‘Shopping King Louis’ Versus ‘Jealousy Incarnate’ — MBC And SBS Romantic Comedies Go Head-To-Head For The Best K-Drama Finale, Which One Won? [Videos]
Earlier this week, both the Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) and Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS) concluded their respective K-dramas, Shopping King Louis and Jealousy Incarnate. Many K-drama fans, especially those who prefer to watch lighthearted, romantic comedies, anticipated how they would conclude. Fortunately, both of the K-dramas were stellar in their own right, earning high viewership percentage numbers throughout their airings.
Though both Shopping King Louis and Jealousy Incarnate are very popular among the domestic Korean K-drama audience, they have the happenstance of airing on the same days at the same time. Ergo, the two K-dramas went head-to-head during the airing of their finales. The question that needs to be answered is which K-drama won? Was it Shopping King Louis or Jealousy Incarnate.
To truly analyze this, we need to summarize certain details that stood out during the penultimate episode and finale of both K-dramas. [WARNING: Spoilers Ahead!] Starting with Shopping King Louis (also known as Shopping King Louie and Shopaholic Louis), we were left with a couple of issues in the plot that needed to be resolved. The first issue was the one of the primary issues throughout the K-drama, President Baek Sun Goo’s (Kim Kyu Chul) pursuit to take ownership of Gold Group away from Louis (Seo In Guk). The second issue is tied to the primary issue as it has to do with the contents of Louis’ treasure box. We know that from the 13th episode that President Baek is in possession of it, we just don’t know what is inside and how it may affect Louis’ heirship.
Eventually, we learn that the contents of Louis’ treasure box were no threat to Louis’ heirship or Gold Group whatsoever. As a matter of fact, one particular item, a video tape, actually made the final scene of the finale more adorable. This particular detail shall be omitted from the article despite it revealing spoilers simply because it is way too good to spoil. Let’s just say it brings Shopping King Louis full circle in a way that will surely make viewers cry tears of joy.
On the other hand, Jealousy Incarnate (also known as Incarnation of Jealousy and Don’t Dare to Dream) kept going strong up to its K-drama finale. Anyone who’s been dedicated to the series since its initial airing will agree Jealousy Incarnate was just back-to-back conflicts in the plot, not just between the main lead characters of Pyo Na Ri (Gong Hyo Jin) and Lee Hwa Shin (Jo Jung Suk), but many others. Outside from the main love triangle which includes the two mentioned characters and Go Jung Won (Go Kyung Pyo), there is a love triangle between Kye Sung Sook (Lee Mi Sook), Bang Ja Young (Park Ji Young), and Kim Rak (Lee Sung Jae). There are a lot of other conflicts the characters have to deal with both professionally and personally. Speaking of personal conflict, Lee Hwa Shin had to deal with the rare situation of being a man with breast cancer.
In the finale however, all the conflicts have been resolved with the exception of those based on relationships. There is also a new conflict that is a potential threat to Pyo Na Ri and Lee Hwa Shin’s relationship. This too will be omitted from the article despite it revealing spoilers not because it is not way too good to spoil per se, but it really pushes the fact that relationships are not always perfect. They are sloppy and require a lot of work to keep together, but they are worth it when two people are in love.
So we go back to the question on which K-drama won? If we were to go to the Korean viewership provided by both TNmS Media Korea and AGB Nielsen Korea, Jealousy Incarnate is the victor in both viewership ratings for the finale and average for the series. For TNmS Media Korea, it earned 9.8 percent for the nation and 11.7 percent for the Seoul National Capital Area. For AGB Nielsen Korea, it earned 11.0 percent for the nation and 11.8 percent for the Seoul National Capital Area. Compared to the viewership ratings Shopping King Louis earned for its finale, it was generally better by about one to two percent.
To be fair, it is possible that Jealousy Incarnate did better than Shopping King Louis because it was a longer series by eight more episodes. Also, Shopping King Louis aired three episodes in its final week. Fans of the series probably did not have the time to watch two episodes of Shopping King Louis back-to-back on a weekday, especially if they had work in the morning.
Ultimately, the real winners of the head-to-head fight for finale ratings were the K-drama fans. No matter what K-drama finale they chose to watch, both Shopping King Louis and Jealousy Incarnate were worth the time and thoroughly entertaining.
Shopping King Louis previously aired on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 10 p.m. KST on MBC. The K-drama replacing it will be Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo starring Lee Sung Kyung and Nam Joo Hyuk. For those who never got to watch Shopping King Louis and want to check it out (especially for marathon viewing), the series can be viewed exclusively on Viki. Take note, the series might become available on other streaming sites now that it is concluded.
As for Jealousy Incarnate, it too previously aired on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 10 p.m. KST but on SBS. The K-drama replacing it will be the highly-anticipated The Legend of the Blue Sea starring Jun Ji Hyun and Lee Min Ho. For those who never got to watch Jealousy Incarnate, the series can be viewed for free, with ads, exclusively at DramaFever in North and South America. Jealousy Incarnate can be viewed on Viki by its second title, Don’t Dare to Dream, for other regions.
[Featured Images by Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) and Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS)]
