The new KBS2 weekend drama Iron Family, Episode 1 premiered last night to huge ratings.
Ratings that were higher than any other show airing on Korean TV on Saturday, thus earning the new Kdrama the #1 spot for the day for a show of any kind.
That rating was a very successful 14.1 percent nationwide, and a 12.6 percent from viewers in Seoul.
Of course, with weekend dramas almost always performing well, it isn’t much of a surprise that Iron Family has kicked off to such excellent ratings.
Ratings that will probably only increase as the 35-episode drama continues.
Cast and plot of Iron Family
The black comedy features the superb ensemble cast of Kim Jung Hyun (Mr. Queen), Geum Sae Rok (The Interest of Love), Choi Tae Joon (So I Married the Anti-Fan), and Yang Hye Ji (Bad-Memory Eraser), alongside the equally excellent supporting cast of Lee Sung Yeol, Shin Hyun Joon, Kim Hye Eun, Park Ji Young, Kim Young Ok, Park In Hwan, Wang Ji Hye and Kim Hyun Joon.
The Korean drama was also penned by Sung Joon Hae, the screenwriter who is also the author of Bravo, My Life, No Matter What and Home for Summer.
Viki explains the beginning of the Iron Family plot like this:
Da Rim is the youngest child of a family that runs a laundry shop. She has a vibrant character, but she was diagnosed with a rare eye disease at 14 years old that would slowly narrow her vision. Time goes by, and Da Rim slowly begins to lose her vision. She attempts to do everything she can before she can’t see anymore, like reading all the books and movies in the world and even more.
Right before Da Rim loses her sight completely, Gang Ju, a college alumnus and the son of a conglomerate family, shows up before her. Their relationship becomes twisted due to a careless slip of the tongue, and Gang Ju becomes a hated man due to an unexpected accident.
One day, her family learns that she can regain her vision with an expensive surgery they could never afford. However, her grandmother Ahn Gil Rye finds something unfathomable in the hills while picking wild herbs. Could this be something that lets Da Rim see the world again?
Iron Family airs every Saturday and Sunday on KBS2 at 19:55 (KST), with its next episode premiering tonight.
For international viewers who love a good Korean weekend drama, Iron Family streams outside South Korea on Viki.