Titles · drama
Liar Hit a Series-High 2.2% in Episode 3 While Doctor X Slid to 15.3%
MBC thriller Liar rose from 1.9% to 2.2% nationwide in episode 3, aired 6 November. Rival Doctor X on SBS fell for a third straight episode, to 15.3%. Min Jun-ho, cleared by police, ended the episode by inviting a detective for a drink.
MBC’s twelve-episode thriller Liar aired its third episode on 6 November at 9:50 pm KST. Nielsen Korea put it at 2.2% nationwide, up from 1.9% in each of the first two episodes and the highest of the series so far. On the same night and in the same slot, SBS’s Doctor X: Age of the White Mafia drew 15.3% for episode 9, its third drop in a row.
| Series (6 November, nationwide) | Episode | Rating | Previous episode |
|---|---|---|---|
| Doctor X: Age of the White Mafia (SBS) | 9 | 15.3% | 15.6% |
| Liar (MBC) | 3 | 2.2% | 1.9% |
Source: Nielsen Korea, as reported by Top Star News and iZE.
Doctor X peaked at 19.5% in episode 6 and has since gone 16.5%, 15.6% and 15.3%. It is 4.2 points under that peak, and still 13.1 points above Liar. Doctor X streams on Netflix; Liar streams on Wave and Disney+ (Top Star News).
What happened in episode 3
Liar follows two people who describe the same night in opposite ways: Min Jun-ho (Yoo Yeon-seok), a cardiac surgeon, and Kang Ji-seon (Seo Hyun-jin), a primary-school librarian teacher. The series is directed by Jo Young-min and written by Baek Jae-young.
Episode 3 opens after a lie-detector test that came out against Kang. Neither changed their account. What changed was how others saw them: at Min’s hospital he became the victim, and she became the woman people whispered about.
Kang could not stop thinking about a rumour that Min’s wife had died of a drug overdose. She slipped into his home, found a box of drugs under his bed and reported him to police. Min was taken away in front of his son, Min Hyun-su. The drug turned out to be insulin his wife had used, and he was cleared.
Min then stopped staying silent and decided to take the matter to the press. When the article ran, the rumour reached Kang’s school. In the classroom, Hyun-su asked her, “Was that woman the teacher?” Kang backed away and ran out.
The episode ends with police detective Lee Hwa-young (Ok Ja-yeon) telling Min that the case was dropped for lack of evidence. Min, who had been hostile to her, changed tone and asked, in the iMBC recap’s wording, whether she would like a drink. She said no once; he asked again. iMBC and other outlets described this as the moment that deepens viewers’ doubts about Min.
What we can and cannot say
Two measures are in circulation for the episode, and they are different things. The nationwide household rating is 2.2%. The broadcaster’s release separately reports a peak minute of 4.2%, citing Nielsen Korea but not naming a region. We have not set one beside the other.
Episode 4 airs 7 November at 9:50 pm KST on MBC.
Where these numbers come from
Sources
- iMBC Entertainment (MBC) — Episode 3 recap of Liar: lie-detector result, Kang Ji-seon's break-in, the insulin finding, the article and the classroom scene, the no-charge decision and the ending. Also the broadcaster's statement that the peak minute reached 4.2% (Nielsen Korea; the report does not say whether Seoul area or nationwide) and that episode 4 airs 7 November at 9:50 pm. Photo credit MBC. Published 7 November 2026, 11:51 KST. · https://enews.imbc.com/News/RetrieveNewsInfo/523928
- Top Star News — Nielsen Korea nationwide ratings for 6 November: Liar episode 3 at 2.2% (episodes 1 and 2 at 1.9%); SBS Doctor X episode 9 at 15.3% after 16.5% (episode 7) and 15.6% (episode 8), and a best of 19.5% in episode 6. Where each series can be streamed. · https://www.topstarnews.net/news/articleView.html?idxno=16270638
- iZE — Liar episode 3 at 2.2% on Nielsen Korea's nationwide household measure, a series high, in its second week on air. · https://www.ize.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=82334
- Ten Asia — Episode 3 recap, used to check the plot sequence against the iMBC recap, and the report of a 4.2% peak minute. · https://www.tenasia.co.kr/article/2026110719424
What we checked
- Liar episode 3, 6 November: 2.2% nationwide (Nielsen Korea), given by both Top Star News and iZE. Episodes 1 and 2 were 1.9% each; the rise is 0.3 percentage points.
- Doctor X episode 9, same night and same time slot: 15.3% nationwide, 0.3 points below episode 8 (15.6%) and 4.2 points below its best, 19.5% in episode 6. The two shows' ratings are 13.1 points apart.
- The episode 3 plot is the same in the iMBC, Top Star News and Ten Asia recaps: the lie detector pointed to Kang Ji-seon as the one who lied, she searched Min Jun-ho's home, the drug was his late wife's insulin, police issued a no-charge decision for lack of evidence.
What we left out, and why
- The 4.2% peak-minute figure is reported in the broadcaster's own release without a region. We give it as stated and do not compare it with the nationwide 2.2%.
- Streaming viewership. Neither Disney+ nor Wave publishes episode-level numbers, and we found none.
- Which of the two leads is telling the truth. The episode leaves it open, and so do we.
- Predictions for episode 4 or for the final rating.
Written from the same data
Birth charts — Seo Hyun-jin
Four Pillars (BaZi) and the Western chart, computed from published birth dates. The charts are data, not a verdict on anyone.
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