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| Actors Ko Ah-sung, from left, Im Si-wan, and Park Yong-woo pose for pictures during an online media conference for the new series "Tracer," Tuesday. Courtesy of Wavve |
By Lee Gyu-lee
MBC's newly premiered original series "Tracer" is off to a good start, scoring the highest viewership rating among prime-time shows last Friday.
The show, which was produced in cooperation with KBS, SBS and SK Telecom's streaming platform Wavve, saw a 7.4 percent rating nationwide for its premiere episode, surpassing the 6.8 percent rating for SBS romance series "Now, We Are Breaking Up" and 3.5 percent for tvN's crime action series "Bad and Crazy."
Directed by Lee Seung-young, who led the hit crime thriller "Missing Noir M" (2015) and "Voice 2" (2018), the action series follows the story of officials at the National Tax Service.
Former accountant Hwang Dong-ju (Im Si-wan) joins the service after suspecting that it is linked to the mysterious death of his father.
As a newly appointed team manager of taxation division 5, which is considered the black sheep of the service, Dong-ju joins hands with the division's head Oh Young (Park Yong-woo) and Seo Hey-young (Ko Ah-sung) to hunt down tax evaders.
"The series follows a group of unique characters who have been pushed aside by the organization, taking unconventional approaches in catching the bad guys behind dirty money," director Lee said last week during an online press conference for the series. "I didn't want this series to be serious and difficult to follow, so it was important to bring in actors with high spirits and a sense of humor."
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| A scene from the series / Courtesy of Wavve |
Im plays a bold and skilled accountant who puts his expertise to lead the team in finding tax evaders. He compared his role to the one he played in the similar office series "Misaeng," which was a hit in 2014.
"My character in 'Misaeng' was a rookie so most of my lines would be me following orders," he said. "But now, (as the manager) I'm giving out orders, and at first I thought it was a good thing because I'm in a higher rank. But it actually meant more lines to memorize."
This is the second project that Im and Ko have worked on together, since they co-starred in the 2016 drama film "A Melody to Remember."
"When I'm working with Ko, we don't need words to communicate. She is such a seasoned actress," Im said. "She has this ability to lead me and carry out any improvisation that I throw in."
Ko noted that the series will be interesting and light-hearted, despite its concept revolving around taxation.
"I didn't have any idea about the National Taxation Service, so I had to create its image from scratch and research, which was fun," she said.
"Even though, the series is about people at the tax service, I hoped that audiences can enjoy it even without basic knowledge of the service. The chemistry of the actors and the flow of the plot will allow the series to be pretty easy to follow. And it will offer viewers a sense of gratification with the stories of catching the bad guys."
"Tracer" airs on Fridays and Saturdays at 9:50 p.m. and is also available on Wavve.
