Strong Girl Nam Soon (2023)

December 17, 2023

Our Take: A poorly written fantasy drama that struggles to gain traction.

The sequel to 2017's Strong Woman Do Bong Soon, Strong Girl Nam Soon follows the story of Kang Nam Soon (Lee You Mi), a girl with superhuman strength, eyesight, and speed. Nam Soon accidentally goes missing as a child while traveling in Mongolia with her father. As a result, she grows up under the care of adoptive parents in Mongolia. 

At the same time, her mother, Hwang Geum Joo (Kim Jung Eun), spends the next decade desperately searching for her, going so far as to host annual weightlifting competitions with hefty prizes to find her. Geum Joo is a billionaire businesswoman who has devoted all her resources to doing good deeds in hopes of finding her daughter again someday. She lives with her mother, Gil Joong Gan (Kim Hae Sook), both of whom were also born with superhuman strength.

When she grows up, Nam Soon returns to Gangnam in Seoul to find her parents. With the help of narcotics detective Kang Hee Shik (Ong Seong Wu), she eventually makes her way back to her family. After reuniting, Nam Soon, Geum Joo, and Joong Gan get embroiled in a massive drug case that Hee Shik's team is also investigating. They trace the dangerous drugs back to a conglomerate named Doogo run by the mysterious Ryu Shi Oh (Byeon Woo Seok).

One of the main draws of Strong Woman Do Bong Soon is the level of care given to the main characters and the intense chemistry between Do Bong Soon (Park Bo Young) and Ahn Min Hyuk (Park Hyung Sik) — arguably one of the most iconic couples among Korean dramas. However, this is one of the areas where Strong Girl Nam Soon falls short. There are way too many undeveloped characters and loosely related storylines happening at the same time. As a result, we don't get the opportunity to develop an emotional attachment to any of the characters, nor do we care about the story's overall progression.

Kang Nam Soon is the drama's titular star, yet she frequently gets sidelined and feels like a supporting character. While she grew up in Mongolia, her childish and exaggerated behavior is downright ridiculous. She's also blatantly undercover at Doogo, though no one seems to catch on. Not even her superpowers can hide the unfortunate reality that her character is one-dimensional. 

Likewise, Kang Hee Shik feels more like an accessory to Nam Soon and her family than an individual with his own passions and dreams. We never learn about his backstory or life outside of work and Nam Soon. While he is genuine, kind, and has a strong work ethic, there's nothing particularly interesting about him.

Between Nam Soon and Hee Shik, their connection is unconvincing. Though Nam Soon falls for Hee Shik almost instantly because of his looks, the show fails to dive deeper into what she likes about him and why she chooses to be in a relationship with him. Meanwhile, Hee Shik finds Nam Soon's quirky behavior cute and becomes attracted to her because of her strength and mannerisms. But, given the limited development between them and the lack of tension, their chemistry is absent.

The rest of Nam Soon's family doesn't fare any better. Her mother, Hwang Geum Joo, has the Midas touch when it comes to business, but aside from throwing her money around to get what she wants and contributing to positive causes for good karma, there's not much else we learn about her. Her grandmother, Gil Joong Gan, spends most of her time playing hooky with her boyfriend, Seo Joon Hee (Jeong Bo Seok). Over time, their relationship starts feeling overbearing as it takes away precious time from the main plot and Nam Soon's development. 

We learn that Nam Soon's father, Kang Bong Go (Lee Seung Joon), runs a photography studio, her brother Kang Nam In (Hang Sang Jo) enjoys eating, and her uncle Hwang Geum Dong (Kim Ki Doo) is a fragile man. But, like the rest of the family, there's not much else going on with them. With Nam Soon having gone missing for so many years, you'd expect them to spend time rebuilding their relationship and learning more about each other. Yet, after their touching reunion, that storyline falls off the map. It's as if she was never gone.

Surprisingly, the villain, Doogo CEO Ryu Shi Oh, outshines everyone. After learning about his backstory and all the pain and suffering he's been through, you can't help but feel sympathy for him despite him being a drug lord. For the most part, he treats Nam Soon with respect and genuinely cares for her. Their limited scenes together have more tension than Nam Soon and Hee Shik's, threatening to overshadow the main romance story. 

Yet, Shi Oh's character never gets fully fleshed out either. His goals and motivations are unclear, and it's unbelievable that he fails to piece together Nam Soon and her family's plans despite her continuous suspicious behavior. As a product of one of Russia's most notorious mafia groups, you'd think that he would be more meticulous in who he shares private information with. By the end, there's no room for a redemption arc for him. He never gets the opportunity to become a better person and change, even though Ri Hwa Ja (Choi Hee Jin) is forgiven despite attempting to murder Nam Soon. 

Many other characters hover around the main cast, but their storylines go nowhere and seem detached from the overarching plot. That includes Nam Soon's homeless friends Ji Hyun Soo (Joo Woo Jae) and Teacher No (Park Kyung Ri) and financial fraudster Bread Song (Akira), who keeps butting heads with Geum Joo.

Drugs have a heavy presence in the show, yet there is a lack of profound or remotely interesting commentary on the topic. Likewise, social class is briefly touched upon, with the clear contrast between Nam Soon and her imposter Ri Hwa Ja (Choi Hee Jin), as well as Hyun Soo and Teacher No. Yet, the show doesn't attempt to dive deeper and explore its impact on society and individuals.

Additionally, despite the show's focus on female empowerment, it fails to go beyond slapstick humor and other low-hanging fruit, such as the women carrying the men around and belittling others around them. Rather than relying on over-the-top theatrics, the story would have been better served if it spent more time on the social dynamics between men and women. 

Our Verdict

Strong Woman Do Bong Soon was a tough act to follow. But Strong Girl Nam Soon is let down by sloppy plotlines, uninteresting characters, poor character dynamics, and an endless stream of bad jokes.