Best Reply 1988 Episodes, Ranked
All 20 episodes of Reply 1988 scored and sorted — from the 9.5/10 high of S1E18 to the 8.7/10 of S1E1.
Our rating: 9.18/10 average across 20 episode reviews (best 9.5, lowest 8.7).
Reply 1988 is the rare show that barely has bad days. Across its single 20-episode run, nothing drops below 8.7 and the whole thing sits in a tight band around 9.2 — a slow, deliberate climb rather than a series of spikes. The early stretch is the softest patch: S1E1 “Deok-sun Carries Uganda Into the Olympics” (8.7) and the back-to-back S1E3 “Deok-sun Chases the Mymy Through Gyeongju” and S1E4 “Taek Loses, Deok-sun Studies, Parents Sulk” (both 8.8) are doing setup work, introducing the Ssangmun-dong alley and five families before the emotional debts come due. They’re charming but a little shapeless.
The show tightens as it goes and peaks right at the end. S1E18 “Jung-hwan Places the Ring on the Table” is the high point at 9.5 — the love-triangle reckoning the whole season has been quietly building toward. Just behind it, two episodes tie at 9.4: S1E17 “Deok-sun Learns Her Father’s Dream Under April Stars,” which pivots hard onto the parents, and the finale, S1E20 “Bo-ra Marries and Ssangmun Says Goodbye,” which lands the goodbye it’s owed.
It’s all one season, so there’s no cross-season comparison to draw. What the numbers show is a writers’ room that knew exactly where it was headed and saved its biggest swings — Jung-hwan’s confession, the parental reveals, the farewell — for the closing third.
| Rank | Ep | Episode | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | S1E18 | Jung-hwan Places the Ring on the Table | 9.5 |
| T-2 | S1E17 | Deok-sun Learns Her Father's Dream Under April Stars | 9.4 |
| T-2 | S1E20 | Bo-ra Marries and Ssangmun Says Goodbye | 9.4 |
| T-4 | S1E8 | Jung-bong Faces Surgery While Bo-ra Breaks | 9.3 |
| T-4 | S1E10 | Dong-ryong Runs Toward Seaweed Soup | 9.3 |
| T-4 | S1E13 | Il-hwa Waits and Moo-sung Finally Breaks | 9.3 |
| T-4 | S1E15 | Bo-ra Buys Her Father a Shirt | 9.3 |
| T-4 | S1E16 | Taek Steps Back After Winning the Ing Cup | 9.3 |
| T-9 | S1E7 | Taek Brings His Father Pink Gloves | 9.2 |
| T-9 | S1E9 | Deok-sun Takes Taek to China | 9.2 |
| T-9 | S1E11 | Deok-sun Becomes Soo-yeon Before New Year | 9.2 |
| T-9 | S1E12 | Deok-sun Finds Taek After the Long Match | 9.2 |
| T-9 | S1E14 | Sun-woo Names the Hurt He Carries | 9.2 |
| T-9 | S1E19 | Deok-sun and Taek Stop Pretending | 9.2 |
| T-15 | S1E5 | Bo-ra Comes Home Smelling of Tear Gas | 9.1 |
| T-15 | S1E6 | Taek Wins and First Snow Falls | 9.1 |
| 17 | S1E2 | Deok-sun Watches Her Father Finally Cry | 9.0 |
| T-18 | S1E3 | Deok-sun Chases the Mymy Through Gyeongju | 8.8 |
| T-18 | S1E4 | Taek Loses, Deok-sun Studies, Parents Sulk | 8.8 |
| 20 | S1E1 | Deok-sun Carries Uganda Into the Olympics | 8.7 |
Scores reflect our episode reviews. Tap any episode to read the full review, or browse the whole Reply 1988 season recap from the top.