The Korean drama The Fiery Priest 2, Episode 2 aired last night to a drop in its ratings. A drop that, if you know anything about the viewership for its first season, was entirely expected.
That drop last night, by the way, was from Friday night’s rating of 11.9 percent to Saturday night’s 10.1 percent nationwide, and the Seoul rating falling from 12.4 percent to 10.6 percent.
Ratings that were quite similar to what happened to the first season of The Fiery Priest when its third and fourth episodes aired.
And, yes, I am comparing Season 2’s second episode ratings with Season 1’s third and fourth episodes for a very important reason.
Why are Episode’s 3 and 4 of Season 1 comparable to The Fiery Priest 2, Episode 2?
That comparison is because Season 1 aired Episodes 1 and 2 back-to-back on the same night, due to wanting to avoid Korea’s broadcast law of not allowing advertising in the middle of an episode.
So they split up what would have been an Episode 1 of 70 minutes into two 35-minute episodes that then aired back to back, thus allowing a commercial break in between the two.
That’s why that season’s “Episode 3” was technically part of Episode 2, and so its ratings and those of “Episode 4” should be compared to last night’s Season 2, Episode 2 .
And yep, when you do that, the ratings drop The Fiery Priest 2, Episode 2 saw last night is similar.
RELATED: The Fiery Priest 2, Episode 1 premiered as the most-watched show of any kind for Friday
Of course, Season 1 then went on to skyrocket in the ratings, finally ending its season with a 22.0 percent nationwide rating and a 24.7 percent rating in Seoul.
And that, frankly, is what I expect to happen with The Fiery Priest 2, when it ends its 12-episode run on December 14th.
The Fiery Priest 2 stars the usual superb main cast of Kim Nam Gil, Kim Sung Kyun, and Lee Hanee (Honey Lee) with the addition of Sung Joon, Seo Hyun Woo, and BIBI.
Its next episode, Episode 3, will premiere on November 15, 2024 on SBS in South Korea, and on Disney+ in some international regions.
