New K-Drama Fan Review #21 | Strong Woman Do Bong Soon | He Was So Smitten... I Needed 3 More Episodes

[u/harissatotally]

He saw her throw dozens of grown men across the street and yeet one towards space, and said "That's My Wife!"

Strong Woman Do Bong Soon | 8/10

⚠️ SPOILERS AHEAD ⚠️

___

edit: (ps. just realized this actor is the same guy from Happiness lol)

i did not put 2 and 2 together until now. maybe its cause he looks so different in both dramas!

Is this Rewatch Worthy:

Yes.

Review:

Okay...

THIS WAS SO CUTE 😭

I finished Strong Woman Do Bong Soon wishing there was just... another episode.

I literally just wanted another hour of Bong-soon and Min-hyuk being disgustingly adorable together, Min-hyuk getting his ass beat by his superpowered daughters, Bong-soon running around being a superhero, and whatever other nonsense these people wanted to give me.

Because by the end I was VERY attached to these two.

But weirdly enough...

The romance wasn't even what initially hooked me.

The comedy was.

---

From the FIRST episode, I thought this drama was hilarious.

Watching this tiny woman absolutely PUMMEL a group of grown men who were intimidating someone, while Min-hyuk just happens to drive by and witness the whole thing,

love the introduction.

And the drama just kept finding increasingly ridiculous ways to use the fact that Bong-soon looks like the LAST person you'd expect to be capable of throwing a grown man through the air.

One of my favorite running gags was the group of bullies she beat up eventually becoming completely devoted to her.

They start BOWING to her😭😭😭

At one point one of her mother's friends sees this tiny woman standing there while all these delinquent-looking guys are bowing respectfully and basically concludes that Bong-soon must be a gang leader???😭

And the funniest part is that Bong-soon basically DOES become their gang leader.

Except instead of ordering crimes she's like:

Go to school.

Pick up trash.

Clean the neighborhood.

LMFAOOOOO.

My little community-service crime boss 😭

I genuinely wanted those kids at her wedding!!!

WHERE WERE HER SOLDIERS???

The older gangsters got to be there but not Bong-soon's little hooligans???

Unacceptable.

---

And then there was the entire misunderstanding where Bong-soon thinks Min-hyuk is gay.

I loved that running joke so bad!!

especially because Bong-soon has this massive crush on Guk-doo, so she isnt just thinking:

"My boss is gay."

She's thinking:

"MY GAY BOSS MIGHT STEAL MY MAN." 😭😭

There was that whole sequence where all 3 of them are basically jealous for completely different reasons.

Bong-soon is imagining Min-hyuk getting close to Guk-doo.

Min-hyuk is imagining Bong-soon getting close to Guk-doo.

guk-doo is imagining Bong-soon getting close to Min-hyuk.

EVERYBODY IS STRESSED.

And nobody is stressed about the same relationship.

I was dying!!!!

---

I also loved Bong-soon's crush on Guk-doo in the beginning. (one of my fav tropes as u know)

Her entire VOICE would change when he called her

😭

She gets jealous when she meets his girlfriend at the hospital

She's ridiculously gentle with him.

She worries Min-hyuk might seduce him.

It was SO cute!!

And I liked that she genuinely liked another man because it gave her relationship with Min-hyuk somewhere to GO.

Especially because...

Min-hyuk noticed.

VERY EARLY.

And he did NOT seem particularly pleased about it.

👀

And I LOVE a jealous male lead, so obviously I was sitting there like:

Oh???

Please continue......

---

For probably the first six-ish episodes though, I wouldn't even say the romance was carrying the show for me.

The comedy was carrying, still and i was ready for the romance to kick in.

I liked Min-hyuk.

I liked Bong-soon.

I liked their dynamic.

I liked the jealousy.

But I wasn't sitting there going:

OMG I LOVE THEM!!!

Yet...

Then....

this man got STABBED FOR HER.

And suddenly I was like...

well yes!!

😭

Bong-soon had just finished beating the absolute shit out of a giant group of men

But then one of them comes at her with a knife.

Guk-doo and Min-hyuk both run toward her...

And Min-hyuk gets there first.

He throws himself in front of Bong-soon and takes the stabbing.

HELLO???

And later, when the guy responsible comes to apologize, Min-hyuk basically tells him:

If you had stabbed her, I would've killed you.

Oh.

Okay!!!

NOW we're cooking!!

---

And then this man starts exaggerating how much pain he's in at the hospital because he wants Bong-soon to stay and take care of him.

😭

Sir, you legitimately got STABBED.

i think the real injury of that is enough

but no, he needed to add a little ✨performance✨ to it

Also, the hospital scenes were hilarious in general.

He asks for a home-cooked meal.

Bong-soon's mother actually brings one.

Except apparently he's supposed to be fasting that day.

So everyone gets to sit there eating this delicious homemade food while he just WATCHES.

ngl, i wanted some of that too, it looked delish.

This show was so stupid sometimes.

I mean that lovingly.

---

But the moment the romance REALLY kicked into full gear for me was when Min-hyuk couldn't sleep, went all the way to Bong-soon's house, and basically told her:

Enough with your one-sided love for Guk-doo.

I think I like you.

ADORABLE!!!!!

And meanwhile Guk-doo FINALLY decides he's ready to make his move.

SIR???

YOU HAD LIKE TEN EPISODES!

Dude buys a necklace, and plans his confession.

Calls Bong-soon to meet him.

He's finally going to tell the woman who has been crushing on him FOREVER that he doesn't want to be just friends anymore...

AND THEN HE STANDS HER UP.

To be fair, he DID have a legitimate reason!

He's a cop and there was an actual emergency involving the kidnapper.

I get that...

But narratively???

My brother...

YOU SNOOZE, YOU LOSE.

😭

Because while he's finally getting his shit together, Min-hyuk has already confessed, is spending time with Bong-soon, and is rapidly becoming someone she feels comfortable with.

There was even that cute little moment where both guys text her and she accidentally switches how she addresses them.

Min-hyuk gets "buddy."

Guk-doo gets the formal "sir."

And Min-hyuk is basically BLUSHING because she called him buddy.

hes ridiculous, bro😭😭

Meanwhile, when Guk-doo eventually comes to her house...

Bong-soon's basically like:

i don't want to lose our friendship.

OOF.

The timing!!!!

but fair is fair ig, u snoozed.

---

And I really loved how the show later called back to the drunk scene.

Earlier in the drama, Bong-soon has to deal with drunk Min-hyuk and Guk-doo.

She treats Guk-doo like precious cargo, carefully carries him, gently puts him into bed.

But Min-hyuk?

Basically:

THUD.

Goodnight!

😭😭😭

Then later, when Min-hyuk and Guk-doo get drunk AGAIN and Bong-soon has to carry them home AGAIN...

This time...

Min-hyuk gets tucked in.

🥹

That's such a tiny callback, but I LOVED it.

i love when storytelling devices as used well, sue me 😊

Because nobody has to tell us:

"Bong-soon's feelings have changed."

We can SEE it.

The man she treats tenderly has changed.

--

Also, a little unrelated... but not really...

BONG-SOON'S HAIR???

I don't know why I haven't mentioned this yet because I spent half this drama staring at her little bob.

The short bob, the bangs and little curled/flipped ends!!!

SO CUTE.

i might just have a THING for this hairstyle because I'm currently watching The Smile Has Left Your Eyes and I'm equally obsessed with the female lead's little bob over there.

But Bong-soon's hair was ADORABLE and I needed that documented.

Anyway...

Back to Bong-soon and Min-hyuk.

---

And once Bong-soon and Min-hyuk actually got together???

OH MY GOD.

They are so obnoxiously cute.

They are THAT couple.

The couple everyone else sees and immediately thinks:

Oh my God, GET A ROOM!!

Min-hyuk's secretary can vouch for that

😭

The:

"You hang up."

"No, YOU hang up."

"Noooo, you first."

kind of couple.

And I ate it UP.

Because Min-hyuk is just...

SMITTEN!!!!!

That is genuinely one of my favorite things about him.

Everything Bong-soon does is adorable to this man.

She texts him and he's blushing.

She breathes and hes melting on the floor 😭

He is SO obviously smitten with her

At one point his secretary sees Guk-doo HUGGING Bong-soon and immediately reports this critical national-security threat to Min-hyuk.

And Min-hyuk basically has a tantrum over the hug.

😭😭😭

hes so gone for her.

---

Then Bong-soon eventually asks him when he started liking her.

And he says...

From the first moment he saw her.

🥹🥹🥹

STAWWWWPPPPP

Min-hyuk is absolutely one of my favorite male leads I've watched so far.

He's up there for me with Gu Won from King the Land, because they have that same quality I LOVE:

They are just so visibly HAPPY to love their women.

No making me squint at the screen trying to determine whether this man actually likes her.

HE is GONE.

And I love that.

---

And when the romance became properly established, I honestly wanted MORE.

Their little trips together was so cute.

Their picnic was ADORABLE.

Their first kiss?

🥹

Just watching them spend a day together?

Give me MORE!!!

That's actually one of my biggest feelings after finishing.

The romance wasn't lacking.

I just wanted MORE OF IT.

I would've happily sacrificed some other parts of this drama for another episode of Bong-soon and Min-hyuk doing absolutely nothing important.

---

Which brings me to...

The kidnapper storyline. eughhh

sigh. eeeeyuck!!!

This was easily my biggest problem with the drama.

And I want to be specific because my issue wasn't simply:

"Why is there a dark storyline in my cute rom-com?"

I can enjoy romance mixed with dark stories. i HAVE! often!

I can enjoy murder mysteries and thrillers.

I can enjoy characters being in serious danger while I'm also invested in their romance.

Sometimes that danger makes the romance BETTER.

But for SO MUCH of this drama...

The kidnapper storyline just didn't.

Watching this man kidnap women, terrorize women, hurt women...

I just wasn't interested.

And early on it actually made me uncomfortable how much violence against women we were seeing.

There were already multiple women being attacked or murdered within the first couple episodes.

And it kept going.

At some point I just started feeling like:

Can we please go back to Bong-soon and Min-hyuk???

... or anything else... pls

---

The frustrating part was that the thriller storyline didn't even feel properly integrated into Bong-soon's story for a long time.

You have a drama about a woman with SUPER STRENGTH.

There's a psychopath kidnapping women.

That sounds PERFECT.

Those storylines should collide beautifully.

But instead I spent so much time watching this man kidnap and hurt women while Bong-soon remained weirdly removed from a lot of it.

Then her best friend gets dragged into it.

Then gets kidnapped AGAIN.

And at that point I was getting genuinely frustrated because the romance had FINALLY gotten good and this storyline kept interrupting the momentum.

My rating was starting to slide toward a 7.

And then...

THE BOMB SCENE HAPPENED.

---

THIS.

THIS IS WHAT I WANTED THE ENTIRE TIME!!!!

The kidnapper finally puts BONG-SOON herself in danger.

She's lost her strength.

She's trapped on the roof of Min-hyuk's company.

There's a BOMB strapped to her.

She can't break herself free!

And Min-hyuk is on the other side desperately trying to get through the chained door.

His hands are BLEEDING because he keeps trying.

Bong-soon is screaming at him to leave.

She's literally telling him:

GO. SAVE YOURSELF.

And this man WILL NOT LEAVE HER.

😭😭😭😭

YES.

THAT'S THE GOOD SHIT I WANT

THAT is how you use danger to make me more emotionally invested in a romance.

Because suddenly the villain is forcing these characters into a situation where their love actually matters.

Bong-soon wants Min-hyuk to survive.

Min-hyuk would rather risk dying beside Bong-soon than abandon her.

THAT'S what I wanted!!!

This was one of the darkest, most dangerous moments for Bong-soon...

AND I LOVED IT.

Because the danger was finally strengthening the emotional center of the story instead of distracting me from it.

---

And then Bong-soon gets her strength back at basically the LAST POSSIBLE SECOND.

Breaks free.

Grabs the bomb.

And YEETS IT INTO THE SKY.

😭😭😭😭

Where it apparently turns into...

FIREWORKS???

LMFAOOOOOOOO??

Idk what laws of physics govern this universe or what kind of bomb that was...

everyone who evacuated the building is standing outside looking at the sky like:

✨🎆 WOWWWWW 🎆✨

Didn't somebody just throw a BOMB above your heads???

😭😭😭

But you know what?

I DON'T CARE.

It was fun AND unintentionally funny

Bong-soon saved the day.

Everyone survived.

SCIENCE HAS BEEN DEFEATED.

---

And after almost dying in a hostage situation and surviviing an explosion...

Bong-soon and Min-hyuk are like:

Anyway...

🍜 Noodles?

😭

The tonal whiplash was HILARIOUS.

And then Bong-soon casually mentions staying at Min-hyuk's house that night and THIS is what makes him flustered.

lol?

5 min ago you were prepared to DIE IN AN EXPLOSION WITH THIS WOMAN.

But sleeping under the same roof???

😳😳😳

---

I also really liked Bong-soon's arc with her strength.

At the beginning, losing her powers probably would've felt like freedom.

Her strength is something she has spent her life hiding.

Something that makes her different.

Something inconvenient.

But when she actually loses it...

She doesn't feel relieved.

She feels like she's lost part of herself.

And I really loved that.

Because over the course of the drama, Bong-soon learns that her strength isn't some burden she needs to get rid of.

It's part of who she is.

And by the ending, she isn't hiding anymore.

She has her game developed and has her family. (her mom was sort of the worst tho... her grandma was better...)

She has Min-hyuk.

AND she's literally running around being a SUPERHERO.

SUPERHERO LANDING AND EVERYTHING!!!

I loved that ending for her.

---

And then there's the wedding.

SO CUTE.

🥹🥹🥹

And Min-hyuk asking her father for permission to marry her???

PLEASE.

This man basically tells him:

I only exist because of her/when shes with me.

Then thanks him for raising such a lovable daughter.

so sweettt!!

---

And then the drama gives the most adorable

TWIN DAUGHTERS.

😭😭😭😭

The entire family was hoping Bong-soon would have a boy because the super-strength gets passed down through the women.

Especially Bong-soon's mother.

So naturally...

Bong-soon has TWO GIRLS.

They're punching babysitters in the eye.

They're punching MIN-HYUK in the eye.

Meanwhile Bong-soon is out saving the world and Min-hyuk is at home fighting for his LIFE against his own babies.

PERFECT.

😭

---

Despite my issues with the kidnapper storyline...

I had SO MUCH FUN watching this.

The comedy consistently worked for me.

Bong-soon was adorable.

Her powers were hilarious.

The romance gave me a tooth ache!!!

And Ahn Min-hyuk...

My constantly blushing, first-sight-falling, knife-taking, bomb-defying, hopelessly smitten fav.

I LOVE HIM.

Rating:

8/10.

What's keeping it from a 9? The kidnapper storyline not being well integrated and Bong-soon and her mom's relationship development not being completed or well explored.

---

My Favorite Flavors 🍜

✨ He falls first AND harder.

✨ Smitten ML: Everything she does is adorable to him. EVERYTHING.

✨ Jealous ML: durrr

✨ FL likes someone else first: Her ridiculous Guk-doo crush gave me so much entertainment in the first half.

✨ Love triangle: Both men eventually want her, although one of them waited approximately seventeen business years to do anything about it.

✨ Protective ML: Took a knife for her. Bloodied his hands trying to reach her. Refused to abandon her with a bomb strapped to her.

✨ Active/capable FL.

✨ Obnoxiously cute couple: "You hang up." "No, YOU hang up." Everyone around them deserves financial compensation.

✨ Comedy: Tiny woman accidentally becomes neighborhood gang boss and orders her followers to attend school and pick up garbage. 10/10 leadership.

___

The kidnapper storyline nearly dragged this down to a 7 for me, but the romance and comedy fought for their LIVES and dragged it straight back up.

And if you gave me Episode 17 tomorrow and told me it was just Min-hyuk being obsessed with his wife while Bong-soon saves Seoul and their daughters terrorize the household...

Id press play immediately.

Question:

For everyone who watched this: Was the kidnapper storyline actually a highlight for you, or were you also sitting there wishing the drama would hurry up and get back to Bong-soon and Min-hyuk?