Jeongnyeon is a drama set in the 1950s about a country bumpkin who has been gifted with an incredible voice, and her journey into the gukgeuk world by joining Maeran troupe, an all-female theatre troupe.
I have to admit that the story didn't grip me initially. Jeongnyeon was a fairly frustrating character, and I only fully invested in the show in the last couple of episodes when Jeongnyeon finally grew up and stopped being incredibly naive and wilful. Nevertheless, the first 10 episodes set the ground for the incredible last act, and the numerous gukgeuk performances scattered throughout the story were amazing and I loved how they were used as a storytelling tool to mirror the situation of the characters playing them. It was obvious how much effort and love the cast and crew poured into the show to portray gukgeuk convincingly on the screen.
Ultimately, it was the acting that was the strongest point of the show. It's a duty of mine to watch all Kim Taeri shows, and she has yet to disappoint not just in her acting but also her absolute dedication to her craft. For this show, she had to learn the Mokpo accent as well as pansori singing and gukgeuk dancing. I don't even know how she managed to pull off singing with a hoarse voice! And did anyone manage to hold their tears in that final scene of episode 8? Just give her all the Daesangs already.
A special shout-out to Shin Yeeun, who played Heo Youngseo, the rival to Jeongnyeon. Starting off as a haughty but talented gukgeuk trainee, her character growth was so satisfying to watch, elevated by Yeeun's sublime acting and singing (she learnt pansori alongside Taeri). Their relationship might have been my favourite in the show.
The show was based on a Girls Love (GL) webtoon and received significant backlash due to the removal of Buyong, Jeongnyeon's girlfriend in the original webtoon. Unfortunately, this is Korea, and the show never would have made it on air had they not made that decision. Nevertheless, the showrunners sneaked many GL elements in the show that was not even sneaky. I don't know how else anyone could have interpreted the relationship between Moon Okgyeong (played by the suave and charismatic Jung Eunchae) and Seo Hyerang (Kim Yoonhye), the prince and princess of Maeran troupe, or Jooran's (Woo Davi)'s obvious romantic interest in Jeongnyeon. Their farewell scene brought tears to my eyes as Jooran called Jeongnyeon her "one and only prince".
Jeongnyeon was one of the biggest drama hits in 2024, and deservedly so. Kim Taeri deserves all the accolades and more.