Jeongnyeon – The Star is Born: Episodes 5-6

by mistyisles

Our wayward singer is slowly finding her place in the world and learning to be true to herself, but if she’s going to succeed, she’ll have to learn to let others shine too. And she’s not the only one — a few unexpected challengers take the spotlight this week, pushing the reigning stars to step it up or step aside.

 
EPISODES 5-6

Last week I mentioned that Park PD’s motivations for taking Jeong-nyeon under his wing seemed a little shifty, and this week’s episodes waste no time in revealing why. Turns out, when he heard her sing at the café, he immediately guessed she must be related to the famous pansori singer who disappeared all those years ago. This whole time, he’s been hoping to use Jeong-nyeon to draw her mother back into the limelight. Jeong-nyeon is furious, but can’t pay the fee to get out of her contract.

If that weren’t enough to set her and Park PD at odds, he also scolds her for getting into character while rehearsing her song instead of being feminine and alluring at every angle. Insulted, Jeong-nyeon storms off the set, but thankfully she has the wonderful Patricia in her corner. This will be a live broadcast, Patricia reminds her, and ultimately her performance belongs to her alone. So Jeong-nyeon does the broadcast her way — going so far as to remove her shoes on camera — and afterwards Patricia praises her. Aww, they both know this is pretty much the end of Jeong-nyeon’s pop star career, but Patricia is overwhelmingly proud of her for being true to herself. I really hope we see her again.

PD Park, on the other hand, is embarrassed and enraged. But a familiar voice interrupts — Troupe Leader Kang is here to collect her trainee, and she’ll cover any applicable fees. After watching Jeong-nyeon’s performance, Ju-ran confessed about the café, and Troupe Leader Kang decided neither girl deserved to be kicked out (they’re given extra chores instead).

Given everything Jeong-nyeon has learned, she’s distressed by the thought that Troupe Leader Kang only took her in because of who her mother was. But Troupe Leader Kang puts it into a different perspective: it doesn’t matter how you got the opportunity — what matters is what you do with it. Still, the matter of her mother weighs on Jeong-nyeon, so much that she apologizes to Young-seo. Last time they saw each other (after their slap fight at Young-seo’s sister’s concert reception), Jeong-nyeon had angrily told Young-seo to check her privilege. But now she understands that she’s in a similar position, and it turns out having a famous mother isn’t necessarily all it’s cracked up to be.

Young-seo, of course, isn’t interested in finding common ground. But, in her own way, she does push Jeong-nyeon to put more effort into practicing for the upcoming audition. And when someone locks Jeong-nyeon in the prop room on audition day, Young-seo is the one who comes to her rescue.

The audition yields several surprises. Ju-ran — a perpetual extra — auditions for and lands a significant supporting role, inspired by Jeong-nyeon’s encouragement. As for Jeong-nyeon herself, she goes for a bit part (“Soldier #1,” to be precise), hoping to improve her acting by watching the more experienced leads in action. And Young-seo steals the villain role from its longstanding holder, Do-aeng. But as soon as the part is hers, Young-seo gets psyched out by the pressure to live up to Do-aeng’s reputation. Instead of leaning into her own interpretation of the role, she falls into mimicking Do-aeng’s style.

She only gets pricklier when Jeong-nyeon points out that she’s doing exactly what she warned Jeong-nyeon not to. But you know who does get through to her? Ju-ran. Their characters share several important scenes, and when Young-seo finally agrees to practice one-on-one, she’s blown away by the depth of analysis Ju-ran has done to understand both characters’ motivations. Soon, they’re spending every spare moment helping each other get better and better (and sparking major jealousy in Jeong-nyeon).

Jeong-nyeon, meanwhile, dresses as a boy and wanders around town mimicking random men to try and get into the head of her soldier character. It works pretty well — not only does she get some perspective from real-life soldiers, but she also gets to swoop in like a hero to defend a bunch of fangirls from the troupe’s shady finance manager, earning their utter adoration.

This production is the same story as the one we saw back in Episode 1, but Troupe Leader Kang wasn’t kidding when she said they were scaling up the production value this time around. My favorite addition is Hye-rang’s drum dance, but everything from the set to the scene blocking and costuming is SO much bigger than ever before. Young-seo and Ju-ran are absolutely electric together, and even Young-seo’s mom applauds.

But when it’s Jeong-nyeon’s turn to take the stage, the trait that helped her triumph over Park PD becomes her downfall. She upstages her fellow soldiers, throwing off the overall pacing. Even after Troupe Leader Kang warns her to tone it down, she gets so carried away by her own emotions that she bursts into song (one that’s decidedly NOT part of the show), bringing the story to a screeching halt.

Alongside Jeong-nyeon’s journey from one stage to another, this week pulls back the curtain a little more on Ok-gyung and Hye-rang’s relationship — because yes, they are a couple, and they’re even raising a little girl together. One chemistry-laden scene stops just short of a kiss, but all the tenderness and intimacy is there in their voices and mannerisms. There’s just one problem: they’re not quite on the same page anymore, career-wise, and I think it’s scaring both of them. Ok-gyung pretends she’s joking about quitting gukgeuk when Hye-rang doesn’t respond positively to the idea, and Hye-rang continues silently trying to sabotage Jeong-nyeon.

That’s right, she’s the one who locked Jeong-nyeon in the prop room. When Ok-gyung finds out, she tests the waters, saying pointedly but tentatively that she’ll be sad if it turns out “someone” did that to Jeong-nyeon on purpose. Hye-rang looks just conflicted enough to give me a little hope for their future, but she’s still being swayed (if reluctantly) by that finance manager, who warns that if things continue on their current trajectory, Ok-gyung could end up leaving for higher-paying pursuits.

But what he and Hye-rang don’t know is that Ok-gyung is driving the current trajectory. Her speech to Troupe Leader Kang about needing to learn from the up-and-coming generation so they don’t all stagnate was the final straw for Troupe Leader Kang to bring Jeong-nyeon back, and it’s also what inspired Troupe Leader Kang to put on a bigger and better show.

And I think that’s one of the central messages Jeongnyeon – The Star is Born wants to convey: the importance of healthy competition and leaning on each other to grow and improve together. We see it in Young-seo learning to listen to Ju-ran’s advice, and in Do-aeng graciously stepping aside and acknowledging Young-seo’s fresh take on her character. And we see it in the lesson Jeong-nyeon still needs to learn about sharing the spotlight.

In fact, for many of these characters, failing to follow someone else’s lead when the situation calls for it seems to turn their strength into their weakness. Jeong-nyeon had to be true to herself to avoid selling out as a pop star, but now she has to learn to blend with her castmates to their mutual benefit. Similarly, Troupe Leader Kang’s commitment to artistry above all else may end up coming back to bite her financially, and Hye-rang’s unwavering hold on the life she and Ok-gyung have built is blinding her to Ok-gyung’s need for a change. But if Young-seo can learn to set aside her pride and perfectionism and enjoy the performance, maybe there’s hope for everyone else, too.

 
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