jTBC Legal Drama Beyond the Bar with Lee Jin Wook and Jung Chae Yeon Hits 8% Ratings by 4th Episode
We have the first hit of the summer 2025 season for K-dramas and it’s not the legal drama that most thought would do better. There is the tvN drama Law and the City with Lee Jong Seok and Moon Ga Young which is doing decent numbers up to 7.705% in the last episode as it just ended. But it’s jTBC legal drama Beyond the Bar which premiered two weeks ago that is the hot surprise, with ratings hitting 8.318% in the most recent episode 4. The legal drama with Lee Jin Wook and Jung Chae Yeon is getting lots of buzz and viewers with a slightly different take on the legal genre, focusing not just on cases but on the grey area between law and ethics/morality. K-ent desperately needs a drama to generate both ratings and online chatter and this one is not only doing so quickly but has legs to potentially hit double digits with 8 more episodes left.
It’s a good drama. Directing and acting both are strong. Jtbc performs better with these kind of dramas than Tvn.
This year has been an absolute bust in terms of buzz and ratings alike. Most of the dramas expected to do well in ratings didn’t reach double digits or even come close to it (Law and the City, Good Boy, When the Stars Gossip). Big names in all of these dramas too. This is a much needed sleeper.
I thought unwritten Seoul is a hit this summer too and did well in ratings too ?
Not a fan of the lead actors, but I’m always interested in legal drama. So, I’ll check out this one after finishing Law and the City. Kdrama has been exploring touching issues in morally and legally gray areas. The most recently aired Netflix series, Triggers, is another interesting example, although less buzzy in terms of public attention.
This drama turned out better than I thought. And so far I like it more than law and city