‘Climax’ Final Episode Breaks Its Own Record for Highest Viewership, Reversing the Presidential Election Landscape with the 9:00 PM News!

The final episode of ENA’s Monday-Tuesday drama ‘Climax,’ broadcast last night at 10:00 PM, wrapped up with a decisive turn in the presidential election landscape: through the cooperation between Bang Tae-seop and Choo Sang-ah, Lee Yang-mi’s crimes were exposed. In a situation where politics, capital, and personal interests all collide, each character’s choices led directly to consequences. On that day, it recorded 3.9% nationwide households, a peak of 4.6% in Bundang, 4.0% in the Seoul metropolitan area, and a peak of 4.8% (provided by Nielsen Korea), breaking its own highest viewership record and finishing the season strong as the #1 Monday-Tuesday drama.

In the last episode of ‘Climax,’ Bang Tae-seop (Joo Ji-hoon) carried out a strategy to eliminate Lee Yang-mi within a power structure centered on Son Guk-won (Joo Jin-mo). He handed the Creation Party a set of testimony materials related to the Daeyang Fund to create a situation where he could pressure Son Guk-won, and at the same time secured evidence that Lee Yang-mi (Cha Ju-young) had been directly involved in the death of Park Jae-sang (Lee Ga-seop) through a copied USB left behind by Hwang Jeong-won (Nana). Choo Sang-ah (Ha Ji-won) obtained the necessary funds by putting direct pressure on those involved using records of illegal acts committed by chaebols and political figures—material she had been collecting since the past—laying the groundwork to weaken Lee Yang-mi’s influence.

After that, Bang Tae-seop and Choo Sang-ah suggested to Son Guk-won that he abandon Lee Yang-mi and join forces with them. In the same moment, when black-box evidence—where Lee Yang-mi had instructed that the incident be staged as suicide—was revealed on the 9:00 PM news in plain view through the broadcast network, the situation flipped immediately. The report revealed in one shot the structure connecting chaebol power and political circles, becoming a decisive turning point that toppled the power flow that had been centered on Lee Yang-mi. In the end, Bang Tae-seop and Choo Sang-ah shifted from a relationship where they used each other to a cooperation relationship aimed at the same goal, and the power map was reorganized in a new direction as well. On that day, ‘Climax’ recorded 3.9% nationwide households, a peak of 4.6% in Bundang, 4.0% in the Seoul metropolitan area, and a peak of 4.8% (provided by Nielsen Korea), breaking its own highest viewership record and finishing the season strong as the #1 Monday-Tuesday drama. Meanwhile, ENA’s next Monday-Tuesday drama after ‘Climax’ will premiere on the 20th (Monday) at 10:00 PM with ‘The Scarecrow.’