With no more Olympics coverage to distract viewers the Monday-Tuesday night drama lineup is now back in place. Empress Ki was back on top of the ratings with 27.7 percent of the viewers.
After an episode in which Seungnyang and the Emperor triumphed, El Temur and his evil progeny plotted and carried out their revenge. Life in the palace is exhausting with the plots and counter-plots that hopefully one day will end up crushing the evil El Temur. But meanwhile, he is a man that viewers love to hate. And his children are evil too.
Although the fact that there are more than a dozen episodes to go means he will not succeed in killing Seungnyang or the Emperor this week, each episode remains tense.
The drama stars Ha Ji Won, Joo Jin Mo and Ji Chang Wook.
Meanwhile, "One Warm Word," the drama about the disastrous consequences of an affair, ended this week with a respectable 8.7 percent of the viewers. The drama ended on an upbeat note with the couples whose marriages were threatened forging stronger and more resilient relationships. In fact, every one of the drama's characters was a better person for having survived the 20 heartbreaking episodes. Next week, "One Warm Word" will be replaced by "God's Gift - 14 Days," starring Lee Bo Young. In that drama a mother is given 14 days to go back in time and prevent her child's death. Since Lee Bo Young was last year's Daesang winner, she is sure to provide some competition for "Empress Ki."
"Full Sun" was relegated to third place with 3.8 percent of the ratings. The drama, starring Yoon Kye Sang and Han Ji Hye is still setting up its story. The first episodes covered the unjust events that led the character played by Yoon Kye Sang to wind up in prison and that cost Han Ji Hye the life of her fiancé. These two characters have met again. He has revenge on his mind, thinking that it is Han Ji Hye's company that resulted in his being framed. She has no idea who he is. In true revenge drama style, revenge and love will battle for the souls of the characters.
Viewers have not yet responded strongly to this drama, perhaps because it began while Olympics coverage was still underway. The next few weeks will tell if it has a chance to compete.
The two variety shows that aired drew similar results with SBS' "Healing Camp" drawing 8.8 percent of the viewers, while the KBS show "Hello" snagged 8.0 percent.
