Final episode of JTBC’s 'Reborn Rich' garners mixed reviews

Poster of ″Reborn Rich″ [JTBC]

JTBC’s hit drama series “Reborn Rich” aired its final episode on Christmas Day with a 26.94 percent viewership rating, according to analytics company Nielsen Korea on Monday.

However, the finale is seeing mixed reactions as the ending is vastly different from the original web novel — author San Kyung’s “The Youngest Son of a Chaebol Family” — which the show is based on.

The fantasy corporate drama follows actor Song Joong-ki’s character Yoon Hyun-woo, who was an obedient secretary in charge of the wealthy conglomerate family Soonyang’s illicit secret funds.

Yoon is murdered in the first episode and is reincarnated as Jin Do-joon, the youngest son in the Soonyang, while retaining all his memories from his past life as Yoon. Jin leads a new life and seeks revenge against Soonyang, while also trying to find out the truth behind who murdered him.

Many viewers excitedly speculated whether Jin will take over the Soonyang conglomerate group and become CEO, as depicted in the original web novel, or also meet another gruesome fate like in his past life.

The 16th episode of “Reborn Rich” presented a rather unexpected ending.

Viewers who became emotionally immersed in Jin expressed disappointment, however, those in favor of the television series’ alternative ending say that it better portrays the theme of redemption.

The viewership rating of “Reborn Rich” is the highest seen by the cable channel since “The World of the Married” (2020), which hit 28. 4 percent.

BY HALEY YANG [yang.hyunjoo@joongang.co.kr]