Law and the City EP1 kicks off with higher ratings than Our Unwritten Seoul

New tvN legal-themed drama Law and the City, Episode 1 premiered last night to higher ratings than its predecessor Our Unwritten Seoul.

Data via Nielsen Korea shows Law and the City, Episode 1 earning 4.61 percent of the nationwide viewership, compared to that of Our Unwritten Seoul‘s first episode, which garnered 3.62 percent of the audience share.

The same occurred among viewers in Seoul, with Law and the City grabbing 4.78 percent compared to Our Unwritten Seoul‘s 4.19 percent.

Considering Our Unwritten Seoul went on from there to more than double its viewership before it was done, let’s hope we see a similar result for Law and the City then, eh?

International viewers’ first ratings for Law and the City

Honestly, there isn’t much point dwelling on first ratings for any Asian drama from international viewers, as so many trolls either downrate or massively overrate new dramas without even having watched the first episode.

Case in point, after Episode 1 aired, Law and the City is currently rated a low 7.8 out of 10 on My Drama List, and a ridiculously high 9.7 out of 10 on IMDB.

Meanwhile, comments from people actually watching the drama are somewhere in the middle — some enjoyed the first episode with fun comments like:

I think that was “the most comprehensive, thorough and accurate representation of being on a Seoul subway I’ve ever seen in a Kdrama”

to

“Overall it’s interesting. Simple and to the point. Keeping my hopes up. 🤞I really wanna see how ML&FL know each other from the past. I guess we’re gonna get romance too which I very much welcome.😊”

while some were disappointed:

I was looking forward this but it doesn’t look interesting for me. Maybe my expectations were too high.

Overall, I thought it featured beautiful cinematography and was a solid introduction to the characters, the legal world they inhabit and to the plot, and an interesting grounding for what’s to come next. (The trailer for Episode 2 makes it look even more interesting).

Law and the City stars the cool ensemble cast of Lee Jong Suk, Moon Ga Young, Kang You Seok, Ryu Hye Young, and Im Seong Jae.

The next episode drops tonight via Viki.

Update: Episode 2 of Law and the City earned even higher ratings — so it looks like this one is definitely going to stick!

Second update: By Episode 3, however, Law and the City‘s ratings have dropped to the K-drama’s lowest yet