“Queen Of Tears” Episodes 3 and 4 Recap

In the wake of her diagnosis, our chaebol queen is facing some significant changes in her life. The cherry on top is getting drawn to her husband of three years after a long time of feeling nothing.

On the other hand, said husband is also experiencing a change of heart, which will hopefully pull the plug on his plans and help reconcile his relationship with his wife.

Bunny S. watches Queen of Tears on Netflix

Episode Recaps: 01 & 02 |


Queen of Tears


Queen Of Tears Episodes 3 and 4 Highlights

“You didn’t dry your hair because you looked in the mirror and thought you looked like a drenched Timothée Chalamet or a young Leonardo DiCaprio.”

Having saved her from the boar attack (which turns out to be intentional) and carried her bridal style after she sprains her ankle, Hae-in can’t help but have her heart flutter at Hyun-woo. She keeps replaying the rescue scene in slow motion in her mind. And the thought of how handsome and sexy Hyun-woo is, keeps running in her mind. It is a pity that while Hae-in wants to get closer to Hyun-woo, he wants nothing more than to escape his way out of sharing a room with him.

Long gone are the days when Hyun-woo was over the moon about being in the same room as Hae-in. In the past, they slept peacefully, cuddling on a single bed. But now Hyun-woo turns pale when Hae-in suggests they cuddle. Seeing his reaction, Hae-in brushes it off as a joke, though she clearly meant it.


“I have never been like this. I have always been cold-hearted.”

Besides having her heart race at the sight of Hyun-woo, Hae-in experiences some notable changes in her life that leave her baffled. She was never the caring type, yet Hae-in now empathizes with people’s pain. When learning about an employee’s mother being diagnosed with cancer, Hae-in decides to set up a cancer support center to help treat the employees’ families who struggle financially.

Speaking of personality changes, Hyun-woo is facing some changes as well. He finds Hae-in pretty, almost makes a scene when she trips, buys her comfy shoes and feels excited when she puts them on, buys her snacks, and, most importantly, gets jealous whenever he spots Hae-in together with Eun-seong. No one can blame him, though. Clues are piling up about how dangerous Eun-seong is. His main agenda is to separate Hae-in and Hyun-woo and maybe take over the company while at it.


“A life like that for fifty more years?”

After reaching out to several hospitals and laboratories and getting turned down numerous times, Hae-in finally hears some good news. There is a chance for her to get cured. But while Hae-in is ecstatic at the news, Hyun-woo has a scary nightmare about staying stuck in this messy household, enduring harsh treatment for the rest of his life. He considers coming clean about the divorce to Hae-in. But imagining her getting enraged and shooting him dead makes him change his mind.


“The truth is I don’t remember. I don’t remember at all why I was there.”

So far, Hae-in has done a good job of keeping her condition a secret. But the cat might get out of the bag soon. Hae-in is showing more symptoms by the day. While on a visit to Hyun-woo’s hometown, she gets lost for hours. And a worried to death Hyun-woo searches for Hae-in frantically until he finds her.

At first, Hae-in puts on a brave face but eventually breaks down in tears. She is terrified. One moment, she was in front of Hyun-woo’s house. And then she suddenly found herself in a strange place, not knowing how she got there. We end this week with Hyun-woo pulling Hae-in in a comforting hug, which he meant genuinely this time without any ulterior motives.


Queen Of Tears Episodes 3 and 4 Musings

I tried to hold my horses last week and not comment on the terminal illness arc till the picture gets clearer. At first, I had a hard time taking it seriously since Hae-in kept denying her condition and only thought about the sales target she had to achieve before dying. But the series packed a punch with the ending sequence. Watching Hae-in scared, not knowing what to do, with her clothes covered in mud and tears welling up in her eyes, had my heart go out to her.

Despite her nonchalant façade, Hae-in is afraid of being sick and wants to live. Worse, she has no one she can confide in besides Hyun-woo, who she believes genuinely cares for her, wholly oblivious to the fact he is considering a divorce behind her back and only changed his mind because of her imminent death. (Hae-in almost learns about the divorce, yet Hyun-woo is saved by the bell.)

Kim Soo-hyun makes it difficult to hate Hyun-woo. But for sure, being happy about one’s wife being sick and devising a plan to get her to change her will is a heartless thing to do. Sometimes I have a hard time figuring out Hyun-woo’s intention when caring about Hae-in. Does he mean it or is it part of his plan or is it both? It can’t be denied how suffocating the Hong household is, but what Hyun-woo is doing isn’t the right answer either.

We also learned that Hae-in got pregnant in the past but lost the child to a miscarriage. She still uses the late baby’s due date as her phone passcode. The room where Hyun-woo stays now used to be the baby’s room Hae-in and Hyun-woo happily decorated while waiting for their baby. The loss of their unborn baby might be one of the biggest reasons why Hae-in and Hyun-woo drifted apart like this.

The family drama remains the weakest link in the drama and it is only getting worse. Hae-in’s mother is cruel, only caring about making Soo-cheol the heir. It seems like Hae-in’s elder brother died while she was young, and her mother blames her for it. And given how Hae-in gets flashbacks about this incident while experiencing her seizures speaks volumes about her pain.

Will Hae-in and Hyun-woo rediscover the genuine romance that initially bind them in Queen of Tears? Find out on weekends on tvN! International fans can watch it on Netflix!


Photos and Videos: tvN Drama

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