A struggling actress finds herself in a unique predicament when her long-time friend asks her to pretend to be his wife in order to hide his sexual orientation from his demanding grandfather.  As heir to a major conglomerate, the pressure to settle down and take over the family business is more than he can bear. 

As a boy, Ji Han was involved in a car accident on a rainy night that left his mother dead and him terrified of the rain and saddled with extreme survivor guilt. But as the truth of the accident slowly comes out, Ji Han is eventually able to find healing.  Moon Sang Min is an adorable actor and I felt like he did a nice job of showing a range of emotions through the course of the drama.  

Lee Do Han has been Ah Jung’s best friend since high school.  That is when she first started playing his girlfriend to help him hide the fact that he is gay.  Now, as an adult, his grandfather is pressuring him to get married and take over the family business.  So he enlists Ah Jung’s help once again.  

Yoon Chae Won is a family friend of Do Han’s family who is also the daughter of Taeyang Corporation.  Their families want the pair to marry to help boost their own businesses.  But Chae Won has always had a crush on Ji Han insead of Do Han.  

I felt like Do Han’s story really kind of disappeared as this drama went along.  He started out as an interesting character who was going to learn to become true to himself after hiding his sexual orientation for years.  He at least deserved his own love story or potential love story.  Instead, his only “love interests” are a nameless one night stand in the first episode and a psycho ex.

Another downside is the time wasted on unnecessary secondary characters. There were too many character for a 12 episode drama, and none of them got much development.  The half sibling storyline felt like a waste of good screen time.  And there were characters like Ji Ae and Min Seop who could have been much better if they had gotten the extra screen time instead.

This drama does not have a great ending, in my opinion.  Do Han finally makes a public statement about his sexuality, and then has to leave the country.  So much for being able to be honest and learning to accept yourself.  We also have our leads decide they can’t possible date now that Do Han has sacrificed everything for them.  Way to ruin Do Han’s selfless act of love for them.  On the positive side, their grandfather is finally interested in having a relationship with his grandsons. 

‘Wedding Impossible’ is a romantic comedy about a contractual marriage between an actress and her gay best friend.  To be honest, I really expected this one to be a hot mess. And I was pleasantly surprised.  In my opinion,  it’s nowhere close to perfect, but it has some very sweet moments.  There are too many ridiculous side characters for a 12 episode drama.  The acting is a bit rough in spots and the story gets more flat and inconsistent as it goes. But what kept me invested was the chemistry between the lead couple.

Dive deep into the heart-wrenching narrative and complex characters in Queen of Tears – Full Review, as we explore every twist and turn of this beloved Korean drama.

Baek Hyun Woo falls in love with a new intern at his job with Queen’s Group.  Little does he know, the woman is actually the granddaughter of the CEO.  They fall madly in love and get married.  But unfortunately, years of family strife and personal wounds have caused them to drift apart over time.  Hyun Woo has divorce papers drawn up, but before he can give them to Hae In, she tells him that she has a brain tumor and is dying.  At first he is relieved that he will be free without the hassle of a divorce.  But as he watches his wife struggle with her diagnosis and her uncertain future, he begins to remember why he loved her so much.  And he soon realizes that all he wants is to find a way to save her life and restore their marriage.

Hong Hae In is working as an intern for her family company when she meets the kindhearted Baek Hyun Woo.  She is immediately drawn to his handsome face and warm, charismatic personality.  When they get married and move into her family “compound”, she thinks they will have a happy life together.  But after suffering a miscarriage, Hae In buries her sorrow in work and neglects her marriage.  Her life is shaken to the core when she finds out she has an inoperable brain tumor.  And things go from bad to worse when her family loses their business and is left with nothing.  But as Hyun Woo fights alongside her, she discovers a deep desire to make up for all the time she has wasted and take back everything that has been lost along the way.

Yoon Eun Seong is the secret son of Mo Seoul Hee.  He has watched the Hong family from a distance his whole life and always wanted everything they had.  With the help of his mother, Eun Seong plans to take over Queen Group and marry Hae In.  But no matter how much he tries to force her hand, Hae In refuses to go along with his plan.

Hong Soo Cheol is Hae In’s younger brother. He has always been favored by their mother, but he is clumsy and careless in his business dealings.  His poor decisions open the door for Eun Seong to begin taking over Queen Group.  And when everything comes crashing down, he finds out his wife. Da Hye, was also in on it from the beginning.

Park Sung Hoon was fabulous in this drama.  So I am so sad to hear people have had a hard time remembering to hate the character, not the actor.  The poor guy has apparantly received endless hate mail and threats.  And he has vowed to never play a villain again.  And that is a loss for all of us because he was amazing.  He is the kind of villain I feel sorry for even while I hate him.  He captured the complex emotions of his character with a genuineness that I really appreciated.

For an event that seemed to signify the turning point in their relationship, I felt like there was remarkably little information about what actually happened with their baby.  Was Hae In really to blame for what happened?  And did Hyun Woo really blame her for it?  It would have been nice to see a bit of the way that all went down and how it led to their marriage falling apart.

‘Queen of Tears’ is a romantic melodrama about valuing life and the people who choose to share it with us. The leads have amazing chemistry, and their beautiful love story is told with the kind of intense emotion that takes us on a roller coaster of feelings. Unfortunately, this strength is also its greatest weakness, as some found the constant melodrama to be unrealistic and cliche.

Explore every aspect of ‘Captivating the King’ in this comprehensive review. Dive into character insights, strengths, and weaknesses. For a spoiler-free review, check out the link below.

Two high school academic rivals run into each other by chance years after graduation.  But despite the pair both achieving their dreams of becoming successful doctors, they are both suffering from extreme stress and burnout.  While one of them has lost his clinic to an expensive law suit, the other left her job in a fit of anger.  Now the pair will reconnect as they try to put their lives and careers back together.  And they soon realize that the person who was once their biggest competition is now their best companion and supporter.

Park Shin Hye as Nam Ha Neul

Nam Ha Neul devoted her whole life to studying every waking second and getting the best grades possible.  But after bombing the most important test of her life, Ha Neul ends up studying medicine at a small, less prestigious school than she had dreamed.  But she didn’t let that stop her.  Now she is a successful anesthesiologist at a big hospital.  But as pressures from the job and being taken advantage of by her superiors begins to take its toll, Ha Neul finds herself fighting serious clinical depression.  Fed up with it all, she quits her job, but now she isn’t sure what to do with her life. And when she comes home to find her old classmate living on her rooftop, she is sure life is just being cruel.  But because she doesn’t want to impose on her family, she finds herself confiding in Jeong Woo more and more. And they begin to depend on each other for support and encouragement.  

Nam Ha Neul is driven and hard-working.  But she has sacrificed many of the joys of growing up.  She has had very few close friends and she doesn’t really know how to relax or have fun.  But overcoming her depression is going to require her to learn how to think about something besides work.  And lucky for her, Jeong Woo has lived his life which a much freer frame of mind, and he is willing to help distract her from her professional troubles.  Park Shin Hye tends to play serious, overfocused characters well, and Ha Neul is no exception.  And since this is her first role since her marriage and the birth of her son, it was wonderful to have her back on my small screen!

Kong Seong Ha as Lee Hong Ran

Lee Hong Ran is Ha Neul’s best friend.  They are both anesthesiologist.  But Hong Ran’s life is complicated by the fact that she is a single mother to a young son.  Because of her hectic schedule, she sends her son to stay with her mother and aunts during the week, but tries to spend time with him on her days off.  When a handsome young doctor in her building offers to help her catch some bugs to impress her son, they begin a sweet friendship that natually turns to love.

♥ Dae Young and Hong Ran

I really loved this seond lead couple.  They skipped all the ugly love triangles and let these two lonely, single parents have their own love story.  I could have done with more scenes for this pair, but I liked everything I saw.  Their interactions both with each other and their kids was honest and realistic.  The topic of single parents is becoming increasingly more common in kdramas, but its rare to see 2 characters in the same series.  And I liked that they could each help the other.  

 ♥ Mental Health

The topic of mental wellness has been a trend of discussion around the world lately.  And especially among health care workers, who were extremely overworked through the pandemic.  Netflix recently postponed a drama about residents out of respect for the current resident shortage.  This is a subject that is timely and relevant.  I’m always glad to see shows that are willing to tackle these kinds of important issues.

Over the Top Acting

The humor in this drama was often based on over the top acting, whether it was cutsie moments with our leads or fighting among Ha Neul’s family.  The level of maturity seemed to take an instant dive in an effort to get a laugh.  And if this had happened a couple of times, I could have overlooked it, but it just continued to the point of being cringe-worthy.  All of this cast are talented.  There is no reason they needed to try so hard to create humorous moments.  

Complicated Mystery

The whole mystery component of this drama was a bit too confusing.  The whole “who installed cameras in the office, and what happened to the disk drive” story was convoluted and not that interesting.  The courtroom scenes felt out of place with the rest of the drama.  I kept forgetting there was a legal case at all.  I see what they were trying to do but it didn’t really work for me. 

Since our villain has already passed away from his injuries, “Doctor Slump” gets to spend the last episode giving us lots of happy endings.  Ba Da has finally found a purpose for his life and is doing well working in his uncle’s restaurant.  Dae Young and Hong Ran are happy together and seem to be creating their own little family.  Ha Neul gets an offer to study abroad, and Jeong Woo gets points for encouraging her to go even though he doesn’t want her to.  But in the end, the offer is taken back so she can’t go.  But she is back at work and her depression seems to have improved to the point where she doesn’t need therapy anymore.  Jeong Woo opens a new clinic, but he is keeping things smaller and more manageable this time around. He has learned the beauty of life/work balance.  The final scene shows the couple finally getting to watch the sunrise together and the epilogue shows a montage of the happy couple’s wedding photoshoot.

A young teacher has avoided dating her whole life because of a family curse that makes them turn into dogs if they kiss someone.  But following a work drinking party, she kisses a fellow teacher, mistaking him for the man she has a crush on.  Now every night for 100 nights, she turns into a cute little dog.  And after that time she will become a dog forever, unless she can break the curse.  Breaking it requires the same person who kissed her to kiss her again in dog form.  But she has two major problems. First, the guy she kissed doesn’t seem interested in her and second, he is deathly afraid of dogs.  So she sets out to befriend him, help him overcome his fear of dogs, and eventually gain his help in breaking the spell.  And as she gets to know him, she will discover that this teaching rival that she had once despised as cold and uninteresting actually has a sweet, charming side.

Park Gyu Young as Han Hae Na

Han Hae Na is a high school Korean language teacher.  She avoids romantic relationships because of a family curse that causes her to turn into a dog if she kisses someone.  But when she gets drunk at a work party, she finally decides to take the risk and confess her feelings to Bo Gyum, who is a fellow teacher. Unfortunately she ends up kissing Seo Won instead.  Now every night she turns into a dog until morning.  But there is a simple way to break the curse.  She just needs Seo Won to kiss her while she is still a dog.  But as luck would have it, Seo Won is deathly afraid of dogs.  So she is going to have to help him get over that fear if she is going to avoid living the rest of her life as a dog.  And she has 100 days to make it happen.  But more important than the spell itself is the story of how it all began and who else had a part in the original curse.  

Han Hae Na is friendly and outgoing.  She has always found Seo Won’s cold personality to feel condescending and rude.  But when she is forced to befriend him and spend time with him, she begins to see that he is not at all the person she had assumed.  And her desire to help him with his fear of dogs becomes less about saving her own destiny, and more about helping him heal from his past trauma.  Park Gyu Young plays this kind of spunky, optimistic character well.  I liked her in this role, and I enjoyed watching her relationship with Seo Won develop.

Yoon Hyun Soo as Choi Yool

Choi Yool is Seo Won’s nephew.  He is also a student at the high school his uncle teaches at.  And when Yool accidentally discovers the truth about Hae Na’s curse, he vows to do whatever he can to help her break it.  Yool develops a crush on Hae Na but in the end, he has to concede to his uncle, Seo Won, who finally succeeds in winning her heart.  

♥ Choi Yool

I really loved the character of Choi Yool.  The way they handled his crush on Hae Na made him come across as mature and well-grounded.  And the relationship between him and Seo Won was touching and fun.  I did wonder at first if they would put him with Ji Ah, but that didn’t work out for him either.  I think it would have been really easy to paint him as childish and jealous, but I am so glad they gave him more depth of character than some of the average “second leads”.

 ♥ The Dog Story

I enjoyed the concept of the dog curse, and although the story sounded a little weird, it was well told.  I especially liked the first half of the show when they were focused on the curse, how to break it, and how to keep it a secret.  I think this portion of the series was easily the strongest and most interesting.  I didn’t like some of the other elements quite as well as the central story itself.  

Uncle’s Story

I loved the idea of an uncle who had been unsuccessful at removing the curse.  He is the cautionary tale of what happens if you don’t get your second kiss.  But his storyline was strangely non-cohesive.  The scenes of the very old, sick dog are heartbreaking, but then we move on to his miraculous transformation back to a human and he just seems fine.  Then he loses his voice but mysterious gets it back again with absolutely no explanation.  I’m not sure what the point of his character is most of the time, and they did nothing to explain any of it in a way that makes sense or makes me care.  

Flashbacks and Repetition

Even with only 14 episodes, this drama seemed a bit too long for the material they had.  The use of repetition in the story and endless flashbacks to the the same scenes over and over began to lose their appeal over time.  Particularly toward the end of the drama, there seemed to be more memories then new material.  Which is a shame, because I think there are other parts of the story they could have focused on if they had removed some of the overused scenes.

Pretty much everyone gets a happy ending in this one.  The final episode starts with Hae Na getting all her memories back.  Then we jump forward one year to catch up with all our characters.  Now that the curse is broken and Bo Gyum’s revenge is complete, he and the Vice Principal have disappeared.  Dong Cheol finally is back to being a human with a voice.  After a rough patch, he and Ms. Yoon get back together and are moving forward in their relationship.  Yoo Na and Woo Taek officially define their relationship and get engaged.  Once Ji Ah graduates, she goes to find Bo Gyum and confess her feelings for him.  The couple share a special time together as they release lanterns into the sky.  I hope Bo Gyum can be honest now and return her love.  After hiding the fact that they are dating, our lead couple decide to go public.  Seo Won has overcome his fear of dogs and he and Hae Na adopted a dog of their own.  The drama ends with Hae Na’s voiceover about how they are learning to enjoy the normal things in life together.  

A young athlete makes his living on the county ssireum team for traditional Korean wrestlers.  He has grown up with a father and brothers who have all been ssireum champions.  But despite his early reputation as a child prodigy, he has never been able to win a championship.  Just when he is ready to retire from the sport a new manager comes to town who looks just like his childhood friend and first love.  And when she encourages him to continue working toward his dream, he begins to believe in himself again.  But the new manager has a secret past that threatens to shock their small community and cast a shadow on some of it’s respected members.

Lee Joo Myung as Oh Yoo Kyung/ Oh Doo Sik

Oh Doo Sik is Baek Doo’s childhood friend and first love.  She is forced to leave town when she is young after her father is accused of murder.  Although he is acquitted, many in town still believe he is guilty, so they move away to find a fresh start.  But Doo Sik always believed that her father was purposely framed for the crime he didn’t commit.  Now as an adult, Doo Sik has followed her dream of becoming a detective.  And when a case similar to her father’s comes into her department, she begs her mentor to let her go undercover to investigate.  Posing as Oh Yoo Kyung, Doo Sik takes a job as the county ssireum team manager.  But of course her old friend Baek Doo immediately recognizes her. And although she tries to maintain the secret of her identity, she is eventually forced to confess and swear him to secrecy.  Now the pair, with the help of Doo Sik’s partner and their childhood friends, will try to solve the current case and clear Doo Sik’s dad once and for all.  

Oh Doo Sik is tough and outspoken.  As the only girl in their friend group, she took charge of every situation and beat up anyone who disagreed.  As a “tomboy” whose father was the ssireum coach, Doo Sik grew up loving the sport and her friends who competed.  Because of this, she is thrilled to have a chance to come back to the hometown and friends she has always missed.  I enjoyed Lee Joo Myung as Oh Doo Sik.  This character would have been easy to overplay, but I thought she kept the role balanced and consistent all the way through. I especially loved how her character could go from mature police detective to overbearing and immature leader of the pack in the blink of an eye.  It gave her character a nice, yet understated complexity.

Kim Bo Ra as Joo Mi Ran

Joo Mi Ran runs the small cafe in town.  No one knows where she comes from and her habit to randomly close the shop whenever she wants seems like a confusing business model.  But little do they know that Mi Ran also grew up in Geosan.  Although she was younger than them, she used to follow all of them around and try to play with them when they were kids.  Mi Ran’s father was the wrestler Doo Sik’s dad was accused of killing.  Mi Ran is also back in town hoping to find closure from the trauma of her past.

♥ The Sport

I am not a huge sports enthusiast, but Netflix seems to have found a formula for sports dramas that draws me in.  And while I knew nothing about ssireum, I am a huge fan of sumo, which shares some rules and strategies.  So I loved watching their training and matches.  The focus on the sport gave the drama a unique appeal and I felt like I got to learn a bit about it.

 ♥ Baek Doo and Doo Sik

I loved this sweet romance.  Their characters reminded me of one of my all-time favorite couples from “Fight My Way”.  The childhood friend to lover trope can be tricky, but I really enjoyed the way this one is written.  Yes, there is a huge amount of head hitting and silly childhood games, but I feel like this fits two friends who haven’t seen each other since middle school.  They are fast forwarding through the adolescence they missed together so they can get to know each other as the adults they have become. 

Culprit

It seemed like the actually murderer was pretty obvious from the beginning.  First, because Lee Gyung Myoung’s character was so grumpy and unlikable. And second, because Ahn Chang Hwan is so good as a criminal.  I don’t know why, but he just felt like the natural choice from the start.  I mean, even his on-screen wife, who coincidentally is also his wife in real life, doesn’t seem to like him much. The revelation of the cause for the crime is interesting enough to make the mystery fun, but I wasn’t surprised by the culprit himself.  

Poor Mi Ran

You have to feel for Mi Ran.  First her father is killed and she is left alone in a new place.  But when she comes back to her hometown, none of the kids she used to idolize even remembers her.  Yet Doo Sik comes to town with a new identity and they still figure out its her.  Mi Ran is left, as usual, watching from outside of the inner circle and wishing they would be her friends.  Of course, she does finally get the friendship and healing she deserves, but I sure felt for her during the early parts of the show.  

“Like Flowers in Sand” comes away with a sweet, satisfying ending.  The real killer is revealed, bringing restoration to Doo Sik’s dad’s reputation and closure to Mi Ran for the wrongful loss of her father.  The killer, Lee Kyung Moon, the owner of the rice cake shop, is caught and arrested.  Baek Doo finally wins his championship after a hard-fought match that again comes down to a last minute decision.  Luckily, this time, the decision goes his way.  And after the match, he finally gets a confession from Doo Sik that she does have feelings for him too. The couple finally share a kiss before meeting up with the gang at the coffee shop.  At the shop, the friends joke and reminisce together before going out to take a walk and play along the beach.  In the end, we find out that Baek Doo’s dream for his future self was much more than wrestling or his love for Doo Sik. He wished he could spend time together with all his friends. It looks like he is going to have to start a new bucket list, because with his recent win, Doo Sik’s confession, and his friends suddenly closer than ever, he has achieved everything he has ever wished for.  

A dying woman discovers that her husband is having an affair with her best friend and they plan to kill her for the insurance money.  But instead of dying quietly, the woman wakes up 10 years in the past.  With a second chance on life and knowledge about the people she has mistakenly trusted, she will seek revenge while trying to change the cruel fate that destroyed her the first time around.  And she will find that, as she looks at her life with a fresh perspective, there are plenty of friends and supporters that she had overlooked before.

Na In Woo as Yoo Ji Hyuk

Yoo Ji Hyuk is the marketing manager at U&K Food, where Ji Won works.  Although no one at work knows it, he is also the grandson of the company CEO.  Ji Hyuk met Ji Won years ago when she had too much to drink, and the couple spent the night sleeping along the Han River together.  Since that day, he has never been able to forget her, so he is thrilled when she gets a job at his company.  But Ji Won doesn’t remember Ji Hyuk from that night.  And Ji Won eventually ends up marrying another co-worker, much to Ji Hyuk’s disappointment.  But when Ji Won comes back after her death, Ji Hyuk is determined to help her get revenge and also win her heart.  And Ji Hyuk has a secret of his own about second chances.

Yoo Ji Hyuk is quiet and socially awkward.  His grandfather arranged a marriage for him with a family friend.  But Ji Hyuk broke off the engagement because he was never actually interested in her as more than a long-time friend.  But Ji Won is the only woman Ji Hyuk has ever had feelings for.  I love Na In Woo’s calm appearance and easy charm.  I did feel that his character could have had a bit more depth and growth.  At times the role came off a bit too flat, but I thought he played the part well with what he had.

Song Ha Yoon as Jung Soo Min

Jung Soo Min has been Ji Won’s best friend since they were students.  But Soo Min is petty and jealous of the love that Ji Won got from her parents.  She befriends Ji Won out of a need to be needed and Soo Min’s desire to eventually triumph over Ji Won in life.  But when Ji Won gets her second chance, she is no longer fooled by Soo Min’s duplicity and plans to give Soo Min all the misfortune that she had to suffer the first time around.  

 ♥ Soo Min

In my opinion, Soo Min was one of the best characters in this drama.  Not that I liked her, mind you.  But she was so easy to hate!  She played the role with just enough rye humor to appreciate the actress and her abilities.  And her self-delusion was easy to see and believe.  Soo Min’s character dove deeper than the average one-dimensional villain.  There is a complexity to her motivations and feelings that elevates the role to something noteworthy.  

♥ Fresh Perspective

While this is a time travel story, I thought it was interesting that in the end the things that brought Ji Won happiness were things that had been there all along.  She just needed a fresh perspective to see them for what they were.  This series also had a powerful message about learning to believe in yourself so others can believe in you too.  Much of Ji Won’s success the second time around was born out of her fresh sense of confidence and worth.  

Yoo Ra

The addition of Yoo Ra to this cast really seemed unnecessary.  The presence of an ex who doesn’t even seem that interested in marrying Ji Hyuk is pretty pointless.  And I’m not sure why we needed a villain for our villains.  All in all, the character never really integrates into the main story and the role just isn’t that noteworthy.  While it’s truth that with a bit more development, Yoo Ra might have played a more important part, I still don’t see the need for her character.  

Mixed Message

While a good revenge story is always a bit cathartic, there is a darkness to the message of this drama.  The inference is that no one should have to suffer the horrible life and abuse that Ji Won experienced, unless we don’t really like them, and then it’s fine.  And in the end, whether she earned it or not, Ji Won does kind of become one of the mean girls we are supposed to hate. Luckily this is just a short-term transformation, born out of necessity, that she will later atone for by setting up a foundation to give others a second chance in life. Obviously this is all in fun, but it is interesting in light of the overall themes about positivity and self-love.  

Well, the villains all get their comeuppance and all of our couples seem to be on the road to happiness.  Min Hwan and Yoo Ra are both killed after ending up living out Ji Won and Ji Hyuk’s destinies.  Soo Min is alive but living a delusional life in prison, where she continues to insist that she is an innocent victim.  Joo Ran’s cancer surgery is successful and she finally gets a divorce from her awful husband.  And she and Suk Joon have finally admitted their feelings for each other.  The same is true for Hee Yeon and Eun Ho, who are happily dating.  Our lead couple have a big wedding celebration with their friends and family.  As the years go by, they have children and seem to be taking advantage of their second chance at life and love.  The final scene shows them meeting at an art museum on the day of their “deaths”.  They take a moment to be grateful for their life together and all they went through to close this chapter from their former lives.