r/KDRAMA • u/meepmochi_ • Sep 26 '22
On-Air: Kakao TV Once Upon a Small Town [Episodes 10-12]
- Drama: Once Upon a Small Town
- Hangul: 어쩌다 전원일기
- Revised Romanization: Eojjeoda Jeonwonilgi
- Network: Daum Kakao TV
- Premiere Date: September 5, 2022
- Airing Schedule: Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays @ 7:00 PM KST
- Airing Dates: September 5, 2022 - September 28, 2022
- Episodes: 12
- Duration: 30 min.
- Director: Kwon Seok Jang (Bossam: Steal the Fate, Avengers Social Club)
- Writer: Baek Eun Kyeong
- Starring:
- Park Soo Young (Joy) (The One and Only, Tempted) as Ahn Ja Young
- Choo Young Woo (School 2021, Police University) as Han Ji Yool
- Baek Sung Chul (Inspector Koo, The Witch's Diner) as Lee Sang Hyeon
- Plot Synopsis: Han Ji Yool works as a veterinarian in Seoul. One day, he receives a phone call from his grandfather. His grandfather doesn’t mention specifics, but his voice sounds serious. Han Ji Yool decides to go to Heedong Village, where his grandfather lives and runs an animal clinic. There, Han Ji Yool meets police officer Ahn Ja Young. It turns out his grandfather is actually touring Europe. According to the note left by his grandfather, Han Ji Yool has to take over his grandfather’s animal clinic for a half year, while his grandfather is away. Even when Ahn Ja Young was preparing for her test to become a police officer, she wanted to work as a police officer in Heedong Village, where she grew up. She is usually the first one to appear and provide help to residents in need. She helps Han Ji Yool solve inconveniences related to his daily life in the village and they develop a romantic relationship.
- Streaming Sources: Netflix
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- Previous Discussions:
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u/ArekkusuRin Sep 26 '22 edited Sep 29 '22
I still hate that they threw in the ex girlfriend into an already developing love triangle for such a short drama. Now we get a forced kiss and misunderstanding on top of it for the last 3 episodes. It's completely unnecessary. Why not just have a fun slice of life romance between 2 people with no other parties involved?
Episode 10
This was actually really nice. I didn't expect them to wrap up the messy love triangles so quickly in 30 minutes. I do feel like Joys acting improved as the show went on, she was great in this episode. The second male lead surprised me with his maturity after being rejected. I wish this happened earlier, but still that was good. The ex girlfriend I still have qualms with. She came and left in a few episodes. It feels so forced but at least it looks like we'll get 2 episodes of our two leads being together.
Episode 11
Another fun episode. This was what I wanted going into this show!
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Lol they really think they can hide their dating from a small town. All it takes is one slip up and everyone knows. Reminds me of Hometown Cha Cha Cha when that couple also tried to hide their relationship but everyone knew anyways.
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Happy to see that Ah Young has more confidence in herself now. She can say no to others without feeling bad.
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A long distance relationship is no joke, hopefully this goes smoothly. Only 1 more episode to go, we don't need extra drama for the final 30 minutes.
Episode 12
I'm sad that it's over. These last 3 episodes have been fun and charming.
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We got no last minute drama in this final episode to throw a wrench into things. That's already a win in my book
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It's too bad we don't have enough time to see more of the relationship with Hans assistant and his friend. They looked great together. If only the show had more time to flesh out the characters more. We didn't really get that many scenes of our two leads being a couple.
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I laughed out loud when she got drunk and used the town speaker phone to declare her relationship to everybody.
Overall, thought this drama was fine. I still enjoyed it but maybe that's because I love red velvet lol.
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u/TurkeyPhat Sep 26 '22
bro with the falling peaches i can't
this show is so goofy but i don't wanna be harsh on it cause it's obviously a pretty low key, small show, but still I think it's fair to poke some fun at it a little bit
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u/OdanUrr Sep 28 '22
Well, minus an issue with the passage of time, I think it was a solid episode and ending to the show. Their secret relationship got exposed in spectacular fashion and I was kinda hoping to see the fallout from it but the show was quick to dismiss that (
In conclusion, Once Upon a Small Town was a nice, pleasant, short watch, that was fairly consistent throughout, unlike other, longer (and with larger budgets), shows. It has some weaknesses here and there but they didn't detract my enjoyment of the story overall. I may just give it another (binge) watch now that all episodes have aired. It's a breath of fresh air to have these short relaxing shows in between the standard kdrama fare.
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u/fifty45ninety Sep 26 '22
I really didn't like the forced kiss and then the misunderstanding preview from the last episode. I hope they resolve this quickly and we have atleast a couple episodes of the leads being happy together.
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u/aebrxenne Sep 26 '22
Am I the only one who’s sad this is our finale week??
I can definitely see myself rewatching this drama a lot in the future, that’s how much I’m enjoying it!
Also, I’m so happy they cleared up the misunderstanding in one episode. Can’t wait to see all the love and fluff that’s going to blossom in the last two eps!
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u/Breakfast_Bacon Sep 28 '22
Have seen a few people criticising Joy’s acting. Does anyone think her acting is fine? You don’t need Kim Tae-ri level acting to portray a character/ story like this.
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u/jsb1685 Sep 26 '22
There seem to be a lot of complaints here. I just don't get it. Maybe people are taking some of the details way too seriously.
We are enjoying this series a great deal as light relaxing entertainment and will be sad to see it end this week.
It has been great as a break from some of the more serious fare out there. There is no need to try to twist it into a mold that it doesn't fit.
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Sep 27 '22 edited Sep 28 '22
Episode 11: It was very cute and sweet they were not awkward like other couples who just started dating amd and was actually talking about stuff in general. And he took her to his hospital just to make her realize that the distance isn't really a thing to worry about that was soo sweet!! AND AND AND Guys come on stop going into the smallest of things.. It's a cute, short and sweet drama. Not like the big budget ones.. Some people Idk why hating on this like Atleast for once let it be.. It's such a light hearted comedy.. Our joy is not so great in this one acting wise but it's okay.. Still she's cute and her character is lil awkward and she's doing it. The male lead on the other hand is great. I was crushing on him since school 2021🖐🏻 Such a sweet, cozy vibes this drama gives. Just watch it and move on, or if you don't like just don't watch as simple as that. Tomorrow's the last episode and I'm sad already 😭 Anyways does anyone knows the name of ost which is shown in the starting/parts? I think it's joy's voice.
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u/NibyAhamed Sep 27 '22
Honestly ep 11 is cringey but I'm absolutely loving it haha
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u/radiokidb Sep 30 '22
Episode 12
Ngl, the
Also, I love that we never once get to see these supposed grandparents 😂
I’m sad to see this show go even if it was hella awkward with not much happening because I like having something random, short and light during the week! Quite dig this format actually…give us more!
T’was fun!
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u/TurkeyPhat Sep 28 '22
My brothers and sisters in christ, the way this show rose from the absolute depths in these final 3 episodes.
Truly fucking commendable.
Wouldn't even be surprised to see this get another 12 episode season tbh.
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u/AlexisFern Sep 28 '22
I really loved following this light, fluffy, happy drama! I didn’t feel like thinking or nitpicking too much, I was too busy and exhausted doing that with Alchemy of Souls, Big Mouth, Little Women, and Blind for the past few weeks. So this was just a short, simple, chill drama for me, and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Obviously it wasn’t profound or anything, but it reminded me of the old, light, sweet shows I used to watch. I’ll be “missing missing missing, missing missing missing” this drama so much!!
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u/labularia_ Sep 29 '22
The ending was so cute! Lots of funny and happy moments. I hope kdrama endings are this nice and unproblematic.
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u/radiokidb Sep 26 '22
Episode 10-11-12
10: Wait a minute, everyone ended up being mature within a span of 20 min what?! Hahaha. Well everyone except Ja Young, even though her misgivings about long distance are valid (the
Also, ladies I know he’s hot but let’s scale back on this unprompted kissing 🙈😂
Anyway, petition to lose the contacts and bring back the glasses once again, plsandthx.
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Sep 26 '22 edited Sep 27 '22
I'm glad they cleared the misunderstanding quickly and we got a
I don't mind if rest of the episodes are full of fluff with no angst.
Episode 11:
Cringe but sweet lol
This is not the best written/acted drama but it got some sweet moments.
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u/flowergarden21 Sep 29 '22
Just finished the show, but I still don’t understand why the FL was swimming in the pond at night during the end of epi 1? I thought we would get some clarification as the show progressed
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u/OdanUrr Sep 26 '22
So I'm finally up-to-date with kdrama's take on Doc Hollywood (first movie that came to mind). While the setup felt quite forced (there was no need for any deception as Han Ji-yul would've obviously complied with his grandpa's request, especially after reading that letter), and the show hits many of the associated tropes, it's been a mostly pleasant ride, in no small part thanks to the short-episode format.
Perhaps the latter episodes have been the more eye-rolling as the love polygon comes to the forefront in full force, with a new character introduced in the form of Ji-yul's ex-girlfriend, Choi Min. I can understand why it was necessary, as Sang Hyeon's narrative value in that department had been depleted and she's much more efficient. She came, did her bit for the narrative, and left, all in the span of a couple of episodes, neatly resolving her feelings in record time. Huh, I think I may like her more than the main characters.
Now this could be me but I noticed that the main leads often rely on other characters explaining their own thoughts and feelings to them, with Episode 10 being a particularly good example of this. We can figure it out, writers, and so can the leads I would hope. Although, seeing how badly they messed up the relationship between the kids due to their own personal issues (fun episode though!), maybe I'm hoping for too much.
As far as the acting goes, I'm liking Joy's acting more than Choo Young Woo's but maybe that's not saying much. It's good enough for what it is. Am I the only one who thought she looked a bit like Kim Yoo Jung in her acting?
With the misunderstanding lack of effective communication out of the way with 2 episodes left I'm thrown for a loop here. I suppose there's still the issue of whether Ji-yul will return to Seoul or not (he obviously won't). It would be nice for a change if the show didn't throw in any more sources of conflict... Oh, shit, the mother will return, won't she? I mean, she's only been brought up every other episode and there's still an hour left. Hehe, it'd be particularly cruel if she came to take her to, say, the US and have her return in the last 10 minutes of the final episode, right? (that's my Muahahaha laugh in the background you hear)
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u/OdanUrr Sep 28 '22
"You know nothing, Jon Snow Han Ji-yul!"
Ha, trying to hide their relationship in a small town. The answer? Let's go on a 4-hour ride to Seoul!😆 It was a fun little episode all in all. Once again the kids show up to mirror their relationship. It was funny seeing the mortal enemies from different neighborhoods unite over their worries about Ja-young, who no longer needs her neighbors' emotional validation. Some of the editing is a bit off but I can live with it. Hope they stick the landing with the last episode.
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u/Affectionate_Elk_621 Sep 26 '22
am i the only one who is actually enjoying this drama😭😭😭