Strong Girl Nam-Soon follows the titular girl who returns to South Korea years after going missing in Mongolia and helps her biological mother wage war on the drug crisis that’s affecting the country.
Story
Gang Nam-Soon goes missing in Mongolia as a child and is found by a couple who raise her with love and affection. She grows up and decides to head off to Korea, to find her family.
Her mother Geum-Ju, a wealthy person, finally reunites with her daughter and soon the two join each other in taking down the drug crisis affecting all of the country, thanks to Doogo Logistics’ owner, Ryu Si-O.
He’s a member of Pavel, a Russian criminal organization that’s international in its scope and operations.
Si-O has created a drug that’s extremely potent and kills users by making them very thirsty before triggering hallucinations that drive them to suicide.
Nam-Soon works with police officer Hee-Sik, with whom she is also romantically involved, and infiltrates Doogo, quickly making her way to Si-O and becoming his most trusted underling.
Meanwhile, the lead officer of Hee-Sik’s team dies, after gathering a significant amount of evidence against Si-O and Doogo. Nam-Soon’s brother also becomes a victim of the drug.
The battle becomes intense and Nam-Soon’s identity is revealed to Ryu Si-O, who wages war but ultimately loses, putting an end to himself as Pavel and its leader continue to elude Geum-Ju and the authorities.
Performances
Lee Yoo-Mi is immensely charming and adorable as the lead Nam-Soon, and her childish shenanigans, expressions, and body language are all mostly believable within this silly story, and rarely come across as cringe-worthy.
Kim Jung-Eun is a dazzler and she delivers a performance as someone who is well aware of that. This is good because it’s all that her character needs to have. What’s even better is Jung-Eun’s comedic chops.
Kim Hae-Sook is similarly hard to miss whenever she’s onscreen. She does a lot with her expressions and even when her old age contributes to some awkwardness in the action scenes, she is a lot of fun to behold.
Byeon Woo-Seok is a killer with his looks and he does a lot with his facial attributes. A devilishly charming antagonist, Woo-Seok brings a kind of depth and vulnerability to his character that seems almost misplaced in this mostly goofy affair.
Ong Seong-Wu doesn’t have much to do comparatively but makes most of the material he’s got.
Positives
The silliness of it all is often enjoyable, even though it has the drawback of diluting the more serious and important parts of the narrative.
The show is greatly cast, and the characters are all very fun to follow and root for, even some of the antagonistic ones.
Negatives
What is the significance of having Ji Hyun-Soo and Teacher No other than to provide a shabby motivation for the protagonist before throwing away these homeless people into a clichéd, unimportant, and uninteresting arc?
It’s almost criminal to throw around words like capitalism and never truly mediate on how it operates and who truly benefits from it. All the commentary in the show is delivered through poor dialogue.
The police get to be the hero and save for some crooked politicians, most of the blame for capitalistic exploitation is pinned on some mysterious mafia hailing from Russia.
The action scenes are, if anything at all, marginally fun. However, that’s only the case earlier on. As Strong Girl Nam-Soon approaches the conclusion, the action scenes become so lifeless it takes any fun that was there in the first place.
The action in general lacks creativity, the plot is paper thin, the antagonists are mostly weak, the story is predictable, subversions can be seen a mile away, and the romance is just not happening enough.
Verdict
Strong Girl Nam-Soon is a silly little affair that manages to be a dud throughout its lengthy runtime dealing with matters devoid of stakes, fun, or a creative element.
The charm and talent of the cast can only do so much of the legwork in a vehicle doomed from the start, thanks to poor writing and a less-than-average execution.
Strong Girl Nam-Soon season 1
Director: Kim Jeong-sik, Lee Kyung-sik
Date Created: 2023-11-26 20:30
2.5
Also Read: Strong Girl Nam-Soon episode 16 recap, review & ending explained