Best Itaewon Class Episodes, Ranked
All 16 episodes of Itaewon Class scored and sorted — from the 8.8/10 high of S1E7 to the 8.1/10 of S1E1.
Our rating: 8.62/10 average across 16 episode reviews (best 8.8, lowest 8.1).
Itaewon Class is a slow burn that rewards patience, and the ratings track exactly that shape. The opening stretch is the weakest patch by a wide margin. S1E1 “Park Sae-ro-yi Refuses to Kneel” (8.1) and S1E3 “Yi-seo Walks Into DanBam” (8.2) sit at the bottom, doing the heavy lifting of setup: the prison years, the grief, the slow assembling of a misfit bar crew. It’s necessary table-setting, but it’s table-setting, and you can feel the show holding its breath before the revenge plot actually has teeth.
Once Sae-ro-yi starts moving against Jangga, the show snaps into gear and basically never drops below 8.7 again. Six episodes share the top mark at 8.8. S1E7 “Saeroyi Throws the First Punch Quietly” is where the patience pays off. S1E10 “Chairman Jang Sacrifices His Son” is the cruelest power move in the whole run, and S1E15 “Sae-ro-yi Kneels To Save Yi-seo From Geun-won” inverts the entire pilot’s defiance into the most painful choice he makes. S1E9 and S1E12, both 8.8, give Yi-seo and Hyun-yi their own reasons to fight.
There’s only one season, so the comparison is internal: a shaky first quarter giving way to a back half that hums. If you bail before episode five, you bail before the actual show starts.
| Rank | Ep | Episode | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| T-1 | S1E7 | Saeroyi Throws the First Punch Quietly | 8.8 |
| T-1 | S1E9 | Yi-seo Takes the Fight Personally | 8.8 |
| T-1 | S1E10 | Chairman Jang Sacrifices His Son | 8.8 |
| T-1 | S1E12 | DanBam Falls, Then Hyun-yi Refuses to Hide | 8.8 |
| T-1 | S1E13 | DanBam Wins, Then Time Jumps | 8.8 |
| T-1 | S1E15 | Sae-ro-yi Kneels To Save Yi-seo From Geun-won | 8.8 |
| T-7 | S1E6 | Sae-ro-yi Buys His Enemy's Shadow | 8.7 |
| T-7 | S1E8 | Saeroyi Buys His Way Out | 8.7 |
| T-7 | S1E11 | DanBam Gets Bigger, Yi-seo Gets Hurt | 8.7 |
| T-7 | S1E14 | Sae-ro-yi Finally Names What His Heart Wants | 8.7 |
| T-7 | S1E16 | Sae-ro-yi Chooses Happiness Over Revenge | 8.7 |
| 12 | S1E5 | DanBam Opens Its Door to Everyone | 8.6 |
| 13 | S1E4 | Yi-seo Chooses DanBam | 8.4 |
| 14 | S1E2 | Saeroyi Chooses Revenge Over Ruin | 8.3 |
| 15 | S1E3 | Yi-seo Walks Into DanBam | 8.2 |
| 16 | S1E1 | Park Sae-ro-yi Refuses to Kneel | 8.1 |
Scores reflect our episode reviews. Tap any episode to read the full review, or browse the whole Itaewon Class season recap from the top.