Big Overseas, Flop at Korea? This K-Drama Slipped Back to 1% Ratings

MBC’s Friday-Saturday drama Crushology 101 continues to face a tough road, stuck in the 1% ratings range.

According to Nielsen Korea on April 26, Episode 5, which aired the previous day, recorded a nationwide rating of 1.1%. Although the show started with a modest 1.3% during its premiere on April 11, heavy competition from major news coverage on former president Yoon Suk-yeol’s impeachment and the finale of When Life Gives You Tangerines took a toll.

By Episode 2, ratings had dropped to a historic low of 0.9%, the worst ever for an MBC Friday-Saturday miniseries. Crushology 101 is a campus romance centering on Bani (Roh Jeong-eui), a girl healing from her first heartbreak. The drama is based on a popular webtoon of the same name, which has accumulated 170 million views. While ratings slightly rebounded to 1.5% in Episode 3, Episodes 4 and 5 dropped back down to 1.1%.

Despite its underwhelming performance in Korea, Crushology 101 is drawing attention for its opposite success overseas.

On April 16, the drama reportedly ranked No.1 in 19 countries, including Italy, Spain, and Switzerland. It also achieved explosive popularity on global streaming platforms — placing No.2 overall on KOCOWA+, which serves 88 countries across North America, Central and South America, Europe, and Oceania, and ranking No.2 on Japan’s U-NEXT.

In Southeast Asia, Crushology 101 is gaining traction through Viu, while in India, it’s available via Channel K on Amazon Prime Video, where it continues to receive positive responses from international audiences. Given this stark contrast between domestic and international performance, there is growing curiosity about whether Crushology 101 can eventually rebound in Korea.

If the show fails to recover domestically, discussions and analyses are likely to emerge regarding the reasons behind the gap in reception between Korean and global viewers.

In the drama, Bani becomes entangled with four very different men: Hwang Jae-yeol (Lee Chae-min), who shares a complicated debt history with her; Cha Ji-won (Jo Joon-young), who warmly calls her by name; Jo Ah-rang (Kim Hyun-jin), her longtime idol and hero; and her first love, Jin Hyun-oh (Hong Min-gi), whom she reunites with unexpectedly.

In Episode 5, just as Bani and Hwang Jae-yeol’s connection started to grow, Jae-yeol’s ex-girlfriend Han Yeoreum (Jeon So-young) made a sudden appearance.

After receiving a surprise confession from Jae-yeol, Bani mistook it for a new form of harassment, trying to protect herself — a reaction stemming from her painful past experiences with her ex-boyfriend and Jo Ah-rang.

To win her trust, Jae-yeol abandoned his former cold attitude and approached Bani with sincere kindness. Even when a meat-grilling mishap triggered the studio sprinklers and damaged his equipment, he was more concerned about Bani. He also thoughtfully prepared various types of medicine in case she caught a cold and gently tied her hair when her hands were dirty from sculpting materials. Thanks to Jae-yeol’s heartfelt gestures, Bani’s defenses began to crumble, and she couldn’t hide her growing smile around him. When her father asked if she had someone she liked, it was Jae-yeol who immediately came to her mind.

Their playful bickering slowly transformed into something deeper. However, Han Yeoreum’s reappearance drastically shifted the mood. Yeoreum openly expressed her emotions, while Jae-yeol, on the verge of tears, looked at her with visible heartbreak. Watching them, Bani convinced herself that she and Jae-yeol could never be together, closing off her heart once again. Meanwhile, Cha Ji-won, witnessing Bani’s growing affection for Jae-yeol, grew increasingly anxious.

Han Yeoreum’s return further rattled Ji-won, making his feelings even harder to hide.

Though he tried to act indifferent, he found himself constantly keeping an eye on Bani, his emotions deepening. Han Yeoreum’s presence has sparked a tense love triangle between Bani, Hwang Jae-yeol, and Cha Ji-won. Viewers are eager to find out why Yeoreum returned — and how her reappearance will change the dynamics between the three.

Episode 6 of Crushology 101 will air on April 26 at 9:50 PM KST.

📊 'Crushology 101' Rating Trend (Nielsen Korea Nationwide Data)

Episode 1: 1.3%

Episode 2: 0.9%

Episode 3: 1.5%

Episode 4: 1.1%

Episode 5: 1.1%

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