This Netflix K-Drama With 100% On Rotten Tomatoes Was More Popular Than Squid Game Season 2 In 2024

When Hwang Dong-hyuk's "Squid Game" season 2 debuted on Netflix last December, there was an expectation that it would be the biggest streaming sensation of 2024. The first season was wildly popular when it arrived one year after the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns, so anticipation for another sordid dive back into the series' dystopian universe was through the roof. How much bigger could "Squid Game" get?

Luckily for Netflix, "Squid Game" has delivered as promised. According to What's on Netflix, the streamer's subscribers have spent more than 1.342 billion hours watching the show's second season since it premiered a little over three months ago. That's an impressive number, and one that Netflix badly needed to reach to justify it reportedly spending a heck of a lot more on "Squid Game" season 2 alone than it did season 1 (which was budgeted at $21.4 million). That number may tick even further upwards as the already-filmed — and almost certainly equally pricy — season 3 approaches this summer. 

Then again, the consensus that "Squid Game" season 2 was a step down from the first in terms of quality might make potential newcomers leery of jumping on board, especially when there are already a gazillion other streaming series vying for the finite hours they can dedicate to episodic television. If they're in the mood for a Korean series that's guaranteed to satisfy, they might even want to skip "Squid Game" altogether and throw on the show that outdid the second season of Hwang's hit in terms of both viewership and positive reviews in 2024. ("Squid Game" season 2 has, admittedly, since surpassed it in terms of overall views, but a qualified win is still a win.)

So, what is this program, and why didn't it get anywhere near as much hype as "Squid Game?"

Park Ji-eun's K-drama smash "Queen of Tears" premiered on the South Korean network tvN on March 9, 2024, and quickly became a must-watch on Netflix due to Park's reputation for spinning emotionally resonant tales like "Queen of Housewives" and "Crash Landing on You" (the latter of which was a COVID-19 hit à la "Squid Game"). Over 16 episodes and two specials, Park's series tells the tragicomic story of a married couple (played by Kim Ji-won and Kim Soo-hyun) who've hit a lull in their relationship, which gets further complicated when one of them is diagnosed with brain cancer.

Park's show has proven popular with viewers, many of whom are probably inclined to give it a shot in light of its 100% Fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes. The sample size may not be significant (there are only six reviews total on the site), but you can't argue with the 860.4 million hours of viewing the show garnered in 2024 alone. (For the sake of comparison, "Squid Game" season 2 accrued 619.9 million hours of viewing during the week it streamed last year.)

Park clearly knows what Netflix subscribers are looking to binge, so it'll be interesting to see what she has in store next — and whether or not she'll get a massive payday like Hwang belatedly did for "Squid Game."