‘Heartbreaking Breakup’ Yoo Yeon-seok, ♥ Chae Soo-bin Left ‘Highest 10.5%’ (The phone you‘re calling right now)
Yoo Yeon-seok has left Chae Soo-bin‘s side.
In episode 11 of MBC’s Friday-Saturday drama ‘The Phone Call You‘re Picking Up’ (planned by Kwon Sung-chang/ directed by Park Sang-woo, Wi Deuk-gyu/ written by Kim Ji-woon/ produced by Bon Factory, Baram Pictures), which aired on the 3rd, Baek Sa-eon (played by Yoo Yeon-seok), who has lived his entire life under someone else’s name, has finally disappeared.
The viewership ratings for episode 11 rose to 8.3% nationwide and 8.8% in the metropolitan area (provided by Nielsen Korea, based on households), breaking its own highest viewership ratings record yet again. The 2049 viewership rating, a key indicator of content competitiveness, also recorded 2.5%, ranking first in the same time slot.
In particular, the scene where Hong Hee-joo (Chae Soo-bin) misses Sa-eon and imagines happy times together heated up the living room theaters, soaring to a peak viewer rating of 10.5%.
In the last episode, Sa-eon arrived at the scene of Hee-joo‘s accident where she fell into the river with the kidnapper (Park Jae-yoon). However, there was no trace of Hee-joo at the scene of the gruesome accident. Hee-joo’s family members Hong In-ah (Han Jae-yi), Hong Il-kyung (Choi Kwang-il), and Kim Yeon-hee (Oh Hyun-kyung) were devastated when they heard the news that the car Hee-joo was in had crashed into the river.
Sa-eon was also afraid that he might lose Hee-joo forever, but he soon regained his senses and began to assess the situation. He began to be suspicious of Shim Gyu-jin (Choo Sang-mi), the only person who was not at the scene of the accident. After confirming that Gyu-jin‘s car’s black box was deleted, Sa-eon requested a search and seizure from the detective in charge, Kang Hyung-chul (Lee Doo-seok), and his suspicions toward her gradually turned into certainty.
Ji Sang-woo (Heo Nam-joon) and Na Yu-ri (Jang Gyu-ri) also worked hard to find Hee-joo, who had gone missing. Later, during the search, Hee-joo‘s belongings were found, and Hyung-chul said that Hee-joo’s chances of survival were low, but Sa-eon firmly replied, “Let‘s talk when the body is found.” His pure love for Hee-joo, who never gave up on her until the end, touched the hearts of the viewers.
When the investigation into Gyu-jin ran into difficulties, Sa-eon reported the last card that could tie up Gyu-jin, the evidence of murder, to detective Hyung-chul. After confirming the crucial evidence, Hyung-chul arrested Gyu-jin at the scene of Baek Eui-yong’s (Yoo Sung-joo) press conference. The shocking truth is that the target of Gyu-jin‘s murder was his father-in-law Baek Jang-ho (played by Jung Dong-hwan).
Sa-eon began a full-scale interrogation of Gyu-jin, who was arrested. During the process, it was revealed that Gyu-jin had taken Hee-joo and the kidnapper away separately right after the accident, shocking viewers. Sa-eon confirmed Gyu-jin’s scheme to make him, Baek Jang-ho‘s biological son, suffer the same pain of not knowing the life or death of his loved one. He said, “If it were my mother, I would have found a way to torment her even more,” and was certain that Hee-joo would have been kept alive, making viewers’ breathless with the psychological warfare between the two mothers.
Sa-eon located Hee-joo‘s location based on the CCTV footage saved on Gyu-jin’s cell phone and headed straight to Baek Jang-ho‘s birthplace. At that moment, Hee-joo escaped with the help of Secretary Min (played by Hong Seo-joon), but was chased by the kidnapper with a weapon again, heightening the sense of anxiety. Hee-joo finally reunited with Sa-eon while running away from the kidnapper, and their affectionate embrace brought tears to everyone’s eyes.
However, the kidnapper went berserk and persistently blocked the two. Sa-eon tried to calmly resolve the situation by leaving Hee-joo in the car and confronting the kidnapper. However, Sa-eon looked at Hee-joo blankly with an expression of disbelief after hearing the kidnapper‘s whisper. The kidnapper, who had hoped that Sa-eon would collapse, aimed his gun at him again, creating a tense situation, and soon gunshots rang out, heightening the tension.
At the end of the broadcast, Hee-joo was shown guarding the house alone without Sa-eon. Hee-joo waited endlessly for her husband, who had disappeared, to contact her, and then hurriedly received a call from an overseas number. In the midst of silence, Hee-joo’s heartbreaking ending of asking, “Is that you?” made viewers‘ hearts race. The development that left it unclear until the very end whether Hee-joo and Sa-eon would be able to overcome adversity and face each other again has raised expectations for the final episode.
The final episode of MBC’s Friday-Saturday drama ‘The Call You Just Dialed’ will air today at 9:50 p.m. on the 4th.
Photo provided by: MBC‘s Friday-Saturday drama
Jo Sung-woon, Donga.com reporter madduxly@donga.com
