Strong Girl Nam-soon – K Drama Episode 11

Episode 11 of Strong Girl Nam-soon begins with Shi-oh asking Nam-soon to go out with him. When she rambles on uncertainly, he tells her that he isn’t going to push it. Nam-soon then gets a worrying phone call and tells him she needs to leave.

Hee-sik gets a text from Dong-seok, telling him to come to his place. By the time he arrives, the senior officer has collapsed. Hee-sik calls his team and tells them the team leader is dead. Hee-sik is crying over his body when he gets a second text that directs him to a brown notebook.

A flashback shows Dong-seok coming home and transferring some data onto a USB drive. While experiencing intense pain, he grabs a brown notebook and puts it on his shelf. At present, Hee-sik finds the USB drive inside the notebook along with handwritten notes.

Geum-ju bursts into the photo studio to check on her son. Distraught, she tells Bong-go that the weight loss pill was a narcotic. Nam-soon calls Hee-sik who tells her that Dong-seok passed away. The entire team is at Dong-seok’s funeral. Hee-sik advises Nam-soon to not give him any water for the next 24 hours. She also remembers that Hee-sik learnt there was an antidote.

At the hospital, Geum-ju questions giving Nam-in an IV drip. But the doctor says there’s nothing else that can help. Bong-go storms out in a rage and Nam-soon follows to take care of him.

They go to the police station where Nam-soon meets Ji-hyun, the policewoman she knows. They give her the bank account number linked to the weight loss pill and even though it’s illegal, Ji-hyun gives them the name assigned to the account — Jang Hang-seok.

Since fake accounts use homeless people’s names, Nam-soon calls Hyun-soo, who is now acting in dramas. She asks him to look for a homeless person named Hang-seok. Bong-go worries about getting the antidote and Nam-soon comforts him.

At the hospital, Nam-in wakes up and begs for water. He grows frantic. His veins pulse with strength and Geum-ju has to use all of hers to hold him down. He tells her that someone came to the cafe to give him the pill. Once he’s asleep, Geum-ju calls Na-young and tells her it is time.

An employee tells Shi-oh that his international shipment was received. He then mentions that Tsetseg hasn’t come to work. Elsewhere, a Russian person makes a phone call and tells the person on the other end that one item is missing from the Doogo shipment.

Na-young arrives at the hospital with a man in tow. Geum-ju tells them to get started. Meanwhile, Joong-gan meets Jun-hee, who is keeping Nam-in’s cafe running. He assures Joong-gan that he’s going to fight for their love.

Shi-oh tries calling Nam-soon but she doesn’t pick up the phone. He gets a call on another cell phone from someone named Beom. He learns about the missing item. The person’s threats don’t sit well with Shi-oh, who feels like they still treat him as the ten-year-old Anton he used to be.

A flashback shows the two young boys running through the woods. Binbin falls down and tells Anton to go on his own. Anton offers a hand, pulls him up and tells him they will get their revenge together. At present, Shi-oh calls Mr Yang and tells him about the mess up. He also orders him to send the truck driver up for a meeting.

Hee-sik and his team mourn their leader. They realise that he met with the drug dealer to collect evidence. As they discuss it, Hee-sik suddenly gets up and leaves.

Shi-oh meets the truck driver and beats him with a golf club till he reveals how the item went missing. He remembers his truck being stopped by a woman who needed help. Shi-oh has Kyle take the driver away and tells him to get the truck’s dashcam footage. He then calls Nam-soon and leaves a message saying he’s worried about her.

While looking for the homeless man named Hang-seok, Nam-soon tells her father what she’s really been up to. He gets angry that she’s doing a dangerous job. Hyun-soo then calls Nam-soon and tells her he found Jang Hang-seok.

Na-young and the man who previously accompanied her begin a broadcast on Geumju TV.  The man is a reporter named Kim Gi-dae and together, they reveal that a synthetic drug has been introduced in society. Meanwhile, Hee-sik storms into The Heritage Club and arrests Shin Gang-su, the man with the scarred face.

Hyun-soo meets Nam-soon and her father and helps them meet Hang-seok. He reveals that a woman in red heels gave him money to open the accounts. He also hands over her phone number.

We see the woman herself arguing with a woman, whose daughter took the diet pill. The woman demands 100 million won from the mother for the antidote.

At the hospital, the doctor says the lack of water is killing Nam-in and his blood tests show a negative result for the drugs. Nam-soon calls Geum-ju and tells her to call the woman, Red Heels, from Nam-in’s phone. Geum-ju begins to do so but Madam Kim calls Red Heels just in time and warns her to stay off the grid. So, she doesn’t pick up Nam-in’s phone.

Madam Kim then storms into Shi-oh’s office and tells him that Gang-su has been arrested by none other than the man who accompanied Geum-ju, Jamie Choi. Shi-oh tells her not to worry and orders her to send Sun-bae to Gang-su’s mother. He’s going to use Gang-su’s mother as leverage and ensure he dies before he can tell the police anything.  

Hee-sik interrogates Gang-su, claiming to have enough evidence left by Dong-seok.

Bong-go takes Nam-soon to a restaurant and makes her eat some food but doesn’t eat anything himself. Nam-soon assures Bong-go that Nam-in will be alright. Bong-go believes that Geum-ju will put her pursuit of justice over her son’s health and won’t buy the antidote.

Geum-ju keeps calling Red Heels. She then sends a text offering the woman 1 billion won in cash for the antidote. It works and the woman asks where they should meet. Geum-ju tells her to come to the cafe.

Meanwhile, Bread Song meets with a woman. She asks if he’s got the money and Song says he has. He then asks her for a favour regarding Geum-ju.

Red Heels turns up at the cafe, where Geum-ju is waiting with a suitcase full of cash. She hands Geum-ju a small case and tells her to mix it with water before administering it. Geum-ju rushes back to the hospital and pours two blue vials from the case into a bottle of water.

Shi-oh learns about Hee-sik and his position in the police force.

Nam-soon and Bong-go arrive at the hospital to see Nam-in drinking the blue liquid. Nam-soon recalls Shi-oh drinking the same liquid. Nam-in recovers almost immediately. They share tearful hugs and Geum-ju apologises for pushing Nam-in for losing weight. Bong-go reluctantly tells Geum-ju she did well.

Hee-sik meets his boss, a senior officer at the police station, and shows him the warrant for Gang-su. He then claims that he will be going after Doogo and Shi-oh. The CEO himself takes a small taste of the drug and his veins pulse blue while his pupils dilate.

Geum-ju meets with the Opulentia man and tells him that Shi-oh’s end game is selling the antidote. He, in turn, informs Geum-ju that Nozh, the man from the Russian mafia group Pavel, has entered Korea.

Hee-sik gets a sudden phone call informing him that Gang-su is dead at the end of Strong Girl Nam-soon episode 11.

The Episode Review

Strong Girl Nam-soon episode 11 takes the intensity and thrill up by several notches and it actually works. The gravity of the situation makes the characters take action and not just idle by, which is a welcome change. So far, it felt like they were scoping out Doogo and investigating the threat but not doing anything about it. The definitive action in this episode makes things a lot more interesting.

Dong-seok’s death is made even more tragic when we find out that he was collecting evidence the entire time. Nam-in being on the brink of death is also heartwrenching since he’s such an innocent character. It is nice to see Geum-ju show some motherly love for her son as well, although her redemption for fat-shaming him comes too easily.

Shi-oh’s backstory is the most intriguing thing about him. I am hoping his past ignites enough sympathy to make him a complex character, rather than just a villain. His pursuit of Nam-soon feels slightly awkward in the midst of his Russian gangster energy, but this will probably be more significant in future episodes.