Lee Min-Ho and Jun Ji-Hyun star in the SBS drama 'The Legend of the Blue Sea.' (Photo : YouTube/Zeno Channel)
"The Legend of the Blue Sea" finally capped off its 20-episode run with a record high viewership ratings. The SBS fantasy drama starred Lee Min Ho and Jun Ji Hyun as Heo Joon-Jae and Shim Chung, respectively.
Aired on Jan. 25, Wednesday, the final episode posted impressive nationwide ratings of 17.9 percent, according to Nielsen Korea, as cited by Soompi. Though it was not able to conquer the desired 20 percent rating mark, the SBS drama was still able to maintain its reign as the no. 1 series in its time slot.
The final episode is an emotional roller coaster ride for the viewers as Shim Chung erased Heo Joon Jae's memories once more. Fortunately, the latter managed to remember everything because of his handwritten diary. After a roller coaster ride, Shim Chung is now pregnant with Heo Joon Jae's child and they finally build their dream house near the ocean.
Following the heartwarming finale, actor Lee Ji Hoon shared his honest thoughts on how it felt to play the antagonist in the show. In the SBS drama, the 28-year-old actor played Heo Joon-Jae's stepbrother, Heo Chi-Hyun, who became evil due to his unrequited love to his stepfather (Choi Jung-Woo).
"Filming 'The Legend of the Blue Sea' was such a meaningful experience because I learned new things every day I was on set," Korean newoutlet TV Report quoted Ji-Hoon as saying before a group of local media. "Thank you to everyone for giving my character Heo Chi Hyun a lot of love, even though he was the antagonist."
Ji-Hoon, who was also in the cast of "Mirror of the Witch," then assured fans he will continue to work hard to come back in another good dramas and movies soon. As "The Legend of the Blue Sea" comes to an end, "Saimdang, Light's Diary" officially takes over SBS' Wednesday-Thursday timeslot starting Jan. 26.
The new SBS drama follows a modern-day historian, Seo Ji-Yoon (Lee Young Ae), who discovers the diary of a historical figure Shin Saimdang (also played by Lee). She uses this to solve the mystery of an obscure painting.
Check out the full-length trailer of SBS' "Saimdang, Light's Diary" here:
