Jeongnyeon: The Star is Born – K-drama Episode 8 Recap & Review

Episode 8

Episode 8 of Jeongnyeon: The Star is Born begins with the students training under So-bok, who tells them the songs for the joint performance (The Princess and The Frog) are particularly difficult. Yeong-seo asks Joo-ran to partner up with her for the audition and Joo-ran asks for time to think about it.

Jeong-nyeon later tells Joo-ran they should practise, assuming that they will be auditioning together. When she asks Joo-ran if she is partnering with Yeong-seo instead, Joo-ran says it’s not like that.

But in the morning, Joo-ran goes up to Yeong-seo and says she wants to audition with her. In a surprising turn, Cho-rok asks Jeong-nyeon to audition with her and reveals she saw Joo-ran and Yeong-seo practising together.

Jeong-nyeon storms up to them and demands to know what’s happening. Joo-ran admits the truth — she’s afraid that Jeong-nyeon will become too immersed in her character again. In contrast, Yeong-seo is more reliable. Yeong-seo overhears the whole thing.

When Jeong-nyeon leaves, Cho-rok tells her how much she wants to win the audition despite not being as talented as the others. In the morning, Jeong-nyeon asks Cho-rok if she isn’t afraid of Jeong-nyeon ruining their performance. Cho-rok says she knows Jeong-nyeon doesn’t repeat her mistakes. This is enough for Jeong-nyeon to agree to work together.

Meanwhile, So-bok gets a visit from Ki-joo who has been selected for the joint performance’s judging panel. Ki-joo says she wants to see who is better, her daughter or Gong-seon’s daughter. After a press release, everyone learns about Jeong-nyeon’s identity and the rivalry between the girls is stoked.

Jeong-nyeon and Cho-rok keep practicing but Jeong-nyeon’s mind is elsewhere. Cho-rok says she’s curious about Joo-ran and Yeong-seo. When even Hye-rang mentions that Joo-ran and Yeong-seo have great chemistry, Jeong-nyeon takes a peek at them.

Hye-rang stokes Jeong-nyeon’s envy and pushes her to practise 100 times daily in a nearby cave. After their practice, Yeong-seo reveals that she heard Joo-ran’s talk with Jeong-nyeon. She knows she was Joo-ran’s second choice.

Do-aeng and So-bok discuss the financial state of the troupe. So-bok believes they can pay off some debts if the joint performance goes well. So-bok then finds Jeong-nyeon practising with a sore throat and warns her to rest. But Jeong-nyeon is obsessed with beating Yeong-seo and screams when she can’t sing right.

A flashback shows a young Gong-seon struggling in the same way, while So-bok warns her to rest. Ultimately, Gong-seon pushes through and coughs up blood. At present, So-bok realises the danger and tries to convince Jeong-nyeon not to compete with Yeong-seo but to focus on her own interpretation of Ondal, the main lead.

In the morning, Cho-rok comes looking for Jeong-nyeon and reveals to Yeong-seo that she’s been going to the mountain every day. Yeong-seo finds Jeong-nyeon in the cave with a fever and a hoarse voice. She tries to talk some sense into Jeong-nyeon but the latter believes she only has her voice while Yeong-seo has mastered everything. 

Stubbornly, Jeong-nyeon goes back to the cave and sings and coughs up blood. She wakes up back in Maeran and tries to sing, but no sound comes from her throat. Luckily this is just a dream and Jeong-nyeon hasn’t actually lost her voice, as she finds out when she really wakes up.

The day of the audition arrives, Joo-ran tells Yeong-seo the truth about why she didn’t go with Jeong-nyeon. She admits feeling nervous when they practised Jamyunggo. She says she wouldn’t be able to differentiate between Jeong-nyeon and her character. Yeong-seo understands and tells Joo-ran she can rely on her.

The girls get ready for the audition but Jeong-nyeon is nowhere to be seen. Cho-rok tells Joo-ran that Jeong-nyeon’s been going to the mountain. She’s lost in thought but there isn’t time because she and Yeong-seo are next. They do quite well although So-bok mentions that Yeong-seo should be acting like a fool instead of a prince.

Jeong-nyeon finally turns up in the green room, still sick and hoarse. Ok-gyeong overhears their argument about Hye-rang’s advice. Ok-gyeong confronts Hye-rang and storms off angrily. The next audition is Jeong-nyeon and Cho-rok’s. It starts out well but Jeong-nyeon’s voice loses strength halfway through. She begs for another chance, saying she won’t be able to go on otherwise. So-bok allows it.

Jeong-nyeon’s voice is hoarser than ever and yet, she suddenly sings in loud, clear tones. She then coughs up blood and passes out on stage at the end of Jeongnyeon: The Star is Born Episode 8.

The Episode Review

Jeongnyeon: The Star is Born Episode 8 is a bit of a drag and worse, overly dramatic. There’s still a bit of that character focus in the dynamic between the three main girls. Joo-ran’s real fears about acting alongside Jeong-nyeon make for an interesting plot line and the rivalry between Yeong-seo and Jeong-nyeon, which is now infused with more familiarity and care on their part, has always been a great watch.

However, this episode takes things a notch too far. Like with the outburst on stage, this seems like one of the things that would be obvious to anyone let alone a singer in training.

I appreciate the portrayal of Jeong-nyeon’s insatiable need to be good at singing and the episode does get the emotional beats right here, with Kim Tae-ri and Ra Mi-ran offering commendable performances. It’s a good statement on society’s tendency to value talent and how it can lead to immense pressure.

However, I’m not a fan of the method they chose to go about it. It is abundantly clear that the mountain is making Jeong-nyeon worse and her stubbornness about it borders on pig-headedness. While the process of her growing as an artist has been engaging, I’m afraid the next episode or two will simply be spent on Jeong-nyeon getting her voice back.