High Profile Sat-Sun tvN Drama Jirisan Ends with 9.225% Ratings and Final Wave of Viewer Criticism on the Script Giving an Inexplicably Happy Ending

I legit forgot it was the final airing weekend of tvN Sat-Sun drama Jirisan. Normally such a high profile drama would be generating buzz and chatter heading into the finale but it was crickets because the ardent drama fans that would generate content have long since checked out. The final episode got 9.225% ratings which is higher than the 7%-8% it was getting in the prior few weeks. But other than the premiere weekend which started off with a bang and the second episode even broke 10%, since then it went down and stayed stagnant. The ratings are actually decent for a tvN drama but for the fact that it cost so much to make, a huge budget, and came with the star studded casting of Jeon Ji Hyun and Joo Ji Hyun and the critically acclaimed screenwriter of Kim Eun Hee of Signal and Kingdom. But the problems started with the bad directing and quickly landed on the poor script where it’s been the major complaint. There was no compelling hook and the assorted mountain rescues and underlying serial killer mystery never really coalesced into a cohesive story. Kim Eun Hee even one upped her poor script with an ending that takes it to another level of crazy stupidity. K-netz are saying she borrowed from the Penthouse handbook for this one – one character wakes up from a years long coma and gets all healthy enough top resume being a park ranger with all that physical activity and another character gets up from a wheelchair after being paralyzed for years long to return to being a park ranger with so much climbing. It’s like, magical happy ending surprise yay! I feel like everyone involved with Jirisan wants to quickly move on from this dud lol.


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High Profile Sat-Sun tvN Drama Jirisan Ends with 9.225% Ratings and Final Wave of Viewer Criticism on the Script Giving an Inexplicably Happy Ending — 27 Comments

  1. Pingback: High Profile Sat-Sun tvN Drama Jirisan Ends with 9.225% Ratings and Final Wave of Viewer Criticism on the Script Giving an Inexplicably Happy Ending - Kpopnchill - All About K-pop News

  2. Kim Eun Hee’s best drama is still Harvest Villa for me, full of quirky char and the char felsh out well. even then that drama weakness is the last 2 episode.

    • That was her first script on a tvN that has nothing to do with today’s cable. And she was not the only writer.
      Signal was one perfect tv series, before Netflix and platforms.

      • Harvest Villa seems really not fully Kim Eun Hee style after following her career, so it make sense. since the char is geniunely quirky and misterius. but the execution of plot seems KEH’s. i actually prefer harvest villa than Signal. just preference though.

  3. So your posting this to bash Jirisan? Well, for me as a fan of Jun Ji Hyun. This is the drama I enjoyed watching in fool length. The casting, story and cinematography is super-b. I personally love it and rating no longer matters to me. I think I am in a stage, where I just enjoyed watching while laying down and solving some mystery weda boo drama. I bet you’re aware that there are already other platforms where viewer can watch this so ratings can be not as impactful as before. The Jirisan run in a very decent ratings. What matters is the story and impact it brought.

    • I can’t get why they say it was underrated because of poor directing. To me it was great.
      Since it is a supernatural story that kind of happy ending is possible. Isn’t it? Ju ji Hoon was trapped in Mount Jiri because he couldn’t reveal the real murderer. In last episode they were able to reveal it. Therefore he was able to return to his body. I guess the reason for years long coma was because his soul was trapped in the Mount Jiri. And in the middle of drama they revealed that jung Ji Hyun was undergoing rehabilitation. Not only that she even barely stood up in the police station in episode 15. So I think it was a possible Happy ending.

    • Kang Hyun Jo and Seo Yi Gang had the accident at christmas 2019, and the murderer was revealed at around autumn 2020. So where’s that ‘years long coma’ came from? Lol. Koala didn’t even watch the drama yet so eager to bash it. It’s just SO HER. Hyun Jo did being hit at the head and nearly died. But what kept him from being conscious is that his soul trapped in mount jiri. So once his soul no longer trapped and return, he regains his ability to breathe again on his own and from there, for A YEAR, healed. And same for Seo Yi Gang, he fell from a cliff, but it was mentioned that she had rehab going on but leave it to return as a ranger to solve the murder. So after the murderer dead she went into rehab again and a year later can walk again. Those aren’t too unrealistic for a drama. And far from what Penthouse schemed.
      All this time I spent my time on IG, on drama accounts, and there’s quite a lot that adore this drama. Although it was just aired at Iqiyi. Imagine if it was aired on a lot of platform.
      I admit that Jirisan has flaws and plotholes, but the criticism just too harsh. And remember these days we can enjoy kdramas globally so Knetz comments aren’t important anymore.

  4. Despite the decent ratings there was very little buzz for this drama. There’s just nothing to talk about.

    Overall… it’s a disorganized fantasy-documentary with a mediocre murder mystery inserted to hopefully make viewers want to continue watching. Which, it didn’t. And no, the few good moments could not make up for that half-assed ending. Commenters on reddit were making epic theories on the story then the drama said, “Nah, this happened just because it did. Nothing makes sense.”

    I can’t tell if KEH needs a rest or she’s just trying to milk her fame now because I don’t think she knew what she was doing either. What a waste of a talented cast. They must have signed on for the writer and director, and regretted big time when they saw the actual script. If I sound pissed, it’s because I am. I’m pissed for my wasted time and on behalf of the production crew and JJH who made a long awaited comeback. But I guess it’s still watchable if you’re a superfan of nature.

  5. It’s the kind of drama that rested on the big names of the actors and writer. Personally, I dropped it between the story and the way they portrayed this job…

  6. Honestly these ratings are more than decent for how disappointing this drama turned out to be. I guess it all comes down to expectstion. High profile cast + writer + pre airing buzz + high budget = should have done much better than this. Dud indeed. But still, very good ratings so it means people watched consistently.

    • This year, this thing happened a lot. The drama which was buzzed alot were the one which hit sea bottom down along with ratings- jirisan,yumi cell, hospital playlist2 ( was not better than season one ), now we are breaking up, happiness, and so on. I’m afraid that snowdrop might also gona face this same fate.

      • Except Yumi’s Cells and Happiness got good reviews despite their ratings being lower. I agree with the rest though. HP2 performed decently but it was not as good as HP1.

      • Happiness shouldn’t be on this list. They weren’t promoted well so no HYPE at the beginning. It just created BUZZ while it was airing on a crappy timeslot. With Jirisan, they have the BEST timeslot. Sat-Sun 9pm WITH NO competition at all.

  7. I agree with the comments of him waking up from coma and she walking after a year. It was not quite expected. Also she said she wanted to tell something to hyunjo which she couldn’t. Wanted to know what it was but never saw. Abrupt ending. Was expecting more thrill. Chimera is better

  8. Anatomy of politics and the humans’flaws- always with this writer.
    That’s her!!

    Without the big names attached, this series might have been similar to the unforgettable Signal.
    It had potentialities, minus the Hollywood-like ending.

  9. I almost feel guilty for being harsh on Jirisan because you can see it was a very gruelling drama to shoot on location. The drama was flawed, sometimes felt like a chore to watch, sometimes left me shaking my head in incredulity and could have been so much better than what we ended up getting. Having said that, I kept watching until the end so it wasn’t all bad.

    The back and forth flashbacks and mystery aspect were handled clunkily which made the drama feel flat. Kim Eun Hee’s script was poorly paced and awkward but the underlying premise of the drama was a good one and I appreciate how it highlighted the heroic unsung work of mountain rangers and the power of nature. Lee Gil Bok’s directing was disjointed and laboured but some of the big action scenes like the forest fire were a breath-taking watch. The cast were all very good despite the drama not always making the best use of their characters. No complaints about any of the casting with the exception of Jung Ji Hoon who did his best with a flat character but I felt was miscast. Jun Ji Hyun was also very good and I appreciate her lack of vanity in “de-glamming” for the role.

    Most of all this drama really made me appreciate how good character actors like Sung Dong Il, Jo Han chul, Oh Jung Se (and a number of the other guest stars) truly are! Even with weak writing, thinly sketched and underutilised characters I was always immersed when they are onscreen. These type of actors and actresses don’t get paid a fraction of what the big strs get but they are the backbone of so many Korean dramas and films in my opinion.

  10. I find Jeon Ji Hyun’s acting really good and engaging in this drama. Jirisan is a dramatic drama of just 16 episodes – not a common theme, many interesting scenes and definitely a watchable drama. And I think there is nothing to be so surprised about the ending for the two leads; and should not affect those who want to embark on the drama. It’s a SUPERNATURAL story and it was well mentioned in the drama proper that the ML’s soul will return to his body after his unfinished business on the mountain. The FL’s injury one year ago was also indicated as temporary and she returned to work at the rangers’ office while undergoing physical therapy. So it is not ridiculous to see both of them alive and back on the mountain.

  11. I enjoyed this drama – it was a good mystery and yes, it had many flaws. It wasn’t always easy to follow especially with the multi-timelines (all the back + forth) and it lagged a bit near the end. However, overall it was entertaining and the leads had a good chemistry.

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