Viewers who like dramas with a dose of comic book flair may find plenty to enjoy in "You're Surrounded." And apparently plenty of viewers did like the police drama's style, putting it in first place on its first night.
The first episode debuted at 12.3 percent of the viewer ratings. This rating was 1.5 percent lower than the rating earned by the finale of its predecessor "Three Days" but it was still impressive for a debut.
Part of the drama's early success may be the popularity of its star Lee Seung Gi, who easily transformed into his character Eun Dae Gu, a smart and enthusiastic rookie detective with a photographic memory.
According to Hook Entertainment, his agency, the actor fell for the character as soon as he read the synopsis and he has remained enthusiastic about it. It's a very different role than anything he has done before.
The drama started out with backstory showing how a young Eun Dae Gu witnessed the murder of his mother after she served as a witness against a criminal. Her tragic death inspired him to become a detective. In the present day the story continues in a Gangnam Police Department, where rookie detectives, including Lee Seung Gi and Go Ara are under the command of a hot-tempered legendary detective Seo Pan Seok, played by Cha Seung Won.
In second place was "A New Leaf," starring Kim Myung Min and Park Min Young, which earned ratings of 9.3 percent. It was the third episode for this drama but in a way it introduced an entirely new character. Kim Myung Min's pragmatic lawyer Kim Seok Joo previously made peace with his self-acknowledged claim that he represents the devil. But after an accident gives him amnesia it's hard for him to remember why he represents the bad guys and does not strive for justice. Right after his accident no one knows who he is but they soon figure out that he must be smart as he can quote tracts of law.
In third place was the KBS drama "Golden Cross" with a respectable 7.2 percent of the viewers. The revenge drama concerns a shadowy secret society named the Golden Cross that rules the Korean economy. The society frames prosecutor Kang Do Yoon, played by Kim Kang Woo, for a murder. When he learns that he was framed, he plans to seek his revenge. But that revenge plan encounters a complication when he realizes a top man in the organization is the father of the woman he loves.