Jeongnyeon: The Star is Born – K-drama Episode 7 Recap & Review

Episode 7

Episode 7 of Jeongnyeon: The Star is Born begins with Jeong-nyeon’s abrupt singing on stage, a massive departure from the play that gets her a huge round of applause. Hye-ran manages to improvise as well. Yeong-seo seems jealous of how Jeong-nyeon gets into character.

So-bok is naturally furious and tells Jeong-nyeon she’s not allowed on stage anymore. Jeong-nyeon feels that she poured her heart out on stage and saved the show but So-bok disagrees.

Ki-joo greets Yeong-seo after the play and hugs her, telling her she did well. Elsewhere, Hye-ran tells Ok-gyeong that Jeong-nyeon isn’t going any further than this. Ok-gyeong hopes that she can learn from her mistakes.

Joo-ran and Jeong-nyeon leave the theatre after everyone has already gone and a group of fans run up to Jeong-nyeon. They gush about her performance and how they don’t remember anything after her song. This makes Jeong-nyeon realise how she ruined the play.

Yeong-seo goes home to a very warm welcome from her mother. But the good mood doesn’t last long when her mother begins to praise Jeong-nyeon. She orders Yeong-seo to be better and even break Jeong-nyeon’s spirit.

Back at Maeran, Jeong-nyeon has been banned from training and is left to do chores. But she remains positive and is now devoting her time to studying all the other characters on stage and practising on her own. She and Joo-ran even practice playing Gomigeol and Precious together, a scene that leaves Joo-ran flustered for some reason.

Yeong-seo overhears her practising and recalls her mother’s words. Jeong-nyeon then finds her mother’s record broken in their room. She goes to confront Yeong-seo but finds her practising, in tears. Yeong-seo asks Jeong-nyeon to teach her how to sing like her, without the need for practice. Jeon-nyeon retorts that she doesn’t like living under her mother’s shadow but she’ll keep trying to find her own way. As Yeong-seo should too.

Later, Joo-ran and Yeong-seo are practising their scene and end up messing up when Joo-ran thinks of the same scene with Jeong-nyeon. Ok-gyeong then comes upon Jeong-nyeon and helps her work on her understanding of Precious. She also warns her to keep the whole narrative in mind.

Meanwhile, So-bok and Do-aeng realise an intruder broke into the prop room and it was likely someone from the inside. The day of the next performance arrives and So-bok makes them rehearse once more. While Joo-ran and Yeong-seo are practising, a light falls from above the stage. Joo-ran jumps to save Yeong-seo and sprains her ankle in the process. When she sees that her stand-in isn’t ready, Joo-ran tells Jeong-nyeon to play Precious instead.

As the only person who knows Precious’s lines, So-bok allows Jeong-nyeon to play Precious on the condition that if Jeong-nyeon messes up again she will have to leave the troupe. So-bok orders her to not think about her own Precious but to be the fuel to Yeong-seo’s performance instead.

On stage, Jeong-nyeon sticks to her promise through her initial scenes. When it’s time for the Precious-Gomigeol scene, Jeong-nyeon’s acting throws Yeong-seo off and she forgets her lines in the middle. Hye-ran wants to intervene but So-bok waits. Jeong-nyeon acts on her feet in a way that hands the reins back to Yeong-seo.

It goes well and afterwards, So-bok praises Yeong-seo and Jeong-nyeon for smoothing the mistake over. She also makes Jeong-nyeon an official trainee, leaving the students to celebrate.

Do-aeng then tells So-bok that she thinks Mr. Ko made the light fall on stage. Both of them and Hye-ran go to his office and find that all the troupe’s ledgers and cash are gone. Hye-ran wants to call the police but So-bok stops her. She doesn’t want news of this to affect the troupe’s image.

Later, Hye-ran joins Mr. Ko and we realise they were in on it together. He then gives her a book with a list of journalists that Hye-ran has been paying off to keep quiet about Ok-gyeong. When Ko asks why she’s been paying them off, Hye-ran says it’s because she doesn’t want Ok-gyeong’s past revealed.

Hye-ran goes home where Ok-gyeong is reading a story to little Eun-jae. When Ok-gyeong gets ready to go out with her friends, Hye-ran complains about them. They argue and Ok-gyeong accuses Hye-ran of trying to get Yeong-seo, Joo-ran, and Jeong-nyeon out of the troupe. Hye-ran wants to cling to their position as leads whereas Ok-gyeong is happy to be challenged.  

The Maeran troupe then takes a trip to Busan for a performance. One of the women there asks Ok-gyeong and Hye-ran to visit her sister’s wedding and Hye-ran agrees for the both of them. Hye-ran is bothered by how much Ok-gyeong likes Jeong-nyeon.

While discussing a joint production with another troupe, the director asks So-bok to share the profits more evenly. For now, Maeran takes a larger cut and the other troupes aren’t doing very well.  

At night, Joo-ran and Jeong-nyeon sit and chat. They come across Yeong-seo who is practicing something she has to say to Jeong-nyeon. Turns out, Yeong-seo has bought a Chae Gong-seon record for her as a replacement for the one she broke.

The next morning, So-bok tells the others about the joint production which will feature the young version of the prince and princess. Students can audition for this role which will solidify their position as the successors to Ok-gyeong and Hye-ran. The catch? They have to audition as pairs. Both Jeong-nyeon and Yeong-seo look toward Joo-ran at the end of Jeongnyeon: The Star is Born Episode 7.

The Episode Review

Jeongnyeon: The Star is Born Episode 7 is a masterclass in acting. You would think that watching the same scene between two characters again and again would get monotonous. But each time this episode brings back the pivotal sequence between Precious and Gomigeol, it is played in a different way. Whether it is Jeong-nyeon, Yeong-seo, Joo-ran or even Ok-gyeong, each person plays Precious/Gomigeol with different tones and mannerisms.

The episode even uses this scene to show the change in the characters — Joo-ran’s fluttering emotions, Yeong-seo’s nervousness, Jeong-nyeon’s understanding of a role within a narrative. This might not be everyone’s cup of tea but for those interested in theatre, performance, or art in general, it is a delight to watch.

While the beginning does feel a tad odd — how could Jeong-nyeon not realise she ruined the play? — the rest of the episode more than makes up for it. The Mr Ko plotline is average but its the character focus that is stealing the show here. The vague triangle of emotions between Jeong-nyeon, Joo-ran and Yeong-seo is fascinating, as is the push and pull between Ok-gyeong and Hye-ran. Hopefully, the series keeps the spotlight on character as that is its real strength.