K-Drama 
2
30
This review may contain spoilers
Colorful spin-off
I loved it — the couple, particularly Ong Seong Wu (I love his jackets!), and just about everything else. The scenes in Mongolia, the secretive and wealthy environment (along with the Penthouse-like OSTs), the way it plays with capitalism (Geum Ju literally telling Nam Soon she'd teach her capitalism after getting scammed was perfect lol), the female empowerment through the mother, the grandma (who both had their own backstories), and Nam Soon herself, the great comedy, like the lazy brother (he was so funny and reminded me of the sloth in Zootopia), and the way it makes fun of misogyny.
This drama feels much closer to a superhero comic than a typical K-drama like Strong Girl Bong Soon. It wasn't trying to simply repeat Bong Soon; it took the concept somewhere else. Sci-fi, fantasy, action, crime, drama, romance, comedy, family — you got everything.
There were so many little moments I loved, like Nam Soon looking at Hee Sik dancing from afar thanks to her super vision (iconic scene), the rain falling above him with the rainbow, when he disguised himself as a woman, Nam Soon holding Hee Sik... Nam Soon keeping a picture of Eun Woo in her journal in Mongolia and saying she wants to date a good-hearted Korean guy, and then fate happening in such a fun way, was great too.
I also liked the open-minded take on old couples, contemporary issues, vulnerable people (the brother's wish to lose weight), the part about scams targetted at the elderly while using the identity of family members (including deepfakes), family relationships (some more complicated than others), adoptive parents and finding your biological family again, teamwork, and all the side characters: the homeless couple (who had a fate of irony), Mr. Bread and his OST, the semi-villain Hwa Ja who impersonated the real daughter, the detectives.
I liked how it was a big fight revolving around drugs and the Russian mafia, while Nam Soon had even bigger superpowers, as well as the "link" they had within their family. The production quality was high, the ending was great (a satisfying conclusion, then surprise), and Season 2 might even come out according to news.
About Shi Oh, I know Pavel is the big villain behind the drug operation, but Shi Oh had escaped Pavel in the past. If his implicit motive for becoming a CEO was that he feared being kidnapped by Pavel, it doesn't make sense because he grew up without them. And if he simply wanted power while taking the risk of getting involved with them, that doesn't make much sense either (and, like I said, Pavel finding him again isn't logical). But sure. We're not actually shown that he was forced to get involved with Pavel, by the way. And it's not that I'm unable to empathize with him; his last scene was sad for me too. (It was also exciting when he went full villain.) If he really was a victim, then his story is a bit different from what's actually shown, and despite any distrust he might have had, he could have sought help from Geum Ju.
His story is more about the irony that becoming a powerful figure ultimately made him a victim of Pavel again, and how he could have been a normal person if he'd had a different past (exactly what the leads say at the end). He still made his own choices until the end, including threatening Nam Soon's Mongolian family with death, threatening Nam Soon herself, and threatening a girl who was trying to redeem herself purely for his own satisfaction, even though she posed no danger to him. Yet when a REAL polarizing character comes along, rather than just a villain in what's supposed to be a comic-style drama (which doesn't mean it can't have deeper meanings), people direct all the hate in the world at them.
In the end, Shi Oh gets toxic supporters because of an incredibly immature approach towards fiction, obsessed by the actor's looks, turning into cyberbullies for his sake, writing paragraphs of ridiculous defense, shipping him with the girl and being mysoginistic, etc.
The leads themselves empathized with him, his last moment was tragic (his last words and Binbin), but that's also what makes the show good, and why in the end, Geum Ju is still pursuing Pavel after what she discovered. People implying that the leads/police should let that happen makes absolutely no sense (including when people close to them are dying lol).
I'll never forgive the haters for insulting the leads, saying the male lead is ugly and hating on them, even the whole cast and the fans of the drama. The k-drama community went downhill SO bad, especially on MDL. I was watching the drama with other people and we were disgusted at these behaviors to say the least. I had myself posted a review and it did well but I quit MDL afterwards anyway, not that we can do much here thanks to the downvotes and lack of filters. The few fans who dared to speak up would get bullied in the comment section, literal psychos lmao and most of them were obviously teenagers. Some even said, "Who cares about an old couple? I skip their scenes, only watching for the villain" — which is exactly the kind of superficiality the drama was calling out.
While the villain was a good casting choice because of his intimidating look, it's absolutely untrue that he carried the drama. Everyone did. It's an ensemble cast, unlike the prequel.
I've also seen people say, "There are too many characters/storylines, so we can't get attached to them except for the villain." Shi Oh barely had any screen time in the first episodes and not that much afterwards either as there were many characters, clear evidence they weren't paying attention. Even the music and acting would be rated a 1 by some because "everything was annoying and cringe except Shi Oh."
About the music: it had K-pop songs because that was exactly what the drama needed.
The prequel focused more on the rom-com/CEO romance. Hee Sik and Nam Soon had great chemistry too; it was just different. There was the typical love triangle, a popular male lead who acted all cutesy, and a more conventional K-drama structure.
And while the girl was childlike there too, people complain about Nam Soon even though you actually see how she grew up and understand her personality. Then they complain about Hee Sik because he's "boring" ??? Which he's not, but with that I would never be their friends for sure.
The romance here was more mature, if anything. I loved his acting throughout the drama. He always improves, and I think he showed his range especially well here. I was glad he got a role in a big drama like this. It was popular in Korea too — JTBC is a paid channel, and it got high ratings.
Important contrast between the two: Bong Soon struggles to accept her strength and feels that her mother values her mainly because of it, while also believing her mother loves her brother more. Nam Soon, on the other hand, is openly proud of her strength and is immediately loved and welcomed by her family after being missing for so long — instead, her brother is the one who feels left out. He became a victim of the drug, but he was saved. Meanwhile, Hee Sik lost his brother in the past, then his team mate due to the drug and almost Nam Soon.
One last thing: the romance isn't bad simply because Hee Sik got attached to her quickly. He was hot-blooded, hardworking as a policeman, had a good heart, and I loved how they got entangled. Their relationship was so cute, especially how she found her dream thanks to him.
By the way, you can watch it without having seen the prequel, although Bong Soon and Min Hyuk do have a cameo, and Nam Soon is Bong Soon's distant cousin.
P.S. There was a Parasite and Nevertheless reference too, which was awesome.
On edit: Two things I've learned: there is a spin-off manhwa, Strong Girl Geum Ju (about Nam Soon's mother), and the drama actually surpassed Strong Girl Bong Soon in the TV ratings. Imagine calling it a flop when it was thriving on Netflix and on TV.
This drama feels much closer to a superhero comic than a typical K-drama like Strong Girl Bong Soon. It wasn't trying to simply repeat Bong Soon; it took the concept somewhere else. Sci-fi, fantasy, action, crime, drama, romance, comedy, family — you got everything.
There were so many little moments I loved, like Nam Soon looking at Hee Sik dancing from afar thanks to her super vision (iconic scene), the rain falling above him with the rainbow, when he disguised himself as a woman, Nam Soon holding Hee Sik... Nam Soon keeping a picture of Eun Woo in her journal in Mongolia and saying she wants to date a good-hearted Korean guy, and then fate happening in such a fun way, was great too.
I also liked the open-minded take on old couples, contemporary issues, vulnerable people (the brother's wish to lose weight), the part about scams targetted at the elderly while using the identity of family members (including deepfakes), family relationships (some more complicated than others), adoptive parents and finding your biological family again, teamwork, and all the side characters: the homeless couple (who had a fate of irony), Mr. Bread and his OST, the semi-villain Hwa Ja who impersonated the real daughter, the detectives.
I liked how it was a big fight revolving around drugs and the Russian mafia, while Nam Soon had even bigger superpowers, as well as the "link" they had within their family. The production quality was high, the ending was great (a satisfying conclusion, then surprise), and Season 2 might even come out according to news.
About Shi Oh, I know Pavel is the big villain behind the drug operation, but Shi Oh had escaped Pavel in the past. If his implicit motive for becoming a CEO was that he feared being kidnapped by Pavel, it doesn't make sense because he grew up without them. And if he simply wanted power while taking the risk of getting involved with them, that doesn't make much sense either (and, like I said, Pavel finding him again isn't logical). But sure. We're not actually shown that he was forced to get involved with Pavel, by the way. And it's not that I'm unable to empathize with him; his last scene was sad for me too. (It was also exciting when he went full villain.) If he really was a victim, then his story is a bit different from what's actually shown, and despite any distrust he might have had, he could have sought help from Geum Ju.
His story is more about the irony that becoming a powerful figure ultimately made him a victim of Pavel again, and how he could have been a normal person if he'd had a different past (exactly what the leads say at the end). He still made his own choices until the end, including threatening Nam Soon's Mongolian family with death, threatening Nam Soon herself, and threatening a girl who was trying to redeem herself purely for his own satisfaction, even though she posed no danger to him. Yet when a REAL polarizing character comes along, rather than just a villain in what's supposed to be a comic-style drama (which doesn't mean it can't have deeper meanings), people direct all the hate in the world at them.
In the end, Shi Oh gets toxic supporters because of an incredibly immature approach towards fiction, obsessed by the actor's looks, turning into cyberbullies for his sake, writing paragraphs of ridiculous defense, shipping him with the girl and being mysoginistic, etc.
The leads themselves empathized with him, his last moment was tragic (his last words and Binbin), but that's also what makes the show good, and why in the end, Geum Ju is still pursuing Pavel after what she discovered. People implying that the leads/police should let that happen makes absolutely no sense (including when people close to them are dying lol).
I'll never forgive the haters for insulting the leads, saying the male lead is ugly and hating on them, even the whole cast and the fans of the drama. The k-drama community went downhill SO bad, especially on MDL. I was watching the drama with other people and we were disgusted at these behaviors to say the least. I had myself posted a review and it did well but I quit MDL afterwards anyway, not that we can do much here thanks to the downvotes and lack of filters. The few fans who dared to speak up would get bullied in the comment section, literal psychos lmao and most of them were obviously teenagers. Some even said, "Who cares about an old couple? I skip their scenes, only watching for the villain" — which is exactly the kind of superficiality the drama was calling out.
While the villain was a good casting choice because of his intimidating look, it's absolutely untrue that he carried the drama. Everyone did. It's an ensemble cast, unlike the prequel.
I've also seen people say, "There are too many characters/storylines, so we can't get attached to them except for the villain." Shi Oh barely had any screen time in the first episodes and not that much afterwards either as there were many characters, clear evidence they weren't paying attention. Even the music and acting would be rated a 1 by some because "everything was annoying and cringe except Shi Oh."
About the music: it had K-pop songs because that was exactly what the drama needed.
The prequel focused more on the rom-com/CEO romance. Hee Sik and Nam Soon had great chemistry too; it was just different. There was the typical love triangle, a popular male lead who acted all cutesy, and a more conventional K-drama structure.
And while the girl was childlike there too, people complain about Nam Soon even though you actually see how she grew up and understand her personality. Then they complain about Hee Sik because he's "boring" ??? Which he's not, but with that I would never be their friends for sure.
The romance here was more mature, if anything. I loved his acting throughout the drama. He always improves, and I think he showed his range especially well here. I was glad he got a role in a big drama like this. It was popular in Korea too — JTBC is a paid channel, and it got high ratings.
Important contrast between the two: Bong Soon struggles to accept her strength and feels that her mother values her mainly because of it, while also believing her mother loves her brother more. Nam Soon, on the other hand, is openly proud of her strength and is immediately loved and welcomed by her family after being missing for so long — instead, her brother is the one who feels left out. He became a victim of the drug, but he was saved. Meanwhile, Hee Sik lost his brother in the past, then his team mate due to the drug and almost Nam Soon.
One last thing: the romance isn't bad simply because Hee Sik got attached to her quickly. He was hot-blooded, hardworking as a policeman, had a good heart, and I loved how they got entangled. Their relationship was so cute, especially how she found her dream thanks to him.
By the way, you can watch it without having seen the prequel, although Bong Soon and Min Hyuk do have a cameo, and Nam Soon is Bong Soon's distant cousin.
P.S. There was a Parasite and Nevertheless reference too, which was awesome.
On edit: Two things I've learned: there is a spin-off manhwa, Strong Girl Geum Ju (about Nam Soon's mother), and the drama actually surpassed Strong Girl Bong Soon in the TV ratings. Imagine calling it a flop when it was thriving on Netflix and on TV.
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