‘My Bias, My Boss’ viewership drops to 3% after two episodes

tvN's Monday-Tuesday drama 'My Bias, My Boss' received a somewhat bitter initial report card as its viewership rating sank into the 3% range after only two episodes. As a series that gathered high expectations even before its premiere due to settings reminiscent of 'Lovely Runner,' the early drop in viewership feels particularly disappointing.

However, only two episodes have aired so far. With the third episode approaching—where the love triangle, the core axis of the romance, is set to begin in earnest—it is too early to determine the success or failure of the work based on current numbers alone. Rather, what 'My Bias, My Boss' needs is not a comparison with 'Lovely Runner,' but how quickly it can establish its own unique narrative and characters.

'My Bias, My Boss' tells the story of Nam Da-reum (Kim Hye-jun), who joins the company Apello to meet her bias, Lee Chan (Cha Woo-min), only to encounter an unexpected variable in the form of the CEO, Kang Ha-gi (Kang Hun).

The protagonist's starting point is unique. The premise is that her purpose for joining the company is not simple livelihood or career advancement, but to meet the star she has long admired. It essentially brings the modern emotion of 'fan heart' into the grammar of workplace romance.

From the third episode airing on the 10th, this setting will expand into a full-scale romance structure.

Nam Da-reum tries to get on Kang Ha-gi's good side to become an excellent employee who can go on an overseas business trip with her bias, Lee Chan. However, Kang Ha-gi misunderstands that Nam Da-reum has a crush on Lee Chan, and he feels a strange sense of kinship with her, believing she also harbors a long-standing crush on the star.

The problem is that the two are misunderstanding completely different facts from each other.

While Kang Ha-gi begins to open his heart to Nam Da-reum little by little, he does not set aside his suspicion that she might be an industrial spy. Nam Da-reum also believes that Kang Ha-gi likes Lee Chan.

Ultimately, the two are approaching each other while simultaneously harboring misunderstandings about one another. While this is a common device used in romantic comedies, if the characters' emotional lines are built densely, it can serve as an effective tool to heighten the tension in the relationship.

Furthermore, Lee Chan will now fully enter the relationship.

Nam Da-reum finally meets her dream star, Lee Chan, confesses her fan heart, and even exchanges contact information, experiencing what is known as a 'successful fan' moment. Lee Chan also realizes that the girl who gave him a handmade necklace around the time of D.N.X's disbandment was indeed Nam Da-reum.

As a past connection is added to the current relationship between fan and star, another narrative is being created between the two.

However, the romance is unlikely to proceed smoothly.

Encouraged by her friends, Nam Da-reum calls Lee Chan, but she is unable to have a proper conversation as it is Yoon Choy (Lee Yu-na) who answers the phone instead. Meanwhile, Lee Chan, unaware of why Nam Da-reum is not contacting him, waits for her call and moves to meet her in person.

As Kang Ha-gi also begins to be conscious of Nam Da-reum, the emotional lines of the three are expected to enter a full-scale love triangle.

The issue lies in the fact that this work has been unintentionally mentioned alongside a specific point of comparison even before it aired: tvN's representative hit drama, 'Lovely Runner.'

The two works share not only the commonality of being Monday-Tuesday dramas on the same channel, but also give a similar impression through the setting where a male idol is the main subject and the female protagonist gets closer to the star she likes.

Consequently, attention has been focused on whether 'My Bias, My Boss' can become the second 'Lovely Runner.'

However, looking only at the numbers so far, the atmosphere is somewhat different.

'My Bias, My Boss' began its first broadcast on the 3rd with a 4.2% viewership rating, but it dropped to 3.1% in the second episode. This is a drop of 1.1 percentage points in just one episode.

Considering that the previous work 'Working Tomorrow!' maintained a steady viewership rating in the 4% range over 12 episodes from June 22 to July 28, it is difficult to say the starting performance itself is satisfactory. In particular, because a powerful comparison target like 'Lovely Runner' exists, the decline in numbers appears even more prominent.

Yet, one cannot conclude that the potential of 'My Bias, My Boss' is low.

Interestingly, 'Lovely Runner' was also not a work that started with overwhelming viewership from the beginning. At that time, the viewership rating remained in the 2-3% range even up to the 6th episode. However, as the buzz surrounding the work gradually spread and word-of-mouth regarding the characters and narrative grew, viewership continued to rise, eventually growing into a representative hit for tvN.

Viewership ratings can show the current state of a work, but they cannot predict its future. In romance dramas, the emotional drive that makes viewers wait for the next episode is often more important than the ratings of the first few episodes. The moment viewers become emotionally invested in the characters' relationships, the ratings can experience a late upward curve.

'My Bias, My Boss' has only just reached the starting line.

Currently, the setting that evokes memories of 'Lovely Runner' acts as both a high expectation and a burden. Ultimately, what is needed is not how similar it is to 'Lovely Runner,' but how convincingly it can develop its own unique characters and romance.

The love triangle between Nam Da-reum, Kang Ha-gi, and Lee Chan, which begins in earnest from episode 3, is expected to be the work's first major test. As the complex web of fan and star, boss and subordinate, and past connections and present emotions begins to intertwine, the question remains: can they capture the hearts of the viewers?

The drop to the 3% range after two episodes is certainly a disappointing signal, but it is far too early to judge the ultimate fate of the drama.