Song Kang and Lee Joon-young's Four Hands Keeps Winning Even After the Finale

Four Hands closed its run on tvN with a 93.55% positive ratio in the October drama brand reputation rankings, the top score among 21 dramas analyzed. The Korea Institute for Corporate Reputation announced the results on the 14th, ten days after the finale aired, and the series took first place with a brand reputation index of 6,743,329.

The margin is clear. Love Is Coming placed second at 5,603,000-plus, followed by Even the Lotto Winner Goes to Work (3,770,699), Chaebol x Detective 2 (3,406,911) and Joyful Good Day (3,242,791). The institute analyzed 50,949,251 data points from the 8th of last month to the 8th of this month, up 25.45% from the 40,611,656 collected for September.

Rankings combine viewer participation, communication, media exposure, community activity and viewership, with extra weight on content value, brand monitor analysis and a recommendation index. Four Hands logged a participation index of 1,371,365, media 1,069,656, communication 1,564,751, community 1,625,445 and viewership 1,112,112. Institute head Koo Chang-hwan said link analysis was dominated by the phrases "grow," "understand" and "comfort," with Song Kang, Lee Joon-young and Jung Joon-won named as key keywords.

From 3.4% to a double-digit finale

The ratings arc backs up the buzz. Four Hands premiered on August 29 at a nationwide 3.4%, then peaked at the end. The finale on the 4th averaged 9.4% nationwide with a high of 10.6%, and reached an average of 10% in the Seoul metropolitan area with a peak of 11.4%, both series bests.

It ranked first in its time slot across all channels, terrestrial included, in both regions. Nationwide it also extended its streak as the top cable and general-programming show in the slot to 12 straight episodes, and it led among viewers aged 20 to 49, tvN's core demographic.

Written by Shin I-won and directed by Park Hyun-seok, the drama follows rival music prodigies who meet at an arts high school. The title refers to a piano duet played by two people at one instrument, and the story treats its two geniuses the same way: each shapes the other. Song Kang plays the hard-working pianist Kang Bi-o, and Lee Joon-young plays Choi Jung-yo, who built his talent through self-teaching. Their performances span ages 17 to 27. Jang Gyu-ri plays their childhood friend Hong Jae-in, with Yoon Se-ah, Jung Jin-young, Seo Jae-hee and Kim Joo-hun in supporting roles.

How the finale closed the story

In the last episode, Bi-o blames himself for his grandfather Kang Seung-woon's death and for his family's wrongdoing, and tries to give up piano. Jung-yo takes him to Nakwon Arcade and persuades him to keep playing, and the two sit at the same piano for the first time in nine years.

Jung-yo then steps down as conductor of the Korea Symphony and disappears, leaving only a letter. Three years later, Bi-o plays wherever music is needed, and Jae-in runs a company supporting musicians. Bi-o learns that Jung-yo once played through injections that carried side effects. He posts a video of Jung-yo's piece "Nemesis" and follows a postcard from abroad to find his friend, who has been making music at a church. The drama ends as they meet again.

Bi-o had also uploaded performance videos online so Jung-yo could hear music wherever he was. Jung-yo's letter said he wanted to make music that comforts people. With piano, viola and orchestral lines tied closely to each character's feelings, Four Hands is available on TVING and Netflix.