A new week brings two new dramas to the ring and it looks like the comeptition will be close. So far, "Triangle," the tale of three brothers separated in childhood, is winning with 8.9 percent of the viewers but it's not much of a margin.
The drama started out with a look into the sleazy criminal underworld that will ultimately reunite the brothers. One of the separated brothers is a petty criminal. Another frequents gambling dens run by criminals. And the third is a detective who wants to catch a criminal. These men don't know they are brothers. But they really need to find each other. Even though they followed different paths in life, each of them is pathetic in his way, a loser, and lost. Finding his lost siblings may help heal the emptiness each man feels or quiet the rage that has so far gotten two of them in trouble.
"Triangle" took over from "Empress Ki," which rated 28.7 percent with its finale. It's a top notch cast with Lee Bum Soo, Kim Jaejoong doing an admirable job of portraying a petty thug, and ZE:A's Im Siwan as an unhappy chaebol. There are also plenty of talented k-drama character actors to round out the cast.
The first episode featured a passionate kiss between Jaejoong and Kim Hye Eun, who also plays a philandering woman in "A Secret Love Affair."
"Doctor Stranger" also featured a passonate kiss kiss in the first episode. In the first episode Lee Jong Suk is shown kissing his childhood love, played by Jin Se Yeon, just before they are forcefully separated. The drama made second place at an equally impressive 8.6 percent. It also has a lot to offer, a tragic love, political intrigue, medical dilemmas and some great footage of Hungary.
Both Jaejoong and Lee Jong Suk are playing roles that are darker and edgier than the kind of roles they played in the past. And they both seem to be doing an admirable job. Who will win this race? It's hard to say.
"Big Man," starring Kang Ji Hwan, Lee Da Hee and Daniel Choi, was also no slouch when it came to the ratings, following in third place with 8.0 percent. After a slightly improbably beginning with a not-so-believable story about a heart transplant, the drama is settling into the tried and true revenge formula.
