Poisonous Lee Sun-kyun vs. desperate Lee Bo-young ‘A fierce competition’

Lee Bo-young of JTBC's Saturday-Sunday drama 'Agency' and Lee Sun-kyun of SBS's Friday-Saturday drama 'The Law' are competing fiercely for the position left by Song Joong-ki of JTBC's 'Youngest Son of a Chaebol Family'. Both dramas are showing an upward trend, with viewership ratings approaching 10%. Attention is being paid to whether this upward trend will continue in parallel or whether it will be concentrated in one place.

In 'Agency', which aired on the 15th, the reason Go Ah-in (played by Lee Bo-young) is obsessed with success was revealed. Goa-in suffered from emotional scars due to her mother, Seo Eun-ja (Kim Mi-kyung), who abandoned her and ran away when she was 7 years old. Oh Soo-jin (played by Shin Soo-jeong), Goa-in's only friend and psychiatrist, advised Goa-in, who was accelerating her medication intake, to solve the fundamental problem. Oh Soo-jin diagnosed that she needed to ‘forgive’ herself, not her mother, saying, “Forgive the woman in you who is trying desperately to work and study out of fear of being abandoned or forgotten by people.” From childhood, Goain was afraid of becoming close to anyone. It was because I was worried that they would hate me or that I would abandon them one day. Go Ah-in, who had never shown weakness in front of others, shed tears at Oh Soo-jin's advice.

On this day's broadcast, Go Ah-in was shown risking his position as an executive to carry out personnel reform and inform advertisers of unfair work practices. VC Planning was shocked by Go Ain’s unconventional actions. All executives were shocked, and the daughter of the VC group's chairman, Kang Han-na (played by Son Na-eun), was also upset.

The viewer rating for the 4th episode of 'Agency' recorded 8.9% nationwide, 9.3% in the metropolitan area, and an instant peak of 10.4%. The sight of Goan, who was called a 'Don Theopath' who was crazy about money and success, revealing his hidden wounds touched the hearts of viewers. Lee Bo-young gracefully and poignantly depicts Go Ah-in, who broke through the 'glass ceiling' and became the first female executive, and builds her career to go beyond being first and reach the top position.

The SBS Friday-Saturday drama 'Law', which aired on the 14th, also attracted viewers' attention with its exciting story. On this day's broadcast, Eun-yong (played by Lee Seon-kyun) was depicted trying to persuade his nephew Jang Tae-chun (played by Kang Yoo-seok) to join 'our side' by saying that he would take life-threatening money from Chairman Myeong-ju (played by Kim Hong-pa) and power from Hwang Ki-seok (played by Park Hoon). lost.

Eun-yong flashed a sharp look in his eyes, saying, “I will buy out the entire prosecution office of the Republic of Korea, not with law, but with money.” Eun-yong invited Oh Chang-hyeon (Lee Ki-young), the key figure in Chairman Myeong's connection to the prosecution, to his penthouse. Eun-yong stimulated Oh Chang-hyun's greed by offering to wear a National Assembly member badge on Chairman Myeong's behalf, and continued his elaborate recruitment strategy by threatening Oh Chang-hyun with a contract containing details of cash transactions for convertible bonds.

However, Chairman Myeong visited Mrs. Kim, who handed over Oh Chang-hyeon's contract to Eun-yong, and subjected her to cruel torture. On his way to meet Oh Chang-hyeon, Eun-yong was mercilessly attacked by Chairman Myeong's subordinates, and the contract, which was evidence, was taken away and he ended up losing his mind. Eun-yong devised a new strategy to approach Congressman Baek (played by Kwon Tae-won) with Park Jun-kyung (played by Moon Chae-won) and Jang Tae-chun, whom he met in the emergency room. Park Jun-kyung held an emergency press conference with Baek, the 'enemy of my enemy', and announced himself as a co-conspirator in Yoon Hye-rin's death.

The viewership rating for the 4th episode of 'The Law' rose to 9.6% nationwide, 10.1% in the metropolitan area, and the highest viewership rating at the moment was 12.2%. Eun-yong's insight into Chairman Myeong's numbers gave viewers a thrilling sense of catharsis. The scene in which Eun-yong, Park Jun-kyung, and Jang Tae-chun hit the back of the opposition with a meticulous plan for revenge in 'Jeon's Jungle', full of betrayal and trickery, was exhilarating. The sight of these people breaking down the vile cartel in their own way made me think about the meaning of justice. Lee Sun-gyun completed the work in three dimensions by adding light and dark to the work with a wide spectrum of acting, from humor to action.

Lee Sun-kyun and Lee Bo-young show passionate performances that increase viewers' immersion. Thanks to the two people competing so closely, viewers are getting the ‘pleasure of watching’ on any channel.

Kim Ji-won, Ten Asia reporter bella@tenasia.co.kr