Decent but lacking in many ways

Strong Woman Do Bongsoon is one of my favorite dramas, so I was really excited when they announced Strong Girl Gang Namsoon. Unfortunately, they did not really deliver with this follow-up series.

For one thing, why is it called Strong Girl Gang Namsoon when for a majority of the show it feels like her mother, Hwang Geumju, is the protagonist? While I liked that we got three different storylines with three different generations, I often felt they preferred Geumju over Namsoon for the main story.

Namsoon was incredibly irritating to me for half of the show too. She was so headstrong and never thought before she acted, but there was rarely a consequence to her actions. It was annoying to just see her doing what she wanted with no repercussions despite being constantly warned. She felt very much like a Mary Sue.

I hated the storyline with Bread Song. It felt so disconnected and annoying for the entire show and for it to lead up to a cliffhanger in the final episode was even more irritating.

The only good thing about this show was Ryu Sio, played by Byeon Wooseok. His character’s backstory was incredibly interesting and made him very sympathetic to me. I kept hoping there would be a bigger evil that would give him a chance to become a hero, but it didn’t happen. I was disappointed especially in the way that his character ended and finding out that Binbin, his only friend, was alive and still evil.

The romantic bits between Namsoon and Heeshik were cute, but it felt like they instantly fell in love within 3-4 episodes and no time was spent directly developing their relationship. While it worked for me, it was not the strongest. Also, why did they never come back around to the fact he got hit in the head with her horse’s bell?

I really am disappointed that the show ended by setting up for another one. It left too many loose ends, which is not something I’m used to with k-drama. I’m blaming it’s rising popularity in the West that’s leading to things being done in parts or seasons instead of just finishing up a show in one go like they used to.

Overall, this series is quite funny and had some great storytelling, but had too many plotlines going on that made it convoluted and silly. The final episode feels like a speed run to tie up loose ends and also set up a follow-up series which left me feeling disappointed. Aside from the name and concept, this show is really nothing like Strong Woman Do Bongsoon and it barely deserves to be considered related to it. If you are a fan of the original series, you really won’t miss anything if you skip this one.

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