Tracer (TV series)

Tracer (Korean: 트레이서; RR: Teureiseo) is a 2022 South Korean television series starring Im Si-wan, Go Ah-sung, Son Hyun-joo and Park Yong-woo. The series revolves around the people working at the National Tax Service. It is an original drama of OTT media service Wavve and is available for streaming on its platform. It also aired on MBC TV from January 7 to March 25, 2022.^[3][4]

Tracer
Promotional poster
Hangul	트레이서
Genre	Thriller[1] Action[2]
Created by	Wavve Studios
Written by	Kim Hyun-jung[1]
Directed by	Lee Seung-young[1]
Starring	Im Si-wan Go Ah-sung Son Hyun-joo Park Yong-woo
Music by	Howl
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	16
Production
Producers	Kim Na-young Kang Young-mo Park Jae-seop
Production company	West World Story[1]
Original release
Network	MBC TV
Release	January 7 (2022-01-07) – March 25, 2022 (2022-03-25)

Series overview

Streaming

Season	Episodes		Originally released
			First released	Last released
1	8		January 7, 2022 (2022-01-07)[3]	January 28, 2022 (2022-01-28)[5]
2	8		February 18, 2022 (2022-02-18)[5]

Television broadcast

Season	Episodes		Originally released
			First released	Last released
1	8		January 7, 2022 (2022-01-07)[4]	January 29, 2022 (2022-01-29)[5]
2	8		February 26, 2022 (2022-02-26)[6][7]	March 25, 2022 (2022-03-25)[8]

Cast

Main

• Im Si-wan as Hwang Dong-joo, a former accountant who is now the head of the National Tax Service's Central Branch Tax Bureau.^[9]
  • Park Min-soo as young Hwang Dong-joo^[10]
• Go Ah-sung as Seo Hye-young, a team member of the 5th Bureau of Taxation.^[9]
• Son Hyun-joo as In Tae-joon, the head of the Central Regional Tax Service.^[9]
• Park Yong-woo as Oh Young, the manager of the 5th Bureau of Taxation.^[4]

Supporting

• Chu Sang-mi as Min So-jeong, deputy commissioner of the National Tax Service Headquarters.^[11]
• Park Ji-il as Baek Seung-ryong, commissioner of the National Tax Service Headquarters.^[12]
• Choi Jun-young as In Do-hoon, Tae-joon's son who is the director of Inspection Division of the Central Regional Tax Office.^[13]
• Kim Do-hyun as Cho Jin-gi^[14]
• Kim Gook-hee as Noh Sun-joo^[15]
• Yoo Dong-hun^[16]
• Jang Seong-yoon^[17]
• Moon Su-in as Kim Han-bin^[18]
• Lee Jung-shik as Kim Young-tae^[19]
• Yeon Je-wook as Park Seong-ho^[20]
• Moon Won-joo as Ko Dong-won
• Shin Hyun-jong^[21]
• Song Duk-ho as Lee Choong-ho
• Kang Seung-ho as Han Kyung-mo^[22][23]
• Jeon Bae-soo as Jang Jeong-il^[24]

Special appearances

• Park Ho-san as Hwang Chul-min, Dong-joo's father.^[25]
• Woo Hyun as Yang Young-soon, a non-tax payer of one billion won in clone funds.^[26]
• Im Seon-woo as Shin Da-hye, the director of Oz Foods who is being investigated for tax evasion by the five tax bureaus.^[27]
• Kim Tae-baek as Batnam, a whistleblower who accuses the unjust and brutal act of loan sharks.^[28]
• Kim Young-seong as the chief of Gold Cash.^[29]
• Lee Chang-hoon as Ryu Yong-shin, the financial director of PQ Group.^[30]
• Kim Soo-hyung as Hye-young's older sister.^[31]
• Jo Jun-hyung^[32]

Original soundtrack

Part 1

Released on January 7, 2022 (2022-01-07)^[33][34]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Buzzer Beater"	Cho Yu-ri (Jam Factory)	Kim Myeong-kyu Young Chance	A.C.E	2:58
2.	"Buzzer Beater" (Inst.)		Kim Myeong-kyu Young Chance		2:58
Total length:					5:56

Part 2

Released on January 8, 2022 (2022-01-08)^[35][36]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Rest"	Zozo (Eldorado) Shin Sarah	Jang Won Cha Dong-hoon	Salt N Paper	3:02
2.	"Rest" (Inst.)		Jang Won Cha Dong-hoon		3:02
Total length:					6:04

Part 3

Released on January 14, 2022 (2022-01-14)^[37][38]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Dawn" (새벽)	Whoami (Jang Hee-won, Enchanter)	Whoami (Jang Hee-won, Enchanter)	Jang Hee-won	3:23
2.	"Dawn" (새벽; Inst.)		Whoami (Jang Hee-won, Enchanter)		3:23
Total length:					6:46

Part 4

Released on January 21, 2022 (2022-01-21)^[39][40]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Masquerade"	Jeff Kim Limno (Eldorado)	Brown Code Hanye Jeff Kim	HeeJin (Loona), JinSoul (Loona)	3:12
2.	"Masquerade" (Inst.)		Brown Code Hanye Jeff Kim		3:12
Total length:					6:24

Part 5

Released on January 28, 2022 (2022-01-28)^[41][42]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Fire"	Im Si-wan Nuvocity	Nuvocity	Im Si-wan	3:30
2.	"Fire" (Inst.)		Nuvocity		3:31
Total length:					7:01

Part 6

Released on January 29, 2022 (2022-01-29)^[43][44]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"One & Only"	Jeff Kim Hanye Limno (Eldorado)	Jeong Do-young Hanye	Suran	3:34
2.	"One & Only" (Inst.)		Jeong Do-young Hanye		3:34
Total length:					7:08

Viewership

Season		Episode number								Average
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	1	1.316	1.117	1.488	1.336	1.428	1.421	1.315	1.379	1.332
	2	0.896	1.085	0.786	1.067	N/A	1.307	1.007	1.520	N/A

Tracer : South Korea viewers per episode (millions)

Source: Audience measurement performed nationwide by Nielsen Korea.^[45]

Average TV viewership ratings

Ep.	Original broadcast date	Average audience share
		Nielsen Korea[46]		TNmS[47]
		Nationwide	Seoul	Nationwide
Season 1
1	January 7, 2022	7.4% (11th)	8.0% (9th)	5.9% (11th)
2	January 8, 2022	6.0% (13th)	6.5% (10th)	4.4% (18th)
3	January 14, 2022	8.6% (7th)	9.0%	6.5% (9th)
4	January 15, 2022	7.7% (6th)	8.7% (3rd)	5.5% (14th)
5	January 21, 2022	8.0% (8th)	8.7% (8th)	5.9% (10th)
6	January 22, 2022	7.8% (6th)	8.6% (2nd)	4.9% (18th)
7	January 28, 2022	7.8% (8th)	8.1% (8th)	5.6% (13th)
8	January 29, 2022	7.6% (6th)	8.0% (2nd)	5.1% (15th)
Average		7.6%	8.2%	5.4%
Season 2
9	February 26, 2022[a]	5.0% (19th)	5.0% (18th)	N/A
10		6.2% (11th)	6.4% (9th)
11	March 5, 2022[b]	4.6% (18th)	4.8% (15th)	4.4% (18th)
12	March 11, 2022	6.5% (9th)	6.9% (9th)	4.8% (18th)
13	March 12, 2022	4.1% (21st)	4.3% (20th)	N/A
14	March 18, 2022	8.1% (7th)	8.5% (5th)	4.8% (15th)
15	March 19, 2022	6.1% (13th)	6.5% (10th)	4.5% (19th)
16	March 25, 2022	9.0% (5th)	9.8% (4th)	6.0% (11th)
Average		6.2%	6.5%	—[c]
In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings. N/A denotes ratings that were not released.

Awards and nominations

Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee of the award, and the result of the nomination

Award ceremony	Year	Category	Nominee / Work	Result	Ref.
Asia Contents Awards	2022	Best Actor	Im Si-wan	Nominated	[49]
		Best Supporting Actor	Park Yong-woo	Nominated
APAN Star Awards	2022	Top Excellence Award, Actor in an OTT Drama	Im Si-wan	Nominated	[50]
Baeksang Arts Awards	2022	Best Actor – Television		Nominated	[51]
Blue Dragon Series Awards	2022	Best Actor		Nominated	[52]
MBC Drama Awards	2022	Best Supporting Actor	Lee Chang-hoon	Won	[53]
		Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries	Im Si-wan	Nominated	[54]
		Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries	Go Ah-sung	Nominated	[55]
		Best New Actor	Choi Jun-young	Nominated	[56]
		Best Character Award	Chu Sang-mi	Nominated	[57]
			Park Yong-woo	Nominated

Notes

1. Television broadcast for season 2 started on February 26, 2022 due to the broadcast of 2022 Winter Olympics and the debate of the 20th South Korean presidential election candidates.^[6][7]
2. The series was canceled on March 4, 2022 due to the broadcast of a news special.^[48]
3. Due to some unpublished ratings, the exact average rating is unknown.