SBS Friday-Saturday drama ‘Taxi Driver 3’
Lee Je-hoon’s ‘Taxi Driver’ has ended its run.
The SBS Friday-Saturday drama ‘Taxi Driver 3’ (script by Oh Sang-ho/directed by Kang Bo-seung) punished entrenched evil through the sacrifice of taxi hero Lee Je-hoon, who risked his life, and the solidarity of citizens, delivering a weighty afterglow and a thrilling catharsis as it brought its grand journey to a close.
In the finale of SBS ‘Taxi Driver 3’ aired on the 10th, it portrayed Colonel Kim Tae-won’s (Kim Jin-uk) scheme to strap bomb vests on a unit, send them to the North Korean threshold, detonate them, and pin it on the North, along with the martial-law conspiracy surrounding it, with Yoo Seon-ah (Jeon So-ni) at the center. It was an ending that seemed to allude to the last days of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration.
According to Nielsen Korea, the finale, Episode 16 of ‘Taxi Driver 3’ aired on the 10th, posted a nationwide household rating of 13.3%, a Seoul metropolitan average of 13.7%, and a peak of 16.6%. It held an overwhelming No. 1 across its time slot and among all week’s miniseries. In particular, the 2049 rating climbed to 4.6%, with a peak of 5.55%, cementing its status as 2026’s top drama.
On that note, as ‘Taxi Driver 3’ successfully rewrote the success story of the Korean-style seasonal drama and made viewers hope for an endless run, let’s look back at the meaningful achievements it leaves behind.
# Standing tall as a global hit IP after conquering the domestic market, with even stronger box office power
Drawing intense public attention even before its premiere as the return of a trusted mega-hit IP, ‘Taxi Driver 3’ flaunted its bolstered commercial power throughout its runnot only with unrivaled domestic ratings, buzz, and OTT performance, but also by heating up global charts. According to the Week 1 of January (Dec 29~Jan 4) weekly chart released by the pan-Asia OTT platform Viu(Viu), ‘Taxi Driver 3‘ ranked No. 1 across key Southeast Asian countries including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Singapore.
In particular, it stayed No. 1 for seven consecutive weeks after launch in Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines, and in Thailand the subtitled version ranked No. 1 while the dubbed version placed No. 2, winning broad local affection. Beyond Asia, it also topped charts in the Middle East for seven straight weeks, once again proving the prowess of ‘Taxi Driver 3’ as a global hit IP.
# Lee Je-hoon, a two-time Grand Prize winner, as ‘God-Dogi’, who rose as an icon of heroes
A ‘new history’ was made as a single seasonal drama produced two Grand Prizes. At the 2025 SBS Drama Awards, where he captured his second Grand Prize for ‘Taxi Driver 3’, Lee Je-hoon succeeded in elevating the ‘taxi hero Kim Do-gi’ character beyond a merely appealing hero into an ‘icon of heroes’. His emotional rangetender compassion toward victims, blazing vengeance toward villains, and warm affection toward the Rainbow familyimmersed viewers deeply in the world of ‘Taxi Driver 3’. Lee Je-hoon also delivered sheer exhilaration by flawlessly executing even more dynamic action sequences. Furthermore, his variety of character playfreely crossing between main persona and alternates such as fortune-chaser Do-gi, pushover Do-gi, gambler Do-gi, Lorenzo Do-gi, manager Do-gi, and even soldier Do-giturned living rooms into a ‘God-Dogi’ craze over the year-end and New Year holidays.
# A complete lineup for three straight seasons! The Jjangjigae quintet’s irreplaceable chemistry
This season, in particular, the chemistry of the ‘Rainbow Five’Kim Do-gi; President Jang (played by Kim Eui-sung); Go Eun (Pyo Ye-jin); Chief Choi (Jang Hyuk-jin); and Chief Park (Bae Yoo-ram)who returned ‘with the exact same members’ for three consecutive seasons, reached its peak. Looking at past seasonal dramas, it is hard to find a precedent for a series like ‘Taxi Driver’ that continues seasons without changes to its core cast lineup. Yet ‘Taxi Driver 3’ achieved this feat, and as seasons went by, the ever-tightening relationships and narratives among the characters yielded multifaceted fun. Each member leveled up in their roles and, alongside Do-gi, unfolded a range of alt personas that doubled the laughs, while their bond, stronger than that of a real family, delivered a lump-in-the-throat warmth.
There were also playful highlights made possible by the sturdy narrative the ‘Rainbow Five’ built over three straight seasons, such as Do-gi and Go Eun switching roles to face down villains, Chief Park’s running dynamic of always getting the short end of the stick with Do-gi, and Chief Choi returning after being thoroughly trounced by villains when he took the taxi out.
# An all-time lineup of villains with no weak link
In ‘Taxi Driver 3’, lead-caliber actors made special appearances as the main villains of each episode, adding a strong impact. Starting with Japan’s in-demand actor Kasamatsu Sho (as Matsuda), Yoon Si-yoon (as Cha Byung-jin), who even undertook extreme weight loss for his character; genre veteran scene-stealers Eum Moon-seok (as Cheon Kwang-jin) and Kim Sung-kyu (as Go Sung-hyeok), who injected suspense; Jang Na-ra (as Kang Ju-ri), who took on her first villain role since debut and sparked sensational buzz; and Kim Jong-su (as Oh Won-sang), who brought things home with the finalethese outstanding actors powered up ‘Taxi Driver 3’. As the villains grew stronger, the blades of revenge wielded by the ‘Rainbow Dark Heroes’ grew sharper as well, filling living rooms with explosive catharsis.
# “A feature film” levelperfect synergy among writer, director, and actors drew a flood of praise
Above all, ‘Taxi Driver 3’ earned reviews that it felt like watching a feature film, thanks to its upgraded mise-en-scene. Writer Oh Sang-ho layered explosive episodes atop a solid story that organically connected past seasons, and director Kang Bo-seung stood at the center of the praise by deftly and precisely orchestrating stylish mise-en-scene, various directorial elements that deepened the narrative, and music, art, lighting, and editing. On this well-built foundation, the actors thrived like fish in water, leading to acclaim that the synergy of ‘writer+director+actors’ was a completed form.
‘Taxi Driver 3’ concluded with 16 episodes as aprivate revenge agency drama in which the shrouded taxi company Rainbow Transport and taxi driver Kim Do-gi complete acts of vengeance on behalf of the wronged.
