K Drama Chat Joanna and Sung Hee

Today, we’ll be discussing Episodes 15 and 16 of Queen of Tears, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Kim Ji-won as Hong Hae-in, Kim Soo-hyun as Baek Hyun-woo, Park Sung-hoon as Yoon Eun-Seong, Kwak Dong-Yeon as Hong Soo-cheol, and Lee Joo-bin as Cheon Da-Hye.
Ernabel Demillo is back to help us analyze episodes 15 and 16! We discuss:
* The songs we feature during the recap:
* More Than Enough by Kim Tae Rae
* Heart Flutter by dori
* How crazy it was that David Yoon got to claim that he was Hae-in’s fiancé by donating a lot of money to the medical center.
* How Hae-in’s notebook was found by David Yoon, tossed into a fire, salvaged, and eventually made it back to Hae-in so she could read her own words about herself and Hyun-woo.
* How we despised Grace but she did manage to redeem herself by encouraging Moh Sul hee to track down Hae-in, returning the pink MP3 player, and making sure that the notebook made it to Hae-in.
* How David Yoon’s lies were so evil but because they had elements of truth, they became believable.
* But despite David Yoon’s lies, Hae-in is uncomfortable around him. Her body “remembers” David Yoon and Hyun-woo.
* How Hae-in decides to learn more about Hyun-woo because she is uneasy around David Yoon, Hyun-woo is clearly an important piece to her life’s puzzle, and her heart races when she sees him.
* Kim Soo-hyun’s acting throughout this show, but especially when Hae-in goes in for surgery, when he’s arrested, and when he sees her afterward.
* How our hearts just couldn’t take it when Hyun-woo is hit by the car and then later shot in the back.
We learn more about David Yoon’s dark childhood and the secrets he kept about his mom.
* The beautiful ending where we see Hyun-woo and Hae-in get married, have a daughter, grow old, and eventually, Hae-in comes to get Hyun-woo and bring him to heaven.
* Comments from our listeners about Queen of Tears, as well as their recommendations for shows to analyze in Season 8 of K Drama Chat.

Today, we’ll be discussing Episodes 13 and 14 of Queen of Tears, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring starring Kim Ji-won as Hong Hae-in, Kim Soo-hyun as Baek Hyun-woo, Park Sung-hoon as Yoon Eun-Seong, Kwak Dong-Yeon as Hong Soo-cheol, Lee Joo-bin as Cheon Da-Hye. We discuss:
* The songs we feature during the recap:
Promise by Choi Yu Ree
Last Chance by So Soo bin
* How our predictions about the secret fund didn’t pan out. The most obvious thing actually happened: David Yoon and Moh Sul hee found the money and are using it to buy Queens Group stock illegally.
* How we feel about Hyun-woo, Hae-in’s dad, and Hyun-woo’s dad keeping a secret from Hae-in about the possible side effects of the operation that could save her life.
* Hyun-woo’s burden throughout the show. He’s been taking care of Hae-in and her family, and battling David Yoon. All the attention is on Hae-in, but his burden is great.
* How there’s so much crying in these two episodes – by everyone!
* The amazingly sweet segments between Hyun-woo and Hae-in, including during their trip to Gurang-ri, scenes from their honeymoon in Germany, and how the couple is always touching while in Hyun woo’s apartment.
* How Hae-in decides against the surgery because without her memories, she won’t be herself. We don’t blame her!
* How it was ultimately Hyun-woo who changes her mind about the surgery. When she saw how miserable he was when he thought she had died in the car crash, she decides that she must live.
* We finally learn the origins of David Yoon’s obsession with the Hong family and how he fell in love with Hae-in.
* We wonder why both sides are still talking to Grace, who is double crossing everyone.
* How we’re crushed that Hyun-woo has been arrested and he wasn’t by Hae-in’s side when she woke up from her surgery.
* The other couples in the show: Soo-cheol and Da-hye + Beom-ja and Yeongseong
Korean funeral customs.
* The importance of kimchi and kimchi making.
* The K Drama elements in these episodes, including all the crying, the food, the realization by Hyun woo that he had met Hae-in in the past, gazing at someone sleeping.
* The amazing screenwriter Park Ji-eun!

Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 11 and 12 of Queen of Tears, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Kim Ji-won as Hong Hae-in, Kim Soo-hyun as Baek Hyun-woo, Park Sung-hoon as Yoon Eun-Seong, Kwak Dong-Yeon as Hong Soo-cheol, and Lee Joo-bin as Cheon Da-Hye. We discuss:
* The songs we feature during the recap:
* Can’t get over you by Paul Kim
* From bottom of my heart by Kim Na Young
* Some recent comments from listeners and mistakes from last week’s episode
* Hae-in’s mother’s regret now that she knows her daughter is sick and she reflects on how she’s been so awful to her daughter all these years
* How and why Hae-in continues to reject Hyun-woo, who knows she loves him and is desperate to show Hae-in that he will stay by her side
* Hyun-woo and Hae-in appear to be working together to take down David Yoon but they’re still keeping secrets from each other
* How Hyun-woo’s small apartment fills Hyun-woo and Hae-in with regret. Could their marriage have been different if they had lived in a small apartment and had to be together at the end of each day?
* Kim Soo-hyun’s amazing acting, especially when he was playing David Yoon in the car. He had David Yoon’s stare, mannerisms and tone of voice.
* How Hae-in’s dad and brother are going through a transformation.
* Cheon Da-hye is back and Soo-cheol takes her back, against his mother’s wishes.
* How David Yoon is unraveling. He’s lying to Hae-in, he basically kidnapped her, and he ordered that Hyun-woo be killed!
* The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree because we learn that Moh Sul-hee had David Yoon’s adoptive parents killed, and she burned the orphanage where David Yoon was abused.
* The chairman’s ultimate sacrifice when he realized Moh Sul-hee’s treachery and killed himself to end her power of attorney over his assets.
* The hunt is on to find the 900B won that both sides believe is somewhere in the Hong residence. It looks like Hyun-woo leads the Hongs to find the secret panic room, but what is inside?
* We welcome Naa Evans, aka as KDrama Bingo, to the show! We talk about the K Drama elements in these two episodes and she talks about her K Drama tropes and her bingo cards!

Find us on Instagram @KDramaChat to see pictures of Naa, Sung Hee and Joanna, and the bingo cards that Naa sells online at https://linktr.ee/kdramabingo!

Today, we’ll be discussing Episodes 9 and 10 of Queen of Tears, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Kim Ji-won as Hong Hae-in, Kim Soo-hyun as Baek Hyun-woo, Park Sung-hoon as Yoon Eun-Seong, Kwak Dong-Yeon as Hong Soo-cheol, and Lee Joo-bin as Cheon Da-Hye. We are joined by Ernabel Demillo, a frequent guest on K Drama Chat and Department Chair of the Communication and Media Culture Department at Saint Peter's University and host of the Emmy-award winning "Asian American Life" show on CUNY-TV. We discuss:

* The song we feature during the recap: Fallin’ by Isaac Hong.
* Queen of Tears is now the second most popular K Drama of all time on tvN, after Crash Landing on You; both shows are written by Park Ji-eun.
* tvN has announced two extra episodes at the end of Queen of Tears; what will the episodes be about?
* Kim Soo-hyun has been nominated for Best Actor in the Baeksang Awards; we feel that Kim Ji-won, Han So-hee, Park Seo-joon, and Kim Tae-ri were snubbed.
* The Hong family is in a terrible situation. They’ve been locked out of their house, they don’t have cars, their credit cards have been canceled, they’ve lost control of their company, and they’re lost their jobs.
* The only people who take them in are Hyun-woo and his family.
* The Hong family is so unaccustomed to hardship and they’re miserable in Yongdu-ri.
* There is such a contrast between the two families in the way they treat each other.
* There is a huge contrast between the two mothers in the way they treat Hae-in.
* Both dads are having an identity crisis: they have lost their jobs and purpose.
* Hyun-woo and Hae-in are driving us crazy because they won’t communicate with each other!
* We think their lack of communication stems from the time Hae-in emptied the nursery and Hyun-woo left the marital bedroom. When this happened, they stopped talking to each other and then their pride wouldn’t let them ask the other back into the bedroom.
* Hyun-woo and Hae-in kept missing opportunities to patch up their relationship, including when Hae-in overheard Hyun-woo talking about wanting to be by her side, when Hyun-woo came home all beat up, and when Hae-in realized the pink MP3 player was hers.
* There are many in Korea who think the story of Hae-in and Hyun-woo is based on the true story of the granddaughter of the Samsung chaebol who married an ordinary staffer. In 1999, Samsung heiress Lee Boo Jin married Lim Woo Jae.
* Hyun-woo does a great job of convincing David Yoon that he doesn’t know where Hae-in is, even though he did pick them up in a van.
* The reference to Prince Sado, who was the father of the prince Yi San in Red Sleeve, and who later became King Jeongjo.
* Instead, Hyun-woo is investigating the land broker, the owner of the data restoration company, the failed investment fund, and the location of the Chairman.
* Hyun-woo convinced the deceived farmers to sue the land broker, which meant the land broker couldn’t leave the country for his honeymoon. Later, the land broker and his thugs try to beat up Hyun-woo, who manages to defend himself ably because he was a champion boxer in his youth.
* Our crazy predictions for this show:
-- Hyun-woo is going to try and prove that the power of attorney that Moh Sul-hee signed is invalid because it’s a forgery, she’s not really Moh Sul-hee!
-- Hyun-woo’s brother, Baek Hyun-tae, is going to be important because he knows a lot about stocks and previously owned Queen Group stock.
-- Beom-seuk, the Chairman’s estranged son, will have some insight into the embezzlement that could save the Chairman, or the person who knows where the secret fund is.
-- Cheon Da-hye, Soo-cheol’s wife, will come back and turn on David Yoon.
* Moh Sul-hee and David Yoon are now at odds with each other because David Yoon didn’t want the Hong family banished. David Yoon wants to be with Hae-in.
* We speculate about why David Yoon is so obsessed with Hae-in.
Until the very end, Hyun-woo is in the dark about

Today, we’ll be discussing Episodes 7 and 8 of Queen of Tears, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Kim Ji-won as Hong Hae-in, Kim Soo-hyun as Baek Hyun-woo, Park Sung-hoon as Yoon Eun-Seong, Kwak Dong-Yeon as Hong Soo-cheol, Lee Joo-bin as Cheon Da-Hye. We discuss:

* The song we feature during the recap: Love You With All My Heart by Crush.
* Soo Cheol calls Hyun-Woo “maehyeong” 매형, which means older sister’s husband.
* How Hae-in loses her will to live when Hyun-woo admits that he wanted a divorce.
* How Hyun-woo decides to make Hae-in hate him so that she has a reason to live.
* How Hyun-woo wants to stay by Hae-in’s side even if it means being the subject of her rage, humiliation and hatred; he has powerful reasons for wanting to be by her side.
* Both Hae-in and Hyun-woo are left wondering if everything the other person said and promised was a lie.
* Through the flashback of the marriage proposal, we can piece together how our couple got engaged, broke up, got back together, and finally married.
* How we held our breaths when Hyun-woo discovers that Hae-in has lost her memory of Germany and Hyun-woo wanting a divorce, which means Hae-in has to relive this trauma TWICE.
* The crazy divorce settlement scene with Song Joong-ki as Vincenzo Cassano.
* How Hae-in realizes that Hyun-woo was suffering during their marriage; she learns this when she overhears Hyun-woo at Grandma’s Home Cooking restaurant.
* The Chairman wants Hyun-woo fired by Hae-in defends him from the Security Team.
* How Hyun-woo followed David Yoon when he was following Hae-in. We see a very different Hyun-woo in that scene. We think we will see a very different Hyun-woo from now on.
* How David Yoon pressured Soo-cheol to sign the resort deal with David Yoon, and then the deal went south, giving Pione Investment the chance to swoop in and pretend to save the deal.
* But when the investors pull out and the Chairman’s embezzlement investigation comes out, David Yoon ends up with control over Queens Group.
* Meanwhile, Hae-in turns down the Hercyna deal and rejects David Yoon’s offer (again) to replace Hyun-woo.
* We feel sorry for Soo-cheol, whose wife double-crossed him, left him, and took their son to New York.
* Hyun-woo and Aunt Beom-ja have definitive proof, through a DNA test, that David Yoon is Moh Sul-hee’s son!
* Moh Sul-hee and David Yoon have been playing the long game. Moh Sul-hee endeared herself to the Chairman, whom she tricked into giving her power of attorney, and then poisoned.
* How the Hong family has been kicked out of their own company and have fled to Yongdu-ri.
* The hilarious scenes involving Hyun-woo, Hae-in and their secretaries.
* More Crash Landing On You references and tie-ins!
* The Koreans’ seeming obsession with the Myers Briggs Personality Types.
* The K Drama elements in this show, including all the crying, the epic umbrella scene involving Hyun-woo and Hae-in, more connections from the past between Hae-in and David Yoon, all the product placements, and Hyun-woo saving Hae-in from an oncoming truck.
* Our new, #39 product placement - cameos!
* Our predictions for the end of the show!
* We learn more about the amazing Park Sung-hoon!

Today, we’ll be discussing episodes 5 and 6 of Queen of Tears, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Kim Ji-won as Hong Hae-in, Kim Soo-hyun as Baek Hyun-woo, Park Sung-hoon as Yoon Eun-Seong, Kwak Dong-Yeon as Hong Soo-cheol, Lee Joo-bin as Cheon Da-Hye. We recap the episodes and then we discuss:
* How some Korean families have a pattern where the children share one syllable of their name. An example would be: Baek * Hyun-woo and Baek Hyun-tae. This helps us keep the characters straight and know who is related to whom.
* How Hyun-woo is increasingly ambivalent about his wife. Despite his anger and hate toward his wife, he can’t help it, he begins to fall in love with her all over again.
* What is probably the root of the couple’s problems: Hyun-woo came home one day to find staff clearing out the nursery. When he got a cold response from Hae-in, he ordered his things moved to the bedroom and the couple started to sleep separately.
* Hyun-woo and Hae-in keep missing opportunities to patch up their marriage.
* Hyun-woo’s sister says Hyun-woo likes soft women, women who need to be taken care of. Is this why he was attracted to Hae-in in the first place and why he’s falling for her again?
* Hyun-woo’s confession about his tears when he found Hae-in Germany was his last ditch attempt to figure out his feelings toward his wife and to see if they could patch things up in their marriage.
* Hae-in doesn’t understand why he’s pulling away. She keeps saying, “I never said that.”
* Hae-in’s tough armor is starting to crack. She is being nice to others and noticing happy, loving families around her.
* Hyun-woo keeps abandoning Hae-in and Hae-in, for her part, has been abandoned by her husband and family.
* The crazy plot by David Yoon, Grace, Cheo Da-hye and the former employee. We think David Yoon has a ponzi scheme that he’s running, that he doesn’t really have a fund that is returning 90% to investors.
* The evil things that David Yoon is doing to the Hong family, especially Hyu-woo, including installing hidden cameras, searching Hyun-woo’s room, planting the microwave receiver in Hyun-woo’s room, and getting Hyun-woo’s safe opened.
* We learn that David Yoon and Cheon Da-hye grew up in the same orphanage and even met the Hong family when the Chairman gave a speech at the orphanage. So when did David Yoon and Cheon Da-hye start plotting against the Hong family?
* We learn that Moh Sul-hee had a different identity thirty years ago, that she was in prison at some point and gave birth to a baby boy while in jail. Could this boy be David Yoon?
* Hong Beom-ja is turning into a really likable character because she’s the one who seems to care about other family members, including Hae-in.
* We learn how Hae-in’s brother, Soo-won, died in a boating accident, while saving Hae-in. Hae-in’s mother never forgave Hae-in for the death of her son.
* Hyun-woo and Hae-in’s sweet time in Germany is coming to an end because once Hae-in turns on her phone, she sees the photo of the divorce agreement sent by her mom.
* The numerous K Drama elements in these episodes, including lots of crying, crying while kissing, the umbrella scene, Hyun-woo’s confession about his tears, the product placements for Mercedes-Benz and other products, Hyun-woo tending to cuts on Hae-in’s hand and knee.
* All the references to Crash Landing On You in this show, which makes sense the shows share the same writers.
* Kim Ji-won’s background and acting career! We love her!
* The shows we’re watching now: Doctor Slump and Captivating the King.