Crash Landing On You, which stars the popular Hyun Bin and Son Ye-Jin, smashed viewing records with its finale on Sunday (Feb 16).
According to Nielsen Korea, the show has become the second-highest-rated drama in South Korean cable television history, with a peak rating of 21.7 per cent. It is just behind Sky Castle, a drama about South Korean “tiger mums” which achieved a peak rating of 23.8 per cent in February 2019.
In Crash, a South Korean heiress played by Son is blown into North Korean territory while paragliding and meets a dashing North Korean army captain played by Hyun.
For Mr Raymond Babol, a Filipino expatriate based in Singapore, the appeal of Crash similarly transcends borders.
The 36-year-old senior designer says: “My siblings in the Philippines and my aunt in the United States were talking about it in our group chat, so I decided to start watching it.”
Since then, Mr Babol says that he has gotten hooked on the storyline. He even cried at the finale, which he found brilliant.
He adds: “I am going to recommend this to every person I know.”
Similarly, piano teacher, Madam Tan Sok Hoon, 51, and her husband watch the show religiously and are particularly fond of the leading lady’s wit.
Administrative executive Crystal Ling, 28, who follows the show, is also a fan of lead actress Son. “I’ve watched almost all of her shows,” she says.
As for 19-year-old Tan Qiao Lin, a relief history teacher, she enjoyed the way the show humanised the North Korean citizens: “It was entertaining to see them going to computer cafes and getting into online games.”
She also liked the depiction of the relationships between North and South: “The show made me aware of the sadness and longing that Koreans who have family or friends on the other side of the DMZ (demilitarised zone) must be feeling.”
“It was bittersweet when the characters’ return to their respective sides because they can never see each other again.”
Suffering from withdrawal symptoms? Here are 7 things to know about the show: