The ill-fated work ‘The Joseon Lawyer’ hidden behind ‘Model Taxi 2’

《Taeyuna’s Listening Bodbo》
Reporter Tae Yu-na and Ten Asia will properly cover all aspects of the drama based on what she heard and saw on the spot. We will be the eyes and ears of readers in an era where dramas are flooding in on numerous channels.

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The true value of the work is not being seen as it is being overshadowed by previous works and pushed out by competing works in the same time slot. Despite the actors' passionate performances and chemistry, solid narrative and directing, and MBC's reputation as a famous historical drama, the new Friday-Saturday drama 'The Joseon Lawyer' is recording a poor viewership rating of around 2%.

'Joseon Lawyer', which first aired on March 31, tells the story of a lawyer from the Joseon Dynasty who takes revenge through a trial against the enemy who killed his parents. It is a delightful and exhilarating legal revenge drama about Kang Han-soo (played by Woo Do-hwan), who grows into a real lawyer for the people.

In particular, 'The Joseon Lawyer' attracted attention because it was Woo Do-hwan's comeback work after being discharged from the military and his return to MBC after 6 years. In addition, Kim Ji-yeon (Bona), who emerged as a rising star through the previous work tvN's 'Twenty-Five Twenty-One', raised expectations by attempting a historical drama for the first time. MBC also broke the slump in dramas with 'Red Sleeves' two years ago, so it must have been confident that 'The Joseon Lawyer', which added romance to the courtroom, would preserve the pride of MBC's famous historical drama family.

However, the biggest enemy of ‘The Joseon Lawyer’ was the timing of its programming. This is because the previous work, 'Season of the Kokdu', did not receive much attention from the public and ended with a viewership rating of around 1%, and the competing work in the same time slot is 'Model Taxi 2', which surpassed the highest viewership rating of 17%. JTBC's Saturday-Sunday drama 'Sacred, Divorced' is also maintaining a stable rating of 6%. In addition, the follow-up to ‘Model Taxi 2’ is ‘Romantic Doctor Teacher Kim 3’. 'Romantic Doctor Teacher Kim' is a mega hit that recorded the highest viewership rating of 27% in both seasons 1 and 2 last year. Season 2 is SBS' representative series drama that writes new history every season, recording 14.9% from the first episode. 'Doctor Cha Jeong-sook', the follow-up to 'Sacred, Divorced', is already attracting attention as a medical drama starring trustworthy actors Uhm Jung-hwa and Kim Byeong-cheol.

‘Joseon Lawyer’ predicted a difficult fight even before the start. Even at the production press conference, Woo Do-hwan seemed to be aware of this and said, "We have a secret weapon to beat 'Model Taxi 2', Lee Gyu-seong. If we cannot avoid a confrontation with 'Model Taxi 2,' we will fight it." MBC promoted 'Chosun Lawyer' Regarding the witty sniping in the text, "Take a taxi and take revenge illegally? We'll take revenge legally," he said, "MBC risked their life and death to fight head-on, so I thought I should promote it as well." Also compacting. In particular, Woo Do-hwan's cheerful and bright appearance, which was quite different from before enlistment, raised expectations for the drama.

‘The Joseon Lawyer’, which was unveiled, provided more fun and twists than expected. Kang Han-soo (played by Woo Do-hwan), who appeared as a sly outsider with good skills but willing to resort to all kinds of tricks to win the case, looked like a 'bad guy' but aroused curiosity with his mysterious actions. In addition, in the lawsuit scene, he was impressed by the way he caught the opponent off guard and won a landslide victory. It was revealed that his purpose was to avenge his parents when he was young, creating tension as he slowly tightened his grip on his enemies.

Kim Ji-yeon, who played the role of princess Lee Yeon-joo, earned a passing grade for acting in her first historical drama by steadily portraying an independent character who hid her identity and transformed into a female servant to save the people. The chemistry between the sly Woo Do-hwan and the righteous Kim Ji-yeon and Dong-chi's sharp comical acting further enriched the play.

However, the viewership ratings are disappointing. The first episode was 2.8% and the second episode was 2.9%, a slight increase from the last episode of 'Season of the Kokdu', but it was the lowest score in the same time period. With only two episodes aired, the charm of 'The Joseon Lawyer' has been fully revealed to the point that it cannot be simply judged by its low viewership ratings. Accordingly, it remains to be seen whether 'The Joseon Lawyer' can achieve an increase in viewership ratings against strong competitors through word of mouth.

Taeyuna, Ten Asia Reporter youyou@tenasia.co.kr