It is becoming clearer to fans of the three Hallyus competing for the position as heir apparent of “Descendants of the Sun” when it comes to viewership that "W" is the leading contender.
The new MBC series, starring Han Hyo Joo and Lee Jong-Suk, registered a 13.5 percent rating for its Episode 5 on Nielsen Korea, up by 0.6 percent from its 12.9 percent rating for Episode 4, Soompi reported on Thursday.
For the Wednesday-Thursday line-up, “Uncontrollably Fond” was in second place with 8.2 percent rating, followed by “Wanted” with 5.2 percent. With the increase in “W’s” viewers, the webtoon drama further widened its lead over the Hallyu starring Bae Suzy by 4.6 percent.
It helped “W” that Episode 5 had an interesting storyline as Kang Chul, the handsome media mogul character played by Lee Jong-Suk, broke out of the webtoon world and met his writer face-to-face.
Like “Descendants of the Sun” which mixed a war theme with medical drama, “W” also combines two genre – webtoon fantasy and romantic drama – which likely explains its rise to fame in the South Korean television landscape. If Song Hye Kyo played a surgeon in “Descendants of the Sun,” Han Hyo Joo, who portrays Oh Yeon-Joo, is also a female surgeon in her 30s who goes between the alternate world and the real world. “W,” the fantasy world, was created by her cartoonist father.
Kang Chul met Han Hyo Joo in the real world in Episode 5, seen below, according to Inquisitr, which makes it an emotional episode.