Baek Byung-yeul is a journalist at The Korea Times focused on cultural content, including films and cultural events in South Korea. You can contact him at baekby@koreatimes.co.kr to share your insights.
'Agent Kim Reactivated' finds success by focusing on father's love
Actors So Ji-sub, right, and Choi Dae-hoon in a scene from SBS TV’s action drama “Agent Kim Reactivated” / Captured from SBS
By Baek Byung-yeul
Actor So Ji-sub's action drama "Agent Kim Reactivated" surpassed the 20 percent viewership mark just four episodes into its run.
According to ratings tracker Nielsen Korea on Sunday, the fourth episode of the SBS Friday-Saturday drama, recorded a nationwide rating of 21.6 percent on Saturday.
That makes it the third-highest-rated SBS Friday-Saturday drama in history, trailing only "The Penthouse 2," which hit 29.2 percent, and "The Fiery Priest,” which reached 22 percent.
The show has climbed steadily since its premiere. It opened with 9.5 percent, jumped to 15.7 percent in the second episode, reached 18.8 percent in the third and broke 20 percent by the fourth episode.
The series, which premiered on June 26, follows Kim (So Ji-sub), a former special agent, who now lives a quiet life as a worker at a small bank. The change in job was the last wish of his late wife, who asked him to "just live as a father." However, when his only daughter Min-ji (Seo Su-min) is kidnapped, he draws on his deadly fighting skills to save her.
In the fourth episode, Kim teams up with his old friends Seong Han-su (Choi Dae-hoon) and Park Jin-cheol (Yoon Kyung-ho) to track down a crucial clue in his daughter's case.
Behind the fast climb is a simple, familiar hook of a father who will do anything to get his daughter back, similar to the 2008 Hollywood film "Taken."
With 10 episodes, the show has enough time to slow down and focus on the people around the main character, including the emotions and stories motivating his two friends.
So Ji-sub, left, in a scene from SBS TV’s action drama “Agent Kim Reactivated” / Captured from SBS
This focus on character development gives the drama a wider appeal than a typical revenge thriller. As a result, the drama successfully attracts both fans of raw action and emotional family drama.
Producers say the theme of a parent protecting their child is what keeps audiences interested every week. They believe this human instinct is the main reason why viewers continue to watch the show.
"The way this ordinary father fights to protect his family seems to be resonating deeply across generations," Lee Gwang-soon, the drama's chief producer, said. "The real catharsis is only beginning, so please look forward to what comes next."
The drama is based on the webtoon "Manager Kim," created by Park Tae-jun, who also oversaw the production of the original webtoon as chief executive of PTJ Comics.
While the drama keeps the webtoon story mostly intact, it changes a few details for the screen. For example, characters like Seong and Park appear much earlier in the drama. Before the real action begins, the show first introduces their ordinary lives as a taekwondo instructor and a school zone volunteer, respectively.
Also released on Netflix, the series has found an audience abroad, entering the platform's top 10 for global non-English series within three days of release.