Queens of Tears Overtook Crash Landing On You as tvN’s Highest Rated Drama

The popular K-drama Queen Of Tears, starring Kim Ji-won and Kim Soo-hyun as Hong Hae-in and Baek Hyun-woo respectively, has held viewers worldwide in a grip for about two months.

 

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Millions around the world tuned in on 29 April to watch the conclusion of the main couple’s dramatic love story in the show’s finale.

We won’t spoil what happens in the final episode, but it would be smart to watch it ASAP before you get spoiled by social media or your friends because everyone is talking about this show.

And we mean everyone.

Queen Of Tears has become so popular that it has officially shattered 2019’s Crash Landing On You‘s record as South Korean TV channel tvN’s highest rated drama of all time.

Queen Of Tears Dethrones Crash Landing On You

On the day of the finale’s showing, rating research company Nielsen Korea anounced that Queen Of Tears’ finale scored a viewership rating of 24.850% across South Korea.

The show broke the four-year record held by Crash Landing On You, which earned a viewership rating of 21.683% for its final episode.

 

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Both Queen Of Tears and Crash Landing On You were written by screenwriter Park Ji-eun, who has proven that she turns viewers into an “audience of tears”.

@joel_julian_s Queens of Tears | Reaction to ending #queenoftearsep15 #queenoftears #fyp ♬ original sound – Julian S Reyes

The show is available in Netflix Singapore.

Queen Of Tears

Without spoiling much of the show, here’s a brief intro to it.

Queen Of Tears follows the journey of lawyer Baek Hyun-woo and his department store CEO wife Hong Hae-in. While the two shared a loving relationship at first, things soon turned sour between them.

Things took a turn for the worst when Hae-in was diagnosed with brain cancer, causing the two to go through a multitude of ups and downs as they rediscover their love for each other.

The show has won praise for its tragic themes and insanely good acting by its two lead actors as well as the show’s main villains.

Screenwriter Park Ji-eun did not neglect side characters too, and gave them tear-jerking stories that tugged at the heartstrings of viewers.

The K-drama has ranked in the top 10 in 68 countries, including the US, Canada, Japan, Australia, and India.

Two Special Episodes

Queen Of Tears has aired two special episodes on 4 and 5 May, in which the show’s cast will discuss key moments from the drama.

*Finale spoiler alert for those of you who have yet to finish watching the last episode: Skip the next five paragraphs, and continue reading from “*For no spoilers, continue reading here.”

According to South Korean publication Star News, the special episodes were prepared “to sooth the disappointment,” causing many to speculate that the show would have a sad ending

Many then took to social media to beg the show’s producers to give Hae-in and Hyun-woo a happy ending as the two had been through too much for the show to have a not-so-happy ending.

With the screening of the finale on Sunday, fans breathed a sigh of relief when the on-screen couple shared a happy ending, much like Park Ji-eun’s other dramas.

Fans, however, speculate that producers listened to viewers and that the show was originally supposed to have a sad ending due to a leaked picture of Hae-in’s original tombstone, which showed Hae-in actually passed away in 2034, not 2074.

Whether the plot was changed or not, we’re glad the couple got to enjoy a happy ending.

*For no spoilers, continue reading here.

With the conclusion of the K-drama, many are sad that they won’t have any more episodes to look forward to, and some are already asking Park Ji-eun to work on a second season of the show.

While a second season of Queen Of Tears seems like a stretch, fans have the specials to look forward to instead.