The Witch (TV series)

Main

• Park Jin-young as Lee Dong-jin^[2]

A data miner investigating Mi-jeong's mysterious case.

• Roh Jeong-eui as Park Mi-jeong^[9]

A woman shunned due to unexplained events surrounding her.

Supporting

• Im Jae-hyuk as Kim Joong-hyuk^[10]

A major crime detective.

• Jang Hee-ryung as Heo Eun-sil^[10]
• Jang Hye-jin as Oh Mi-sook^[10]

Dong-jin's mother.

• Ahn Nae-sang as Park Byeong-jae^[10]

Mi-jeong's father.

• Kwon Han-sol as Seo Da-eun^[11]
• Joo Jong-hyuk as Im Ik-jong^[12]

Mi-jeong's first love.

• Bae Yoon-gyu as Kim Jung-hwan^[13]

Mijeong's classmate.

Special appearances

• Ju Ji-hoon as Baek-su^[14]
• Yoon Park as Baek-su's brother^[15]
• Park Bo-kyung as Realtor^{[16][better source needed]}
• Jin Seon-kyu as Hwang Jung-sik^[17]

Dong-jin's statistics teacher.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Critical response

Both audiences and critics praised Park Jin-young and Roh Jeong-eui.^{[30][31][32][33][34]} They highlighted how Park Jin-young's deep emotional acting and subtle changes in expression conveyed Dong-jin's emotions and captured his earnest desire to save a person.^[30] In particular, Kim Seo-hyun of 100 News wrote "Park Jin-young worked his magic to make even Dong-jin's clumsy and immature appearance into a character that we can empathize with."^[35] Roh was complimented for her delicate portrayal of Mi-jeong's inner side and the gradual change that leads her to come into the world.^[30]

The Witch has received positive reviews for its message: according to Han Soo-jin, Kang Full's unique sensibility is well-rooted in the TV series, which, through a meticulous connection of the scenes, reaches the viewers' hearts and makes them reflect on social prejudice. Ultimately, the series is "a mirror reflecting the society that made us believe in curses. And in that mirror, it reminds us of the value of consideration and tolerance that we have forgotten, and the courage of one person to save another."^[36] For Cineplay, "the drama makes us reflect on how easily we internalize prejudice and take unfounded fears as truth; but, at the same time, it emphasizes that breaking that prejudice and moving forward is also a human power."^[37]

Opinions on the adaptation were mixed. For some, the series is a well-crafted mystery romance narrating of a pure love that saves,^[30][31] and that lyrically and affectionately depicts the prejudice and loneliness experienced by a woman with interesting developments rejecting any clichés;^[38] for others, it features unconvincing characters, including a female lead who is more of a "background character in her own story," and a repetitive narrative structure.^[39][40] In this regard, pop culture critic Jung Deok-hyun felt that it would have been more appropriate to shorten the story into six episodes or a two-hour film.^[41] The "slow and long-winded" directing style has been identified as both a weakness and an advantage.^[22]

Regarding Lee Dong-jin's character, Lakshana N. Palat of Gulf News observed that his fascination in Mi-jeong teetered on obsession,^[40] while Jung Soo-jin of Biz Hankook appreciated that he did not try to approach her without her permission, but noted that his subsequent actions to help her were very much stalker-like.^[42] For Jeon Hyo-jin of The Dong-A Ilbo, the series tried to soften the problem, already present in the original work, and give it a sense of legitimacy by making the characters three-dimensional and adding persuasiveness to their actions.^[22]

Viewership

With a nationwide rating of 2.4%, The Witch recorded the highest ratings of a drama premiere in Channel A's history.^[43] In the Seoul Metropolitan Area, the first episode's rating was 2.6%, with a peak of 3.3%.^[44] The ratings reached^[32] and exceeded 3% by the fourth episode,^[45] peaking at episode 8.^[22] The series ended with a rating of 2.6%, which was considered disappointing compared to the performance of the previous drama, Check-in Hanyang, whose ratings had followed an upward curve ending with 4.2%.^[46]

On South Korean streaming services, The Witch ranked eighth in Netflix's February 10–16 weekly chart and repeatedly appeared in the daily top 20 of TVING's most-watched programs.^[32] In Asia, where it was distributed by the OTT platform Viu, the series ranked second among the most-watched programs in Indonesia and Thailand, third in Malaysia, and sixth in Singapore and Hong Kong in its first week of release.^[47]

The Witch : South Korea viewers per episode (thousands)

More information Season, Episode number ...

Season		Episode number
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
	1	583	728	N/A	701	N/A	661	N/A	684	N/A	588

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Source: Audience measurement performed nationwide by Nielsen Korea.^[48]