Netflix’s Crash Landing On You Replacement Confirmed By 2024's Best K-Drama So Far

Summary Queen of Tears broke records set by Crash Landing on You, arguably becoming a modern classic already.

The show differs from Crash Landing on You but also shares some similarities with the 2020 series. Both are from the same writer.

Don't expect a show like Queen of Tears to come around often - it's a standout and one of the best series of its genre.

Queen of Tears, the best K-drama of 2024 so far, confirms that Netflix has found its Crash Landing on You replacement. Crash Landing on You and Queen of Tears share a lot of similarities, starting from their writer, Park Ji-eun. Both shows originally aired on tvN and were distributed internationally by Netflix, with episodes releasing weekly on the streaming platform. 2020’s Crash Landing on You is among the most popular K-dramas on Netflix and is considered one of the best K-dramas of its generation. Therefore, the bar was high for Queen of Tears, which premiered on March 9, 2024.

After Queen of Tears’ finale, it is safe to say the show stuck its landing and will be remembered as one of the best romantic K-dramas of all time. Starring Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Ji-won, Queen of Tears tells the story of how the marriage of the century fell apart within a few years. The series followed Hyun-woo and Hae-in as they tried to rebuild things amidst the latter’s health issue while also having to protect the family’s business. Despite their differences, Queen of Tears is Crash Landing on You’s best spiritual successor.

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Queen Of Tears’ Success Proves It’s The Perfect Crash Landing On You Replacement

Queen of Tears broke all sorts of records

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Per Nielsen Korea (via Soompi), Queen of Tears’ finale broke Crash Landing on You’s record and now has the highest viewership ratings of any scripted show for the network. Considering how massively popular Crash Landing on You had been in 2020, what Queen of Tears’ finale accomplished cannot be taken for granted. While the expectations were high for Queen of Tears, the series was even better than many were expecting and is 2024’s best K-drama so far. There have been plenty of great romantic K-dramas since Crash Landing on You, but Queen of Tears might have been the best one.

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While Korean dramas have been popular in other countries for several years now, the success of shows like Crash Landing on You and Squid Game on streaming platforms raised the bar for the series that are distributed internationally. Crash Landing on You was a lot of people’s first K-drama and is often listed as one of the best K-dramas for beginners. With a fun premise of a South Korean CEO who accidentally lands in North Korea after a parachute jumping accident, Crash Landing on You has charmed audiences all over the world for years.

Queen Of Tears Could Become A Modern Classic (Like Crash Landing On You Did)

Queen of Tears’ legacy might compare to Crash Landing on You’s

Four years after its release, Crash Landing on You can already be considered a classic. The popularity of K-dramas across all streaming platforms has only increased over the years, with shows like Crash Landing on You becoming flagship titles of their respective streamers. Even though Netflix has distributed a lot of K-dramas since 2020 between original web series and traditional, broadcast shows, Crash Landing on You still remains among the platform’s most-watched Korean shows. Crash Landing on You became synonymous with high-quality romance K-dramas, and now Queen of Tears could achieve something similar.

Whereas Crash Landing on You was about the main couple discovering their feelings for each other, Queen of Tears was about rebuilding something that had been lost.

With a noticeably high production value, great writing, solid directing, and incredible performances, Queen of Tears was born a classic. The somewhat tragic yet compelling relationship between Hyun-woo and Hae-in, which is told with the help of flashbacks, made for one of the best K-drama love stories of the decade. Stars Kim Ji-won and Kim Soo-hyun effortlessly brought their characters to life and had strong chemistry, showcasing both the love and the pain that came from their characters’ complicated relationship. The entire Queen of Tears cast shines, but the show is defined by its lead characters.

Queen Of Tears' Main Cast Actor Character Kim Soo-hyun Baek Hyun-woo Kim Ji-won Hong Hae-in Park Sung-hoon Yoon Eun-sung Kwak Dong-yeon Hong Soo-cheol Lee Joo-bin Cheon Da-hye

While both lead actors had done great work before, Queen of Tears confirmed Kim Ji-won and Kim Soo-hyun as two of the most promising stars of their generation. Queen of Tears treated its main relationship with a level of seriousness that cannot be found in many shows, which is one of the reasons why it will most likely become a modern classic. The series is full of twists and B-storylines, but it never loses track of its most important story: Hyun-woo and Hae-in’s journey and whether they will make it work.

How Queen Of Tears Differs From Crash Landing On You

Queen of Tears’ tone was different from Crash Landing on You’s

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Whereas Crash Landing on You was about the main couple discovering their feelings for each other, Queen of Tears was about rebuilding something that had been lost. Queen of Tears subverted some of the genre’s tropes and started with the main couple already married and living a seemingly perfect life. However, it takes only a few minutes for the show to reveal that Hae-in and Hyun-woo’s marriage is in a crisis and that a divorce might happen soon. Hae-in’s diagnosis, which is revealed when Hyun-woo is about to ask for a divorce, makes everything even more complicated.

Related 10 Shows To Watch After Queen Of Tears With Queen of Tears now finished, several other Korean dramas can fill the void left by Baek Hyun-woo and Hong Hae-in's emotional love story.

Crash Landing on You had more comic bits compared to Queen of Tears. While both shows were funny in their own right, Crash Landing on You was more of a comedy than Queen of Tears. This makes sense considering Crash Landing on You’s absurd premise, even though the show also told a very intense love story full of drama and twists. Both Crash Landing on You and Queen of Tears had similar side stories, with corporate competition and major figures working behind the shadows in storylines that directly affected the main couple.

There Won’t Be A Show Like Queen Of Tears For A Long Time

Shows like Queen of Tears don’t happen all the time

There are plenty of exciting K-dramas yet to be released in 2024, plus other shows that are in development and will arrive in the following year. However, K-dramas like Crash Landing on You and Queen of Tears don’t happen very often. These are some of the best K-dramas of their era and will be remembered for years to come. While it may be soon to say what Queen of Tears’ legacy will be, the fact that its finale broke Crash Landing on You’s rating records at tvN suggests it will continue to be popular on reruns and streaming.

Before Crash Landing on You, tvN's drama ratings record belonged to 2017's Goblin, starring Gong Yoo and Kim Go-eun.

The fact that it took four years for a drama to break Crash Landing on You’s finale record shows how difficult it is for a series to become that popular. It will be interesting to see whether Queen of Tears’ viewership records will be broken anytime soon, which does not seem likely. Hopefully, it will not take long for the creative team behind Queen of Tears to release another drama. Likewise, Queen of Tears’ stars Soo-hyun and Kim Ji-won will hopefully be in other major series after shining so much in their latest K-drama.

Sources: Soompi

Stream Queen of Tears on Netflix

Stream Crash Landing on You on Netflix