Welcome to another edition of 'allkpop TV Guide and Ratings', an exclusive feature that spotlights popular Korean dramas. It will discuss ratings for each week's episodes, as well as provide brief recaps (with spoilers, so watch out!) of shows that we know allkpop readers are enjoying.

We've got the three regular shows being recapped for this week — 'The Moon that Embraces the Sun' (starring Kim Soo Hyun, Han Ga In, Jung Il Woo), 'Wild Romance' (Lee Si Young, Lee Dong Wook, Girls' Generation's Jessica), and  'Shut Up Flower Boy Band' (INFINITE's L, Sung Joon, and Two Months' Yerim).

[Note: 'Shut Up Flower Boy Band' will not be included in the ratings recap as it is a cable drama and has different ratings standards.]

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KBS's 'Dream High 2' continued to draw lacklustre ratings this week, as it brought in a 7.9% viewership with its latest episode. That said, fans can certainly look forward to higher numbers in the future, due to the complicated love lines. Since the true pairing between the leads remains uncertain for now, the next few episodes will be key to learning more about the main characters' pasts and their future romantic relationships.



Meanwhile, MBC's 'Lights and Shadows' neared the 20% mark with a high 19% rating. Considering how 'Lights and Shadows' is only halfway through its broadcast, it will surely reach even higher ratings.

SBS's 'History of a Salaryman' brought in a satisfactory rating of 16%, and they too could look forward to more as they reach the series finale in two weeks time. Taking its place will be 'Fashion King', starring Girls' Generation's Yuri, Yoo Ah In, and Shin Se Kyung -- with an all-star line-up like this, will 'Fashion King' soon become the 'King' of the ratings for the Monday-Tuesday prime time slot?



MBC's 'The Moon that Embraces the Sun' was finally able to break its standstill with a boisterous rating of 38.4%, thanks to Han Ga In's torture scene. Though it dropped to 37.6% with its next episode, Moon-Sun's goal of reaching 'national drama' status with 40% ratings is certainly within its grasp (especially now that the angst and romance will be doubled as the plot races to its core conflict).



SBS's 'Take Care of Us, Captain' didn't suffer any worse from last week's rating as it raked in 6.5% this week. With first and second place all set, KBS's 'Wild Romance' dragged in last place with 5%.

Things are looking fairly grim for SBS and KBS in this time slot, but there's hope on the horizon -- 'The Moon That Embraces The Sun' may not be able to air new episodes on February 29th due to a scheduling conflict with the 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. 'Wild Romance' especially could see a boost in ratings if 'Moon-Sun' doesn't air, particularly because it will air its series finale on that day.

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[ Spoiler warning below!!! ]

 

 

 

 

 

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? Shut Up Flower Boy Band (tvN)



 

 


Official Synopsis: 'Shut Up Flower Boy Band' is centered around a high school band known as "Eye Candy", whose members are comprised of delinquents who face varying personal problems. The drama depicts their friendships, love, and youthful passion — all tied together by the unifying force, music.

Recap of Ep. 5-6: Ji Hyuk (Sung Joon) pulls out Soo Ah (Jo Boa) from  the crowd and away from the loan sharks searching the school for her, causing Eye Candy to forfeit the band competition without even playing a note. After Ji Hyuk comforts Soo Ah, he is forced to face his angry bandmates, especially Hyun Soo (INFINITE's L) who question his motives and relationship with SooAh. Ji Hyuk brushes it off as helping out Byung Hee's muse and calms the tension.

Both Eye Candy and Strawberry Fields wait for their results in qualifying for the national high school band competition. Eye Candy rejoices after landing in second, while Strawberry Fields scowls from fourth place.

Soo Ah gets harassed and bullied by her classmates, so both Ji Hyuk and Seung Hoon (Jung Eui Chul) decide to help her out in their own ways. Seung Hoon warns Pyo Joo (Kim Hyun Joon) to stop bothering her, while Ji Hyuk tells Soo Ah to switch rooms so the thugs wouldn't be able to find her.

Valentine's Day comes, which meant more practice as the competition date neared. The band asks Soo Ah to listen to their performance and help point out weaknesses as Byung Hee's muse. Soo Ah agrees, but isn't able to show up as she is finally able to meet up with her father. Ji Hyuk, worried about Soo Ah, goes out to meet her only to get beaten up by the thugs. Returning from the fight, Ji Hyuk smiles as he sees Soo Ah safe and sound, only to see Seung Hoon pull Soo Ah in for a hug.

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Ji Hyuk leaves his jealousy behind as he pours his heart into the band practice. One the day of the competition, Hyun Soo almost gets killed by a car driven by Two Months'  Yerim. He rolls to the side, but ends up slicing his hand with a piece of glass.

Despite arriving on time and kicking off their show to a great start, Hyun Soo's hand begins to bleed profusely. Ji Hyuk notices, and brings the performance to a screeching halt. With a heavy heart, Ji Hyuk heads to his home alone, where Soo Ah sees him teetering on the edge. She confesses to Ji Hyuk that she wanted to be with him, and Ji Hyuk responds with a passionate kiss...

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? The Moon that Embraces the Sun (MBC)



 

 

Official Synopsis: 'The Moon That Embraces The Sun' tells of the strong love between 'King Lee Hwon' (Kim Soo Hyun) and a female shaman named 'Wol' (Han Ga In). Wol was born from a noble family and was slated to become Hwon's queen, but a nasty game of politics resulted in her 'death'. She is rescued but without her memories as a court lady, and so she's brought up to be a shaman. Years later, King Lee Hwon and Wol meet again, but how will their love story unfold…?

Recap of Ep. 13-14: With King Hwon falling asleep in the middle of their consummation, his embarrassed consort turns against Wol, saying that she cast an evil spell to seduce the King and ensure that the heir would never be made with Bo Kyung. Wol is brought in for interrogation and threatened to have her bones broken one by one unless she confesses to the crime. Wol is adamant about her innocence, and thus falls subject to cruel torture.

Hwon hears about her interrogation and moves to stop it immediately, but is impeded by a terrible impasse -- he can save Wol, but at the cost of his crown. Helpless, Hwon decides that the only recourse left is to turn to his grandmother, the queen dowager.

Meanwhile, his half-brother Yang Myung (Jung Il Woo) bursts onto the torture scene and declares that Wol was with him on the night of the spiritual attack. Wol interjects, saying that she invited him to meet her, begging him to take her away. The scene ends when the queen dowager sends a messenger to halt the interrogation.

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Charges of grand treason get dropped, and Wol is accused of seducing a royal family member. She is to be exiled with a scarlet letter telling the world of her crime, but before she's brought to her new destination, she gets smuggled back into the palace -- by the queen dowager's men. To kill two birds with one stone, it's agreed that Wol would be used as a vessel for the palace ghost during the impending eclipse (a potentially lethal procedure).

Wol is locked in the Hidden Moon Building and is shocked to see her 13 year old self. In that immediate moment, Wol is flooded with flashbacks from eight years ago, such as being trapped in the coffin, dying in her father's arms, and seeing Hwon.

Overwhelmed by the memories that night, Wol passes out. In the morning, she calmly tells the palace astrologer that the ghost haunting the queen and the queen dowager "will not cry anymore".

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? Wild Romance (KBS)



 

 


Official Synopsis: Because of an unforeseen situation, Eun Jae (Lee Si Young) is appointed as baseball star Moo Yul's (Lee Dong Wook) bodyguard. Although the two hate each other from the beginning, romance arises between the baseball star and his bodyguard, a former judo athlete.

Recap of Ep. 13-14: While Eun Jae and Moo Yul put up a security camera outside of Jong Hee's door, Dong Soo (Oh Man Seok) questions Moo Yul's playfulness with Eun Jae and asks if he likes her. Moo Yul confesses he does have romantic feelings for Eun Jae, and he decides to reject Jong Hee's wish to date again.

Angry, Jong Hee confines herself to painting for her exhibition and is rude to Soo Young when she asks about Jong Hee's progress. While Soo Young checks the paintings herself, she has a miscarriage. Soo Young takes out her anger at Jong Hee by destroying all of her exhibition paintings.

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Jong Hee is left in a angry state, while Soo Young's mother and Dong Soo figure out that Soo Young was the one who had destroyed Jong Hee's paintings. Dong Soo leaves his wife and son in the country side in hopes it would appease her mind, while Reporter Go begins to suspect Dong Soo's part in the mystery case. Meanwhile, in the romantic side, Jong Hee agrees to let go of Moo Yul and return to England. Relieved at Jong Hee's returning happiness, he confesses to Eun Jae, who is only happy to accept his love confession. After leaving Eun Jae with an near kiss, Moo Yul heads to the baseball field after receiving a call from Dong Soo. Only when Moo Yul goes into the baseball field, he is hit by flying baseballs and Dong Soo comes in with a baseball bat in hand...

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[ !!! End of spoilers !!! ]

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Stay tuned to next week's issue of allkpop TV Guide & Ratings!