Abyss (TV series)

Abyss
Promotional poster
Hangul
어비스
Genre
Created byStudio Dragon
Written byMoon Soo-yeon
Directed byYoo Je-won
Starring
Country of originSouth Korea
Original languageKorean
No. of episodes16
Production
Producers
  • Lee Hyang-bong
  • Bae Lik-hyeon
Camera setupSingle-camera
Running time60 minutes
Production companyNeo Entertainment
Original release
NetworktvN
ReleaseMay 6 (2019-05-06) –
June 25, 2019 (2019-06-25)
Related
Abyss: Another Universe

Abyss (Korean: 어비스; RR: Eobiseu) is a 2019 South Korean television series starring Park Bo-young, Ahn Hyo-seop and Lee Sung-jae. It aired on tvN's Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:30 (KST).[1][2][3]

Synopsis

Go Se-yeon (Park Bo-young) is a beautiful prosecution lawyer at the top of her game, and Cha Min (Ahn Hyo-seop) is her friend, an unattractive but rich heir to a cosmetics empire. They are both revived into different bodies by supernatural beings using an "Abyss" after their deaths in separate incidents. The "Abyss" is a celestial object which has the power to revive anything that has died; the reincarnated bodies take on the appearance of that person's soul. Go Se-yeon takes on a 'plainer' appearance, whilst Cha Min becomes very attractive and young; virtually the opposite of before. They start working together to find out the reason for their revival and who caused Go Se-yeon's death.[4]

Cast

Main

A prosecution lawyer who is murdered by the Eomsan-dong serial killer. She tries to figure out who killed her and how she has been reincarnated.
The rich yet unattractive successor to a cosmetics company who is reincarnated as an attractive young man after his death. He has been friends with Go Se-yeon since childhood.
A skilled surgeon who is referred to as a legend in the medical community. He has a mysterious demeanour and hidden secrets.

Supporting

Central District Prosecutors' Office / Dongbu Police Station

A prosecution lawyer and one of Go Se-yeon's colleagues before her death.
The police detective who is head of the investigation into Go Se-yeon's death.
  • Song Sang-eun as Lee Mi-do (after plastic surgery)
Go Se-yeon's former colleague and Dong-cheol's ex-girlfriend, who has left Korea for the United States.

Lan Cosmetics

Cha Min's fiancée who mysteriously disappears just before their wedding.
Cha Min's domineering mother and head of the family's cosmetics empire.
Cha Min's nanny and housekeeper.
Jang Hee-jin's mother.

Others

The vengeful father of a victim of the Eomsan-dong serial killer.
Gi-man's daughter who is a victim of the Eomsan-dong serial killer.
Seo Ji-wook's father who is a chief judge.
  • Ha Sung-kwan [ko] as Se-yeon's father
  • Park Mi-hyun as Se-yeon's mother
  • Kim Yoon-bo as Kim Sil-jang[15]
The secretary of the chairman of Lan Cosmetics.
A detective in Team 1 and Park Dong-cheol's junior and right-hand man.

Special appearances

Production

The first script reading took place in February 2019 in Sangam-dong, Seoul, South Korea.[17]

Actors Seo In-guk and Jung So-min, who acted in The Smile Has Left Your Eyes (2018), made a special appearance.

Original soundtrack

Abyss OST
Soundtrack album by
Various artists
Recorded2019
GenreSoundtrack
Language
LabelStone Music Entertainment
Genie Music

Part 1

Released on May 14, 2019
No.TitleArtistLength
1."Into The Abyss"
3:03
2."Into The Abyss" (Inst.) 3:03
Total length:6:06

Part 2

Released on May 21, 2019
No.TitleArtistLength
1."Fallin'"Kim Feel3:34
2."Fallin'" (Inst.) 3:34
Total length:7:08

Part 3

Released on June 4, 2019
No.TitleArtistLength
1."Stay"Kim Bo-hyung4:08
2."Stay" (Inst.) 4:08
Total length:8:16
Disc 2:
No.TitleArtistLength
1."Abyss" (Opening Title)Im Ha-young1:32
2."Alien, Abyss and Resurrection"Im Ha-young1:47
3."Appearance Calling"Im Ha-young1:54
4."Big Swirl"Daniel Lee1:00
5."Couldn't Happen If Normal"Yoo Jung-hyung2:39
6."Finding for Clue"Yoo Jung-hyung2:17
7."Gloomy Prelude"Im Ha-young1:40
8."Good Idea"Im Ha-young1:32
9."Infallible Operation"Im Ha-young1:22
10."Mature Friendship"Im Ha-young1:03
11."Daily Life After False Accusation"Yoo Jung-hyung2:11
12."Questions being Answered"Yoo Jung-hyung1:43
13."Rest During Chaos"Yoo Jung-hyung2:13
14."Rules and Narration of Abyss"Im Ha-young3:40
15."Sly Look"Im Ha-young2:34
16."The Thing that Shouldn't Have Happened"Yoo Jung-hyung2:02
17."Their Sad Time"Im Ha-young1:49
18."The Man Who's Got His Blood"Im Ha-young2:18
Total length:35:16

Viewership

Abyss : South Korea viewers per episode (thousands)
SeasonEpisode numberAverage
12345678910111213141516
1980868776737639837587582627563502482548488518557643
Source: Audience measurement performed nationwide by Nielsen Media Research.[18]
Average TV viewership ratings
Ep. Original broadcast date Average audience share
(Nielsen Korea)[19]
Nationwide Seoul
1 May 6, 2019 3.858% 4.836%
2 May 7, 2019 3.682% 4.620%
3 May 13, 2019 3.142% 3.791%
4 May 14, 2019 3.219% 4.024%
5 May 20, 2019 2.743% 3.345%
6 May 21, 2019 3.346% 3.720%
7 May 27, 2019 2.365% 2.817%
8 May 28, 2019 2.339% 2.956%
9 June 3, 2019 2.704% 3.353%
10 June 4, 2019 2.251% 2.979%
11 June 10, 2019 2.273% 2.360%
12 June 11, 2019 2.156% 2.537%
13 June 17, 2019 2.151% 2.370%
14 June 18, 2019 2.035% 2.168%
15 June 24, 2019 2.043% 2.308%
16 June 25, 2019 2.282% 2.889%
Average 2.662% 3.192%
  • In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.
  • This drama aired on a cable channel/pay TV which normally has a relatively smaller audience compared to free-to-air TV/public broadcasters (KBS, SBS, MBC and EBS).

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Recipient Result Ref.
2019 12th Korea Drama Awards Best New Actor Ahn Hyo-seop Nominated [20]

Notes

  1. ^ a b The character appears in a short crossover scene, alluding Director Yoo Je-won's previous work The Smile Has Left Your Eyes (2018) where the character originally appears.

References

  1. ^ Park, So-young (January 11, 2019). "tvN, 상반기 드라마 라인업 후끈..이종석 이나영에 송중기까지 '지상파 압도'". OSEN (in Korean). Archived from the original on July 12, 2021. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
  2. ^ Ahn, Tae-hyun (February 11, 2019). "'어비스' 박보영X안효섭, 출연…영혼 부활 커플로 만난다[공식]". Herald Corporation (in Korean). Archived from the original on October 9, 2021. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
  3. ^ "'Abyss' cast excited by show's script". Korea JoongAng Daily. 4 May 2018. Archived from the original on 20 May 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  4. ^ "어비스 | 기획의도". tvN (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2019-06-03. Retrieved 2019-06-03.
  5. ^ a b Lee, Song-hye (February 11, 2019). "'어비스' 박보영X안효섭, 캐스팅 확정…'영혼 부활 커플' 케미 예고 [공식입장]". Xports News (in Korean). Naver. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
  6. ^ Sung, Ji-eun (August 17, 2018). "Park Bo-young cast in upcoming tvN drama". Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
  7. ^ Lee, Yoon-jin (March 18, 2019). "tvN 새 드라마 '어비스', 김사랑, 특급 출연!...법조계의 여신 엄친딸 役!". News A (in Korean). Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  8. ^ Jang, Jin-li (February 11, 2019). '대세 배우' 안효섭, '어비스' 출연 확정...박보영과 연기 호흡 [공식입장]. OSEN (in Korean). Archived from the original on September 20, 2023. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
  9. ^ Kim, Sun-woo (March 19, 2019). [단독] 안세하, '어비스' 특별 출연…재벌 2세 변신. Xports News (in Korean). Archived from the original on March 30, 2019. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  10. ^ Park, Ah-reum (March 12, 2019). 이성재, ‘어비스’ 합류 “연기 인생 가장 강렬한 변신”(공식입장). Newsen (in Korean). Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
  11. ^ Kim, Ji-won (March 14, 2019). "'어비스' 이시언X한소희X권수현, 캐스팅 확정...신스틸러 3인방 활약 예고". News Hankyung (in Korean). Archived from the original on September 20, 2023. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
  12. ^ Park, Soo-in (February 19, 2019). 이시언 측 “‘어비스’ 출연 확정” 박보영과 연기 호흡(공식입장). Newsen (in Korean). Naver. Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
  13. ^ Shin, So-won (March 7, 2019). "한소희, '어비스' 출연확정…박보영X안효섭과 호흡". My Daily (in Korean). Naver. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
  14. ^ Lee, Won-seok (March 20, 2019). 새 드라마 대본 리딩서 '콧소리'내며 상대 배우에게 애교 부리는 박보영. Insight (in Korean). Archived from the original on March 29, 2019. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  15. ^ Kim, Min-ji (March 13, 2019). 연극계 다크호스 심윤보, '어비스'로 안방극장 진출. News1 (in Korean). Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
  16. ^ a b Kim, Soo-kyung (May 6, 2019). "'어비스' 정소민, 서인국과 외계인으로 등장 "일억 번째 별 떨어졌다"". News Hankyung (in Korean). Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
  17. ^ Tae, Yu-na (March 20, 2019). "'어비스' 박보영X안효섭, 첫 대본 리딩...'영혼 소생 커플 탄생'". News Hankyung (in Korean). Archived from the original on September 20, 2023. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  18. ^ "Nielsen Korea" (in Korean). Archived from the original on October 30, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  19. ^ "Nielsen Korea" (in Korean). Archived from the original on November 2, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2019.
  20. ^ "'2019코리아드라마어워즈(KDA)' 연기대상 후보..김해숙·최수종·염정아·조정석 등". Sedaily (in Korean). September 27, 2019. Archived from the original on September 27, 2019. Retrieved September 27, 2019.