The Haunted Palace EP9 hits double digit ratings for first time – international viewers say it was “draggy”
Michelle Topham 
The Haunted Palace, Episode 9 grabs personal best ratings
The Korean fantasy period drama The Haunted Palace, Episode 9 aired last night and hit double digits in the ratings, both nationwide and in Seoul, for the first time.
The K-drama’s nationwide ratings, according to Nielsen Korea, were 10.7 percent of the audience share, which is a big increase from Episode 8’s viewership of 9.5 percent.
In Seoul, the Yook Sung Jae, Kim Ji Yeon, and Kim Ji Hoon-led drama also saw record double digit ratings — grabbing 10.0 percent of the audience compared to its previous episode’s 9.1 percent.
Those numbers in both regions meant The Haunted Palace, Episode 9 was also the #1 most-watched show on Friday.
International reactions after The Haunted Palace, Episode 9
Interestingly, after Episode 9 dropped, some international viewers are pointing out the episode was “draggy” and did not advance the plot at all.
That, by the way, was one big reason why I dropped the series early on as the “plot” could have been told in about six episodes. Well, that, and Bona’s expression never changed in five episodes.
One My Drama List user comments:
It started out really well with the backstory of the King and Yeo Ri’s grandmother, then got boring. It was nice for the King to tease GC about liking YR.
with another saying:
I can’t finish ep 9. Plot is suddenly draggy?
and with a viewer on Viki, where the Korean drama is streaming, awarding the series a 1 out of 10 after Episode 9, saying:
I’ll try to continue, but very disappointed. The writing seems to be declining.
Others are enjoying it, but it is interesting to see, while the ratings are increasing in South Korea, they have remained the same on My Drama List (8.2 out of 10) since it premiered on April 18th and more people have begun to watch.
Episode 10 of The Haunted Palace airs later on tonight on SBS in South Korea, and will likely see lower ratings as the K-drama’s Friday episode usually grabs higher ratings than the one airing on Saturday.
We’ll keep you posted here on Baozi Buns. Updated: Episode 10 of the Korean drama just grabbed its highest ever Saturday ratings as well.
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