 |
| ▲ This photo, provided by SBS, shows a scene from 'Payback: Money and Power.' (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
 |
| ▲ These photos, provided by SBS, shows scenes from 'Payback: Money and Power.' (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
 |
| ▲ This photo, provided by SBS, shows a scene from 'Payback: Money and Power.' (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
SEOUL, Feb. 12 (Yonhap) -- SBS’ Friday-Saturday drama “Payback: Money and Power,” which tells the story of those who risk everything to fight the money cartel that colluded with the law, wrapped up with a view rate in the range of 11%.
The final episode of this revenge story, starring Lee Sun-kyun, Moon Chae-won, and Kang Yoo-seok, was aired at 10 p.m. Saturday and ended with a view rate of 11.1%, according to Nielson Korea.
In the final episode, Hwang Ki-seok (Park Hoon) and Chaiman Myung (Kim Hong-pa), who sit at the top of the underground economy which a cartel of greed is based, receive the well-deserved punishments for their acts of crime.
“Payback” left the audience both feeling exhilarated and lingered by going back and forth between both the realistic and ideal aspects of fighting for justice. Even among those who wish for justice against this incompetent and unjust power, there was one side fighting outside the boundaries of the law, saying that they cannot win unless they are shrewd, and those who stand on the opposite side urging that one must yet stand according to the law.
It was the passionate money trader Eun Yong (Lee Sun-kyun), and prosecutor-turned-lawyer Park Joon-kyung (Moon Chae-won), who eventually snatched the money and power from those who seemed to forever wield their power.
Eun Yong and Joon-kyung at last choose to become monsters themselves in order to catch the unlawful monsters: Eun Yong buys people with money and trades evidence to reveal Ki-seok and Myung’s misdeeds. In the meantime, Joon-kyung also makes a decision to hurt anyone only if she can win the fight.
Jang Taek-joon (Kang Yo-seok), who stands by the principle of investigating according to the law as a prosecutor himself, was the only one who holds on to the principle and yet brings a close to what Eun Yong and Joon-kyung started. Taek-joon brings justice back by conducting an investigation to track down the evidence, rather than artfully drawing a picture and crafting evidence according to it.
Throughout the 12 episodes, “Payback” featured a series of eye-catching events, such as investigations on stock price manipulation, that had the characters all entangled. Some responses said that they were rather frustrated as Eun Yong, a supposed hero who asserted that he would fight evil, falls into the trap set by Hwang Ki-seok and Chairman Myung.
However, the passionate actors, who delivered the scenes in their own styles and colors, did keep the viewers on the edge of their seats.
Lee Sun-kyun skillfully led the drama as an “anti-hero” with action scenes, while Moon Chae-won calmly demonstrated her acting skills with depth. Park Hoon, who played the villain Hwang Ki-seok in a despiteful and charismatic way, and Kang Yoo-seok, who portrayed the righteous young prosecutor in a naive but strong manner, were also well received.
(This article is translated from Korean to English by Ha eun Lee)
(END)
(C) Yonhap News Agency. All Rights Reserved
