So Ji-sub’s TV Comeback Kim Bu-jang Hits 21.6% by Episode 4

SBS Friday-Saturday drama 'Kim Bu-jang,' written by Nam Dae-jung and directed by Lee Seung-young and Lee So-eun, has recorded a 21.6% viewership rating only four episodes into its run. The series began at 9.5% with its premiere, climbed 6.2 percentage points in a single day to 15.7% for episode two, reached 18.8% with episode three, and then crossed the 20% mark in episode four.

The 21.6% rating for episode four places 'Kim Bu-jang' third among SBS Friday-Saturday dramas' all-time ratings records, behind major SBS hits 'The Penthouse 2' at 29.2% and 'The Fiery Priest' at 22%. Its early momentum stands out even more because it is rising faster than another SBS hit, 'Hot Stove League,' did at the start of its broadcast.

The climb from 9.5% in episode one to 21.6% by episode four has become one of the clearest signs of the drama's rapid traction. Rather than slowly building audience interest over a long run, 'Kim Bu-jang' has turned its opening stretch into a sharp ratings surge.

'Kim Bu-jang' wears the outer form of a workplace drama, but quickly reveals a story about power structures and human desire. Instead of spending a long time explaining a complicated fictional universe, the drama presents its conflict structure and character goals in an intuitive way from the beginning. After setting off the major conflicts in episodes one and two, it expands those conflicts through episodes three and four.

The direction adds to that sense of pace. Fast cuts, music that sustains tension, and scenes closely tied to everyday reality work together, while the drama's method of ending each episode on a strong break increases curiosity about the next installment.

So Ji-sub's presence is also unmistakable as he returns to television drama after four years. He plays Kim Bu-jang, a bank accounting team manager and ordinary head of a household who was once a secret operative for a state agency.

In episode one, Kim Bu-jang appears as an ordinary father. From episode two, however, he returns as 'Codename 66' to find his missing daughter. The desperation of a father trying to save his child flows directly into So Ji-sub's action and emotional performance, and the character's combination of ruthlessness and human feeling holds the center of the drama.

Kim Bu-jang wipes out gangsters and punishes violence with violence in order to save his daughter. Scenes in which he uses overwhelming force to eliminate villains create a cathartic sense of release, pressing down real-world frustration inside an unrealistic setup. The surrounding characters are also drawn as figures with their own desires, moving beyond a simple division between good and evil.

This response overlaps with the emotion stirred by 'True Education,' a series that has recently drawn attention on Netflix. In 'True Education,' Na Hwa-jin, played by Kim Moo-yul, is a character who uses overwhelming force to correct problems that cannot be resolved within institutions, including school violence and the collapse of teachers' authority.

Whenever school violence scenes appear in 'Kim Bu-jang,' viewers have reacted by saying, 'Has Na Hwa-jin not arrived here yet?' That response shows how strongly the two works touch a similar emotion. A line from episode two, 'A juvenile offender? Then I will become a lawless middle-aged man,' also spread quickly online as it connected with social frustration over juvenile crime and blind spots in the law.

'Kim Bu-jang' combines action, espionage, crime, and family drama. With the story of a father trying to save his daughter at its center, the narrative expands by linking the setup of North Korean operatives with a crime storyline involving a chaebol family.

Even in an environment centered on OTT platforms, the accessibility of terrestrial television for family viewing and the shared experience of watching at the same time have shown their strength. 'Kim Bu-jang' is holding viewers by preserving the familiarity of a terrestrial drama while delivering a sense of speed and density closer to an OTT drama.