Soaring with a superb opening week, Jirisan is a quarter mission accomplished to the imposing hype it has so far propelled this year!
Scoring impressive numbers in its first two episodes, if the plot momentum won’t get derailed, Jirisan might join the most-talked-about and highest-rated K-Drama lists this K-Drama season.
In Korea, Jirisan opened on Saturday (23 Oct) at the nationwide average rating of 9.1 percent and peaked at 10.7 percent to become tvN’s top-rated weekend drama premiere in history. On Sunday (24 Oct), episode 2 average nationwide rating rose into double-digit figures, to 10.7 percent and peaked at 12.5 percent.
Opening Week Rating:
abbyinhallyuland watched Jirisan on iQiyi
Episode Recaps: 01 & 02 | 03 | 04 | 05| 06 | 07 | 08| 09| 10| 11 | 12 | 13 & 14 | Finale Week + Review |
Jirisan Opening Week Story
Barely introducing himself as a team member, Kang Hyun-joo (Ju Ji Hoon) was sent to the field to join the Haedong branch rangers of Mount Jiri. He meets star ranger Seo Yi-gang (Gianna Jun), and together with the team, they search for a missing child who was reported by his grandmother.
Racing with the “golden time”, their rescue mission gets halted because of a strong storm about to hit the mountain. United in rescuing the young boy, Yi-gang sets forth to find him amidst the fierce winds and heavy rain.
Hyun-joo later joins him and shares a location for them to check – and the young boy was indeed there and has fallen unconscious.
Two years later, Yi-gang is now wheelchair-bound and returns to Jirisan Haedong ranger station after having left her duties for some time. In one of their mountain quests, Ju is revealed to have been hit heavily on his head in the snow-covered Mount Jiri, leading to severe and lasting injuries. Yi-gang lost the ability to walk while Hyun-joo fell into a coma.
However, even when Hyun-joo is unconscious in a hospital, Yi-gang discovers in recent photos of Jirisan search and rescue operations that there have been signs – ones that only she and Ju agreed on and knew about. It points to the precise locations of people in need of search and rescue. Wanting to know who or what is sending her these signals, Jun asked to be reinstated as a park ranger.
The missing hiker
In the second episode, the case about a missing hiker was tackled by the team. Rookie ranger Hyun-joo bumps into a man pretending to be the son of the missing hiker and they work together to find him. It turns out the man is a fraudster and he stabbed Hyun-joo when he has deduced his lies.
If not for Yi-gang’s seasoned skills of probing on the missing hiker’s case, Hyun-joo would have been in peril. She figured out the conman is not related to the missing hiker and he’s looking for him because of the bag of money paid for their connivance on illegal tree cutting.
Yi-gang, through Hyun-joo’s lead, locates where the dead missing hiker is. It further solidifies Hyun-joo’s strange ability to determine in visions where the missing persons in Mount Jiri are.
Acquainting herself back at work, Yi-gang has been going back to her conversations with Hyun-joo when they were working together. Among those is how the ribbon markers in the mountain seem to be leading in the wrong direction. She also discovers the same ribbons in the station.
When she learns that Da-won (Go Min Si) will be patrolling with Goo-young (Oh Jung Se), she asks her to make a mark at Mangbawi rock. Da-won successfully finished her task and they proceed with their patrol.
But something caught Da-won’s eyes in another direction. Suddenly, a mysterious figure is seen in a blood-stained cloak who appears to look like Hyun-joo.
Jirisan Opening Week Musings
In a crossover of timelines from 2018 up to 2020, the mysteries of Jirisan and what happened to Jun and Ju are set to unravel. Vaunting a compelling premiere week, we got a glimpse of staple rescue missions that would be tackled along the way in the series as well.
Hyun-joo’s cryptic ability spurs a lot of theories, even more after the cliffhanging appearance of the hooded figure. Taking us on a virtual mountain hiking trip weekly is one of the perks of Jirisan. The scenic spots provide quick awe-inspiring moments for hikers and non-hikers alike.
Establishing the story and character missions in the first two episodes, Yi-gang’s suspicions may lead her to an unexpected and painful truth. Let’s hope it won’t happen really soon since Hyun-joo is still unconscious.
We were also introduced to the involvement of partisans in the story. Notably, the injected heartening message cushions evenly the emotional highs of the episode missions featured.
Having reliable actors in a new drama world that is not typically covered, really helped in immersing the audience in the story.
Expect the succeeding episodes to track the clues based on the adventure flashbacks of Hyun-joo, Yi-gang and Team Haedang. It will definitely intertwine with the ambiguous events hinted to Yi-gang at present timeline.
Will Yi-gang find the origin of the signals specifically sent to her? Don’t miss the exciting weekly episodes of Jirisan on iQiyi!
Photos: iQiyi
[wpedon id=”3227″ align=”center”]
