Review | K-drama The Auditors review: Shin Ha-kyun is the Sherlock Holmes of corporate corruption
- K-drama Auditors follows Shin Cha-il (played by Shin Ha-kyun) and his squad as they tackle corporate corruption which goes right to the top
This article contains spoilers.
3.5/5 stars
Lead cast: Shin Ha-kyun, Lee Jung-ha, Jin Goo
Latest Nielsen rating: 9.54 per cent
Largely avoiding flash and melodramatic flourishes, The Auditors has been one of the most surprising K-drama successes of the year.
After beginning with modest ratings, the show steadily built a committed audience in Korea until it ended its 12-episode run just shy of the vaunted 10 per cent ratings mark during its thrilling finale, making it the fifth-highest-rated cable show of the year there to date.
The show has a theme ubiquitous in contemporary Korean drama: corporate corruption. K-dramas are designed to mirror life, ergo office fraud must be a fact of life in South Korea.
Whether that is truly the case is beside the point. Bad bosses and untrustworthy colleagues are a means to an end. They create a relatable and “unfair” obstacle for protagonists to overcome.
It is hard not to be sold on a story that champions the beleaguered average office worker when they are confronted with inept and corrupt management. Who has not been frustrated by a boss before?
