New K-drama Alert: Strong Woman Do Bong Soon Review

Finally, a new show I'm actually excited about! It feels like we've been in the mediocre drama doldrums for way too long, but here comes Strong Woman Do Bong Soon with a winning cast and charming characters. Will it break my recent K-drama curse? Let's review it!




What it's about: Petite Do Bong Soon (Park Bo Young) hides a secret: all of the women in her family boast superhuman strength. She ends up working as a bodyguard for video game CEO Ahn Min Hyuk (Park Hyung Sik), while she harbors a crush for her childhood friend, police officer In Gook Doo (Ji Soo).

Episodes watched: 2

First impressions: Count me in for this one. From the get-go, the lead trio is made up of just my kind of mix of quirky and lovable. I already love Do Bong Soon for her mixture of fire and adorable (something Park Bo Young always manages to pull off without seeming like a typical Candy heroine). Add in a gruff Ji Soo (the best kind of Ji Soo), and I'm already set up to enjoy the show.

I haven't seen Park Hyung Sik in much (sorry, but I couldn't bring myself to watch Hwarang), but as soon as his character said "oh, how sexy" to the female lead's strength (be still, my heart!), I figured he would probably turn out better than 99% of K-drama male leads. I also really like the oddball chemistry between Min Hyuk and Bong Soon—they already seem comfortable around each other, which is a great way to springboard into romance.

Look how close they're standing to each other! And it's not even episode 7! 

Am I 100% in love with everything? No. First of all, Bong Soon's strength is a little on the slapstick and cartoonish side for my tastes, and I wish they had toned it down. There have also been some weird editing decisions in the first couple of episodes that also felt sloppy and jarring.

My biggest concern, though, is the whole creepy-no-face-villain-murder-dungeon thing they have going on on the side. As soon as he showed up, I noped my way right out of that scene as quickly as my fast forward button would carry me. Not only is it horrifying as all get-out, but the tone of those scenes doesn't match anything going on in any of the rest of the show at all.

I was going to post a screencap of the villain, but then I thought "Nah. Ji Soo instead."

Honestly, I would be thrilled if the writer just axed the whole kidnapper side story, had No-Face fall down a well, and spent the next 14 episodes on a charming love triangle. Give me some interesting gender role reversals (and please no more 3-way wrist grabs) and some mistaken gay identity hijinks, and I will be completely satisfied.

What do you think of this series so far?