for not doing anything for their second. 

Hyun-woo is visibly more caring towards Hae-in which dispel the rumours of their separation. 

At the Hong family dinner, Hae-in and her mother butt heads with a lawsuit from her mother, demanding compensation for a land where Hae-in’s building has been built. It’s a sort of revenge for what happened to Soo-cheol as Hae-in has received her mother’s permission to go ahead with the project.

Hyun-woo and Hae-in excuse themselves while Hae-in further comments that Hyun-woo is the most suspicious out of everybody, while going back to their place.

Later, Beom-Ja’s craziness is at its peak at she crashes an ex-husband’s wedding and injures them. Hyun-woo arrives and tells her that it would reflect badly on her as she’s on probation.

Back home, we understand that she has a complicated relationship with her father but the chairman does care about her. She keeps insinuating that Moh Seul-Hee has an ulterior motive in dating the chairman. Elsewhere, Seul-hee outwits the chairman in a game, foreshadowing a similar objective in real life as she asks the chairman to grant her a favour when the time comes.

Meanwhile, Kim Sun-Hwa and Hong Beom-Joon, Hae-in’s parents, are out on a walk and we understand from their conversation that there’s more to Hae-in’s past which might involved a dead sibling. It is also the source of her mother’s resentment towards her and certain people. 

At home, Hyun-woo researches on the number of “miracles” that are associated with rare diseases and is disappointed to find that there are much too many of them! 

Hae-in arrives into the room while Hyun-woo is asleep and mistakes his research for care. She hilariously announces her resolve to live to Hyun-woo after acknowledging that at least he wants her to live. Hence, Hyun-woo’s research backfires. 

We jump to an event where Hae-in aims to bring a sought after brand, Hercyna to her store. She meets her business rival who taunts her for arriving by herself as the Hercyna’s owner believes in the philosophy that people who forms good relations with other are better business partners. Hye-rin frantically calls Hyun-woo but he is in trial. 

Hae-in later finds out that her ex-boyfriend, Yoon Eun-Seong has become a tycoon and is a close associate of Hercyna’s owner. She tries to befriend him once again. Fortunately, Hyun-woo arrives at the right time and Hae-in is able to meet the owner. 

Hyun-woo and Eun-sang have a tense exchange where Eun-sang guesses that Hae-in and Hyun-woo’s relationship is a burnt candle. Hyun-woo is surprised about Eun-sang’s accurate guess. 

Kim Sun-Hwa, Cheon Da-Hye (Soo-cheol’s wife) and Grace Go are having tea when Da-hye tells her how important Eun-sang is for Soo-cheol’s business. Realising that Eun-sang and Hae-in know each other, she suggest to retrieve the lawsuit if Hae-in can bring Eun-sang to the family’s annual hunt. 

At the Hong family’s annual hunt, Hyun-woo is bothered by Hae-in and Eun-sang’s closeness. While on her own, as Hae-in wants to catch the highest number of kills to suggest her worthiness to lead as the heir to her grandfather, gets lost and has a hallucination.

At this time, a boar is preparing to attack her while she is in trance and unable to differentiate between reality and dream, when Hyun-woo arrives and fires at the boar, protecting Hae-in. 

In an epilogue, we see a younger Hyun-woo declaring to his family that he is going to marry Hae-in, oblivious to the fact that she is a heiress. The episode ends with Hyun-woo looking his happiest. 


The Episode Review

There is a lot going on in the Queen of Tears. We come across different characters and their backstories and some of them we are still unaware about. The plot seems straightforward and unimpressive but we find ourselves curious about the characters and about Hyun-woo and Hae-in’s relationship. Much of the charm is definitely the cast and their phenomenal performances. 

The hunting retreat, especially when the characters descended from the helicopter, strongly reminded me about the ‘Boar on the Floor’ hunting retreat from Succession. The similarities were unmistakable with a toned down crazy family dynamics of course. 

Even when we think about Hyun-woo and Hae-in, the two resemble Tom and Siobhan quite a bit however it’s obviously much more romcom like and very korean in its approach. 

Overall, the next episode seems interesting and so, we will meet you in the next recap! Till then, let us know your comments!

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  • Episode Rating
    (3.5)
3.5

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