‘The Haunted Palace’ Ends on a High Note with Record Ratings and a Touching Finale
Jun 08, 2025
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In the final episode of 'Going Palace', which aired on the 7th, Lee Jung (Kim Ji-hoon), who was possessed by Kang Cheol-i (Yook Sung-jae) and Yeo-ri (Kim Ji-yeon), led a final showdown and led the climax that he could not take his eyes off for a moment. In the process, Yeori risked her life to call out 'Hwadeok Chasa (the Grim Reaper who takes the burnt dead ghost)', and Kang Cheol-yi swallowed the flower petals of Goldamcho to save Yeori whose life was on the alert and used up all of her wildflowers without a handful left. In the end, the eight-chuckgui, who escaped from Lee Jung's body, resolved the deep-rooted grudge with the sincere apology of Yeori's Cheondojae and Lee Jung, and returned to the image of Cheon Geum-hwi (Seo-young) and Yongdamgol people before his death, making the nose of those who crossed the Samdocheon Stream sour. At the same time, Kang Cheol-i, who was thought to have disappeared, woke up dramatically, gave up becoming a dragon and chose to live a life as a couple with a rabbit-like child, and gave viewers a pleasant aftertaste.
The final episode of 'Going Palace', which aired on this day, broke its own highest ratings with 12.3% viewership, 11.0% nationwide, and 10.1% in the metropolitan area, ranking first in the same time period and No. 1 overall in the Saturday mini-series. In addition, 2049 viewership was 2.7%, ranking first in the entire Saturday miniseries, achieving a perfect ending with a hot topic. (Based on Nielsen Korea)
Despite the particularly fierce competition for the masterpiece, 'Going Palace' received enthusiastic support from viewers throughout the broadcast and made its name as a box office hit that succeeded SBS's Friday and Saturday. Therefore, what are the footsteps left by 'Going Palace', which showed off the potential of K-precious fantasy.
▶ the power of fresh material
'Guigung' showed off the power of a fresh material by revealing a different anaerobic romantics of a shaman who sewed through the human body and a shaman who lost her first love to him. As the main character is a divine being called 'Eugi', a variety of narratives and characters that have not been seen so far gave a thorough attraction. The appearance of Lee Geom-ki, who is the first person to know the five desires of humans, created a humorous laugh, and the process of making true love between Lee Geom-gi and a shaman, whose head and heart are played separately due to the twisted body and soul, melted the heart. In addition, the confrontation with the evil spirits, who have a deep-rooted grudge in the royal family, captured the chilling and spectacular tension of a sweet and cutthroat romance, and gave viewers the fun of taking out their souls.
▶ an exhilarating performance
In the play, Yook Sung-jae was trapped in the body of Yeo-ri's first love Yoon Gap, but he played the role of Imugi Kang Cheol, and he performed the role of a two-person lead and a half-body acting perfectly, continuing his fantasy. In particular, Yook Sung-jae, who looked like a newborn baby who felt the seven emotions of humans for the first time, the charisma of a spirit who mastered the principles of the world, and the eyes of a heartbroken man who fell in love with a human woman, succeeded in winning the title of 「Fantasy Genius」 by unleashing a thousand-year-old charm.
Kim Ji-yeon played the role of Yeo-ri, who rejects the fate of a shaman and lives as a master of love (glasses), drawing favorable reviews with her deeper acting skills. In particular, Kim Ji-yeon, who exuded delicacy and strength at the same time as a healer to soothe the resentment and soul of ghosts with resentment, gave birth to a new character that breaks down the stereotype of the existing shaman character. In addition, Kim Ji-hoon, who plays the role of King Lee Jeong-eun, who confronts the royal family's grudge, showed off his three-dimensional charm with the charisma of the old king for the people, the appearance of pure man who loves Ji-mi, and a pleasant bromance with Yook Sung-jae, and after being possessed by the eight ears in the second half of the play, he rewrote his life character by revealing his decadent sexiness.
In addition to Kim Sang-ho (played by Poongsan), who received attention for his vicious performance that made people shake their teeth, actors such as Gu In-sang (Choi Won-woo), Gil Hae-yeon (Nupduk), Kim In-kwon (Kim Eung-soon), Cha Cheong-hwa (Yeonggeum), Son Byeong-ho (Kim Bong-in), Han Soo-yeon (Daebi), Han So-eun (Jungjeon Park), Shin Seul-gi (Choi In-seon), Seo Do-young (Palchuckgui, Cheon Geum-hwi), Lee Won-jong (Gae-seop), and Cho Han-Gyeol (Bi-bi.
▶ New Origins of the occult genre
'Guigong' captivated viewers by unraveling the narrative of rare objects with a different gaze from the existing occult genre in which ghosts appear. 'Guigong' gave a different kind of fun by featuring traditional Korean ghosts such as 'Olle-dari', 'Balgu', 'Balgu', and 'Balgu', while other occult genres consume treasures as objects of fear, illuminating treasures as beings with human-like emotions and giving them humanism. In addition, the process of exorcism was not simply portrayed as a confrontation between good and evil, but as a healing story that focused on the stories of the treasures before they died and looked into their resentment (恨) and wounds, creating a new grammar of occult dramas that had never existed before.
▶ The Power of K-Precious Fantasy
As such, the popularity of 'Goong', filled with the charm of Korean traditional culture and Korean sentiment, has hit Korea and overseas. In the first week of the broadcast, 'Going Palace', which properly shot a global box office by dominating the No. 1 TV series category in five Asian countries, including South Korea, based on Netflix (Flix Patrol, 2024.22), also swept the No. 1 ranking in 89 countries (based on the third week of the broadcast), with an overwhelming rating of 9.7 on the global OTT platform Rakuten Viki. Furthermore, it has established itself as a global hit, ranking first in Hong Kong and Thailand based on the largest OTT platform in Asia, and Indonesia-Singapore-Malaysia as of May 12-18.
Foreign media also received favorable reviews. In the South China Morning Post, a leading Hong Kong media outlet, journalist Pierce Conran "The beauty of this drama is that it mixes complex genres interestingly and perfectly combines dense plots. Director Yoon Sung-sik, who has a high level of experience in historical dramas, has built up these elements neatly with his directing skills, and Leisurebyte, a foreign film and love media, also praised him, saying, `It brings both laughter and warmth between the thousand-year-old Lee Mu-gi and the human tiki-taka. It provides perfect fun even in the chaotic development of the body and the appearance of the rare," further enhancing the global status of K-precious fantasy.
soulhn1220@sportschosun.com
