Namkoong Min's 'The Husband' Climbs to 6.4% in Ratings Race

KBS 2TV's weekend miniseries The Husband posted a 6.4% national rating for its second episode, a series high, according to Nielsen Korea. In the same time slot, JTBC's Reborn Rookie drew 13.5%, more than double that figure.

The second episode aired on the 5th and peaked at 7.2% per minute. It marked the show's best rating so far and set up a sharper stretch of the kidnapping thriller led by Namkoong Min.

The hour picked up with Kang Tae-ju, played by Namkoong Min, waking up after being hit with a stun gun. He goes searching for the missing ransom and finds cash burning on a riverbank. He then realizes the bundle was staged to look like the full 1 billion won.

Shaken, Kang Tae-ju gets a call from Noh Man-hee, played by Kim Dae-myung. Noh Man-hee says he will not let Go Se-yoon, played by Lee Seol, off easy. When Kang Tae-ju asks for one more chance, Noh Man-hee doubles the ransom from 1 billion won to 2 billion won. He gives him two hours. "If you disappoint me again with more stupid tricks, you'll pay a very painful price," he warns.

Kang Tae-ju goes to his in-laws and shows them a photo of the kidnapped Go Se-yoon to ask for help. While he leaves with his father-in-law Go Dong-chan, played by Jang Kwang, to gather the money, things start to unravel. His mother-in-law Choi Sook-young, played by Oh Min-ae, calls the police despite his plea to keep them out of it. Kang Tae-ju then takes Noh Man-hee's next call under police direction. Noh Man-hee, sounding like he already knows, tells him to pan a phone camera around the house. As exposure looms, Choi Sook-young offers to add another 1 billion won to the deal for a total of 3 billion won if her daughter comes home safely. Noh Man-hee reacts, then hangs up.

Go Se-yoon, meanwhile, wakes up locked in a room, chained to an iron ball. She bangs on the metal door and shouts to be let out. Through the wall, she hears another woman crying that there is no time. Realizing she is not the only victim, she starts looking for a way out.

Noh Man-hee later visits Go Se-yoon and starts a video call with Kang Tae-ju, Go Dong-chan and Choi Sook-young. As he shows them Go Se-yoon on screen, he suddenly grabs her by the throat. "You think you can mock me just because you have money?" he says. Kang Tae-ju watches his wife lose consciousness and lashes out with threats. Go Se-yoon comes to, but Noh Man-hee keeps twisting the knife. "I only did what the boss told me to do," he says. "Your wife is going to die because Mr. Kang didn't keep his promise to me."

Then the story turns. Police arrest Kang Tae-ju on suspicion of kidnapping his wife and ordering her murder. Noh Man-hee has handed over a video that shows Kang Tae-ju saying, "Please get rid of my wife. Please get rid of Go Se-yoon completely." In minutes, the grieving husband becomes the prime suspect, questioned hard over a possible conspiracy with the kidnapper. He insists he does not know where Go Se-yoon is, but ends up in a scuffle with officers before being pinned down.

The episode closes with Kang Tae-ju alone in a bathroom. "I didn't do it, but it looks like I did," he says. "No one believes me." A stranger, Lee Soo-hyung, played by Park Byung-eun, steps in. "I'm the only one who knows you didn't kidnap your wife," he tells him, leaving the story on a sharper edge going into next week.