MBC has been bottom of the ratings barrel for so long that I’ve really stopped paying much attention to its ability to deliver dramas worth watching. Consider me even more impressed with recently premiered Mon-Tues drama Kairos, currently with 5-episodes aired. It’s so good, like a tightly plotted thriller I would expect to find on OCN mixed with the layer emotional depth of a jTBC drama. Starring Shin Sung Rok as a construction company executive dealing with the kidnap of his daughter and suicide of his wife, his fallen apart world collides with living one month in the past Lee Se Young‘s convenience store employee trying to find her mom who needs an expensive surgery.
They are able to communicate via cross cellphone numbers once a night between 10:33 to 10:34 pm. A nice minute to ask each other for help, him to prevent his family tragedy and her to help find her missing mom. There’s more than meet with the eye with all the supporting characters and I don’t recall in recent years wanting to punch in the face seconds leads Ahn Bo Hyun and Nam Gyu Ri‘s characters as much as I do here. I’m sure there will be plenty more twists and turns but this drama is a true gem so far that should get more attention and kudos to MBC for doing something different, interesting, and riveting. Who is the world out to get Shin Sung Rok’s character, poor man is fighting unknown enemies from within and without.
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It’s really good. They handle the time plot way better than Alice! There is no time to rest, the story is evolving constantly. The 2 main actors are doing a great job.
I literally thought this was an OCN drama at first LOL.
This really is the best thing in dramaland right now. I am so glad I started watching except that it kills me to wait a week to get to the next episode. It is sooooooo good. It is hard to believe it is on MBC and not OCN or at least TVN or JTBC. It really is like nothing I have seen on one of the major networks. I do sometimes find myself wishing it was only 12 eps though because I am a little concerned that only 5 eps in they won’t be able to keep up this pacing. I mean how many more reveals can we have at this rate!? But dang it is good. A really unexpected winner!
More proof ratings generally aren’t a gauge of a drama’s quality these days. Most of my favorite dramas this year had ratings on the low side but I couldn’t care less because they were GOOD and entertained me which is their purpose.
Honestly, I can’t wait till international drama watcher go back to not obsessing so much about ratings, it’s been ridiculous and sometimes embarrassing to witness with the way some people start to argue and insult others over them.
I completely agree. I have seen several dramas with low rating but they are very good. So I could careless about the ratings, unfortunately, in this entertainment industry, producer, director, actors and actresses and entire crews need good rating .. good rating equals more buzz, more sponsor and more commercial, and thus generating more revenue…
Good ratings aren’t absolute necessity for good buzz and media attention anymore though and thats why there has been an adjustment to take into account viewer engagement online and other factors to more accurately measure how popular a show is.
Advertisers and networks pay attention to this also and not just ratings anymore because apart from a few hits a year, Live TV ratings are generally low across the board. It’s an issue in many countries where streaming TV is very popular.
Either way, I still think international tv watchers overdo it with obsession and fighting over ratings ratings instead of accepting that the TV landscape has changed in so many ways and it seems like korean TV networks and kdramas did not adapt quickly enough and the entire industry is dealing with that. Why not instead focus on the content of dramas we do get instead because soon we most likely will be seeing less dramas produced as years go by.
Good rating is still a number one measure for a success of a drama at least in Korea either you like I don’t watch any American or other countries so I can’t speak of them.
Name me a good rating Korean drama that don’t create buzz and media attention please!!
And yet no one mentioned ratings in this particular article or the comments until you (Deb) did.
International drama watchers are obsessed with ratings indeed.
Agree, this is one of the engaging dramas airing lately. The story and execution are tight (so far 5 episodes in, fingers crossed) and the cinematography helps add clarity to which timeline we’re watching (present or one month ago). The leads are really impressive with their acting and I like that they are smart so the audience do not get frustrated with their characters. The supporting leads are good as well (although yes, I’m hating on their characters, such villainous humans lol). I also wish this is only a 12-episode drama, I’m a little concerned that the story will lose its substance if it gets dragged out, but let’s see if Kairos can pull it off….
KAIROS is a Masterpiece. Though the ratings are not high, it creates buzz. It’s really subtle and addictive. Good ratings do not mean quality. Ofc there are commercial success with good ratings like TWOTM, IC, HP and CLOY this year. I am watching another high ratings drama and there is no finesse. So glad that KAIROS found me. I watched it because I read so many good reviews. Damn it’s so good
Didn’t MBC do the excellent children of nobody, which was also like something you’d expect from ocn and which also completely flew under the radar… As said above, ratings don’t always reflect what’s good despite sadly being the thing to set trends and as a mark of success.
Children of Nobody was so good! In the both drama, there was Nam Gyu Ri :p
Well not for people who never cared about the ratings in the first place, I still check out MBC dramas and if it’s good I watch and if it’s not I drop. It’s simple, even the so called high rated once are not good, it’s not been a great year for kdramas.
This drama is worth watching. Cant wait for the next episodes. This must be ranked at its highest level.
Its such a good drama! Shin Sung Rok is fantastic in it.
Rating is so low too low at 2.7% on its premiere episode. the highest rating it reached was 3.8 but it decreaded to 2.6% lol.
i guess no one is watching this in south korea. hahahaha. theu choose to sleep rather than watch kairos.