In my ever-growing exploration of TV shows outside of Hollywood, South Korea has become my go-to place when I want to experience something new. Because shows like Squid Game were a mere taste of what this country has to offer when it comes to drama, romance, action, and sci-fi. That’s where Strong Girl Nam-soon comes in.
This series tells the story of Nam-soon. She is a young woman gifted with superhuman strength who mysteriously ended up being separated from her family when she was a kid. Now she’s returning to South Korea to look for her birth family. Along the way, she ends up making new friends and romantic connections. Oh yeah, she also ends up in a drug case that “could test her power and strength.”
And I’ve got 5 reasons why you should be watching Strong Girl Nam-soon asap!
1. Leading lady and familiar face Lee Yoo-mi
The range that this actress has is unparalleled. I cried over her character in Squid Game. And I absolutely loathed her character in All of Us Are Death. In Strong Girl Nam-soon it’s a completely different thing because I love her character Nam-soon’s personality, journey, and how self-aware yet blunt she is with everyone in her life. This actress is absolutely one of the best so far that I’ve come across in South Korean TV.
2. Kim Jung-Eun being an absolute dreamboat
While Lee Yoo-mi is the lead of the show, Kim Jung-Eun is the one who owns my heart. She plays the leads mother Geum-Ju. And she’s another strong and superpowered woman like her daughter. Expect her to look absolutely fabulous in every outfit, have crime-fighting adventures in leather, delight children with her powers, and have chemistry with everyone. She literally made me swoon and then kick my legs in the air because she’s a dreamboat I wish would swoop me up in her arms and protect me from the world.
3. Strong women, need I say more?
It’s not just Nam-soon and Geum-Ju that are powerful in this series. So is the grandmother Gil Joong-Gan played by Kim Hae-Sook. It’s a generation of superpowered women. And they don’t shy away from it. In fact, they lean into it like it’s just an everyday occurrence. In the hands of Western media, a show like this would lead to them being experimented by some shadowy organization. But so far, people just gawk at the strength displayed by these women and keep moving like it’s normal.
4. The feels are strong in this one
Strong Girl Nam-soon has a strong emotional core centered around family. And at one point you even feel bad for the people on the outside of this family dynamic because you can see that family is something that they also want but have never been able to find. But this isn’t the only place that you will get feels while watching this show. The connections that Nam-soon makes along the way, whether platonic or romantic, have power behind them and show that people just want to connect and be seen. And Nam-soon, she sees them.
5. It’s a spin-off to Strong Girl Bong-soon
The most surprising bit of this series, as someone who has only recently started watching K-dramas, is that this show is a spin-off to the 2017 show Strong Girl Bong-soon. It tells the story of a woman born with superhuman strength who is hired as a personal bodyguard. There are plenty of laughs, romance, and the lead just being an unapologetic baddie who will show bullies and criminals alike what she’s really made of.
Watch the trailer for Strong Girl Nam-soon below:
Strong Girl Nam-soon drops new episodes on Saturday and Sunday on Netflix.
