Phantom Lawyer Ep 5 grabs BEST Friday ratings yet as K-drama sits high on Netflix Top 10 as well
Michelle Topham 
Yoo Yeon Seok and Esom’s new drama Phantom Lawyer, Episode 5 earned its best Friday ratings so far last night, both nationwide and in the metro area. The Korean drama also performed even better in Seoul than in the rest of the country.
According to the latest data from Nielsen Korea, Phantom Lawyer, Episode 5 grabbed 8.7 percent of the nationwide audience share, which is nicely up from last Friday’s 7.8 percent.
The SBS drama’s ratings were even higher in Seoul, where it garnered 9.0 percent of the viewership, versus the 8.1 percent Episode 3 earned last week.
Those numbers also meant Phantom Lawyer was the 2nd most-watched show of the day nationwide, and the #1 most-watched show in Seoul.
International ratings for Phantom Lawyer after Episode 5 drops
Interestingly, the ratings from viewers using My Drama List are actually quite good. And I say “interestingly”, as users of that site have a reputation for deliberately downrating Asian dramas. Often for no discernible reason.
In the case of Phantom Lawyer after Episode 5, however, the K-drama is currently being rated a solid 8.1 out of 10 on the site from almost 1,200 people so far.
That rating is also nicely up from the 7.8 out of 10 the Korean drama was first being given (due to the usual trolls downrating a new drama) when it premiered on March 13th.
Meanwhile, almost 200 IMDB users are currently rating 7.9 out of 10, which considering that site also has a problem with trolls, is not surprising. (The well-written, beautifully performed K-drama easily deserves an 8.2 out of 10, if not quite a bit higher).
On Netflix, however, Phantom Lawyer continues to be very well-received, as it sits at #5 on the streaming services’ Top 10 Non-English TV Shows chart – and that’s up from the #7 spot last week.
On that service, it has also earned 2.4 million views, with 10.7 million hours viewed.
Phantom Lawyer stars the previously mentioned Yoo Yeon Seok and Esom.
The 16-episode series is due to run through May 2nd, with its next episode airing on SBS and streaming on Netflix and Viki later on tonight.
My guess is we will likely see more all-time high ratings when Episode 6 of the K-drama airs.
About the Author
