Did Korean hit drama Queen of Tears change ending for Kim Ji-won's character?
Queen of Tears aired its finale on April 28, 2024, and some viewers are speculating if the ending was changed.
PHOTO: Instagram/tvN, Weibo
PUBLISHED ONApril 29, 2024 10:33 AMByYeo Shu Hui*Spoilers ahead
Baek Hyun-woo (Kim Soo-hyun) and Hong Hae-in (Kim Ji-won) had their bittersweet ending in the finale of South Korean hit drama Queen of Tears yesterday (April 28).
While they overcame Hae-in's terminal illness and their divorce in their 30s, remarried each other and raised their daughter — presumably named Soo-bin, as Hae-in's father desired — together, death waits for no man and someone has to leave first.
Years later, an elderly Hyun-woo visited Hae-in's grave in Germany, where they had their honeymoon, and viewers saw that they had many happy years together before the latter died in 2074 at the age of 84.
In the epilogue, viewers were given a glimpse of Hyun-woo's room, where there were photos taken together with their daughter.
Viewers were quick to notice that while there were photos of Hyun-woo and Hae-in taken with Soo-bin when she was a toddler, there were no photos of them together when she was older.
Instead, the older Soo-bin only took photos with her grandparents.
Some viewers were left puzzled and after the episode aired, a netizen claiming to be a production staff member wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter) that there were some last-minute changes to the ending.
The post, which was translated by netizens on Weibo, reads: "Originally, the ending was set for Hyun-woo and Hae-in to die in 2034, so Soo-bin only appears as a toddler. The ending was changed in a hurry and a slightly older child playing Soo-bin did additional filming on April 16."
Accompanying the post is a photo-taking session of the child actor who played the older Soo-bin with actors Jeon Bae-soo and Hwang Young-hee, who played Hyun-woo's parents in the series.
Netizens also recalled that a few weeks ago, a photo of Hae-in's tombstone circulated on multiple social media platforms, with the date of death engraved as Oct 31, 2034, and they were worried then that the drama might have a tragic ending.
While netizens were still divided over which ending is most appropriate, most of them were happy with the one that was aired.
On Xiaohongshu, a netizen wrote: "I felt that the ending was expressed well. At least we know that Hae-in and Hyun-woo grow old together.
"Hae-in's illness can easily relapse, but she lived till 84 years old and she kept her promise to Hyun-woo where she said that she would meet him on the other side if she dies first, so that he won't be afraid when his time comes."
Another netizen wrote: "To live till over 80 years old is quite fulfilling, what's so bad about the ending?"
Queen of Tears centres around Hae-in, heiress of departmental store Queens Group, and her lawyer husband Hyun-woo, whose parents are farmers. While they face marital crisis and are on the verge of divorce, Hae-in finds out that she is terminally ill.
As they navigate around Hae-in's deteriorating condition and a crisis in her family, their love rekindles.
The series ended on a high note yesterday, with a recorded 24.9 per cent viewership rating across South Korea on pay-television network tvN, according to rating research company Nielsen Korea.
This record surpassed K-drama Crash Landing On You — also by the same scriptwriter Park Ji-eun — which had a viewership rating of 21.7 per cent for its finale in 2020.
On Netflix, the drama trended on the Top 10 most-watched non-English TV series globally for seven weeks and is currently in the third spot.
Two special episodes, where the cast members discuss key scenes from the show, will air on May 4 and 5.
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