K-DRAMA REVIEW: “Jeongnyeon The Star is Born” Journeys To Unforgettable Story of Realizing a Remarkable Dream

November 20, 2024
K-DRAMA RECAPS/K-DRAMA REVIEWS

Renewing our faith that as long as there is a will, there is a way, the drama concludes its tale with one last performance where our heroine finally achieves her dream and takes the spotlight.

It’s been a whirlwind of events for everyone, and our elite trainee gets her own happy ending too, achieving inner peace in her pursuits.

Bunny S. watches Jeongnyeon The Star is Born on Disney +

Episode Recaps:  01&02 | 03 & 04 | 05 & 06 | 07 & 08 | 09 & 10 |

Jeongnyeon The Star is Born Finale Week Recap

With her mother’s blessing, Jeong-nyeon returns to Seoul and joins the troupe again. But a few changes await her. Yeong-seo, Joo-ran, and Jeong-nyeon’s audition partner, Park Cho-rok (Hyun Seung-hee) are no longer trainees but official actors. While Jeong-nyeon resolves to retake the entrance test (though Director Kang tells her it isn’t necessary) since she is still not confident about her singing.

Hearing Ok-gyeong has quit, Jeong-nyeon rushes over to Ok-gyeong’s house to see her, but she only finds Hye-rang there. Though Ok-gyeong practically abandoned her after she lost her voice, Jeong-nyeon settles to remember her fondly, unlike Hye-rang, who drowns herself in alcohol and blames everyone but herself for her fate. (Side note: Later, Director Kang visits Hye-rang and helps her pull herself together.)

Aside from the troupe’s original debts, Director Kang has to pay the penalties because the joint performance was canceled after the first screening. In other words, the troupe is in the red and might not be able to hold out for long. Watching the troupe she spent her life setting up crumble and the members leave one by one, Director Kang collapses and gets transferred to the hospital.

Having regained consciousness, Director Kang wonders where it went wrong. Should she have let Ok-gyeong try something new before she got sick and tired of performing? Or did she rely too much on Hye-rang and Ok-gyeong when she should have focused more on the trainees? Is it because she pushed for the joint performance? (Side note: Ra Mi-ran killed it, portraying how lost and devastated Director Kang feels.)

No need to worry about the troupe, though. Not when there is someone as tenacious as Jeong-nyeon. Who says the entrance exam will be canceled? If Director Kang can’t attend, Jeong-nyeon will perform on the streets and let the crowd be the judge. Raising the stakes, Yeong-seo suggests they do a challenge. Both girls will perform successively, and the one who gets more people to cheer for her will be the winner.

Since she became popular after the joint performance, Yeong-seo has many people coming to listen to her. But Jeong-nyeon only has a small audience. Still, Jeong-nyeon doesn’t let it get to her and sings with all her might, embodying the character she plays to fill the gaps in her voice. Thus, attracting more people and enchanting everyone present, including Director Kang, who came as soon as she heard the news.

Having beaten Yeong-seo, Jeong-nyeon is now an official trainee once again. Hooray! Since they are short on time, the auditions will be held for only the leads’ positions. Yeong-seo and Jeong-nyeon will audition for the male lead role and Cho-rok and Joo-ran will audition for the female lead role. But the thing is: Joo-ran is getting married and won’t be able to stay until the next production.

Having received a marriage offer from a rich man who offered to take care of her family, Joo-ran was forced to quit performing by her family. Joo-ran’s departure is sad news for everyone, especially Jeong-nyeon, who feels she is losing her best friend. The girls share a teary farewell before Joo-ran leaves. Poor Jeong-nyeon is so heartbroken that she finds it hard to focus on preparing for the audition. Yeong-seo is sad as well, more so because she knows how it feels to be forced to do something against one’s will.

Meanwhile, learning of the troupe’s dire financial situation, Yeong-seo swallows her pride and begs her mother for money, promising to do as her mother says in return. Director Kang might be desperate to save the troupe, but not at the expense of Yeong-seo’s dream. This coupled with some pep talk from Jeong-nyeon, Yeong-seo pulls herself together and focuses on preparing for the audition.

Thankfully, the debt gets settled after Director Kang takes out a loan and the only thing left to do is get money for the production. Earlier on, Director Kang received an offer to sell the troupe’s premises, but she turned it down because that building meant everything to her. Yet after a chat with Jeong-nyeon, Director Kang realizes what she needs to protect the most. What matters the most is the troupe’s members, not the building. And even if they can’t perform for a while after this performance, as long as they pull off this show, then all is good and well.

D-day comes. Everyone is waiting with bated breath to see who is going to win between Jeong-nyeon and Yeong-seo. By pure coincidence, both girls choose to act out the same scene but with different interpretations. Yeong-seo goes first, mesmerizing everyone with an impressive show. But Jeong-nyeon’s performance takes everyone’s breath away, bringing everyone watching her to tears. It also speaks volumes that Yeong-seo is the one who announces Jeong-nyeon as the winner even before Director Kang declares the results.

With Director Kang’s recommendation, Yeong-seo gets chosen to play the antagonist role since no one can pull off that complex character but her. Vowing to give it her all, Yeong-seo accepts the role gracefully, looking happy and at ease even though she won’t play the lead role. (I appreciate the conversation between Director Kang and Yeong-seo that it isn’t wrong to want to win, but one shouldn’t focus too much on competition but do their best while enduring the ups and downs of life. This is how one reaches the top.)

The day of the first screening comes. Everyone is excited, vowing to do their best even if this might be their last show. Jeong-nyeon’s mother and sister are among the audience along with Patricia. Yeong-seo’s mother is there as well, albeit still as haughty as ever. At least, she now knows how talented Yeong-seo is and maybe there is a glimmer of hope they can have a healthy relationship in the future.

Gifting us with one last performance, the drama pulls the curtains on its story. I can’t find the proper words to describe how exceptional Jeong-nyeon’s acting was. Kudos to Kim Tae-ri, who deserves all the trophies out there. The drama might have come to an end, yet those characters will live on in our memory. They must be celebrating their triumph and hopefully have found a way to keep the troupe going.

Jeongnyeon The Star is Born Series Quick Recap

In a story about pursuing dreams in post-war Korea, we follow the story of Yoon Jeong-nyeon, an ordinary country girl with a natural talent for singing who gets her life turned upside down after coming across the world of stars and performing.

Jeongnyeon The Star is Born Series Highlights

A healthy rivalry and delightful sismance between our rivals turned friends

Normally, drama land portrays women as the ones bringing each other down. But here we got a healthy rivalry where both parties helped each other grow. Initially, Yeong-seo was introduced as an elite trainee who is so much the full package. But her haughty attitude toward Jeong-nyeon made her character off-putting. Yet things started to change after Jeong-nyeon discovered the truth about her mother and shared with Yeong-seo how having a famous mother might not be a privilege but a burden.

Be it Jeong-nyeon urging Yeong-seo to follow her own interpretation and not mimic anyone else and advising her to live as herself, Yeong-seo doing her best to stop Jeong-nyeon from ruining her voice, deeming Jeong-nyeon the person who understands her the most, and tagging along to Jeong-nyeon’s hometown to bring her back, and lastly, Yeong-seo announcing Jeong-nyeon as the troupe’s new prince. This bond was one of my favorites, emphasizing how two rivals can bring the best out of each other and stimulate each other to grow and improve.

Somehow Jeong-nyeon and Yeong-seo’s relationship mirrors the one between Director Kang and Jeong-nyeon’s mother. In both cases, the girls met while training under the same master, where one party was a natural talent, and the other got their skills through hard work. But in Jeong-nyeon and Yeong-seo’s case, they were more mature and had the tenacity to endure the hardships they faced and preserve their bond. (Shout out to Shin Ye-eun for giving us the best Yeong-seo we could ask for.)

Jeongnyeon The Star is Born Series Musings

Headlined with the extraordinary Kim Tae-ri, along with a stellar cast, we were promised impressive acting. Paired with deft directing and a tight and well-written story, the drama paved its way into being one of my all-time favorites and it won’t be an overstatement if I say that is the drama of the year. Of course, there were some flaws. (Is there such a thing as a flawless drama?) But even with those flaws, the drama was a memorable and entertaining watch from start to finish.

Sometimes I forgot this was a fictional drama and felt like those were real characters. I loved everyone (except Hye-rang of course) though I wished that Ok-gyeong had shown up to the performance and congratulated Jeong-nyeon on landing her first lead role. Still, I understand how stifled she felt. And though Ok-gyeong abandoned Jeong-nyeon, there is no denying the help and support Ok-gyeong provided Jeong-nyeon with. Also, there is no need to worry about Jeong-nyeon. She has Yeong-seo supporting her and Director Kang as her mentor.

The performances felt like a drama within a drama. I appreciate how the drama introduced us to this form of traditional art and made us enjoy its beauty. The open ending also felt realistic and as much as I wished the troupe would still be going, a magical solution out of nowhere would have taken from the drama’s charm.

Overall, Jeong-nyeon was a story about dreams, friendship, and rivalry, among other themes, granting us remarkable messages like how crucial healthy competition is and the importance of relying on each other to grow. A masterpiece indeed!

Photos and Videos: tvN Drama

 

24
Spread K-Drama Love

Bunny Sonaki

I am Bunny. Just like you, I am smitten with Kdramas and look forward to watching every Kdrama out there, but is that dream ever possible since they keep showering us with new dramas every day? For me, Kdramas are my comfort zone and a warm hug that makes it possible to face up to whatever life throws my way.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You May Also Like

Buy Me a Coffee

Follow Us On SNS

Archives

© 2024 kdramadiary
error: Content is protected !!