Actors Yoo Yeon-seok and Esom capped the series with a romance-fueled, perfectly happy ending.
The finale of SBS Friday-Saturday drama Phantom Lawyer, which aired on the 2nd, wrapped on a high with 7.6% nationwide and Seoul-cap ratings and a peak minute of 9.7%, according to Nielsen Korea. In the key 20-49 demo, it posted 2.4% and climbed to a high of 3.08%, proving red-hot viewer interest.
In the episode, Shin I-rang (Yoo Yeon-seok) lost the truth-filled voice recorder after an attack by Lee Tae-geon (Ryu Seong-hyeon) and members of the Saryonghoe organization, but thanks to the brilliant teamwork of the 'Shin I-rang Family,' they took it back. The team pressured Yang Do-kyung (Kim Kyung-nam) into opening the safe where the recorder was hidden, and Yoon Bong-su (Jeon Seok-ho), disguised as an electrical technician, cut the power and used the chaos to secure the device.
Han Na-hyun (Esom) then hastily organized a press conference and dropped the bomb by releasing the recorded conversation between Yang Byeong-il (Choi Kwang-il) and current Chief Justice Choi Chang-su (Jung Jae-sung), correcting the fabricated narrative. Even as he was arrested on the spot, Yang Byeong-il, who had sneered, "The dead do not speak," showed no remorse.
With the truth out, Shin Gi-jung (Choi Won-young) finally and proudly cleared his name and had an emotional reunion with his family. Shin I-rang continued his work as a "ghost-specialist lawyer" who listens to the stories of the departed, while his pink-hued romance with Han Na-hyun kept blossoming. Shin's heartfelt confession—"Thank you for believing even when you couldn't see, and for staying by my side even when you couldn't understand"—set a warm, romantic tone as the two welcomed the coming Christmas.
Phantom Lawyer earned praise for opening a new frontier by blending the legal genre with a fantasy twist of "ghosts." In particular, Yoo Yeon-seok's witty epilogue gently tied up the show's universe with smiles and lingering emotion, while hinting at another beginning.