IMDb at 8.4 from a large base; final episode at 17.4-percent domestic rating - the highest viewership MBC achieved in that period. Lee Jun-ho's Baeksang Best Actor win and eight MBC Drama Awards including Drama of the Year confirm the breadth of its reception.
Renewal: Single-season limited series extended by one episode due to popularity; concluded January 1, 2022. Lee Jun-ho won Baeksang Best Actor 2022. Final episode achieved 17.4-percent domestic rating. (Baeksang Arts Awards / MBC)
Indian OTT platforms do not publish per-title streams. This tracks reception across the run, not viewership.
| Season | Released | BollyMeter | Critics | Audience | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 12021 · 17 eps | 12 November 2021 | 9.0 | n/a | 8.4/10 | MUST-WATCH |
Season 1 · episode BollyMeter rhythm
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The episode that audience trackers rated highest in the middle stretch of the season. Yi San's pursuit of Deok-im escalates from formal interest to something he cannot easily justify within his own framework of duty, and the show's central tension - what the king wants versus what the court lady will accept - comes fully into focus.
Full episode review →IMDb episode rating of 9.1 - the season's standout hour before the finale block. The political pressures of the court converge with the personal costs Deok-im has been accumulating, and the series commits fully to the tragic register it had been approaching.
Full episode review →The extended finale, added after the series was renewed by one episode, achieved the show's highest domestic viewership at 17.4 percent. The ending neither softens nor abandons the moral clarity the series built toward. The question of what Deok-im's life meant, on her own terms, receives a direct answer.
Full episode review →Updated
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