Crime thriller, romance series set to roll out in October

From left, posters for the series "Strong Girl Nam-soon,” “The Deal,” and “A Good Day to be a Dog” / Courtesy of JTBC, Wavve and MBC

By Lee Gyu-lee

October is packed with new releases from crime thrillers to romance, a long-awaited hit series spin-off and popular webcomics adaptations set to hit screens.

JTBC is finally releasing “Strong Girl Nam-soon,” the spin-off series of the 2017 fantasy rom-com "Strong Girl Bong-soon,” on Oct. 7.

The comedy action series follows three generations of women, Kang Nam-soon (Lee You-mi), her mother Hwang Geum-joo (Kim Jung-eun) and her grandmother Gil Joong-gan (Kim Hae-sook), all of whom have superhuman strength.

Kang, who has been raised in Mongolia as an orphan, returns to Korea to find her birth family and meets Kang Hee-sik (Ong Seong-wu), a detective in an undercover narcotics team. Reuniting with her mother and grandmother, the three use their power to combat illegal drug rings in southern Seoul's Gangnam District.

The series is led by director Kim Jung-sik, who helmed the 2021 comedy series "Work Later, Drink Now," and is scripted by Baek Mi-kyeong, who wrote "Strong Girl Bong-soon.”

Two crime thriller series, ENA’s “Evilive” and Wavve’s “The Deal,” will roll out this month.

The noir crime series “Evilive,” set to debut on Oct. 14, is about a lawyer, Han Dong-soo (Shin Ha-kyun), who barely makes a living taking cases from prisoners. He appears logical and rational, but deep down holds a dark side.

When he crosses paths with Seo Do-young, a ruthless boss of a crime syndicate, an innate desire takes over and draws Han into the dark, villainous world.

The 10-part series is directed by Kim Jung-min, who previously led OCN's thriller crime series "Bad Guys" (2014) and Netflix's romance series "Remarriage & Desires" (2022).

A scene from the series "Evilive” / Courtesy of KT Studio Genie

Based on the webcomics of the same name, “The Deal” revolves around two men in their 20s, Lee Joon-sung (Yoo Seung-ho) and Song Jae-hyo (Kim Dong-hwi), who kidnap their high school friend Park Min-woo (Yoo Su-bin). Out of impulse, the two abduct their rich friend and demand a 10 billion won ransom.

The series, which will be released on Oct. 6, is led by filmmaker Lee Jung-gon, whose previous work is the 2021 drama film “Not Out.”

Two more popular webcomics adaptations, MBC’s “A Good Day to be a Dog” and Netflix’s “Doona!” will also come out this month.

The rom-com series, “A Good Day to be a Dog,” follows a high school literature teacher Han Hae-na (Park Gyu-young), who suffers from a curse ― whenever she kisses someone, they turn into a dog.

One day, she gets drunk and accidentally kisses her fellow teacher, Jin Seo-won (Cha Eun-woo), and then must find a way to kiss him again to break the curse.

The series is directed by Kim Dae-woong, who previously led the 2018 comedy film “Love+Sling.”

Led by director Lee Jung-hyo of the smash hit series, "Crash Landing on You” (2019), Netflix’s new original series “Doona!” revolves around an ordinary college student Lee Won-joon (Yang Se-jong), and former K-pop star Lee Doo-na (Bae Suzy) coming to live together in a share house.

While navigating life and school, Lee Won-joon deals with a unique predicament, living with a popular ex-celebrity who has announced a sudden retirement.

The nine-part series will hit the streaming platform on Oct. 20.

Actress Park Eun-bin will make a small screen return about a year after fronting the smash hit series “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” with tvN’s new rom-com series “Castaway Diva.”

The new series, which will start airing on Oct. 28, follows the bright-spirited, optimistic girl, Seo Mok-ha (Park), who has been stranded on a deserted island for over 15 years.

When she is finally rescued from the island, she decides to pursue her dream as a singer and become a top diva.

The series is led by the famous director Oh Chung-hwan, whose previous works include the romance series “While You Were Sleeping” and the fantasy romance series “Hotel Del Luna” (2019).