Will actress Park Eun-bin become a savior like Nam Goong Min?

Will actress Park Eun-bin regain syndrome-level popularity once again? Attention is being paid to whether he, who has become widely known beyond the program as 'Weird Lawyer Woo Young-woo' and even to the channel ENA itself, can raise the momentum of tvN dramas, which are in a slump.

Park Eun-bin returns with tvN's new Saturday-Sunday drama 'Diva of the Desert Island' on the 28th. This is the first work released after ‘Weird Lawyer Woo Young-woo’. ‘Diva of the Deserted Island’ is a drama that depicts the diva challenge of Seo Mok-ha (played by Park Eun-bin), an aspiring singer who was rescued from a deserted island after 15 years.

‘Diva on a Deserted Island’ is considered the most anticipated work of October. This is because it is Park Eun-bin's comeback film. This is because ‘Weird Lawyer Woo Young-woo’ (hereinafter referred to as ‘Woo Young-woo’), who played the lead role last year, was a huge hit. Park Eun-bin, top artist, new channel, new writer. The drama, which had no expectations of box office success, received a lot of love, recording a peak viewership rating of around 17%. ENA immediately made its name known, and Park Eun-bin won the Baeksang Arts Award.

Park Eun-bin, who is receiving high expectations, this time visits viewers with a healing product. ‘Diva on a Desert Island’ is also Park Eun-bin’s top drama. He, who perfectly played the character of Woo Young-woo, a lawyer on the autism spectrum, raises curiosity about how he will play the 'growth character' of Seo Mok-ha, who does not break down even in the face of hardship this time.

Park Eun-bin will compete against Namgoong Min, who she worked with on 'Stove League'. Currently, Namgoong Min is playing the lead role in MBC's 'Lovers 2'. ‘Lovers’ is a work that revived the dying MBC drama version. The Friday-Saturday drama ranked first in viewership ratings, and the main characters Ahn Eun-jin and Namgoong Min ranked first and second in popularity, capturing both viewership ratings and popularity.

Before ‘Lovers’ aired, Namgoong Min, the ‘actor who guarantees box office success’, was asked one after another whether he could save the MBC drama version. Namgoong Min, who said, “I am confident,” eventually proved it.

Park Eun-bin is also facing a similar situation. tvN, where ‘Diva on a Desert Island’ is aired, is currently receiving poor viewership ratings. The 50 billion won blockbuster 'Sword of Aramun' began to decline after reaching 5%, but recently rose again to the 4% range. Compared to the brilliant cast and production costs, the results are disappointing. ‘Sparkling Watermelon’ is showing no signs of rebounding from the 3% range. In addition, lead actor Choi Hyun-wook was embroiled in controversy over illegal dumping of cigarette butts.

Park Eun-bin has come up step by step more than anyone else. He played his role well as a leading actor in SBS's 'Stove League', 'Do you like Brahms?', KBS2's 'Yeonmo', and 'Weird Lawyer Woo Young-woo'. It cannot be said that the huge success of 'Woo Young-woo' was solely due to Park Eun-bin, but it could not have happened without her acting skills. It remains to be seen whether it can overcome its strong competitor ‘Lovers’ and bring smiles to tvN.

Ten Asia Reporter Kim Seo-yoon seogugu@tenasia.co.kr