Strong Girl Nam-soon – K Drama Episode 2

Episode 2 opens with an incredible show of strength as Nam-soon drags the plane to a stop. Back home, Joong-gan rushes to Geum-ju and asks her if she or Hwa-ja used their powers. Geum-ju says no.

At the airport, Nam-soon has to undergo a bag check for the drug investigation. The policeman from earlier, Hee-sik, confiscates a bunch of stuff from her including the hair and bone of her horse and a golden staff. Nam-soon doesn’t let go of the staff since she needs it to find her mother. Hee-sik promises to help find her mother in return and she lets him take it.

Nam-soon does go to Gangnam as intended and is overjoyed. With the money her Mongolian parents gave her, Nam-soon rents an apartment for three months.

Geum-ju tells her secretary, Na-young, that women in the family can sense when one of them uses a lot of their power. She orders Na-young to tail Hwa-ja.

Standing on a bridge, Nam-soon uses her super-sight to look at people in the city. She shouts into the sky that she’s going to find her parents no matter what.

At the forensic department, Hee-sik finds that Nam-soon’s things are just as she said so; the staff is pure gold. He then gets a call about the woman on the bike who beat up the drug dealers — Geum-ju.

Geum-ju tries getting in touch with Ms. Park, the woman who took the drugs. By the time she reaches her apartment, the woman has jumped out the window. Later on, two detectives discuss how the woman jumped due to her hallucinations and it wasn’t suicide. However, no drugs were detected.

Geum-ju goes back to her office where her employee asks about Ms Park’s death. She describes how she started her vigilante business in order to attract good karma for Nam-soon but now she needs to see it through to the end.

Hee-sik tries to call Nam-soon but can’t get through. Strangers turn up to Nam-soon’s fancy apartment and she realises she’s been conned. The fake ‘real estate agent’ took not only her money but also her phone and passport.

Back at home, Hwa-ja sneaks into Geum-ju’s secret room. The secretary catches her and warns not to show up again. Hwa-ja eyes the large safe and learns that it only opens with Geum-ju’s fingerprint.  

Nam-soon walks around the city, disappointed, but not for long. She reaches a park near the Han River and mistakes people’s camping tents for permanent occupation. By grabbing miscellaneous materials from around the place, she builds herself a tent that resembles a Mongolian ger.

Hee-sik goes to meet his colleague, Young-tak, who is getting his portrait taken at Bong-go’s photo studio. While waiting, he sees photos of a young Nam-soon but just misses spotting the one where she’s holding the golden staff. He gets called back to the station and Bong-go gives him a discount coupon before he leaves.

Nam-soon registers a complaint about the theft at the police station. She tries to find out about Hee-sik but gets his name wrong, calling him Can I-sik.

At the police station, the detectives discuss how the tip about the drugs from Mongolia was wrong.

We then see Hee-sik in disguise as a woman with Young-tak pretending to be his husband. Hee-sik follows a woman holding a baby into the baby changing room and sees her leave a bottle of baby formula (which isn’t really baby formula). He catches her and follows her to the parking lot where her contact is waiting. The man tries to drive away but they catch him.

Nam-soon heads back into her new home to find that a pair of ‘bohemians’ have made it their home as well. She ends up offering to make them another ger. They take her to a place that offers free meals.

Hee-sik leaves a voicemail for Nam-soon. He then questions the man they arrested, Mr Sang, who claims to not know anything about the drug distributors. When he checks his phone, Hee-sik grabs it and gives it to another officer to look for more evidence.

In a lab, a man shows off a new synthetic drug to another man in a suit. He says it should be taken through the ear to avoid being found in the bloodstream and is more powerful than most drugs.

Hee-sik comes across the policewoman who took Nam-soon’s statement and realises what’s happened to her. He asks her to call him if Nam-soon comes by again.

The bohemian couple are ecstatic when Nam-soon builds them a ger. A bunch of other men and women begin protesting the presence of the gers purely because of their disdain for homeless people. When they try to forcibly take the gers down, Nam-soon fights them off. The police soon get involved and everybody ends up at the police station. There, Nam-soon breaks down into tears as she realises that people aren’t so nice after all. Just as she’s on the brink of despair, Hee-sik turns up.

They sit next to each other outside and Hee-sik returns Nam-soon’s staff. When she asks if he’s really going to help find her mother, he says he is.

Meanwhile, Hwa-ja is having drinks with a bunch of men and gloating about how much she stole (and plans to steal) from Geum-ju. Through a bug, Geum-ju’s secretary Na-young listens to everything.

Hee-sik convinces Nam-soon to take some of his money and live in a proper room instead of her ger. He even gives her the photo studio coupon Bong-go gave  so she can get a picture for her new passport. When she asks where he lives, he points or the top floor of a nearby building.

Back at the police station, when a senior officer demands that the gers be removed, Hee-sik says what Nam-soon told him — that the police should focus on protecting citizens’ rights instead of kicking out the homeless.

At home, he calls his colleague and asks for a list of girls who went missing in Mongolia. Afterwards, he puts on music and dances in his underwear. Unbeknownst to him, Nam-soon uses her super-sight to see exactly what he’s up to and has a good laugh. In the morning, Nam-soon goes off to breakfast with the bohemian couple.

Meanwhile, Gil Joong-gan steps out to get into her car but finds it blocked by another one. When she calls the parked car’s owner, he’s rude and insults her. She moves the car with one hand but then decides to take it a step further. When the owner comes by later, he finds his car upside down.

Geum-ju is choosing earrings for her outfit when her secretary informs her that The Heritage Club, where she is headed, has a dress code. They discuss Hwa-ja and Geum-ju seems upset to hear the confirmation that she isn’t her daughter. But Geum-ju is sure her real daughter is in Korea, somewhere nearby. On her way out of the house, Hwa-ja asks if she can call some friends over and Geum-ju agrees.

Hee-sik goes to meet Nam-soon and gives her a phone she can use. She reveals she saw him dancing in neon undies, startling Hee-sik.

Geum-ju enters the Heritage Club as its newest member while wearing tennis shoes with an evening gown. In her toast, she says she wants a world where everyone can have money. She takes her leave and heads to a different part of the building. She’s about to enter a room with a wooden door when someone taps her shoulder. The man hands her a business card and tells her to go there if she really wants to change the world.

Nam-soon is looking for job listings when Hee-sik calls and reminds her to get her photo taken. Nam-soon heads to Bong-go’s photo studio but he’s just closing the shop. When he takes a look at her face, something stops him.

Elsewhere, in a lab, Ryu Shi-oh tests the new drug by putting it inside his ear.

The Episode Review

Episode 2 feels like the show is really finding its feet and settling into a groove. There is a good mix of casual humour, sweet romance and dark mystery here. It’s not only a great way to keep things interesting but also so reminiscent of the charm that made Strong Girl Bong-soon a huge success. The pace of this episode was a lot better than the previous one too. 

Not only do we see more of Hee-sik as a detective but we also see different shades of Nam-soon’s character. Geum-ju’s determination to make a better world has also been established well — this is important seeing as the drug war is going to be a key conflict in the series. All in all, I am glad the show is letting us get to know the characters quite well before diving into the drug conflict.