# The Guardians (South Korean TV series)

The Guardians (Korean: 파수꾼; RR: Pasuggun; lit. Lookout) is a South Korean television series starring Lee Si-young, Kim Young-kwang, Kim Tae-hoon, Kim Seul-gi and Key. The drama aired on MBC on Mondays and Tuesdays at 22:00 (KST) from May 22 to July 11, 2017.

## Synopsis

Guardians tells the story of a group of four people who team up to serve justice after losing their loved ones to criminals. The group consists of a detective, a prosecutor, a hacker, and an insomniac. They want to give these criminals the punishment that they deserve, and take matters into their own hands as the justice system in South Korea fails to capture the culprits.

## Cast
### Main

* Lee Si-young as Jo Soo-ji
    A former shooting player and current detective. She lost her daughter to a murderer and joins the group to punish the criminal who keeps evading the law.
* Kim Young-kwang as Jang Do-han
    A passionate prosecutor who has a story of his own and becomes a monster for revenge.
* Kim Tae-hoon as Kim Eun-jung
    Jang Do-han's fellow prosecutor.
* Kim Seul-gi as Seo Bo-mi
    A woman who lost her entire family. She communicates with the world through security cameras, and she is a person who avoids social contact.
* Key as Gong Kyung-su
    A mischievous skater and a genius hacker whose mother went missing.

### Supporting
#### Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office

* Choi Moo-sung as Yoon Seung-ro
* Kim Sang-ho as Oh Kwang-ho
* Park Joo-hyung as Park Joon-pyo

#### Criminal Investigation Team

* Kim Sun-young as Lee Sun-ae
* Jung Suk-yong as Nam Byung-jae
* Seo Jae-hyung as Ma Jin-ki

#### Nearby people

* Shin Dong-wook as Lee Gwan-woo
* Kim Jung-young as Soo Ji-mo
* Jeon Mi-seon as Park Yoon-hee
* Song Seon-mi as Chae Hye-sun
* Lomon as Yoon Si-wan
* Lee Ji-won as Jin Se-won

### Others

* Ham Na-young as Jo Yoo-na
* Jang Jae-hee
* Seo Jae-hyung
* Choi Soo-hyung as Kim Woo-sung
* Kim Sa-hee as Seung-hee
* Bae Je-ki as Choi Myung-hee
* Yun Da-yeong as Kim Kyung-min
* Kim Dong-joo as Woo-sung' mother
* Ahn Jong-min
* Jung Da-won
* Nam Jung-hee
* Hong Keun-taek
* Suk Bo-bae
* Lee Min-uk
* Kim So-yeon
* Kim Mi-hye
* Jung Young-hoon
* Jung Hyun-suk as doctor
* Son Hyun-joon
* Woo Sang-jun as priest
* Hong Sung-deok as Jang Do-han's father
* Park Sung-gyun
* Jeon Jae-hyung
* Song Seung-yong
* Cho Dong-in as Han Dong-won
* Na Kyung-chul
* Hwang Tae-kwang
* Ha Min
* Shin Yoo-ri
* Lee Seok-ho
* Park Mi-na
* Bong Eun-seon
* Lim Song-ha
* Han Ye-seul
* Kim Young-jin
* Kim Yeon-joo
* Kim Seon-ah
* Jeon Ji-hak
* Kim Joo-hee
* Hyun Seok-joon
* Kang Hyun-uk
* Song Young-jae
* Shin Young-jin
* Nam Tae-boo
* Lim Jae-geun
* Choi Tae-hwan
* Lim Seung-dae as Seo Joo-wan, Seo Bo-mi's uncle (Ep. 12)
* Kim Ki-moo
* Kim Do-yoon as Kang Jin-goo
* Bae Ki-beom
* Song Kyung-hee
* Kim Jin-hee
* Kim Woo-hyun
* Hong Keun-taek
* Ahn Jong-min
* Seo Yoon-ah as Seo Bo-mi's sister
* Ri Min as drunk man in the car
* Park Won-ho
* Kim Sun-hye
* Cha Min-hyuk
* Park Bum-gyu

### Special appearance

* Kim Byung-chun as Seo Bo-mi's father (Ep. 12)
* Jang Hee-soo as Seo Bo-mi's mother (Ep. 12)

## Production

The director Son Hyung-suk is known for his action, thriller drama Two Weeks and his historical drama Shine or Go Crazy.
The series is based on a script by rookie Kim Soo-eun which became the second placer in the 2016 MBC TV Drama Screenplay Competition in Miniseries category, behind Radiant Office which script was written by Jung Hoe-hyun.
"The Guardians" marks Shin Dong-wook's return after being diagnosed with CRPS, a cripplingly painful illness in 2010.
First script reading took place March 29 at MBC Broadcasting Station in Sangam, Seoul, South Korea.

## Ratings

* In the table below, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.
* NR denotes that the drama did not rank in the top 20 daily programs on that date.
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Average audience share | Average audience share | Average audience share | Average audience share |
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | TNmS Ratings | TNmS Ratings | AGB Nielsen | AGB Nielsen |
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Nationwide | Seoul | Nationwide | Seoul |
| 1 | May 22, 2017 | 4.9% (NR) | 6.2% (NR) | 6.0% (NR) | 6.4% (18th) |
| 2 | May 22, 2017 | 5.8% (NR) | 5.4% (NR) | 5.7% (NR) | 6.2% (NR) |
| 3 | May 23, 2017 | 5.4% (NR) | 5.7% (NR) | 4.6% (NR) | 4.9% (NR) |
| 4 | May 23, 2017 | 4.8% (NR) | 5.2% (NR) | 4.8% (NR) | 5.3% (NR) |
| 5 | May 29, 2017 | 5.8% (NR) | 6.0% (NR) | 5.6% (NR) | 5.8% (NR) |
| 6 | May 29, 2017 | 5.7% (NR) | 5.9% (NR) | 6.6% (NR) | 6.9% (NR) |
| 7 | May 30, 2017 | 7.0% (18th) | 8.0% (12th) | 6.2% (17th) | 6.3% (17th) |
| 8 | May 30, 2017 | 7.6% (15th) | 8.1% (11th) | 7.3% (14th) | 7.4% (11th) |
| 9 | June 5, 2017 | 6.3% (NR) | 6.5% (20th) | 6.8% (20th) | 6.7% (NR) |
| 10 | June 5, 2017 | 6.8% (20th) | 7.2% (16th) | 7.5% (14th) | 7.0% (16th) |
| 11 | June 6, 2017 | 7.2% (19th) | 8.3% (12th) | 7.1% (17th) | 7.2% (19th) |
| 12 | June 6, 2017 | 7.2% (19th) | 8.0% (14th) | 7.7% (15th) | 7.8% (13th) |
| 13 | June 12, 2017 | 7.2% (NR) | 7.9% (13th) | 6.1% (NR) | 6.5% (NR) |
| 14 | June 12, 2017 | 8.7% (11th) | 10.2% (4th) | 7.2% (17th) | 7.3% (13th) |
| 15 | June 13, 2017 | 7.2% (19th) | 7.1% (16th) | 7.2% (16th) | 7.2% (14th) |
| 16 | June 13, 2017 | 8.6% (14th) | 8.6% (9th) | 8.1% (11th) | 7.7% (9th) |
| 17 | June 19, 2017 | 6.3% (NR) | 7.0% (18th) | 7.2% (20th) | 7.3% (15th) |
| 18 | June 19, 2017 | 6.9% (20th) | 7.8% (13th) | 7.7% (12th) | 7.5% (11th) |
| 19 | June 20, 2017 | 6.8% (17th) | 7.4% (14th) | 8.5% (10th) | 8.8% (8th) |
| 20 | June 20, 2017 | 6.9% (16th) | 7.7% (13th) | 8.6% (8th) | 8.8% (8th) |
| 21 | June 26, 2017 | 6.5% (NR) | 8.3% (8th) | 7.4% (17th) | 7.6% (13th) |
| 22 | June 26, 2017 | 7.2% (17th) | 6.8% (19th) | 8.2% (11th) | 8.5% (8th) |
| 23 | June 27, 2017 | 7.9% (15th) | 8.5% (10th) | 8.0% (13th) | 8.5% (8th) |
| 24 | June 27, 2017 | 8.9% (11th) | 9.9% (4th) | 8.6% (8th) | 9.1% (7th) |
| 25 | July 3, 2017 | 7.2% (NR) | 7.7% (18th) | 6.6% (NR) | 7.0% (NR) |
| 26 | July 3, 2017 | 7.8% (17th) | 8.7% (13th) | 7.3% (19th) | 7.1% (NR) |
| 27 | July 4, 2017 | 9.0% (11th) | 9.4% (8th) | 8.3% (14th) | 8.8% (10th) |
| 28 | July 4, 2017 | 9.1% (12th) | 9.6% (7th) | 9.7% (7th) | 9.9% (6th) |
| 29 | July 10, 2017 | 8.7% (20th) | 9.4% (10th) | 7.3% (NR) | 7.6% (NR) |
| 30 | July 10, 2017 | 9.4% (15th) | 10.4% (6th) | 8.5% (17th) | 8.5% (10th) |
| 31 | July 11, 2017 | 9.3% (14th) | 10.1% (8th) | 9.3% (8th) | 9.9% (7th) |
| 32 | July 11, 2017 | 9.7% (13th) | 10.4% (6th) | 10.2% (6th) | 10.6% (6th) |
| Average | Average | 7.3% | 7.9% | 7.4% | 7.6% |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
| 2017 | 30th Grimae Awards | Best New Actor | Key | Won |
| 2017 | 36th MBC Drama Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Monday-Tuesday Drama | Kim Young-kwang | Nominated |
| 2017 | 36th MBC Drama Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Monday-Tuesday Drama | Lee Si-young | Nominated |
| 2017 | 36th MBC Drama Awards | Excellence Award, Actress in a Monday-Tuesday Drama | Kim Seul-gi | Nominated |
| 2017 | 36th MBC Drama Awards | Golden Acting Award, Actor in a Monday-Tuesday Drama | Shin Dong-wook | Nominated |
| 2017 | 36th MBC Drama Awards | Golden Acting Award, Actress in a Monday-Tuesday Drama | Kim Sun-young | Nominated |
| 2017 | 36th MBC Drama Awards | Best New Actor | Key | Nominated |
| 2017 | 36th MBC Drama Awards | Best Young Actor/Actress | Lomon | Nominated |
| 2017 | 36th MBC Drama Awards | Best Character Award, Fighting Spirit Acting | Lee Si-young | Nominated |