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| ▲ These photos, provided by SBS, shows scenes from the final episode of SBS TV Fridays series "The Penthouse 3." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
SEOUL, Sep. 11 (Yonhap) -- The series of sheer madness, “The Penthouse,” has finally lowered its curtains after 2 years.
SBS TV Fridays series “The Penthouse 3”’ last episode which was broadcast at 10:05 p.m. on the 10th, recorded an average rating of 19.1%, according to Nielsen Korea, a viewer ratings research company Saturday.
Although it was the highest rating of all programs aired on the 10th but compared those of its season 1 and season 2’s last episodes, which were 23.6%~28.8% and 21.5%~25.8% respectively, the recent score was quite low in that it did not exceed 20%.
In the last episode, Cheon Seo-jin (Kim So-yeon) who was charged with a life sentence to prison due to her daughter Ha Eun-byeol (Choi Ye-bin)’s testimony, contracted laryngeal cancer and gave up her life secretly watching her daughter.
Shim Su-ryeon (Lee Ji-ah) was found dead after throwing herself from a cliff in regret of her choices to get rid of the evil. Logan Lee (Park Eun-seok) died after years in the end due to the recurrence of leukemia.
The third season of “The Penthouse” delivers a clear message of encouraging good and punishing evil through the destruction of the evil in which all of those who have committed unjust paid the price in one way or another.
But as Sim and Logan who stood in the good side died as well, some viewers commented, “Wasn’t that a twist for another twist.” Also, there were criticisms saying that the writer, Kim Soon-ok has repeated the limits of her previous works “The Last Empress” and “Band of Sisters.”
“The Penthouse” season 1 set out in October 2020 saying that they will depict the characters’ distorted ambitions through their competitions for real estates and entrance exams. It showed a sharp growth in rating having started with 9.1% and finishing with 28.8%. Fueled with high popularity, season 2 was produced marking the highest rating of 29.2%.
But as the viewers’ hearts left season 3 tired of its rapid plot and insufficient probabilities, the last season became a disappointment in both rating and popularity.
Especially the characters’ deeds that exceeded not only the boundaries of laws and regulations, but of senses as well could not easily be empathized. Also, the series was continually winded up with issues such as whether a particular scene was a mockery over a race and using tragic images of the Gwangju building collapse and the residents who have lost their lives to the 2017 Pohang earthquake for their scenes.
There were some disappointments in directing as well. The fancy probs and costumes used to depict the greedy high-class lost its powers of catching the viewers eyes as the seasons continued. Also, although “The Penthouse” was a realistic drama, rather light and comical scenes took up considerable amounts. Excessive scenes such as injecting a chip into a human’s veins degraded the production’s class.
“The Penthouse 3” will be followed by “One the Woman” starring Lee Ha-nee and Lee Sang-yoon.
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