OCN's apocalyptic series 'Dark Hole' ends in flop

OCN's horror-action series, “Dark Hole,” ended on Saturday. Courtesy of OCN

By Lee Gyu-lee

OCN's horror-action series, “Dark Hole,” has ended Saturday after a series of disappointing viewership ratings, due to a mixture of cliches and an anticlimactic storyline.

The apocalyptic series started off on April 30, airing on both of CJ ENM's networks, OCN and tvN, in the same time slot. Its viewership rating kicked off at 1.03 percent on OCN and 1.88 percent on tvN.

However, the series soon hit even lower ratings, as it went into the episodes, falling to nearly a 0 percent viewership rating. It saw a 0.96 percent viewership rating with the second episode on OCN and has continuously failed to score above 1 percent.

The 12-part series revolves around a fictional town in the countryside called Muji, where a mysterious smoke streams out from a sinkhole one day and turns people inhaling it into violent mutants.

Detective Lee Hwa-sun (Kim Ok-vin), who came to the town to track down her husband's killer, gets caught up in that situation. She and truck driver Yoo Tae-han (Lee Joon-hyuk) team up to save a group of survivors and hunt down the force behind the smoke while fighting off troves of mutants.

The series was directed by Kim Bong-joo, whose previous work includes the thriller-action film, "The Phone," and penned by scriptwriter Jung Yi-do, who wrote OCN's previous thriller series, "Hell Is Other People" and "Save Me."

Scenes from OCN's horror-action series, “Dark Hole” / Courtesy of OCN

The actors and director had emphasized that the series would set itself apart from previous smash-hit apocalyptic flicks like Netflix's horror-thriller series, "Sweet Home" and "Kingdom," and the Cannes-selected zombie film, "Peninsula."

“The story takes a mysterious turn into a complex story that involves things from sci-fi through to monsters," actress Kim had said during a media conference for the series.

The director had also noted that the series' key difference is that there are subplots for zombie-like mutants. People get soaked up into their darkest past when they are infected and become hell-bent on killing everyone around them.

However, the series failed to stand out, due to its cliche-ridden storyline, as if it was drawing together bits and pieces from previous films.

Some of the subplots seemed entirely irrelevant and unnecessary to the overall plot involving the apocalypse, such as the one between Hwa-sun and her husband's killer, and a cult group from the writer's previous series, “Save Me.”

The rushed ending even left the core of the story ― the reason for the emergence of the monstrous creature and the mysterious outbreak ― unexplained.

After the series' finale, the two lead actors, Kim and Lee, expressed their bittersweet feelings. “Seven months of hard work has finally come to an end, which feels both satisfying and sad,” actress Kim said. “This series has taught me a lot, and has left me with so many memories. Some things I wish I could've done better. I'll use this experience to become a better actress.”

Lee expressed his appreciation to the production crew and fans, saying, “I sincerely thank every viewer for watching our series.”