Welcome to Samdal-ri (2023)

Wasted Potential: The Bittersweet Journey to Samdalri

This show was a mixed experience for me with some episodes being enjoyable while others left me frustrated. Despite this, the standout performances and compelling storylines justified watching it.

Now i will discuss what i liked and disliked.

What I Liked:

Great Acting: The performances were superb with impressive portrayals from the main leads, veterans and even minor roles. Kim Mi Kyung and Shin Haesun in particular excelled in their roles.

Compelling Supporting Storylines: Samdal's sister's narratives were surprisingly engaging, occasionally surpassing the main plot in interest.

Breathtaking Jeju Visuals: The show beautifully showcased Jeju's natural charm, perfectly in line with its healing genre, thanks to the director's skillful capture of landscapes.

Yongpil and His Mother's Bond: I absolutely loved Yongpil and Ko Mija's relationship. Im mentioning Ko Mija as Yongpil's mother's because he genuinely considered her as his own mother and she reciprocated the same feeling. Some may have misunderstood some of Yongpil's actions towards Ko Mija due to his love for Samdal but to me he was doing everything for his own mother, Ko Mija. He even chose to break up with Samdal to protect Ko Mija, sacrificed his dream, which truly reflects his immense love for his mother, Ko Mija.


What I Disliked

Flawed Writing: The writing here was poor, particularly in crafting the lead characters. FL's character is poorly written lacking the ability to stand up for herself, very disappointing, especially when she had evidence against Eunju but chose silence. Its perplexing how forgiving she appears towards someone who made her life miserable, forcing her to give up her career. While some argue its not a revenge driven show, standing up for oneself isnt revenge. Yongpil, initially a promising character comes off as clingy at times, seemingly oblivious to personal space. The writer neglected to properly develop his character, the first half focused on establishing FL's character and the second half's attempt at Yongpil's story was unconvincing. Equal importance to both leads from the start would have improved the narrative.

Second Male Lead: Despite not being malicious or negative his storyline was unconvincing and felt like filler, a major dislike for me. His scenes in the second half of the drama were particularly irritating. I find it hard to comprehend how he could be in one sided love with Samdal for over 30 years. While i can understand Yongpil's feelings given their past relationship but what about him?? Samdal never viewed him romantically, she never dated him or provided any hope yet he couldnt let go of his feelings for her for such long period of time.

Yongpil's Dad's Arc: The storyline involving Yongpil's dad was poorly written. While the actions of other characters in that track like the main leads breaking up were somewhat understandable, Yongpil's dad's treatment towards Samdal's family was childish and unreasonable. Despite understanding his pain from losing his wife, making his son's life miserable just because of that is unsympathetic. His entire storyline could have been handled much better.

Inconsistent Engagement: My connection with this show was strange like i would enjoy one episode but the next one would annoy me the most. The inconsistency in writing was evident and i didnt appreciate it.


Talking about the chemistry between the leads, i would say they had more of a best friends dynamic than that of lovers. Honestly, throughout the entire time, i never perceived them as lovers but rather as best friends forever. This could be seen as both positive and negative but given the romance genre here, my opinion tends towards the negative.


In conclusion despite its wasted potential, the show provided a decent pastime experience.

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A healing drama filled with love, acceptance, dreams and reunions.

Choi Samdal and her people. Just a simple story of people in Samdalri. People who can love with their whole heart and hate with a passion too, if you provoke their loved ones. A drama which showed "Many people may support you at your highest but the ones who support you at your lowest is the ones that truly loves you, and eventually you realise that those people are your home. A place where you can be yourself and be supported."
The leads were the reason I was waiting for the drama and they truly delivered what I was hoping to see. Their emotions and acting was truly heartwarming. Every character was really giving their all.
It was a slow paced second chance romance filled with love, acceptance and reunions. A drama filled with people following their dreams with a strong home to fly back to.
I really feel sorry for those who stopped watching this after first 2-3 episodes. Because heartwarming dramas like this doesn't come often.
💙💙💙

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