Was my expectation too high... Lee Jun-ho, Lim Yoon-ah 'King the Land', homework that could not be solved even with acting skills

《Tae Yuna's Listening Board》
Reporters Taeyoo and TenAsia will properly cover every aspect of the drama based on what they heard and saw on site. We will be the eyes and ears of the readers in the era of flood of dramas pouring from numerous channels.

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There is a difference between an obvious Rocco and an obvious but fun Rocco. JTBC's Saturday drama 'King the Land', aiming for a cliché but classic 'locoma taste', took off its veil. However, apart from the acting skills and topicality of the actors, childishness remained as a homework. Was it because the expectations were too high? The charm of 'King the Land' hidden in childishness is not yet easily revealed.

'King the Land', which first aired on the 17th, is a story about a man who despises laughter (Lee Jun-ho) and a smile queen Cheon-rang (Lim Yoon-a) who must laugh at the VVIP lounge 'King the Land', the dream of all hoteliers. A work depicting the story of making the day.

The meeting between Lee Jun-ho and Lim Yoon-ah was a big part of why 'King the Land' was chosen as the most anticipated work in the first half of 2023, despite the rather obvious romantic comedy format of a chaebol male lead and a candy-type female lead. Lee Jun-ho swept trophies with his previous work 'Red Sleeves', recording the highest viewership rating of 17.4%, and Lim Yoon-ah also achieved successful results from 'Big Mouth', which exceeded the highest viewership rating of 13%, to the movie 'Confidential Cooperation 2', and activities as Girls' Generation. This is because he was recognized for both his acting skills and box office success.

The beginning of 'King the Land' was a typical romantic comedy development. The main focus of the drama was that a tough male lead and a bright female lead met through a bad relationship, and the accidental encounter continued and the relationship was built up. It is also a cliché element that there is a loyal secretary next to the male lead and friends who support him by the female lead.

It is also regrettable that the accidental encounters of the two were set up as a primitive laughing code. Angelang misunderstands Guwon as a sexual harasser while wiping 'dungweed' (anal moisture from exercise equipment) at the hotel gym. The scene of facing each other was more embarrassing than fun.

In addition, the fact that Cheonrang, who is professional enough to be selected as a kind employee, is consistent with a shameless attitude toward Gu-gu, the head of the headquarters, is felt as a character collapse.

However, the combination of Lee Jun-ho and Lim Yoon-ah had the charm of holding on to viewers who were thinking of leaving 'King the Land' due to its childishness. Lee Jun-ho, who took off his 'sleeves' and wore a 3rd generation chaebol suit, densely portrayed the emotional lines of a rough yet wounded character. With her unique loveliness, Im Yoona added charm to the character with a bright smile.

Viewer ratings and topicality also responded. The viewership rating for the first episode was 5.1%, which was higher than the first episode (4.9%) of the previous work, 'Doctor Cha Jeong-sook'. The second episode rose vertically to 7.5%. According to the results of the Fundex survey, Good Data Corporation's official platform service, on the 20th, Lee Jun-ho ranked first with a topical score of 5481 and a share of 6.65%, and Lim Yoon-ah ranked second with 5.7%. 'King the Land' also took second place in the TV-OTT drama category in the first week of broadcasting.

SBS 'In-house Match' starring Ahn Hyo-seop and Kim Se-jeong, which aired last year, also had a childish and obvious setting at the beginning, but the characters' charms shined and gained great popularity. 'King the Land' is also taking its first step, and if the narrative is solidly built up, childish and obvious elements can also be attractive. We must keep in mind that there is a limit to relying solely on the combination of Lee Junho and Im Yoona.

Reporter Tae Yuna, Ten Asia youyou@tenasia.co.kr