Beleaguered jTBC Drama Snowdrop Ratings Fall to 1% Range in Episodes 3-4 as Acting Criticism of Female Lead Jisoo Rises

So this weekend there are new topics to discuss about jTBC weekend drama Snowdrop outside of K-netizens wanting to yeet it out of existence for distorting sensitive aspects of modern South Korean history on the student democracy movement of the 1980s. The first is the ratings, which appear to be in a freefall, or as the very glib K-netz say “it’s ratings are dropping like snow fall” lol. Episode 3 got 1.853% and episode 4 even lower to 1.689%. Bear in mind this drama is from the production team of the highest rated cable drama of ALL TIME Sky Castle which broke 20%. The falling ratings may allay netizens call to cancel this drama since if barely anyone is watching it then it’s not really making any impact on social psyche. jTBC is airing three episodes this weekend to push the plot forward to stem the controversy so episode 5 ratings should shed more light on whether this pivotal episode 5 that jTBC is airing one week earlier can save the drama. Another issue that was bubbling since the premiere last week is broad criticism of female lead Jisoo‘s acting, she’s a true rookie as this is her first full acting role and the feedback after watching her aligns with pre-airing concerns: her enunciation, her tendency to wide-eyed act, and the general greenness of her range and nuance especially compared to seasoned child-actress grown up Kim Hye Yoon beside her in scenes. The first weekend didn’t really require too much from her yet but this weekend the criticism has ramped up because she’s in more emotional scenes and the screencaps from news articles kill me lol. Check it out for yourself.


Comments

Beleaguered jTBC Drama Snowdrop Ratings Fall to 1% Range in Episodes 3-4 as Acting Criticism of Female Lead Jisoo Rises — 74 Comments

  1. Why the everloving fuuuuck did jung haein have to pick this drama. He literally JUST started getting back up after his Netflix success only to have this trash come around and drag him back down into controversy
    Ratings for episode 5 picked up but they still aren’t all that great. Next week it’ll be clearer if knetz are going to be forgiving or not.
    The thing that irritates me most about any idol actors is when they give barely watchable performances and their fans hype it up as if they’re the saving grace of the show. Jisoo was unwatchably bad the first four episodes and was a teensy bit better in the fifth one but all I see is her stans screaming about her genius and talent everywhere lmao. It kills any goodwill I might have naturally had for her. This stuff doesn’t attract non stans to your bias, people.

    • Imagine from having high calliber female lead, such as Son Ye Jin, to Han Ji Min, and now Ji Soo. Can’t help to think that he accepted because of her popularity. Couldn’t be because of Ji Soo’s acting.

      • This reminds me of a time when Jisoo’s fans waged a war against SYJ stans, when Jisoo clearly stated in an interview that her favorite actress is Son Yejin since her movie “The Classic”, which ironically, was also SYJ’s first lead role and it turned out to be one of the most legendary films in Korea.

        Jisoo’s stans seriously need to learn some humility. Their idol is still in her rookie years and is only doing above average at best. She still has a long way to go and we’ve seen better idols turned actors than her.

      • Kpop stans in general and blackpink ones in particular are a gaggle of low iq clowns. All they know is how to mass harass random ppl on twitter

      • Well I hope he gets the popularity boost then. The guy should get something out of it he’s the only decent part about this trainwreck

    • If her fans find her that great , why aren’t they watching the show ? Because the ratings are very low . As a popular idol she doesn’t seem to attract enough people . I’m not against idols trying acting but they should go throught auditions before getting cast for a role . Sponsors, producers take control over directors ,writers,… that’s the problem .

      • She gets the role automatically, just because she is from BlackPink. Good…the drama is getting its’ reward with 1-2% rating.

    • Okay, so are you having a problem with the plot or the actors/actresses?.How is the drama trash?, am not a jisoo fan but I think the drama is average. Its her first drama so the drama is not too good but not too bad for me. Her fans are only trying to give her some encouragement.

      • By trash I refer to the whole controversy and jtbc’s response to it. And also to the writing, especially characterisation of youngro and some aspects of the plot. I have nothing against jisoo as a person or even as an idol and I wouldn’t care about her fans “encouraging” her if her acting wasn’t THIS bad. It’s only the Extreme exaggeration about her acting that throws me off. Some of her scenes are So Bad she gives even me second hand embarrassment.
        I was actually hoping for this drama to succeed solely bcs of Haein. He’s really been amping it up since DP and even in snowdrop he’s giving an excellent performance. It’s obvious he’s trying his best to break out of the soft romantic lead typecast he’s been boxed into for the past few years. But he made the wrong choice by picking this script since the controversy over the plot and jisoo’s “acting” will overshadow anything he does in the show.
        Despite all my complaining I still hope they somehow manage to allay the genuine complaints and fears about the plot and that her acting improves so that this drama starts rising. Them failing doesn’t give me any happiness.

  2. shock me with her range… yesss it’s still raw. but she nail the facial expression… and here I though she would be expressionless with no real emotion like new idol would in her first acting.

      • she is quite good though, not distracting one bit. When the scene require emotion, she dilevered. Like her scene opposite Kim Jung Nam, didn’t expected she can delieved that kind of facial expression.

      • Actually no I rewatched some scenes and she’s garbage at acting. You need serious delulu blinders to praise her “range”

  3. 😀 😀 😀 😀 LMAO at those screencaps

    To be somewhat fair to this trash, ratings are terrible but tend to go up on Sundays as it has no competition so I assume ratings will increase a bit from freefall on Sunday.

    • Tbf yesterday that trot singer had a show starting from 9:15PM. And it lasted for 2.5 hrs. The ratings came out to be 16.2 pc. The competition was stiff yesterday. But still I don’t think bext the ratings going to rise exceptionally.

  4. She’s passable as a rookie and very beautiful to boot but certainly not leading lady material yet. I don’t get why they must cast her as the female lead. She just look bad, which is distracting, compare to the supporting actors acting alongside her.

    I think Jisoo has potential but she should have started her acting career with supporting roles and teen/idol dramas.

    • Exactly. She’s okay…ish. Definitely shows potential and will only improve with more experience. But putting her as haein’s FL? And as the main character in a cast of actresses all better than her? Her mistakes become magnified tenfold. This drama is such a wasted opportunity its tragic

    • I think it’s because of her enormous popularity and her age. Even though she’s a rookie, she’s around the same age as Suzy, Seolhyun and Hyeri, so if she wants to secure her future in acting, it’s better for her to be perceived as a “leading lady” as soon as possible, just like idol actors her age with the same level of fame as her.

  5. She isn’t bad, very green but. We’ve had worse in other dramas. I think she does well for most parts. Does she have range, hell no but they cast her for clout abd visual, not range. Director literally said that, he wanted her and there was in fact no big shot, complicated audition process as her fandom is adamant on saying. So if you keep expection low, she is passable.

  6. It’s expected of her stans to exaggerate. Every Stan of every idol does that, mostly. You have to understand it’s what stans do. And as expected, you’d see the extreme in haters bashing her to death. The best thing to do is to check drama watchers and see what they’re saying. Most of them are saying she’s not that bad for a rookie actress. The character requires an innocent and pure FL who’s lived a sheltered life. Jisoo takes on this role surprisingly well for an amateur. She’s doing better than most actually. Not best actress worthy yet but really not as bad as some say either.

  7. She is BAD, utterly bad. Actually all of them are, they look like caricatures… all OTT acting. Even my fave, Jang Seung Jo is bad in this. Ott expressions = bland expressions (they are considered BAD acting)

    • Jang Seung Jo, truly is awful in this along with Yoon Se Ah. They feel more like overdramatic caricatures than characters. Kim Hye Yoon is doing well in very limited screen time along with Jung Hae In who is delivering the most but the plot just makes 0 sense to me having seen episode 5.

  8. i still think she is better than Joy and Naeun. Hahahah. She should just pick something easy for first debut acting. This drama requires roller-coaster emotions so it’s quite challenging. Kim so hyun would nailed it though. I guess production team aim for high rating by casting Ji Soo but now it’s getting back at them.

  9. Jung hae in’s female leads:
    Son Ye Jin
    Han Ji Min
    Kim Go Eun
    Chae Soo Bin

    Ji Soo. Hm..she is not worthy of a leading actress by any standard.
    I think JHI just wants to add her fans to his instagram followers. Lol

    • God,why are you so stupid?, only you is talking out of point.What are you even saying?, others are talking about the drama but you are talking about Instagram followers, shame on you, I pity all your friends

    • I am a huge fan of JHI and I am very worried that this drama will hurt his career. I hope that it will not. Maybe he can join Yumi’s Cells as the one she marries ❤️❤️❤️❤️?

      • Yeah hope he doesn’t get severe backlash from this. He’s the only one of the main cast that is actually giving a decent performance. It’s such a shame that he had to pick this script. Hope it doesn’t affect season 2 of DP or his future projects.

  10. They should have made Kim Hye Yoon the lead actress! She would have been thousand times better and I am keen to see her chemistry with JHI. She has such a cute voice I will always remember Extraordinary You. Jason???? You know the expression, the camera loves your face? In this case, it didn’t. Jisoo visuals are not that good. Without makeup … blah.

  11. I bet the sponsors are pissed, as they were likely promised 25-35% rating like its weekend drama counterpart “The gentleman and the Lady”. 1.8%, 1.6%, and even last night’s ep only earned 2.7% in spite of no drama competition. The sponsors might just as well pull out.

    • I agree that the sponsers had high expectations from Snowdrop but why are u bringing young lady and gentleman. That one is a 50episode Weekend family drama on kbs. They always have high ratings. It’s air time is different too.

    • 25-35% on jtbc??? Are u okay??
      And there’s absolutely no comparison between 50 ep weekend dramas and cable shows. Don’t need to make up crazy bs to push ur agenda

  12. Now i understand why jisoo looks kinda bland looking compare to the other actress kpop make-up really gives a big difference in visual. Jisoo beautiful but not a Goddess level as her fans preaching compare to suzy who also a idol turn actress but still look like a goddess without heavy makeup

  13. Jisoo’s performance as a rookie is understandable…don’t be too harsh on her. Even the likes of Yoona or Suzy have gone through that process… and with the drama…its cable tv drama right? ›0

  14. The characterisation or character psyche is especially weak, very weak for the FL in both writing and execution. Character study is also evidently lacking. Her character description is deep and immense considering the tumultuous social backdrop the drama has. Her character potentially requires a huge range of emotional nuances, swing of emotions (which doesn’t necessarily mean OTT expression either) and even recurring emotional conflict (she is after all, a literature uni student and with an unstable family). She needs to be a pensive person. It is correct to say that now the acting is just bland bcoz FL just cannot deliver those subtleties to drive the story. So then the story is also not told well. I actually expected the drama to be poetic… but, nope. For me, she is not cut out for FL at the moment. It irks me so much too when the director has no clue of what character to give the FL during casting.

    From the very start, she keeps giving off this high school girl teen vibe no matter how hard I try to shake it off. Always wide-eyed, wide gaping mouth, OTT expression and then the dreamy look when she sees her crush – all stereotypical of a highschooler and inconherent with the traits of what a uni student is deemed to be like in the 80s – feisty, driven and passionate. All befitting a teen romance drama more, honestly.

    Sorry, pls get schooled in acting if you wanna be serious in it in the long run.

    • It is obvious the director picked her not due to her acting chops, rather due to her popularity or worse, a propaganda puppet, like some media/koreans claimed. I hope not the latter.

  15. This is the reason why many idols are still hesitant to try their hand at acting. How many years associated with the title of “goddess” or “main visual” of the group. When they switch to acting, their facial flaws that are perfectly concealed by the power of makeup and their unclear pronunciation will be fully exposed to the public.
    I understand BP is globally famous, so they have a lot of fans. It’s a pity that adults can’t bear to see such immature fans. But it’s not her fault. She doesn’t even know why her fans are going crazy with such ignorance.
    I’m not saying all JS fans are like that, but I’m sure most are because I’m also following her drama and I couldn’t get along with her twitter fanbases more than 30 minutes. They hailed her as a living saint with unacceptable myths. I give up.
    I love BP music, even my husband follows them all on Instagram. But when I watched the first episode of SD and he walked by, he asked me “who is that? Newbie? Do you also watch rookie actors? Don’t they only do teen dramas?” He really doesn’t recognize his goddess Jisoo lol

    That’s why people still say visual idols and visual actors.

    Jisoo can be considered the most beautiful in the current idol lineup. But when she became an actress, it was a different story. She’s cute, lovely but not the shining goddess that fans praised her for when she’s an idol.
    Idols specialize in dancing and singing on stage, they wear heavy makeup and shot for thousands of magazines and hundreds of commercials. But all has been thoroughly edited before released. The editor ensures that they will be beautiful without dead corners and naturally gorgeous, sparkling like an angel. But when they switched to acting, those things became meaningless. Not to mention they only act in modern dramas, I can’t imagine what it would be like if they acted in historical dramas with almost bare faces.
    Come to think of it, I like Hyeri even more. I don’t appreciate her acting, but it’s still acceptable to watch. As for her looks, if you don’t know her before, you will be shocked to learn that she used to be a famous idol and her look in the current historical drama. But I’m quite sympathetic to that appearance, I feel like she’s more real in the fake Korean entertainment industry.

  16. Why Ji Soo become The FL of this drama, I can finally understand. because other than Kim Yo Jung, I can’t think of another acctress who can fitted that innocent look acting to T, like I really believe she completely fool to his good image persona.

    Jisoo really completely believable from look, down to body language. she look completely clueless, clumsy, so the plot her trusting to a completely stranger look not out of stretch.

    • Really?! Your imagination or knowledge of kdrama actresses is that limited?! Let’s see now, there’s Park Bo Young, Park Eun Bin, Kim Sae Ron, Chae Soo Bin, etc etc etc etc. In fact, her costar Kim Hye Yoon is easily -without an logical non-drugged crazy fan doubt – the better option.

      These types of comments are the most hilarious ones. Where peeps say they “finally understand” and go on a praising/worshiping spree. Frankly this girl isn’t as bad as when Suzy started for example. But the “Oscar” claims from her fans?! It’s effin hilarious and too crazy, it’s actually somewhat amusing.

      • It is NOT her limited knowledge but rather her biasness. She tends to look down on the non-idol actors/actresses and call them “not deep enough”.

      • @snowflake: it’s totally up to you to imagine another acctress. but Park bo young might be be fit, but still other actress you mention, Jisoo aura fit better. it’s just her potrayal if her naivety totally convincing. it’s totally up to you either want to side majority or what your eyes see after watching so many shows. I still find her not that offensive and terrible.

        there is just certain roles who doesn’t fit even the best actor and only can do by this person who might be not better actor.

  17. Where are you guys watching this if Disney only has it in Disney Asia? I need to see it to have an opinion on the matter! And also because I’m VERY curious!

    • LMFAO

      You will report this blog for what? People having an opinion on someone’s acting skills? Or because some think this drama distorts history? Or is it because people don’t appreciate Unnie’s “hard work”?

      You must be a Disney character in lala land where everything is rainbows and butterflies. Good for you! ?

  18. I really can’t tolerate it.
    She is just a rookie in acting nd she auditioned for the role nd selected with all rights.
    Why people are racking your every differentiated opinions on her.
    Not only blinks other fandoms also manifest nd act overprotective on their idols as the best nd goddess.
    I’m not saying she did great, but she tried the best of her. You guys should learn to appreciate her hardwork not criticize.
    And don’t tell me you have never seen a fan who acts that their idols is the best in the world.

    • because you guys made a complete nonsense praise, it’s like saying someone got 100 in their exam but they actually only got 30.

      It’s like overpraise that comes from blind support, no one like blind support, have some integrity

  19. actually I’m surprised that the number of critics about the drama, the problem of casting roles, pronunciation are still much less than what Song Hye-Kyo endured. This afternoon when SBS officially announced 4 Daesang nominations for the year-end ceremony, I didn’t dare to access any SNS sites anymore. I really don’t know whether to be happy or sad, when everyone has focused on SD and forgot about her drama. I just wanted it to end peacefully and now SBS continues to push her to the wind. Sigh

  20. Jisoo can’t act. If this controversy weren’t overshadowing everything else, everyone would be dragging her terrible portrayal and diction.

  21. This shows that not all Kpop artistes can act. They were pick just because they are in popular group. Shud stick to actors/actress!

  22. To me, her expressions come down to happy, sad, and scared. That’s all. Not much range or nuance. Her shocked, surprised, and angry expressions are all about the same.
    I have never appreciated subtle acting so much until I see Ji Soo’s acting. She still has a long way to go. Is it me or the chemistry with JHI isn’t that great either. They both look like they are “acting”.

  23. I would like to see KHY-JHI pairing, but maybe in a different drama. This one is trash.
    I’ve noticed Ji soo’s visual is not as good in a drama, compared to her photoshopped pictorials or on stage. Not ugly, just not stunning.

  24. Jisoo’s acting is so bad I just have to stop. Her voice is like gibberish and she acts like those over the top japanese liveaction dramas.

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