# Player (TV series)

Player (Korean: 플레이어) is a South Korean television series starring Song Seung-heon, Krystal Jung, Lee Si-eon, Tae Won-suk [ko], Oh Yeon-seo, and Jang Gyu-ri. The first season aired on OCN from September 29, to November 11, 2018, every Saturday and Sunday at 22:20 (KST). The second season aired on tvN from June 3, to July 9, 2024, every Monday and Tuesday at 20:50 (KST).

## Synopsis
### Season 1

The story about the four talented individuals in their respective fields who create an elite team to solve crimes in partnership with a righteous prosecutor. Together, they confiscate black money and make sure that those who earn money through crimes will be arrested.

### Season 2
## Series overview

| Season | Episodes | Episodes | Originally released | Originally released | Originally released | Airtime |
| Season | Episodes | Episodes | First released | Last released | Network | Airtime |
| 1 | 14 | 14 | September 29, 2018 (2018-09-29) | November 11, 2018 (2018-11-11) | OCN | Saturday and Sunday at 22:20 (KST) |
| 2 | 12 | 12 | June 3, 2024 (2024-06-03) | July 9, 2024 (2024-7-9) | tvN | Monday and Tuesday at 20:50 (KST) |

## Cast and characters
### Main

* Song Seung-heon as Kang Ha-ri / Choi Soo-hyuk
    A veteran conman from a family of investigators who was born bold and gifted with words.
* Krystal Jung as Cha Ah-ryung (season 1)
    A skilled driver who grew up in an orphanage after being abandoned by her parents.
* Lee Si-eon as Lim Byung-min
    A talented hacker who had a past with Chairman Chun.
* Tae Won-suk as Do Jin-woong
    A powerful fighter who had accidentally worked for "that person".
* Oh Yeon-seo as Jeong Soo-min (season 2)
    An assistant to Ha-ri and the team's watcher.
* Jang Gyu-ri as Cha Jae-yi (season 2)
    Ah-ryung's younger sister who is also a skilled driver. Her real name is Cha Hae-ryung.

### Supporting
#### Public Prosecutors' Office

* Kim Won-hae as Prosecutor Jang In-gyu
    The prosecutor who teamed up with Ha-ri and his team.
* Ahn Se-ho as Investigator Maeng Ji-hoon
* Lee Hwang-ui as Yoo Ki-hoon

#### Target

* Kim Jong-tae as "that person" (real name: Yeon Je-seok)
    A consultant and power broker for politicians.
* Kwak Ja-hyung as Cheon Dong-seob

#### People around Ha-ri

* Huh Joon-ho as Choi Hyun-gi
    Ha-ri's father and former team leader of Special Corruption Division.
* Yoo Ye-bin as Cho Yeon-hee
    A doctor and the only person who knows Ha-ri's past.

### Others

* Min Joon-hyun as Team Leader Shim Dal-soo
* Kang Min-tae as gangster
* Kim Hyung-mook as Na Won-hak
    the corrupt president director
* Lee Hwa-ryong
* Min Joon-hyun
* Kim Sung-cheol as Ji Sung-gu
* Lee Chung-mi as Yang Hae-joo
* Jin Mo as Wang Seob
* Kim Seo-kyung as Mike

### Special appearances

* Yoo Seung-ho as a security guard (Ep. 1)
* Hong Seok-cheon as a driving instructor (Ep. 1)
* Wang Ji-hye as Ryu Hyun-ja (Ep. 7–8)
* Kang Hye-won as Mi-woo (season 2, ep. 2)
* Im Jin-ah as Eun Na (season 2, Ep. 5)
* Lee Soo-hyuk as Mr. Myeong (season 2, Ep. 6–7)
* Yoon Ji-on as Kim Soo-chan (Season 2, Ep. 7)
* Heo Sung-tae as Lim Sang-sik (season 2, Ep. 8–9)
* Lee Sung-kyung as A mysterious woman (season 2, ep.12)

## Production

Early working titles of the series were Hustle (허슬; Heoseul) and Round (판; Pan).
On July 12, 2022, it was announced that the series would return with second season in the second half of 2023, under the title Player: War of Gamblers (플레이어: 꾼들의 전쟁; Peulleieo: Kkundeur-ui Jeonjaeng). On January 27, 2023, it was reported that filming was scheduled to begin in March 2023, and actresses Oh Yeon-seo and Jang Gyu-ri were in talks for the main roles. In January 2024, it was officially announced that the second season is included on tvN's 2024 drama line-up.

## Viewership

| Season | Season | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Average |
| Season | Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Average |
| | 1 | 1.217 | 1.381 | 1.136 | 1.165 | 1.003 | 1.171 | 1.122 | 1.221 | 1.200 | 1.169 | 0.928 | 0.958 | 1.117 | 1.515 | 1.165 |
| | 2 | 0.940 | 0.911 | 0.905 | 0.671 | 0.805 | 0.757 | 0.866 | 0.913 | 0.778 | 0.860 | 0.920 | 0.952 | – | – | 0.857 |
Average TV viewership ratings (season 1) :
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Average audience share | Average audience share | Average audience share |
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Nielsen Korea | Nielsen Korea | TNmS |
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Nationwide | Seoul | Nationwide |
| 1 | September 29, 2018 | 4.474% | 5.226% | 4.3% |
| 2 | September 30, 2018 | 4.876% | 5.638% | 4.9% |
| 3 | October 6, 2018 | 4.092% | 4.433% | 4.8% |
| 4 | October 7, 2018 | 4.186% | 4.180% | 5.5% |
| 5 | October 13, 2018 | 3.720% | 4.196% | N/A |
| 6 | October 14, 2018 | 4.573% | 5.097% | N/A |
| 7 | October 20, 2018 | 4.415% | 5.393% | N/A |
| 8 | October 21, 2018 | 4.904% | 5.302% | N/A |
| 9 | October 27, 2018 | 4.723% | 5.531% | N/A |
| 10 | October 28, 2018 | 4.640% | 4.928% | N/A |
| 11 | November 3, 2018 | 3.993% | 4.425% | N/A |
| 12 | November 4, 2018 | 3.879% | 4.116% | N/A |
| 13 | November 10, 2018 | 4.553% | 4.780% | N/A |
| 14 | November 11, 2018 | 5.803% | 6.249% | N/A |
| Average | Average | 4.488% | 4.964% | — |
| In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest published ratings and the red numbers represent the highest published ratings. N/A denotes ratings that were not published. This series 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). |||||
Average TV viewership ratings (season 2) :
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Average audience share | Average audience share |
| Nielsen Korea ||
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Nationwide | Seoul |
| 1 | June 3, 2024 | 4.185% (2nd) | 4.658% (2nd) |
| 2 | June 4, 2024 | 3.966% (2nd) | 4.065% (2nd) |
| 3 | June 10, 2024 | 4.188% (2nd) | 4.310% (2nd) |
| 4 | June 11, 2024 | 3.537% (2nd) | 3.594% (3rd) |
| 5 | June 17, 2024 | 3.531% (2nd) | 3.722% (2nd) |
| 6 | June 18, 2024 | 3.570% (2nd) | 3.519% (3rd) |
| 7 | June 24, 2024 | 3.810% (1st) | 4.178% (1st) |
| 8 | June 25, 2024 | 3.789% (1st) | 3.752% (1st) |
| 9 | July 1, 2024 | 3.681% (1st) | 3.785% (1st) |
| 10 | July 2, 2024 | 3.929% (1st) | 4.302% (1st) |
| 11 | July 8, 2024 | 4.096% (1st) | 3.953% (1st) |
| 12 | July 9, 2024 | 4.344% (1st) | 4.446% (1st) |
| Average | Average | 3.886% | 4.024% |
| In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest published ratings and the red numbers represent the highest published ratings. This series airs 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). ||||