Strong Girl Nam-soon – K Drama Episode 6

Episode 6 of Strong Girl Nam-soon starts with the narration of the origin to Nam-soon’s family’s power. Apparently the first woman to have such strength was in 1593 and she passed it down to all her daughters to the present day. Another important point to note is that this strength becomes most active at the age of 22 when it is traditional for the women to find a partner and get married. Nam-soon has just turned 22!

We then shift back to the scene with Geum-ju and Hee-sik, where the former is informing the latter of her suspicions about CEO Ryu Shi-oh. When Hee-siks hows concern for Nam-soon, Geum-ju jumps the gun and asks if Hee-sik likes her. Hee-sik does his best to deny it. When he tries to return the money she gave him, she tells him to spend it on the drug investigation instead.

At the Doogo warehouse, Nam-soon tells Hwa-ja that she and her mother can forgive her once but not twice.

Shi-oh is delighted looking at the video of Nam-soon working at Doogo. He tells his assistant to call the logistics manager, Nam-soon’s direct superior. Nam-soon is chatting with him at the moment. When he pulls something in his back and shouts in pain, Nam-soon helps fix it.

The manager is called to Shi-oh’s office where the latter subtly orders him to spy on Nam-soon and send videos of her to him. Shi-oh even promises him a promotion.

Meanwhile, Hyun-soo and Son-saeng are enjoying a meal at a fancy restaurant. They get a call from Nam-soon who asks Hyun-soo to help her with the deliveries at Doogo.

At Doogo, Nam-soon saves an employee’s life when his clothes get stuck in the conveyor belt. At the same time, Hwa-ja gets a talking to from the manager for being rude to a customer. He brushed it off when she says the customer grabbed her backside.

Geum-ju comes home and announces that it’s exercise day for the family. Joong-gan and she ace it but Geum-dong and Nam-in struggle. Geum-dong then points out to Geum-ju that her son hasn’t initiated a conversation with her for five years. Nam-in confesses that it’s because she sent him a text comparing him to a pig. Geum-ju shows no remorse and tells him to lose weight.

An upset Nam-in visits Bong-go and they eat to their fill. They talk about Nam-soon and Bong-go calls her to set a date for them to have dinner together. Nam-soon is on her way to her part-time job at the time. The news surprises Bong-go who assumes Geum-ju is making her work.

They move on to the subject of Nam-in, who claims he can’t lose the weight no matter what he does. And since everyone makes fun of him anyway, food is the only thing that makes him happy.

Joong-gan speaks to the detectives but is told that Jun-hee’s scammer can only be caught in six months or so. Jun-hee offers to buy Joong-gan lunch for all her help.

At her workplace, Geum-ju gets a notice to change the name of her company Gold Blue since it’s the same as that of a company in the US. She then learns that a lot of women in Gangnam have been borrowing cash to invest elsewhere. She realises this is connected with Bread Song. As if by fate, she then gets a call about her next appointment with Bread Song.

We see the man himself in his office with a woman. He shamelessly flirts while giving her advice and agrees to meet her outside the office as well. The woman leaves his office and meets Geum-ju who is waiting outside. She tells Geum-ju how much money Song helped her make.

It’s now Geum-ju’s turn to go inside. Bread Song turns the flirting on her but his demeanour abruptly switches when she calls him out for being a scammer. He vehemently denies and tells her to leave. Before leaving, Geum-ju gives Song’s assistant her number. They’ve been playing a certain numbers game and she’d like to continue.

She gets in her car and gets a message about the next meeting for the Heritage Club. She accepts and also sets up a private meeting with Shi-oh.

Hee-sik and Dong-seok tell their captain about the discovery of water making drug more potent. Dong-seok keeps looking at the glass of water on the table and collapses just as they are about to leave.

Shi-oh enters a room filled with a group of influential people. He tells them he’s taking Doogo international and hopes to have their support. Hee-sik calls Young-tak and tells him Dong-seok is in a bad state. He’s about to take him to the hospital when Dong-seok tells him not to. He could lose his career over this so he asks Hee-sik to help him deal with it quietly, so Hee-sik takes him home instead.

One of Shi-oh’s men enters the room, after everyone else has gone, and shows him a case with ten vials of blue liquid.

Dong-seok keeps asking for water and Hee-sik handcuffs him to his bed to stop him from moving. Young-tak comes over and Hee-sik tells him the team leader was using a mask from the evidence as his drug source. A piece of it was torn off when Hee-sik found it.

Shi-oh’s assistant tells him about Geum-ju’s wish for a private meeting. He tells her to set it up.

Nam-soon gets off work and calls Hee-sik, who tells her he won’t be able to meet her. Nam-soon is confident she can search the warehouse on her own. Once she keeps the phone down, she gets distracted by a nearby food stall.

Hee-sik is going through the drug case details when Dong-seok wakes up. He hallucinates and suddenly breaks the handcuffs off. His eyes turn red as he attacks Hee-sik but Nam-soon arrives in time to save him. Together, they manage to control Dong-seok till he passes out but it’s obvious his strength was far above his normal level.

Hee-sik tells Nam-soon to look for anything white in the Doogo warehouse. He asks if she has anyone who can accompany her. She does indeed, as we see Nam-soon meet with Hyun-soo and Son-saeng, literally carrying them on her back on the way to Doogo.

Geum-ju asks Na-young to convey to Opulentia that she’s looking for information about Shi-oh and the source of his money. Na-young informs Geum-ju that Joong-gan plans to stay outside overnight which comes as a shock to Geum-ju. Joong-gan is definitely enjoying as she sings with Jun-hee at a karaoke bar.

Nam-soon and Hyun-soo search for white objects inside the warehouse while Son-saeng keeps watch outside. She clearly doesn’t do a good job since Nam-soon’s manager catches her almost immediately. But she passes it off as having stopped here to use the restroom. The manager searches inside the warehouse as well but the Nam-soon and Hyun-soo manage to hide. They come out of their hiding spot thinking it’s all clear but the manager turns up again. Nam-soon is surprised and accidentally sends him flying.

After their date, Jun-hee drives Joong-gan and himself to a hotel. She gets angry when she realises he only wants to use the restroom and carries him inside the hotel instead.

Na-young enters Geum-dong’s room and gives him a drink and they discuss his work on a web novel. He’s writing a romance novel but she doesn’t seem impressed. Nam-soon and Hyun-soo collect all the white objects in Nam-soon’s handmade cart and run off. 

Hwa-ja drinks on her own and thinks about the few moments she shared with Geum-ju. The detectives find Nam-soon’s filled cart right outside their doorstep.

Meanwhile, her manager is stuck in one of the warehouse’s highest shelves.Dong-seok finally seems back in his senses, so Hee-sik lets him loose. Dong-seok admits his hallucinations and confesses he felt strong in that moment.

In Shi-oh’s secret lab, the scientist says that the drug cannot be taken without an antidote as it would be self-destructive. Shi-oh says that becoming a stronger version of yourself is worth paying the price of death. The scientist continues, saying that the drug destroys the organs controlling the hormones and the only way to survive is having sea hare’s blood — the blue liquid Shi-oh keeps having. The scientist says he’ll need more sea hares soon.

Shi-oh’s assistant enters and Shi-oh beats him up for letting the police learn what he looks like.

Hee-sik tells Dong-seok to stay away from water for one more day. He agrees and tells Hee-sik he can manage being alone in the apartment.

Son-saeng and Hyun-soo wonder why Nam-soon was stealing all those things. Then they discuss leaving the hotel so as to not inconvenience Geum-ju anymore. But when Son-saeng suggests getting a place together, Hyun-soo makes it clear he wants to live separately.

Joong-gan comes home after her night out to face an angry Geum-ju. The latter tells her mother to get divorced before she jumps into another relationship. Joong-gan says that being old shouldn’t be a reason for her to not fall in love. She accuses Geum-ju of having a plastic heart.

Nam-soon wakes up to texts from Hee-sik thanking her for her help. At breakfast, Nam-soon tells Geum-ju that she will be having dinner with her father. Just as Geum-ju is talking about Nam-soon’s strength being put to use, Nam-in bursts out in anger. He says he’s going to move in with his father and accuses Geum-ju of loving Nam-soon more than him.

Later, while sitting in her office, Geum-ju calls Na-young and tells her to organise a party at her hotel. Hee-sik turns up at Doogo, giving Nam-soon a surprise. She admits she missed him even though she saw him yesterday.

Hwa-ja sees them talking to each other; Geum-ju is dressed to the nines and looking in the mirror when she gets a phone call. Joong-gan is on her way out when she bumps into the driver she had an altercation with. He seems dazed and is drinking a bottle of water.

Nam-in is in his cafe when a pretty woman walks in. Her boyfriend walks in soon after and complains about Nam-in staring at her. Thinking about the previous woman’s comments, Nam-in ingests the tablet she gave him.

Meanwhile, Dong-seok’s state grows worse as he starts looking for water in the apartment. He ends up staring at the only liquid available, the water in the toilet.

The logistics manager takes out a phone that he had hidden in the warehouse and finds he’s caught Nam-soon and Hyun-soo stealing goods from there. Geum-ju arrives for her meeting with Shi-oh. However, Hwa-ja runs up to an unaware Nam-soon, knife in hand, and attacks her. Hee-sik calls out but he’s too late.

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The Episode Review

These episodes are in general longer and slower than they need to be but that said, there is still quite a bit to enjoy here. Episode 6 gives us more of an explanation of how the drug works and a thrilling segment as Dong-seok struggles against his thirst for water. Hee-sik and Nam-soon’s dynamic keeps becoming more endearing and it’s becoming a pleasure to have them on screen.

Geum-ju and Joon-gan don’t quite have that effect yet and Byeon Woo-seok’s portrayal of Shi-oh feels a bit one-note, but there is time yet for these characters to grow. 

The story about Nam-in is dangerously close to being problematic, but this is one of those storylines where you can’t know until much later. A lot depends on the trajectory of the tale and whether Nam-in is forced to lose weight or rather find acceptance.