Benvenuti a Samdal-ri (2023)

SENSATIONAL STORY AND PHENOMENAL ACTING

I could go on and on about this drama, and I will. But for now, all I want to say is that THIS IS MY COMFORT DRAMA. Yong Pil and Sam Dal's chemistry was so outstanding. Shin Hye Sun and Ji Chang work are two of the most impressive and versatile actors I have ever known, and they did justice to Yong-Dal relationship dynamic.

Both Yong Pil and Sam Dal's character individually are just as impressive as the couple. Yong Pil is such a green flag, I love how Sam Dal could always count on Yong Pil and how he never left her alone. This is true love right here.

As for Sam Dal, she's truly iconic. A woman who possessed great talents, worked hard to make her dreams come true and yet she had to find herself in order to heal her heart. She is unstoppable.

I also loved the slight contrast between their characters that, in my opinion, made them understand each other better. Their personalities fit together so perfectly, they truly redefined soulmatism.

The story is comforting and uplifting. It's all about healing and finding yourself. It's about being able to spread your wings and flying high, knowing that there are people who have your back and they will always catch you when you fall. This drama truly taught me so many things.

I could go on and on, but I need everybody to watch it!!

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Something special about this drama.

I've seen 70+ kdramas and started countless others, and rarely does a drama stick with me like this. But this one, gosh. I finished this a few days ago and I'm still not over it. I can't start anything new because nothing else compares. I feel like I'm trying to get over an ex lol.
Anyways, Ji Chang Wook just has these eyes that look so full of love I can't stop thinking about that look. And Shin Hye Sun is just such a talented actress. And their love, aghhhh. How can I ever watch a drama that's not about them??@?@??
Also, Ko Mi Ja's story and the sweetness of the town and its people, and the soundtrack, all stand out to me.
The story and reasoning of characters is sometimes a bit off, but overall the writing was good and the plotlines came together well overall.
This one's going down as one of my all time favorites.

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An outstanding and invigorating series.

From start to finish, both characters encapsulated the essence, making me feel like I was truly in my homeland, spending quality time with my family. This show earnestly endeavors to depict the emotions inherent in every relationship—be it with parents, siblings, or friends. It highlights the idea that even when we hit rock bottom in our lives, there is always someone from our neighborhood or circle of friends standing behind us, ready to offer support. Ji Chang Wook and Shin Hye Sun delivered exceptional performances, showcasing incredible chemistry both as lovers and childhood friends. It's been a while since I've seen Ji Chang Wook make such a remarkable comeback, and he looked handsome in every scene. Finally, I love the whole friends' gang Power Rangers they were the best!!!!!

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I'M GLAD I STAYED TIL THE END

This drama started a little slow. I couldn't watch the first few episodes continuously.

BUT it gets better midway. While most of the most hyped dramas' plots drop midway, this drama gets more interesting in the second half which is very rare.

I love how they reveal everything in every episode.

We also get to know the story of the other characters in the drama apart from the main leads' drama.

There was a doubt on the chemistry between the leads at first, but in the end, they became one of the chemistry in kdrama. They don't need those unnecessary make out scenes, their gazes and cuddles were enough already.

I love the ending. The people from the hometown that she refused to go back, the people who she thought would badmouth her for becoming a failure in Seoul were actually the same people who truly cared and loved her.

I also love how they did not stretch out the whole revenge plot on Bang Eun Ju because it was not worth it.

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Underwhelming

I think this is really down to preference. I guess there was no promise of revenge from the start and the drama is meant to focus on Samdal’s self discovery, heading back to her roots. But I was expecting a little bit more drama to be honest.

They created this pretty nonchalant character at the beginning when Samdal was so cool about her ex-boyfriend cheating on her. Then they also built up a story about how bitter and just jealous this Bang Eun Joo was. And it stops there. The rest of drama, we witness all the back and forths between Samdal and Yong Pil in which till this day the break up was still a little stupid to me.

We spent a good amount of time digging way back to why the couple broke up and then got back together; seeing the sub-plots between the other two sisters and their partners; making sense out of why Yong Pil’s dad hated the family. With a lot of draggy built ups and fillers, we’ve finally reached the part where the drama comes to a close. At this point, I had given up hope of seeing any drama comeback from Samdal, the big revenge or karma on Eun Ju and this big mystery of why Samdal couldn’t go back to her hometown and breaking up with Yong Pil. Spoiler alert, none of them was interesting.

This drama is probably nice to watch if you are looking for something to play in the background - uneventful, peaceful and non-dramatic.

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Has everything except for the plot

I really loved the first few episodes — there wasn’t much of a plot but the “city girl escapes to the countryside” premise promises comfort and I definitely felt that. There was the overarching plot of Samdal’s career, the yearning of an exes-to-lovers romance, and the three sisters providing the family aspect — all of which I loved.

And then as the show went on it started to drag, and I found that there weren’t that much of the countryside vibes, and they introduced plots that were detrimental instead.

First there’s the love triangle, which is the most unnecessary part of the show, and I’m saying this as a love triangle trope defender. The love triangle where the second lead has zero shot, who the FL never once considers a potential love interest, and who has no plot other than the romance and standing in the shadows looking at the main couple steadily progress…we have to leave that behind because all it does is waste screentime.

And then there was the reason behind the main couple’s initial breakup: parental disapproval. It’s a common trope in kdramaland too, and one that I also think is really outdated and frustrating, especially for a drama like this where there’s really nothing else going on.

A third thing that got too much screentime was the gossipy old ladies, who were frustrating even if they weren’t completely horrible by the end.

In terms of the subplots, I think they started out strong but also fizzled out a little. The eldest sister’s romance with her ex-husband was really funny but I wish it was more serious at times rather than making it all so slapstick. The youngest sister’s romance and relationship with her daughter was the best part of the show, especially in connecting the theme of motherhood throughout the show. It’s a fantastic theme that I wish had a better throughline rather than coming in and out, because the mother-daughter scenes always hit really hard.

I also actually really like the focus on Samdal’s career and her adversary, and I wish it didn’t come so late in the show. I also wish they didn’t lean so much into one character being downright evil, and it doesn’t quite give you the satisfaction of karma getting her in the end due to lack of screentime. The plot line of Samdal rediscovering her love for her hometown and photography was really heartwarming still.

Another thing I wish got more screentime was the friend group. We had some at the start of the show when Samdal returned and some at the end when they were helping her, but overall the show leaned into the love triangle and other scenes instead and I felt like we never really got to feel how close they were the way we grow to love the friend groups in dramas like the Reply series.

Overall, it ends on a satisfying note and wraps things up in a neat little bow, but I feel like I didn’t quite get as many comforting vibes I wanted.

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I love everything about it ?

i love welcome to samdalri sooo soooo much. haven't giggled and brainrotted over a show just 4 eps in since a long time.

Shin Haesun is so so excellent and the writing is gorgeous. one of my favorite things in ANY drama is well written characters and it really delivers on that front i love samdal's brashness and her vulnerabilities that she desperately tries to hide.

I love yongpil and his softness and how he cares so deeply about samdal that he would buy her ointment even after 8 years of their breakup. and i love how the actors portray them. so desr to me.

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a corny mess !

It was so bad I had to make a review. the only reason its rated this good is because everyone with taste stopped watching after the second episode and forgot about it for self preservation (also the jcw stan giving it a 10).

So how did I finish it ? ... hate. the first two episodes made me hate that assistant girlie so much I had to see her suffer. but this drama is so disappointing it didn't even gave me that. literally so corny how ONE single article comes out about her and boom she's over and done. we don't even get to see her cry like I'm pissed I really wanted to see her jump off that *redacted. anyway at least the mother (the only real b**** in this show btw) threw vinegar at her or whatever.

Every writing decision was corny. her not defending herself and being so passive was corny. her acting like a baby even though she is close to 40 was corny. yong pil never getting over after 10 years was corny. Yong Pil not respecting personal space or boundaries was corny. the second ML being a 40 yo virgin was corny and not attractive at all. the sisters were corny. the parents were corny. that one ex husband corny. like it was so cringe all the way through because everybody was so damn childish.

Why was Shin Hye Sun acting like that ? at some point I realised that she talks in baby voice 90% of the time when she is Samdalri and I lost it lol. had to skip her to not die from cringe. I hate the weird infantilisation of women in kdrama and its probably my number 1 pet peeve/ thing I hate the most. In this she is a 38 yo super successfull woman but she acts like a shy teen girl like EWWWWWW please give this grown woman a backbone please. all she did was whine and hide for 14 episodes.
She talks in baby voice and pouts and that's basically it, thats her acting in this but everyone in these comment compliments her like this was a masterclass in acting like what ??? Literally cannot stand her and will probably never watch anything with her in it ever again because of this.

random things that pissed me off too :

the oldest sister getting back/ sleeping with her ex husband

Yong Pil not giving a care about his fathers feelings

Samdal working with her ex (that cheated and tried to end her career too) at the end

the Indian actor turning out to be an arab prince that was super rich ??? like they purposely put that in to piss me off. like what was the reason ???


this was a horrible watch ! so slow ! nothing happens ! and the same thing happens over and over until the last episode !


posting this review as the first step in my healing process !

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This slow burn romance give you a healing time.

1st of all those who doesn't like slow burn , slow pacing , healing drama you can avoid this !

Okay , let me tell you this drama is giving me every aspect of life - ups , downs , family , friends , works , sufferings, happiness, sadness everything. Every single thing , we always face in our lives, our survival, hardship , our achievements, our failure, our emotions, our feelings were well put and expressed to us in a beautiful meaningful way. You can find various aspects of life through the journey.

And if I talk about acting , acting are mind blowing. Every emotions displayed very well mannered, nothing seems over powering as we all know Ji Chang wook and shin hye sun being the marvelous actors. So acting wise it's just top class. And the other casts did very well. For me acting was hundreds.

Story telling process is very good. I found it Little slow but I loved the slowness , you can enjoy the flavour when you watch every episode and have every bite of comfort. Emotional moments were also shown very emotionally. It's giving me a comfortable warmth as if a blanket around myself.

Overall I would say this is an epic drama you can enjoy in winter under your blanket, having a cup of tea or coffee, stress free one hour , enjoying country side view. 10/10

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Welcome-to -samdalri has my heart!

Every plot I watched was just so amazing. I didn't expect to come across such a fabulous drama that perfectly and beautifully describes the connection between a small village town and the mainland. what drama can do such an amazing job than this?
I see people saying somewhere it's boring, then it's not your genre simply because not a single second is weird or frustrating.
stories of every daughter and character in the story are so mesmerizing. the bond between the male and female lead are just wow! and the friendship between the group is just so heart touching.
totally recommending it

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Underrated Masterpiece Deserving of a Spotlight!

This K-drama is an absolute hidden gem, quietly awaiting the recognition it truly deserves. It's like stumbling upon a treasure trove in the vast landscape of K-dramas, and if you haven't dived into it yet, you're essentially missing out on the VIP section of drama appreciation.

The main couple's chemistry is not just on point; it's practically sparking a revolution in the romance genre. Their connection is so genuine that I'm tempted to start a petition demanding an award for them – they've managed to reignite our belief in love with their exceptional performances.

And let's not forget the unsung heroes of the show – the side characters. They are the real MVPs, adding depth and charm to the narrative. Of course, there are a few annoying ones who could use a crash course in being less irritating, but they're a small hiccup in an otherwise flawless ensemble.

In my book, this K-drama easily earns a solid 10/10. I wholeheartedly recommend it, served with a side of popcorn and a generous emotional investment. It's a journey worth taking, and you'll find yourself immersed in a world where love, laughter, and a few eye-rolls are in perfect harmony.

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