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| ▲ These photos, provided by JTBC, show scenes from the final episode of 'Agency.' (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ These photos, provided by TV Chosun, show scenes from the final episode of 'Red Balloon.' (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
SEOUL, Feb. 27 (Yonhap) -- JTBC’s Saturday-Sunday television series “Agency,” starring Lee Bo-young, Son Na-eun, and Jo Sung-ha, has brought itself to a successful conclusion by scoring an average nationwide rating of 16% for its final episode.
The finale of this enthralling office drama series, which was aired at 10:30 p.m. Sunday, recorded a viewership rating of 16.0% (non-terrestrial paid households), ending on its all-time high, according to Neilson Korea Monday.
The final episode featured Ko Ah-in (played by Lee Bo-young) and Kang Han-na (Son Na-eun), the youngest daughter of the CV group, making a thrilling reversal game.
Choi Chang-su (Jo Sung-ha), who always had ill feelings for Ko, was eventually kicked out of the advertising agency by falling for his own trick. Meanwhile, Kang Han-na stood up in front of the VC Group’s shareholders during a meeting and dragged her brother Kang Han-soo (Jo Bok-rae) down by exposing his corruption as a vice chairman of the firm, as she was advised by Ko.
Ko eventually rises to the seat of the CEO of VC Planning, which she has been striving for a long time. However, she does not settle down and gears up to start a completely new race by setting up an independent advertising agency herself.
This office television series has been receiving rave reviews by giving the viewers a sense of liberation and even catharsis by following the career of Ko breaking the glass ceilings as a female executive from a local university.
The workaholic Ko also won the viewers’ hearts with her cynical yet miserable character who is intelligent at work but lives a heart-aching life suffering from insomnia. Unlike many office television series that portray a competent protagonist as one to be envious of, “Agency” aroused sympathy among viewers by portraying Ko as a character who makes the utmost effort to climb up the ladder rather than a person who gives oneself airs.
The television series sees Lee as Ko, who goes back and forth between a cold-hearted and cool-headed employee and a woman with a wounded heart. In particular, her attitude and tone full of confidence had her story unraveled with tension.
In addition, her drama series also garnered attention by depicting and reflecting on real-life office conflicts, such as benefiting from one’s school ties, discrimination against non-regular employees, a battle for leadership in the owner’s family, as well as assigning the affiliates with all the work.
However, there were some negative reviews pointing out that there was not much drama except for the confrontation between good and evil.
In the meantime, TV Chosun’s melodrama series “Red Balloon” also aired its final at 9:10 p.m. Sunday that scored an average nationwide rating of 11.6%.
The final episode featured the protagonists each leaving a peaceful life after letting go of their bitterness toward each other. Jo Eun-sang (Seo Ji-hye), who was sued by Han Ba-da (Hong Soo-hyun), desperately reflected on her mistakes and moved to a village on an island.
Meanwhile, Han, who went abroad to study, made a successful return as a jewelry designer. Ji Nam-chul returned to his family, leaving Jo Eun-sang behind.
Moon Young-nam, who is one of the most renowned screenwriters known for writing scripts for KBS’ family drama series “Three Brothers” and “Liver or Die,” wrote her very first script for a weekend mini-series on the local cable channel TV Chosun.
The different backgrounds of Han, who was a daughter from an affluent family with a successful career, and Jo, who had to be the breadwinner of her family from a young age, had the viewers get easily immersed in the story. The enthralling plot lines had the viewers emphasize with the characters, question each other’s faults, and criticize them.
Above all, characters with different stories and veteran actors who brought those stories realistically onto the small screens had the television series garner nationwide attention.
The main characters Hong Soo-hyun and Seo Ji-hye appeared both as friends and enemies, leading the play to its climax. Jung Bo-seok and Lee Bo-hee, who played Jo Eung-sang’s parents, added a sense of reality to this melodrama series with their acting skills while Yoon Joo-sang and Yoon Mi-ra appeared as Han Ba-da’s impudent yet sly in-laws.
(This article is translated from Korean to English by Ha eun Lee)
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