KBS 2TV’s weekend drama 'Last Summer' is experiencing a worrying downward spiral in viewership. The series, which premiered on November 1, started at a modest 2.7% for its first episode and has continued to struggle, recently hitting its lowest rating yet.
According to Nielsen Korea’s data on November 23, Episode 8 recorded just 1.6%, breaking its own record low and dropping firmly into the 1% range. At this pace, some are predicting that a slide into the 0% territory may not be far off.
Although 'Last Summer' features notable names such as Lee Jae Wook, Choi Sung Eun, and Kim Gun Woo—initially generating buzz—the buzz hasn’t translated into viewership. During the drama’s press conference, Lee Jae Wook drew attention when he expressed hopes for “30% ratings,” but the series debuted in the 2% range.
He also admitted at the time, “Sometimes it’s hard to know what viewers want these days. I’d be grateful even for 10%,” yet even that goal now seems out of reach.
Episode 9, which aired on November 29, followed Baek Do Ha (played by Lee Jae Wook), Song Ha Kyung (played by Choi Sung Eun), and Seo Soo Hyuk (played by Kim Gun Woo) on a special outing. While Ha Kyung and Soo Hyuk had grown closer as a couple, Episode 8 ended with a kiss between Do Ha and Ha Kyung.
As ratings continue to fall with no clear bottom in sight, all eyes are on whether Episode 9 can break the trend or push the drama deeper into decline.
Set in November 2025, on the cusp of winter, 'Last Summer' quietly arrived with a story rooted in the final warmth of the season. More than a simple youth romance, the drama explores the rebuilding of emotions—facing old wounds, revisiting memories, and rewriting the past. It brands itself as a “remodeling romance.”
The narrative centers on a man who visited like a fleeting summer guest each year and the childhood friend who waited for him. As adults, they reopen their long-buried feelings and scars. At the heart of the story are twin brothers Baek Do Ha and Baek Do Young, and their next-door childhood friend, Song Ha Kyung.
Lee Jae Wook plays both Do Ha and Do Young in a dual role. Do Ha is an architect who lived in the U.S. but returned to the “Peanut House” in Korea every summer, while Do Young is the twin who remained in Korea. Their separate lives and diverging emotions form a key axis of the drama’s layered storyline.
Choi Sung Eun portrays childhood friend Song Ha Kyung, who spent every summer waiting for Do Ha. Her character lives with the memory of her first love and the wounds left by repeated goodbyes—only to have her world shaken once again when Do Ha returns.
Meanwhile, Kim Gun Woo’s character Seo Soo Hyuk is an appellate lawyer drawn into a legal dispute surrounding the Peanut House, becoming another pivotal figure in this tangled web. His presence goes beyond a typical love triangle, serving as a lens through which the characters confront the divide between memory and reality.
Rather than relying on simple romantic thrills, the drama carefully uncovers hidden wounds, misunderstandings, and truths shaped by time. The “Peanut House” itself is more than a setting—it is a symbol layered with old emotions and secrets.
A man who stayed only 21 days each summer, the woman who waited for him, and the reunion that stirs a feeling “never truly lived before”—whether that emotion can come to life is the question at the center of Last Summer.
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