'Strong Girl Nam-soon' flips the narrative of boy-saves-girl

“Strong Girl Nam-soon,” a drama series on JTBC, revolves around three generations of women born with superhuman strength. The first episode was broadcast on Oct. 7. Since then, it has earned an average national viewership rating of 9.8 percent.

The drama series “Strong Girl Nam-soon” on JTBC revolves around three generations of women born with superhuman strength and how they delve into the case of drug crimes. [JTBC]

A wrestling competition is ongoing in the middle of the grasslands in Mongolia. Amid muscular, well-built male wrestlers, a five-year-old girl shows up. With an innocent smile, the girl single-handedly lifts a man, who won the wrestling championship, and tosses him to the side.

This is a scene from “Strong Girl Nam-soon,” a drama series ongoing on JTBC. The drama revolves around three generations of women born with superhuman strength.

The first episode was broadcast on Oct. 7. Since then, it has earned an average national viewership rating of 9.8 percent after only four episodes — and that number rises to 10.5 percent when only looking at metropolitan areas.

The drama recently garnered attention after famed model and celebrity Naomi Campbell revealed that she is a big fan of the drama.

“Strong Girl Nam-soon” is a spinoff of the 2017 drama series “Strong Girl Bong-soon.”

Actor Park Bo-young and actor Park Hyung-sik, who paired up in the 2017 drama series, both made cameo appearances in the spinoff.

With three heroines at the forefront, the overall scale of the new drama series has grown compared to the previous one.

“The story shows us how three women agonize over using their powers for a good cause,” drama critic Gong Hee-jeong said. “It is a pretty well-balanced story in that it delivers a serious message about how those who have money or power should live by featuring special characters in a lighthearted way,” Gong added.

The three generations of women roll up their sleeves to tackle some absurdities and problems that laws and institutions don't solve.

One of the three ladies is Gang Nam-soon, who grew up in Mongolia apart from her biological family when she was young, but has since reunited with her family as an adult. She rescues a child at the scene of a fire while others wait for firefighters to come.

Actor Lee Yoo-mi, who has been playing strong and quirky characters in her previous works such as the 2018 film “Park Hwa-young” and Netflix original series “Squid Game” (2021), this time plays a lovable and cheerful girl, Gang.

Gang’s mother Hwang Geum-joo, who accumulated wealth by running a hangover soup joint, punishes a con man and another person who is involved in sexual harassment. Gil Joong-gan, the mother of Hwang and grandmother of Gang, serves justice to a young man who ignores the elderly and voice phishing scammers.

Actor Kim Jung-eun plays the role of Hwang Geum-joo, who runs a pawn shop in Gangnam District, southern Seoul. [JTBC]

Since the supernatural powers are only inherited by women, the main characters strive to conceive a daughter. They are also depicted as being proactive and in charge of family finances. These are designed to contrast conventional stories based on the patriarchy.

Actor Kim Jung-eun, who plays Hwang, said during a press event before the airing of the series, “The story of women overpowering everything with their powers relieved the feeling of frustration I had deep in mind as a woman. I even felt catharsis at some point.”

Another virtue of the story is that it delves into other subgenres, from family to love.

Writer Baek Mi-kyung said, “There are many stories featuring heroes, but not many of them allocate much time to address the stories of the heroes’ families.”

In the first four episodes, the drama series shows how Gang got lost in Mongolia when she was five after she went on a trip with her father, and how she journeyed back to Korea in search of her family after 20 years.

The character of Gil adds yet another layer to this heroic saga. Clad in flamboyant outfits, the older woman drives a convertible car and dreams of finding love even in her 60s.

“Most heroic dramas tend to focus on stories of young people. It’s the first time I've seen an older female hero [on the screen],” said Kim Hae-sook, who plays the role, during the press event. “I was drawn to this character. Through this character, the story portrays the relationship and love of the elderly. In addition to that, she’s not just somebody’s mother or grandmother, but she is willing to find her own identity,” Kim added.

Actor Kim Hae-sook plays the role of Gil Joong-gan, Hwang's mother who also has supernatural strength. [JTBC]

Now that the drama series is halfway through its 16 episodes, the story is focused on dealing with drug crimes.

To address this issue, Gang sneaks into a warehouse to help her secret admirer, Gang Hee-sik, who's a detective working on a drug investigation team.

BY EO HWAN-HEE [kjdculture@joongang.co.kr]