Summary

• Rushed final episodes of "Queen of Tears" dull the incredible moments built up throughout the series.
• 16-episode format hindered the finale's impact, suggesting a 20-episode structure would have been more suitable.
• Pacing issues in the finale of "Queen of Tears" detracted from the emotional impact of the final moments.

Despite an incredible lead-up to the last two episodes, Queen of Tears’ ending being a great homage to Hae-in and Hyun-woo’s love, the lead-up to their final moments had one major flaw.

Writer Park Ji-eun is known as a K-drama mastermind, as she is the one behind some of the best K-dramas to date including My Love From the Star, The Legend of the Blue Sea, and even the record-breaking Crash Landing on You starring Son Ye-jin and Hyun Bin. Though Queen of Tears doing what Crashing Landing on You couldn’t, Queen of Tears’ finale was met with disappointment for one major reason.

Episodes of Queen of Tears 15-16 Felt Rushed

Queen of Tears Could Not Maintain Its Momentum

For weeks, Queen of Tears’ success had kept viewers glued to their screens as the unconventional love story of Hong Hae-in and Baek Hyun-woo unfolded. Queen of Tears’ multiple plotlines made every episode interesting to watch, even if it diverged away from the main story. However, they would ultimately lead to Queen of Tears’ biggest weakness as trying to close so many storylines alongside a heavily-weighted major plot left the finale with little time to devote to each point as much as was needed.

So much information was packed into the last episodes that they seemed to dull the incredible moments that the show had spent weeks building up.

Compared to the previous episodes of Queen of Tears, which felt precise and balanced, so much information was packed into the last episodes that they seemed to dull the incredible moments that the show had spent weeks building up. The conclusion of many plotlines were incredibly rushed, so they had less impact than had been previously expected from Queen of Tears. Plus, the build up to the final climax, which came at the beginning of episode 16, was ill-timed and not drawn out enough, making it seem weak against the build up.

Making Queen of Tears 20 Episodes Would Solve Pacing Issues

The 16-episode K-drama Formula Made The Finale Fall Flat

K-dramas often follow a 16-episode format with a specific formula that usually means fans know what to expect in a series. For example, the leading couple will usually make things official around episode 11 or 12, with episode 14 or 15 leading to a big climax or a dramatic obstacle in the leading couple’s relationship. This is no different for Queen of Tears; Hae-in tells Hyun-woo she loves him in episode 11, and episode 14 saw Hae-in lose her memories and Hyun-woo being arrested. However, this format would seriously hinder Queen of Tears’ last two episodes.

Instead, Queen of Tears should have followed a 20-episode format, which is also commonly used in K-dramas, though less so than the 16-episode. This would have allowed more time for the key subplots of Queen of Tears to resolve and give them the full closure that they needed, while not taking any time away from the major plotlines that are the key focus of the story.

More Episodes Would Make Queen of Tears’ Finale Even More Impactful

Yoon Eun-sung's Final Moments Deserved Better

Another advantage to adding more episodes to Queen of Tears would be elevating the stakes of the final episodes. Episode 14 was one of Queen of Tears’ best episodes and saw the tensions of Queen of Tears’ major plotlines at their highest. However, Hyun-woo was released from prison halfway through episode 15, which dampened the great cliffhanger from the previous episode. The same goes for Hae-in’s lost memories, as she gained them far too quickly to advance the plot, making what should have been some of the best episodes of Queen of Tears, some of the worst.

With more time allowed for the dramatic parts of Queen of Tears, the final moments of Hae-in and Hyun-woo’s relationship would have the impact it was intended to have.

The final climax of Queen of Tears would have benefitted the most from this change. The main antagonist, Yoon Eun-sung, was killed only half an hour into episode 16’s nearly two-hour runtime, leaving the rest of the episode to tie up all the other loose ends Queen of Tears had created. Though Eun-sung’s demise was the most thrilling part of the episode, it was a disappointing end to a story that had built up for weeks. More episodes would have solved this major problem and allowed Eun-sung’s final plans to feel even more dramatic than they already did.

With more time allowed for the dramatic parts of Queen of Tears, the final moments of Hae-in and Hyun-woo’s relationship would have the impact it was intended to have. The final montage that shows Hae-in and Hyun-woo’s relationship throughout their lifetimes is bittersweet, as ultimately, both characters die in the end but reunite in the afterlife. However, Queen of Tears’ pacing issues hinder this beautiful moment. If Queen of Tears had allowed itself a few more episodes to address all its storylines, this final scene would have been a much more satisfying ending than it was.