Queen of Tears – K-drama Episode 4 Recap & Review

Episode 4

Episode 4 of Queen of Tears begins with the aftermath of the kiss. Hyun-woo is following Hae-in in the hopes of trying to delete the divorce message and secure his future while Hae-in misunderstands it for affection. Hyun-woo breaks into Hae-in’s room while she is in the bathroom and successfully deletes the text before awkwardly leaving when Hae-in catches him. 

While trying to get past Hae-in’s password, Hyun-woo finds it to be 1031. It’s revealed that the two were expecting a baby and this was the birth date. We don’t really know what happened after yet. 

Back in Hyun-woo’s hometown, his family talk about Hyun-woo. His mother reminisces about an interaction she had with Hae-in’s mother. From this, she realises that Hae-in’s family is starkly different from theirs, not only from the perspective of money but also with familial affection. 

Elsewhere, Hyun-woo feels attracted to Hae-in and is taken aback at this discovery –  he starts thinking she looks pretty, her smile makes him smile and he is worried about her falling on the escalator. He even buys her new shoes, saying that it’s dangerous for her to walk in high heels. He relays these incidents to his friend who suggests that he probably loves Hae-in but Hyun-woo brushes it off. 

Elsewhere, Hae-in and Eun Seong meet Hercyna’s owner. He feels bothered by Hae-in’s shoes which Hyun-woo had gifted her. Eun-seong helps Hae-in blackmail the owner into making a business deal. 

Later, Hae-in calls Hyun-woo to give him good news. Hyun-woo and his friend interprets it as her will but it’s revealed that Hae-in has found an organisation working on CAR-T cell therapy who are willing to help her. Her odds are 51%. While Hae-in is ecstatic, Hyun-woo’s world shatters. 

He deliberates two scenarios. If he doesn’t divorce her and she lives up to 50 years, Hyun-woo will have to tolerate her in-laws and Hae-in forever. But if he does divorce her, Hae-in might possibly kill him. He responds to this dilemma by screaming while running.

Elsewhere, Beom Ja, Hae-in’s aunt is being too good to her father and suspiciously so, much to the dismay of the chairman who finds her overbearing. At the same time, we see Mo Seul Hee and Eun-seong having a silent exchange. 

Eun-seong is on his way to meet Hae-in, much to the displeasure of Hyun-woo. While Eun-seong and Hae-in are discussing business, Hyun-woo is jealous and tries his best to monitor the two. Hyun-woo later tells his friend that he senses there’s something wrong with Eun-seong.

Meanwhile, Soo-cheol tries to be close to Eun-seong to get his adventure park project going but Eun-seong isn’t very interested. Grace Go shows Hae-in’s mother how influential Eun-seong is and manipulates her by saying that Hae-in is trying to stop Soo-cheol’s project. 

A little while later, we find that Eun-seong, Grace Go and a man who seems to be the ex-director of the Queens, are in cahoots. They are planning something big against the Queens group. 

Hae-in’s mother, influenced by Grace Go, confronts her but Hae-in is not feeling well and Hyun-woo makes an excuse for them to finish the conversation for the day. He later suggests telling the family about Hae-in’s condition but she confesses that she doesn’t want her parents to feel the loss of another child. 

Elsewhere, Eun-seong’s plan is made clear. They are to collect the Queens shares by tricking the directors into putting their Queens stocks as collateral. It seems they’re trying to takeover the Queens group. They also plan on sending the chairman to jail by sending the prosecution evidence of the company funds being siphoned. 

At the same time, Beom-ja tries to set a meeting between the chairman and her oldest brother by tricking the chairman but it’s all in vain. We find that the oldest son tried to give evidence against the chairman, thinking that the chairman is trying to make him the scapegoat. The chairman has no intention to reconcile with his oldest son. 

Mo Seul Hee tries to comfort the chairman by making him a soup that his mother used to make for him when he was sick.

At the department store, two customers wreak havoc by demanding an unfair refund. One of them gets violent. Hae-in, who is passing by, recognises the employee whose mother has cancer, and steps in. She supports her employee and asks the security to take the two to the police station. 

Back at Hyun-woo’s hometown, his father is running for the village head but his campaign is severely lacking. Moreover, there are rumours about his daughter-in-law who never visits the family, suggesting that they don’t have any influential supporters. As Hyun-woo’s father is about to lose the campaign, Hae-in arrives and throws a feast for the village. It’s revealed that Hyun-woo’s sister sent her a message explaining the situation and she reacted immediately. Hyun-woo’s mother tells him about Hae-in’s arrival in the village.

Hae-in reminisces in Hyun-woo’s room and meets her nephew for the first time, who happens to be Hyun-woo’s youngest brother’s son. She gets him a ride in car but as she’s standing there, she gets stuck in another hallucination and winds up lost. 

Meanwhile, Hyun-woo has been searching for Hae-in across the whole town and gets worried. He finally finds her and scolds her. Hae-in breaks down saying that she doesn’t know how she got there. Hyun-woo then tries to comfort her by giving her a hug. 

In the epilogue, we travel to the past and discover that Hyun-woo and Hae-in met while they were in high school briefly. It’s revealed that Hae-in did not have any friends in school and was leaving for the US when she met Hyun-woo. Hyun-woo puts a band-aid on her wound from a fall before she leaves for good.

The Episode Review

This episode had a lot going on. We find that Eun-seong actually has ulterior motives and Grace Go is constantly manipulating the Hong family to create a divide between them. We also find that there’s a deeper and more painful reason in Hae-in and Hyun-woo’s past, which has ultimately brought them to this point in their lives. 

There is still much to be unravelled and the show is getting interesting with the plot and character depth. And so, with this, we will see you in the next recap!