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Tunnel breaks ratings record for OCN, gets reward vacation

Cable network OCN is really on a roll with its original programming this year, both in terms of critical praise and viewership ratings. Its last weekend thriller Voice broke ratings records for the station (previously held by Police Unit 38), and now its follow-up drama Tunnel has broken the record yet again to become the new highest-rated drama in OCN’s history, and the cast and crew have been rewarded with a vacation to Guam at the end of May.

Tunnel, starring Choi Jin-hyuk as a 1980s homicide detective who time-travels to the present, premiered strong at 2.8% and steadily gained a following through critical praise and positive word of mouth. It seemed poised to break the ratings record at OCN (held by Voice at 5.637%) despite the one-week pre-emption last weekend, and sure enough, Sunday’s Episode 14 brought in 6.3% average ratings (and peaked at 7.1%).

I coincidentally started watching Tunnel two nights ago, and enjoyed it so much I wondered why in the hell it took me so long to watch it. I see why it’s receiving comparisons to Signal, though it’s nowhere near as mind-blowing or fast; I think Tunnel’s strength is that it’s emotionally grounded in this one amazing leading character, and everyone else is connected to him in an unexpected way. It’s intricately plotted but not dense, and often just really funny—Choi Jin-hyuk and Yoon Hyun-min have great chemistry, and my favorite thing is the banmal-jondaemal hijinks between Choi Jin-hyuk and his old partner, who’s now an ajusshi.

I think OCN is a really interesting case of a niche cable network that built its identity around a very small and specific subset of original dramas—crime thrillers of all shapes and sizes—and succeeded by doing that one genre extremely well. For better or worse, OCN has become synonymous with “hard-edged crime thriller” despite the fact that the station mostly airs movies, and they usually only air one original drama at a time in the Saturday-Sunday slot. On the one hand, this limits their foray into other genres—they recently ventured into rom-coms with My Secret Romance on Monday-Tuesday, but it hasn’t even broken 1%. But on the other hand, it’s built a reputation for high-quality thrillers and is now raking in numbers to compete with the big fish. Nicely played, OCN. Nicely played.

Tunnel will finish its run on May 21, and then clone thriller Duel follows in June.

Via Osen, Sports Chosun

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I said it!!!! am soooo haaapppyyyy.... I knew Tunnel's rating would go up! its a damn good drama and I hope it goes higher.... right @ravennightstar ??

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HAHAHA. OMG just saw this post!

@reggie12 Of course it is! No question there!
Each episode just gets better and better. I don't know how they do it! But at the end of each ep, I'm left wanting more.

So happy for the Tunnel cast! Congratulations and enjoy your vacation!

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YAY!!!! I'm so so happy for the cast and crew! Tunnel's been amazing since episode 1 and I never stopped singing its praise because I LOVE it that much! Congrats to Tunnelers!!

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Gosh you have no idea how thankful I am I took your recommendation and started Tunnel. I love it! I love the characters..the relationships...the angst with KH's past..gahhh! I'm so proud of the entire Tunnel team.

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So glad you're loving it! I've been recommending it to everyone! Yes, the characters and how everyone is connected to each other, I love everything!

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Omgyay, I'm ecstatic for the cast and crew!!! *happy tears*
I've been loving this show. The mystery and suspense has been great, but the emotions from everyone have been SO good. So many touching moments.

Glad that you are watching this drama, girlfriday! I wish more people would check it out. ^^

I’m sad that the show is ending this week! :(

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The stakes are raised so high in the most recent episode. How are they going to catch the killer? Wah!

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For me, Missing Noir M is the bar that OCN needs to pass before I can considered the network the best in producing "high-quality thrillers."

Granted, I don't watch a lot of them, but what I noticed is that these thrillers are not dark and violent enough. I want them to be brutal. Kill them all, I what I want. Because what I've noticed is that they still rely on family and relationship issues. They need to be scary. They need the villain to be just plain evil with no family issues.

They need to go dark like The Wailing or even A Hard day. If not, then yeah there are always movies. Or I could watch Game of thrones or the walking dead. Or Breaking bad.

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Wasn't Voice gory? Just wondering since I hadn't seen it, but have read comments saying it's pretty brutal.

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Indeed Voice is really brutal and gore, clearly on Hannibal (the tv show) and the Silence of the Lambs level in terms of physical and psychological violence.

The producers were forced to change to 19+ ratings during the run of the show to avoid sanctions, but even before their submission to the censorship review, the show was really dark: very young children and ederly people being savagely assaulted...

I agree with Girlfriday: Signal set a new standard that became the reference for every new thriller, but it's the perfection that can not be reached only dreamed of. If only because it's impossible to gather a team: lead actors, writer and director included, as good as this one. They are basically the dream team just like Misaeng's cast and crew were.

But i still hold great hope for forest of Secrets to become a strong contender for Signal, or at least the best show of this year.

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I want to like this 1000x. Missing Noir M is the standard. It was a perfect thriller. Signal came very close ( I hate the hysterical female trope). So hopefully it will get there again.

Hysterical female in Signal was when Kim Hye Soo finally had the chance to talk to Choi Jin Woong over the radio and started screaming about why did you leave me. It was disappointing and out of character imo. So it marred the otherwise perfect show. Sorry for the long explanation. Ha

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yeah missing noir m was incredible. it was episodic but each case i could definitely see made into a fully fledged 12-16 episode drama. this applies to TEN as well, which isn't surprising considering they had the same writer. the first case of TEN still blows my mind. crazy how they were able to fit that case into the very two first episodes (i think?).

man i could really use another episodic detective cable drama now that i think about it... haven't seen another one made since cheo yong 2

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oh jesus i totally forgot about voice being an episodic drama as well. i'm dumb

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Compared to the vast majority of K dramas, they are pretty dark.

I'm a big fan of Missing Noir M but I didn't really think it was that dark compared to TEN.

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Congrats to Tunnel. Deserved. Loved the last 2 episodes.

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Congratulations!!
It's really well-deserved since it keeps getting better. I'm also excited that @girlfriday finally started watching it. More love is always a good thing. Can't wait to read her take on this drama.

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Yay!!! So happy that Tunnel is doing so well, it's been a really enjoyable ride and my hours zipped by so quickly watching it. Granted, it's not a perfect show, but I am definitely gonna miss it when it ends this week. Still have to catch up on the last weekend's episodes though haha. Gonna go watch now!

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So happy for the ratings and for their reward vacation!!!The show totally deserves it and even bigger ratings!!!

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ahhh...no wonder choi jin hyuk put Guam in his insta caption last week. they already plan the reward vacation. grats..you guys really work hard. the amount of running choi jin hyuk do in one episode really looks damn exhausting. REST and enjoy your vacation team tunnel.

i can say they are not as best as the forever hype Signal or as revolutionary as any other OCN drama, but this rookies writer seriously able to write solid pieces on his/her own. i will look forward to his/her next work.

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Super happy with this good news, Tunnel deserves it. :) Will miss the bromance and all the detectives

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I will miss this drama after it ends this week. It is well written and well acted, and is my drama crack for the weekend. Fighting, Tunnel!

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Congratulations, Tunnel! As for me, I think I need a medical check up after your series ends, coz ...heart attack!!

*calls cardiologist friend for appointment*

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You want to call a "Doctor" to help you ease your pain ;)

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Yay! I'm glad Tunnel is doing well. I'm really enjoying the drama. I was a little worried about the pacing, but after the Sat-Sun episodes, I'm not that worried. Everything seems to be shaping up nicely! And I do hope that Tunnel's success leads to more roles for our three leads. They are all doing a great job! :)

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Before the latest episodes came out, I read concerns that the pre-emption was a wrong move. Fans feared that the feverish excitement and anticipation for the new eps had died down. Obviously it hadn't ?
I've just finished ep 13. TBH, I was enjoying Kwang Ho and Sun Jae so much that I loathe to have them separated. However, KH's reunion with his wife is so touching. @girlfriday is right, the show is grounded in the amazing lead character and his partner/future son-in-law(pwaaaaah!). To me, this is what makes this show more enjoyable than Voice.

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i love how kang ho pretends to disapprove of sun jae but really who is he trying to kid. We all know he loves him.
how long is it going to take sun jae to call him "father in law " instead of kanghoya? lol

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Yeah, earlier on, I couldn't get enough of the banmal-jondaemal hijinks that GF mentioned, but now it's the hilarious role reversal between KH and SJ that keeps me wanting more. I just love the way KH swats SJ away in Disapproving Dad mode and SJ squirms around his potential father-in-law. It's a genius set-up.

My other favorite thing right now is the growing bond between daddy and daughter. So touching.

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loved how Sun Jae looked so left out when dad and daughter drove away without him.

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choi jin hyuk is love! i was waiting very patiently for his army time to officially be over so he could come back where he belongs--on the tv screen and in my heart! he is so wonderful and i just love watching his acting each week. i hope he chooses his next project soon! this drama is so good also. (i know stars in my eyes) i will be in withdrawal for sure~

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I've always like Choi Jin Hyuk. So happy that his comeback drama is a success and one which I enjoy ?

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I've liked him since I first saw him in Go Family Book he was attractive in the historical look.

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I liked him ever since I first saw him in My Precious Child, no one seems to remember that drama!

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Wow, it's rare that I hear of a drama with eng. subs that isn't even on my radar. Thanks for calling it to my attention. Did you like the drama? How would you describe it (e.g. "heartwarming", "makjang-y", etc)?

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It's been such a long time, I don't remember much but I did enjoy it! I liked Ji hyun-woo's story with Bo-ri better than the main lead couple's and also Song Joong-ki!!

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He was great in Go Family Book! I've been following his dramas since then.

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This is the only second time I've seen Choi Jin Hyuk and his acting. The first time was Fated To Love You, but he wasn't memorable then.

So glad to see him (and Yoon Hyun Min! <3) in these strong, compelling roles. :D

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The To-watch list is just getting longer and longer. ?

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Oh, tell me about it...

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@dukseonnoona and @chingu

HAHAHAHAHAHA.

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Yass!! I'm so happy that tunnel is receiving the attentin and love that it deserves. I initially started watching it because of choi jin hyuk but by the end of ep 2, I was already invested in the story. I think what differentiates tunnel from signal or nine is that the story here is character driven. And I think this is the very reason why I prefer tunnel over signal(obviously both are amazing). For me, shows where i connect with the characters tend to rate higher in my list as compared to dramas that have smart and sleek plot. As of ep 14, honestly, I havent been disappointed with any episodes, every episode has managed to allow relationship growth between Kang-ho and the people around him and I just feel a lot for the bromance. I guess one downside of signal(might be a spoiler, so spoiler alert) was that the two characters never met each other in the same time zone. Hence, the relationship growth between our two protagonists wasn't satisfying enough in my opinion.
Basically, im one very satisfied fan of tunnel and only have good things to say about it (i love/hate how smart the villain is). Congrats to the tunnel team and i hope the final 2 episodes brings them even higher rating numbers.

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I'm not watching (yet!), but yay yay yay! I love these vacation reward stories as much as I love hearing about celebrities gifting each other food trucks to support each other's projects. Haha.

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That image is so cute! Congrats to Tunnel, so glad great plot and awesome cast receive the appreciation they deserve. Yoon Hyun-min shud be a lead one of these days, seriously...

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Thanks for saying..i've seen yoon hyun min in many dramas, but in tunnel he really gives strong impression. So i wonder if only he were given bigger part as a lead,he would be seriously amazing. I hope he will be recognized more in the future. And choi jin hyuk never fails to amaze me,i laugh and cry with him..

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I am really happy for the cast and crew, they all did an amazing job, the rookie writer must be over the moon now. it deserves it's ratings.

Yesterday episode recorded 6%.

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wwooww!!! that's a GOOD NEWS!!!! Congratulations to all the Actors and Crews for your hardwork and for doing such an excellent action/thriller/drama. Im just one of the many viewers that's been hooked by a good and amazing story of TUNNEL!! I'm really excited for theast two episodes and sad at the same time! Nevertheless, Im certified Tunnel-fan addict!!

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I'm SO happy for the Tunnel team, they were working non stop (they already finished filming) and you can notice the actors looking thinner and tired but they're still giving us more and more amazing episodes.

I'm so addicted to this drama, that it's hard to even think that the next two episodes will be the last ones.

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I am addicted to this drama too. I can't wait for it to air every weekend! The recent two episodes are daebak!

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@s9313071e I agree, the recent episodes were really great! I hope the weekend comes faster.

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Yayyyy! I'm happy for the cast and crew when shows do well, especially when they surpass expectations.

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They totally deserve that vacation. This show is just so good and you can tell that everyone gives it there best. Especially the actor of Kwang Ho. That guy is pretty much running around in every single episode. He must be exhausted!

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Tunnel my fav drama so far??? i agree it is not mindblowing as signal but for sure is more heartwarming.. every character of the show is interesting and the fact they all support each other.For a rookie its a solid start,and for Choi jin hyuk its a worthy comeback

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It's well deserved! I love Tunnel and I find the focus on characters' reactions, rather than shocking revelations, interesting.
Choi Jin Huyk is absolutely amazing! When I'm watching the show I fully believe that he has travelled 30 years in to the future. There is a sort of innocence in Park Kwang Ho that is consistent with a man who hasn't experienced the terrorism and changes in the world that has happened during the last 30 years. I'm going to miss the show when it's over.

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Exactly, he's so innocent and pure it's all thank to CJH amazing portrayal of this character, he's nailing this role.

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So, so true. The contrast between his innocence and belief in the general goodness of mankind; with Kim Sung Jae and Yeon ho's jaded outlook and general air of weariness was quite jarring.

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Well I'm glad you've started watching Tunnel girlfriday. Apart from Whisper, it's the only other kdrama that's keeping me interested right now. Good to know that the cast and crew have been recognized for their efforts.

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Kudos and congrats Tunnel cast and staff! Very deserving. The drama is engaging and agree draws elements from its main character Kwang Ho. His relationship dynamics with chief maknae and Sun Jae funny, moving and touching. Enjoy the vacation. Tunnel 2 in two years?

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Yay! They totally deserve it. I wish all drama casts and crews could get vacations. Just because a show isn't a ratings monster doesn't mean they all didn't work hard!

Guam seems really random to me, of all the US territories they chose little ole Guam. But tropical is tropical ? so yay to sandy beaches and clear water.

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Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! Tunnel was an awesome show and it totally deserved higher ratings. The plot was woven together so well and since its first episode, it has been on a roll.

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For me Tunnel has been a bit uneven, and I think I might be sick of serial killer stories that run the length of the drama like Voice and Tunnel. Perhaps the oodles of US/British tv shows with similar story lines have caused burn out. However, I am invested enough in the characters to stay the course, and I really like all the actors and want to see how they finish it up. Very happy for Choi Jin Hyuk who has really been through it with his knee situation. Hope they enjoy their vacation.

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I am so happy for them. This drama and "Father is Strange" are my two favorite Kdrama airing right now. Well deserving.

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how much time does weekend show take to set up romance.. i am still skeptical of watching father is strange.. as nothing is happening between the leads. Ep 22 is 1 sec baby step beginning.. at this rate nothing will happen till ep 40

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This drama requires a lot of patience as the world building takes forever. But things are picking up and going in the right direction. Finally.

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I am totally in love with "Father is strange" as well! The parents and siblings are all awesome in their own way and Joong Hee's yearning for a family breaks my heart over and over again.

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Very well deserved. I absolutely love this show. I can't wait for the finale this weekend.

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I used to think OCN stood for Original Crime (show) Network...

If they keep rising like this, maybe they can save enough $$$ to get most of the Bad Guys crew back for season 2?

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That would be awesome! I promise to watch both the sequel and the planned spin-off, if they would just bring the original cast back.

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Did tunnel's ep 15 preview mean that everything will be reset?
KWH will forget everything.. why were the protagnist and antagonist treating each other as if met for the first time

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I'm so glad Choi Jin Hyuk's comeback project rocked! As I am that South Korea is developing a broad appreciation for the thriller, mystery genre. Where once, such dramas would be hard pressed to find a rating between 1 to 2 percent, they're now climbing to 5 to 6 percent. I've no doubt that past thrillers such as Signal, Bad Guys, Ghost, Ten and other such dramas paved the way for the success of the present.

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@girlsfriday pls next recap......plsssss....

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oops* ..... i meant @girlfriday .... when is the next episode coming???

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Tunnel is great! Some parts are a little unpolished occasionally, but the acting, story and most of all the pacing have all been impressive.

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Ok, i will try show

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You must try it will not dissapoint..and plsssss give recaps

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I like tunnel more than signal

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Agreed!! Loved Signal while it was airing but afterwards I forgot about it. Tunnel has the emotional impact that sticks with you

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So...OCN has a vacation house in Guam, not Phuket?
hahahaha
hopefully everybody can go and enjoy their vocation.

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In OCN we trust?I hope they never stray away from thrillers!!
I heard somewhere that OCN didn't create My Secret Romance, but they had a free block so they just chose to air it.

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One of best drama that I watched and I'm not regret.. *2thumbsup*

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ah girlfriday you persuaded me. If I like it I just might have a good ole drama marathon. :)

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Urgh mixed emotions, firstly I am sooo happy and almost in tears when I read that Tunnel broke Voice's rating record *wipes tears*. They do deserve it.

But then there will be no Tunnel after this week *starts tearing up again*. I need more of Kwang-ho, Sun-jae, Yeon-ho, Sung-shik and team, even Yeon-sook (more tears), well... basically everyone (maybe not Mok Jin-woo)

And I don't think they will reach 10% within their final week? Too bad because Choi Jin-hyuk and Yoon Hyun-min promised to do a mini concert if they reach that number. But I will still have my fingers crossed for that to happen.

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Hi beanies, I know this is random but will there be no drama review for My Secret Romance of OCN? :)

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Better late than never, girlfriday!

Well-deserved result for a good effort all round. :D

Great show Tunnel. The ensemble cast edges out Signal in the characterization department. Loving the crime solving bromances.

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Happy with them I like Tunnel Choi Jin Hyuk is a great actor. I dont want to say goodbye to tunnel yet if it's a good ending i will be fine if not then i'm ready for season 2 :D

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I just started watching Tunnel last weekend, yes, LAST WEEKEND, and finished binge watching all 12 episodes in 2 days--and need to made myself cups of tea in between to calm myself because GURL IT'S SO GOOD! No wonder it got OCN's highest rating ever, no wonder they get vacation reward. Hwaiting and congratulation for Choi Jin hyuk oppa--for picking the right come back drama--and all of the crews for this drama.

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I am so so happy that Tunnel is on the rise. I was worried about it when it premiered as they kept comparing it to Signal (which I never thought of their similarities), but turns out that i worried for nothing. Something I love about cables, especially OCN (though it disappointed me once). Also, I am really glad that Choi Jin Hyuk is getting more and more recognition! Through here, I also get to know and love others, such as Yoon Hyun Min (saw him in Beautiful Mind, though) and Lee Yoo Young. So precious. <3

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Well done tunnel well done

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