Chicken Nugget (닭강정) is a South Korean comedy-drama series released on Netflix on March 15, 2024. It is based on the Naver webtoon of the same name by Park Ji-dok and is directed by Lee Byeong-heon. The series consists of 10 episodes with a runtime of about 28-37 minutes.
The story follows Choi Min-ah who steps into an unusual machine, and suddenly finds herself transformed into a delicious chicken nugget! Her father, Choi Sun-man and admirer, Baek-joong, are devastated by the unexpected turn of events and decide to embark on a wild and zany quest to bring her back.
The cast of the series includes Ryu Seung-ryong as Choi Sun-man, Ahn Jae-hong as Ko Baek-joong, Kim You-jung as Choi Min-ah, Jung Ho-yeon as Hong Cha, Park Jin-young as Yoo Tae-young, Ko Chang-seok, Moon Sang-hoon as Jeong Hyo-bong, Yoo Seung-mok as Yoo In-won, Jeong Seung-gil as Yoo Tae-man, Kim Tae-hoon, Hwang Mi-young, Jeong Sun-won, Kim Nam-hee, Lee Joo-bin and others.
Chicken Nugget Review
The show opens with an ongoing interview with a chicken nugget floating around in space. As bemusing as it looks, the scene zooms into Earth, where a man clad in bright yellow pants, a blue vest with a pink shirt and a purple tie is walking around and singing loudly. Other people are amazed to see a man playfully sing loudly in public, apart from the movies. He turns out to be none other than Ko Baek-joong, an engineering intern at ‘More than Machines’ who wants to become a singer instead.
The CEO of the company is Choi Sun-man, a man who can make any machine with his hands. Apart from the two, the company only has one other employee and the trio share a friendly relationship. One day, a purple-coloured machine is delivered to their store. Not knowing who could have sent it or what it even does, Baek-joong places it inside. When Sun-man’s daughter, Min-ah brings Dakgangjeong (sweet & sour chicken nuggets) to have with her father, she steps inside the machine to see what it does. As she presses the button, a nugget falls out of Baek-joong’s hand and she ends up saying ‘chicken nugget’.
Before one could understand what happened, amidst the smoke-filled machine, one can see just one chicken nugget but no human in sight. Although in disbelief, Baek-joong and Sun-man have no choice but to believe what has happened and need to figure out a way to turn it back. They start to investigate who delivered it and if anyone else knows about the weird machine. However, all leads to a dead end from the dead delivery person to a missing scientist who was researching a similar machine. And little do they know that there are many others, who want to get their hands on the machine, which can seemingly change the world we live in.
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As absurd as the story sounds and looks, the series is weirdly intriguing as it grabs your attention from the first minute and takes you on a roller coaster ride. And even the ride is quite amusing and hilarious, to say the least. At first, one might feel confused, out of the loop and unable to make sense of what’s happening but it’s better to stop trying to make sense of things and just take it all, as they are. Eventually, everything will fall into place, don’t worry!
Throughout the show, you could find traces of the director’s previous works like the same elements from the movie Extreme Job (chicken shops and 4 family-like employees) or using direct references or songs from the drama Be Melodramatic. Lee Joo-bin, who was a cast member in the drama, also makes a cameo appearance, along with Jung Ho-yeon as food blogger Hong Cha, as well as Baek-joong’s ex-girlfriend. Another surprising cameo was of GOT7’s Park Jin-young, who is currently serving in the military but showcases a different, sneaky side of himself as Yoo Tae-young.
Known for a knack for snappy dialogues, rhythmic storytelling, and well-timed humour, the director presents a wholesome story, with no lacking moments. Especially if you are well-versed with the world of K-dramas and K-pop, you might find various easter eggs in the dialogues, which unfortunately don’t translate directly in the subtitles. If the subtitles make you think that the dialogues are sometimes quite crude, and directly humiliating, then you need to understand that in Korean, they are twice snappy and sarcastic.
With a runtime of 25-30 minutes each, the episodes are perfect bite-sized to binge-watch. Chicken Nugget is one of the perfect shows to get introduced to Korean comedy, which is a perfect combo of exaggerated slapstick and witty dialogues while keeping a straight face. It will keep you hooked with an absurdly complex but hilarious plot and immaculate performances from Ahn Jae-hong and Ryu Seung-ryong. Jae-hong has well-established a niche for himself by playing off-beat characters with top-notch perfection, that it’s difficult to separate the character from the actor. Similarly, as Baek-joong, he charms us all with his innocent yet brave demeanour.
And for Ryu Seung-ryong, there’s no better actor to act as a devoted father, who would go out of his way to save his child. Along with devotion, he brings appropriate humour with his witty remarks and hasty actions. Also, it was nice to see that he wasn’t subjected to making fried chicken again but did roam around with his chicken nugget daughter in hand, at all times. Overall, it’s a must-watch show to watch over the week-end, just keep some munchies with you to devour along the mouth-watering food on screen.
Rating: 5/5
Chicken Nugget is available to watch on Netflix.
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