Once Upon a Small Town

I don't watch many Korean dramas, but from time to time one captures my attention. I thought that this would be one of those. Whereas.most Korean shows take place in Seoul, this is set in the countryside, something that I wish they would do more of. That being said, this show is really only about one thing, the love triangle between the three characters. Police officer Ahn Ja-yeong, she is an officer, and she tends to look out for the town folk. Then you have veterinarian, Hans Ji-yul who arrives from Seoul to replace his grandfather while he goes on a vacation. Then you have a local farmer, who although not dating officer Ahn, is extremely jealous of Ji-yul, and the fact that officer Ahn seems drawn to him. Take away this and you have a show that gives one a glimpse of the countryside and farm life in Korea. Would have made for a fine viewing experience.

Can anyone tell me why the majority of these Korean shows feature love-triangles? I have a idea, but I would like to hear other views.

A city vet Han Ji-yul (Choo Young Woo) ends up working in the countryside at his grandfathers practice where he is initially annoyed by a local police officer Ahn Ja-yeong (Joy from Red Velvet) He believes she is nosy but she is annoyed as they met as young children which he cannot remember. Yes it is a story of big city boy finding meaning in the simple things in life which has been done so many times, some better and some worse. I do not think it deserves the criticism it receives as if you wanted to watch a light hearted drama with a well acted storyline and sweet cast this will hit the spot.

Even though it had a rough starting,its getting better and better by episode. Its true that we can't see that sparkling chemistry between the leads yet, but i guess its ok if we look through the plot perspective. We can't expect 2 people to magically fall in love at first sight and see butterflies.

The backdrops are good, the scenes are quite relatable to actual life of common people. It showcases how a normal countryside life is. The natural flavour of common people like friendship, love and care for others, the way of celebrating simple things ,the way the batter with each other, jealousy, etc these human emotions are well conveyed through the story and the acting.

Han Ji-yul- The Vet from the City- well for someone who left the country side long back and came back after years, we cant expect everything will be unicorns and rainbows.

Choo Young-woo in the role of Ji-yul was able to fit into the character.

Park Soo-young as Ahn Ja-young is also really good. Lets say may be the role was meant to be hers.

Same goes for Baek Seong-cheol as Lee Sang-hyeon. The cute jealous boy look suits the actor well.

Very bingable and I finished the series in three days, which is really quick for me. Likeable characters and no huge issues to deal with made for a lighthearted easy escape. It was a nice change of pace to have an average episode run time of only 30-35 minutes too, and with just 12 episodes you can really get through it fast. Don't worry though, the story is complete and does not feel rushed at all!

The premise is fairly standard for K drama rom-coms in that two opposites attract, and both end up helping the other to become more rounded. I thought both leads were good and there were a few scenes that one or the other really knocked it out of the park.

Recommended!

It's so rare in this day and age to find a show that models emotionally healthy and mature behavior. Instead of the usual refusal to communicate openly and honestly, people keeping destructive secrets from each other, and people stabbing each other in the back, this show is about a caring community who works out their issues in an adult fashion. Even the kids have a high emotional IQ. It reflects on us as an audience if we neither recognize nor value this. I, for one, would sure love to see more of this kind of healthy programming. IMDB is forcing me to write more...so I'll add that the acting is excellent, the scenery is lovely and I'm really glad I found this series. I hope the writers do more.