This article contains spoilers.
4/5 stars
Lead cast: Shin Hye-sun, Ji Chang-wook
Latest Nielsen rating: 12.4 per cent
Yet despite the reduction of Sam-dal’s stress level in the idyllic rural surroundings and her romantic fulfilment, in the end Welcome to Samdal-ri is not about returning home. It is about overcoming obstacles with the tools that were always there right in front of you.
Welcome to Samdal-ri midseason recap: pleasant healing K-drama
Welcome to Samdal-ri midseason recap: pleasant healing K-drama
The starkest recurring motif throughout the show is the many barriers thrown up between Sam-dal and Yong-pil, most of them by a frightened Sam-dal herself.
Once he manages to open the door and she collapses to the ground in embarrassment, he thoughtfully casts a sheet over her – another thin barrier which affords her a chance to remain in her shell until she is ready to come out.
Sam-dal and Yong-pil clearly want to spend time with one another, but whenever things risk becoming too intimate she has a habit of running away and hiding from him, whether in a barn or behind the rock wall separating her parent’s yard from the road.
Unlike their first encounter in the series, Yong-pil no longer barges his way back in. He sits on the other side of these barriers, respecting her need for time and space, and they talk through the obstacle, gradually figuring out an emotional way around it.
Welcome to Samdal-ri is a refreshingly simple show with clear goals and easy-to-root-for characters. It is mostly about Sam-dal and Yong-pil finding their way back to each other – by resolving the long-standing rift between their parents – but it also features a terrific screen villain who injects tension around the steadily paced central romance.
That villain is Bang Eun-ju (Jo Yun-seo), the person responsible for Sam-dal’s downfall. She was the assistant to photographer Cho Eun-hye (Sam-dal’s professional name); feeling that her mentor was holding her back, she takes her revenge.
First, she steals Sam-dal’s boyfriend Cheon Chung-gi (Han Eun-sung) – no big loss as it turns out – then she pretends to attempt suicide and blames Sam-dal for workplace abuse. The ensuing scandal ruins Sam-dal, but Eun-ju does not stop there.
Bereft of any ideas of her own, she goes on to steal Sam-dal’s ideas and continues to leak libel to the press to prevent her from returning. She even goes to Jeju, where she intends to steal Sam-dal’s “hidden gems” for a photo shoot.
12 of the best new Korean drama series to watch in January 2024
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There is nothing special about Eun-ju. She is not a mastermind, nor is she particularly powerful or well-connected. What she is is recognisable. She is the kind of greedy and unscrupulous villain we have all encountered in our daily lives – this is what gives her her power as a spectacularly odious character.
It is hugely cathartic when Sam-dal’s friends are finally able to out her for having taken bribes to surreptitiously add products to Sam-dal’s shoots, and this restores Sam-dal’s reputation.
Yet the writing did not hinge on that moment. Sam-dal had already made peace with all the injustice she had experienced and was ready to brave the world again under her real name. Eun-ju’s downfall was not for Sam-dal, it was for us.
Regardless of Eun-ju, Sam-dal was ready to return to her life. The same goes for Yong-pil who, despite all his talent, has remained on the island until now, staying not only by his widowed father’s side but also by Sam-dal’s mother, who he alone knew had a heart problem.
When those anchors holding him back are released – and with a little push from Sam-dal – he accepts a prestigious meteorological posting in Switzerland. Although Sam-dal and Yong-pil are finally together again, they immediately go their separate ways, but this time they know their paths lead back to each other.
Thanks to its clear-sighted writing and the wonderful chemistry between Shin and Ji, Welcome to Samdal-ri is a charming K-drama romance that ticks all the boxes.
Welcome to Samdal-ri is streaming on Netflix.
