Awaken (TV series)

Awaken (Korean: 낮과 밤; RR: Natgwa bam) is a 2020–2021 South Korean television series starring Namkoong Min, Kim Seol-hyun, Lee Chung-ah and Kim Chang-wan.^[1][2] The series, directed by Kim Jung-hyun and written by Shin Yoo-dam, revolves around two police officers as they dig up the secrets of mysterious events that occurred in a village 28 years ago.^[3][4]

Awaken
Promotional poster
Hangul	낮과 밤
Lit.	Day and Night
RR	Natgwa bam
MR	Natkwa pam
Genre	Action Thriller Mystery
Created by	Studio Dragon tvN (Production plan)
Written by	Shin Yoo-dam
Directed by	Kim Jung-hyun
Starring	Namkoong Min Kim Seol-hyun Lee Chung-ah
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of episodes	16
Production
Executive producer	Soo Jae-hyun
Producers	Son Ki-won Kim Nam-pyo Kim Jae-hoon
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	70 minutes
Production companies	Kim Jong-hak Production Story Vine Pictures
Original release
Network	tvN
Release	November 30, 2020 (2020-11-30) – January 19, 2021 (2021-01-19)

It aired on tvN from November 30, 2020, to January 19, 2021, every Monday and Tuesday at 21:00 (KST).^[5]

Synopsis

Do Jung-woo is the leader of a special task force in the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, who investigates a series of mysterious murders together with his team - a hot-headed officer named Gong Hye-won, and Jamie, a detective on loan from the FBI. They uncover clues that these crimes are somehow related to a tragic event that happened 28 years ago in a village called "White Night".

Cast

Main

• Namkoong Min as Do Jung-woo^[6][7]
  • Oh Han-kyul [ko] as young Jung-woo

A special team leader of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency who is capable of writing a legend.

• Kim Seol-hyun as Gong Hye-won^[8]

An avid police officer who does not choose any means and methods, and a special team inspector at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.

• Lee Chung-ah as Jamie Leighton^[9]
  • Kwon Ye-eun [ko] as young Jamie

Adopted in the United States as a child, she is an FBI-dispatched investigator who returns to Korea as an FBI Behavior Analysis Team Leader.

• Yoon Sun-woo as Moon Jae-woong
  • Jang Sun-yool [ko] as young Jae-woong

A hacker from MODU with dissociative identity disorder. He has two personalities: a weak personality, and a psychopath.

Supporting

People around Do Jung-woo

• Woo Hyun as Jung Soon-gu

CEO of Soonjung LP. He is a widower who took care of Jung-woo and helped him to live under a different name.

• Jung Dae-ro as Baek Hyun-soo

People around Gong Hye-won

• Kim Chang-wan as Gong Il-do

Gong Hye-won's father who is the Director of Baekya Biotech Research Institute

• Jo Kyung-sook [ko] as Gong Hye-won's mother

People around Moon Jae-woong

• Jang Hyuk-jin as Jang Yong-shik, CEO of MODU

Broadcasting Station

• Yoon Kyung-ho as Lee Ji-wook^[10][11]
• Kim Ki-nam [ko] as Noh PD

Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency

• Kim Won-hae as Hwang Byeong-cheol

Deputy Chief of Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency

• Baek Ji-won as Lee Taek-jo^[12]

Director of Information Management in the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.

• Choi Dae-chul as Yoon Seok-pil

A detective in the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Special Team who is a competent hacker.

• Lee Shin-young as Jang Ji-wan^[13]

A member of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Special Team.

• Kang Rae-yeon as Min Yoo-ra

A pathologist from the National Forensic Service who performs autopsies.

Baekya Foundation

• Kim Tae-woo as Oh Jung-hwan^[14]

Chief secretary of the current president

• Yoo Ha-joon [ko] as Kim Min-jae
• Choi Jin-ho as Son Min-ho

Former leader of White Night

• Ahn Si-ha as Jo Hyun-hee^[15]

A scientist working for Baekya Foundation, former Head of Research of White Night

• Lee Kan-hee

Baekya Foundation Director and wife of Lee Byeong-seon, Director of Hangang Hospital in Seoul, mother of Lee Tae-soo

Others

• Jo Hye-won [ko] as Sun Geul-nyeo

Reporter Lee Ji-wook's source of information.

• Lee Ju-won [ko] as Son Min-ho's private lawyer

Special appearances

• Heo Jae-ho as truck driver (Ep. 1)
• Nam Woo-hyun as Oh Kyung-min (Ep. 1)
• Kwak Hee-joo as Kim Young-joon (Ep. 1)
• Kim Nam-jin as Go Ji-young's mother (Ep. 1)
• Lee Joon-sang as Baek Seung-jae (Ep. 1)
• Shin Jae-hwi as Lee Tae-soo; nightclub guy (Ep. 1 – 10)
• Joo Suk-tae as Choi Yong-suk (Ep. 1)
• Yang Dong-geun as prisoner (Ep. 1)
• Ha Min as Choi Yong-suk's wife (Ep. 2)
• Jaejae as Restaurant staff^[16]

Production

In December 2019, 935 Entertainment, Namkoong Min's agency, reported that he had received an offer to play Do Jeong-woo, an investigator. At the same time, Han Ye-seul's agency, Partners Park, informed that she had been offered to appear in the series.^[17] Both confirmed their appearance in the series later on.^[18] In March 2020, Lee Chung-ah joined Namkoong Min in the cast.^[19] The script reading took place in April 2020.^[20][21] Yoon Kyung-ho joined the cast in June 2020.^[22] In August 2020, the filming of the drama was stopped due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[23][24] In October 2020, Baek Ji-won and Lee Shin-young were confirmed to appear in the series,^[12][25] as the script reading was continued from where it was left in August.^[26][27] The first stills from the production were released on November 3, 2020.^[28]

Original soundtrack

Untitled
Soundtrack album by Various artists
Released	2020 2021
Genre	Soundtrack
Language	Korean English
Label	Genie Music Stone Music Entertainment

Part 1

Released on December 8, 2020 (2020-12-08)^[29]

No.	Title	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Gray Zone"	DR ZEZE	Idiotape	3:01

Part 2

Released on December 29, 2020 (2020-12-29)^[30]

No.	Title	Artist	Length
1.	"Set Me Free - Day Version"	Jemma	3:37
2.	"Set Me Free - Night Version"	Ha Dong Qn	3:31
Total length:			7:08

Part 3

Released on January 5, 2021 (2021-01-05)^[31]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Artist	Length
1.	"Reverse"	Kim Ho-kyung	Mook	7:24
2.	"Reverse" (Inst.)		Mook	7:24
Total length:				14:48

Disc 2:

No.	Title	Artist	Length
1.	"Daybreak"	Roh Hyoung-woo	10:36
2.	"A place unknown"	Yang Sung-woo	3:04
3.	"That night"	Roh Hyoung-woo	6:12
4.	"Shadow"	Shim Hyung-bo	3:10
5.	"Pale"	Yang Sung-woo	5:14
6.	"Investigation"	Roh Hyoung-woo	6:00
7.	"Disappearing"	Kim Ji-min	2:32
8.	"Run away from the truth"	Kim Ji-min	4:25
9.	"For what"	You Jung-ho	3:35
10.	"Disclosure"	Roh Hyoung-woo	9:50
11.	"Crime Scene"	Oh Hee-joon	3:04
12.	"Scene of the Crime"	Yang Sung-woo	3:08
13.	"Truck chase"	Shim Hyung-bo	3:08
14.	"Fallen"	Shim Hyung-bo	2:38
15.	"Walking"	You Jung-ho	2:49
16.	"Dark Fate"	Shim Hyung-bo	3:08
17.	"The Truth"	Oh Hee-joon	4:02
Total length:			76:35

Viewership

Awaken : South Korea viewers per episode (thousands)

Season		Episode number																Average
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
	1	1119	973	977	1067	948	1016	796	1016	904	963	1203	1099	1174	1222	1236	1353	1066

Source: Audience measurement performed nationwide by Nielsen Korea.^[32]

Average TV viewership ratings

Ep.	Original broadcast date	Average audience share (Nielsen Korea)[32][33]
		Nationwide	Seoul
1	November 30, 2020	4.704% (1st)	5.422% (1st)
2	December 1, 2020	4.475% (1st)	4.971% (1st)
3	December 7, 2020	4.012% (1st)	4.485% (1st)
4	December 8, 2020	4.218% (1st)	4.847% (1st)
5	December 14, 2020	3.921% (1st)	4.568% (1st)
6	December 15, 2020	4.384% (1st)	5.089% (1st)
7	December 21, 2020	3.451% (1st)	3.829% (1st)
8	December 22, 2020	4.103% (1st)	4.589% (1st)
9	December 28, 2020	4.111% (1st)	4.462% (1st)
10	December 29, 2020	4.391% (1st)	5.043% (1st)
11	January 4, 2021	4.790% (1st)	5.474% (1st)
12	January 5, 2021	4.623% (1st)	5.360% (1st)
13	January 11, 2021	4.795% (1st)	5.002% (1st)
14	January 12, 2021	5.036% (1st)	5.647% (1st)
15	January 18, 2021	5.397% (1st)	6.067% (1st)
16	January 19, 2021	6.214% (1st)	6.764% (1st)
Average		4.539% (1st)	5.101% (1st)
In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings. This drama 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).