Wholesome, Heartfelt, Chosen Family

==final ep ending thoughts. will elaborate in the future.
8.75/10
rounding to 9 for that absolutely wonderful, wholesome ending.

my mouth hurts from smiling so much 😭 the ending was so wholesome. thank you for this drama. it made my weekdays and the last two months better and warm. despite some shortfalls, it tied up well. some plotpoints left that I would have liked to be explored more - especially in regards to sanha's pain and mental health. and ofcourse his mother. so leaves me a little less content. the writer didn't push the envelope enough even she could have. maybe another drama/time.

the writer had perfect ingredients all ready to go but just didn't try/ was able to blend it together. instead went with the easier story/character w.r.t haejun and his mom issue. cuz that was a straight forward story, easier to resolve. a lot more care and attention was needed to tell sanha's story, it would have made this a masterpiece if the writer was bold enough to tackle any one of parental abuse, abandonment, trauma attachment, or mental health. instead the writer opted for none.

it's a light hearted watch, all the characters are lovable you are bound to have a good time.



i really can't forgive the fact sanha's b of a mother didn't apologize to the end. neither was juwon or the rest of the family made aware of his insomnia and struggles. i get why it's freeing him to say out loud that he's hurting too, because he as a character is written to be someone who hides all pain and lets out nothing. so it's freeing him to tell her his pain. that's fine. i don't think he was kneeling to apologise, but only in pain so that's fine too. but how can the writer turn a blind eye to the damage the mother caused him? sanha's weakness was his constant yearning for his mother's love, and her forgiveness (he did nothing wrong but he felt guilty nevertheless) - so maybe not an explicit sorry from her cuz that's too much to expect from that woman but maybe even a "i was hurting too" or something.

should have just cut contact with that mother and kept only with his sister. he deserved atleast a breakdown scene infront of juwon/his dad. haejun got one but why should sanha hold off till the end when arguably he seemed to be physically ill as well. and the only opening he gets is in front of his mom?

think the writer planned something else initially and went a different way.

the mother had a push and pull relationship with him. she wanted him in her life but it then reminded her of the dead daughter. that's why her ideal ending should have been medical treatment not migration to UK where sanha has to visit. well a complete cut off isn't possible because of his sister either. so a apology could have gone a long way if they wanted to still keep them in contact.

the only saving grace of that dynamic is the two actors who did exceptionally well showing the conflict.

Leia Mais

Adds to Wholesome Dramas List

most wholesome ending ever! they went full on hea haha.

I shall forever rewatch the joseon era tiktok proposals 😂

the drama actually did a good job combining comedy and serious topics. knew when to take itself seriously and when not to. fully embraced the meta-ness too. also a whole bunch of wholesome characters to make it worth the watch. special mention to those gorgeous robes and costumes.

great music, beautiful locations. wholesome saguek that throws in modern words in there too haha. "solos" & "business" 😂 love all the main leads. really like the sml my boy shin won.happy to see him move on and get his own happy ending after giving me SLS sheesh!

oh and "I So-Rangae" you. 😂

Leia Mais

I'm not the audience, and I don't know who is

This drama was made as an attempt to increase south korea's birthrate. Consequently, I'm not the target audience.

But considering how the south korean audience has seemingly rejected it too, I don't know who the intended audience really was.

If my unsolicited advice could be of any help to the sk govt, maybe the real solution to the problem at hand could be found by yk more focus on women, their rights, gender parity, pay and equality. I know right?! what a wild idea!

A pro life propaganda and few cute baby montages should help reverse the declining rate right?

What do we mere mortals know anyway?! Ask the stars!

Good luck to them on their birthrate agenda! Do not bother with this drama tho. What a waste of budget and excellent cast. Oh Jung Se was the only person i liked. Maybe Goeun as well. The entire cast including the leads deserves better. LMH & GHJ has given a lot than what this project deserves.

Rewatch value is a 0/10 but MDL doesn't allow me to rate that.

Leia Mais

refund my time

yeah no i couldn't take it anymore. tried finishing but i just can't. anymore of this and I would have started hating the actors.

script fraud - that's what this drama is. like even SHS' acting in the last two episodes irritated me. now that's an achievement, one I thought was impossible. i guess even she gave up by the end.

sure, I thought the writing went down entirely at episode 10 but 11 & 12 crossed the exceptionally awful barrier. it's like they replaced the writer entirely lol. i even wondered if they shot the drama backwards because even the characters felt different suddenly!

what a waste of time, acting, investment, great direction and cinematography. started very promising ended up being the worst drama i have ever watched. not a single redeeming quality.

god shs is usually my favourite actress, last two episodes kinda ruined a bit of that for me sadly. eunho changed from a character i felt sympathy and was rooting for to a character whose slightest of gestures became irritable in the last two. what a switch up. imagine rooting for the main character to be happy and successful only to have all of it feel so unearned and forced and feeling incredulous almost disgusted. they even changed the genre at the end lol.

easiest cure for DID in the world. what use is extensive therapies and treatments when all you need is a man who didn't share anything with you for 12 years, and a toxic extremely co dependent relationship. where a month of isolation in the cabin and a kiss when he didn't even search for her until then heals everything.

the dumb ones are us, the viewers.

Leia Mais

mokha is a special character. the most generous and wholesome.

amazing cast and great, memorable characters. from mokha, to kiho, to ranjoo to woohak to their father. the pilot was the best part of the show. with this and startup - the writer really has a knack for it. although it's not an all time fav, the quotes and life lessons in this drama fr. it will stick with me.

and eun bin is tremendously talented. what's that voice and singing range! wow!


even the domestic violence was handled in a very realistic way. with all the hatred and revenge and everything we see in life, sometimes forgetting and moving on is the biggest punishment and revenge you can give to someone who has no consideration for your life and feelings.

Leia Mais

watch it for pure entertainment - sometimes infuriating!

i don't know how to objectively rate this drama. but that said it was damn fun and entertaining. with a sprinkle of everything, along with a great cast and memorable characters, backed by really memorable repeated (read to the point of irritation!) songs and music. ofcourse, a tidy amount of older kdrama toxic and controlling characters too, for good measure. IT'S A CLASSIC!

great addictive initial episodes, but goes off the rails by and ep 17. i never understood this great love or kim tan eun sang and although i got his rebel phase, the whole eun sang comeback resolution and everything was just to half hearted and confusing. and half the things made no sense by then.

happy ending for all pairs except poor hyung!

Leia Mais

Having a place to return to.

The ending lines of "Having a place to return to is an incredible feeling" resonates with me so much. Samdalri feels like a safe haven for not only our leads, especially Samdal. in more ways than one, it has become a place as such for me as well the last two months watching the drama

there's something incredibly healing about the show. the bonds and relationships, the companionship, the belonging to a community, your people your weather yiur place. there's nothing like home and there's nothing like having a place to return to, and people to support your dreams. yong pil goes further than just support samdal too there. but I loved how her comeback isn't just cause of him. she did cause she wanted to. love how yong pil was let her walk her way, but hung around to catch if and when she faltered. there's no pushing there, there's no imposing of his wishes her. letting her find herself was the best thing.

ep16 was everything.
My heart is so full. The bonds of family, friendship and community in this drama are just so precious. watching the last ep I felt like I was part of it all. ❤️

~As always, we're going for only as long as our breath allows without being greedy. And whenever we're out of breath, we'll come back to that place. Our small stream, Samdal-ri.


The OST is incredible. I'm so glad I discovered Cho Yong Pil through this. Short Hair has become an all time favourite song. The remastered versions are incredible. so is the Haenyeo song sung in Ep9. It's so hauntingly beautiful hasn't stopped ringing in my ears since I heard it.

though it had it's flaws early and meandering plotlines and maybe unnecessary air time given to certain plot lines which could have been better used somewhere else, the ending just makes up for it. that's one of the most beautiful, most satisfying heartfelt ending of a drama I have seen. my rating jumped from 8.5/9 to 9.5 and even a 10 just cuz of that episode. it's incredible.

and JCW standing in the snow smiling like that with that song in the background and there reunion? please. gorgeous. the power rangers are the best friend group ever and they deserved their second chances. second chances are indeed the underlying theme of the drama anyway.

a place to return to, and a second chance at making it right.


the acting is incredible. the casting is superb, no moment of over the top reactions, very subtle, very real very raw. the Haenyeo group reminds of the ladies in my town❤️ they are all precious.

Leia Mais

maybe not a masterpiece, but a good time

8.5-8.75/10

loved kim mubee and kogyeom 🥹❤️ another kdrama couple whose relationship and dynamics felt real and is mature. Jun is my favourite character no doubt, and Ep7 was the best episode too. Cried, laughed, and overall had a good time. the OST is great and adds to the whole vibe, and ironically enough I think i might have loved the OST tracks a bit more than the drama itself haha.

any drama or film that refers to movie lovers, part of the industry, and gives ode to the classical films - that teaches me more and have a discourse with fellow movie lovers is an instant tick for me

some of the credited scenes helped me discover certain old hollywood classics and have a talk about with my cousins on it - so that's a win for me!

the romance between the main characters was really my taste, and good, the one between the secondary couple being less so.

I started the drama for the second couple at first, expecting to Iove them but unfortunately didn't like them at all 🥲 and it's not the "unhappy" ending, i did like the realistic aspect of it, but their whole arc, or lack of it, felt contrived and rather used in an attempt send a message by the writer. so that was disappointing.

it's a good watch. i knew it won't enter my top 10 the moment i started it or somewhere around the half way mark - but it's still a good time. maybe a top15/20 contender fosho.

Leia Mais

Great first and last episodes, with a wild ride in between.

I really liked Dal Mi & Do San so the ending was satisfactory for me. happy for them. Could be because I already knew who the endgame was, but the SLS didn't catch me thankfully lol. but HJP was a great character and that elevator scene where he checked out the size of his hands almost had me switch sides lol. they could have done better with his character, heck even introduced another strong love interest - would have been lovely to see that side of his. That said, his development and growth has been beautiful to see. I didn't really care with dalmi and him ended up together or anything - but his growth with grandma - from call only when you have no place to stay in the rain to call me anyday, anytime even when you are happy. Also finding that purpose in life to help orphan kids like were him was indeed beautiful to see.
The first episode was amazing and that bus scene is sure to stay in my mind for a long time. The writing could have been better from about ep10. too many sub plots introduced that should have been handled and tied up better. the writer also kind of lost her own characters at times. lots of great quotes tho. and last ep they tied up as well they could. loved love yeo jin goo's cameo!! love hjp & nds reconciling too. i love these characters.
And they honestly did InJae dirty. she was introduced as one of the leads but even SaHa got more screentime than her! lost potential.
All in all, do san caught my heart with his nerdy, cute & awkward antics and I want to check out 2521 for NJH now! & Hometown cha cha could be my next watch lol.

Leia Mais

one of the best ever dramas made

ep16:

no tears were left at the end of ep16. incredibly talented the writer to have us smiling for the future them after having us bawling in the beginning, the end and everywhere in between with their past goodbyes.

well, that was indeed a journey. the friendship is literally the best part of it. hee do's friendship with yijin , with yurim and the rest. each different, each special.

although a part of me wanted to know what the rest of them where doing in the present day, and maybe see a glimpse of minchae's father - but really, that's a different story to tell. a different chapter in life. 2521 was their best of youth.

Leia Mais

cutest relationship in kdrama history

nothing to nick pick about this drama. fab casting, greating acting, the cutest and funniest main leads with the most adorable relationship istg. absolute fav couple! there are a few problematic jokes but the drama brings out some laughing bouts from you in the earlier episodes it's actually so fun. wish that continued till the last few but not to be. but their relationship felt real and really wholesome it was refreshing. I also wish the show could have shown us more Bong Soon as a superhero saving ppl and doing the regular "your friendly neighborhood strong woman" thing lol. That was my expectation from the introduction, or atleast after she learns to control her power. instead it mainly focused on the single psychopath character. which is again true to the superhero genre with one main rival to the hero and all that.

love love the ost. PHS simply lived his character. don't think he went out of character even during cuts lol. even in the drama can see PBY geniunely laughing and smiling cuz of his antics lol. i can't believe these two didn't actually fall in love! absolute fav couple.

Leia Mais

Unique setting, solid story

8.75/10

what a drama! wish they made more such fantasy/magic/action dramas with a fully drawn out world and unique set of rules. the story and execution is so good, could have been a masterpiece imo if they could have cut around 4 eps of unnecessary scenes and fluff. but some of those drawn out and seemingly unnecessary scenes are what makes the characters endearing to us, so there's that. ep20 was kinda rushed and exciting nevertheless me. excited for part 2, and see how the dynamics between the real naksu/gyj and janguk is gonna play out. will miss somin's mudeok. she made the character the right amount of adorable and endearing.

it had some pacing issues. was exciting from ep1-4 got boring somewhere in between before picking up pace till ep8. got really drawn out & pointless (but still a fun time non complicated watch) from ep9-12. picked up pace again after

i should say the most i enjoyed was from ep17-20 with the reveal of the ice stone and mudeok/byuyeom being revealed to her mom - the fog barrier etc. so exciting and reminiscent of many western fantasy series. aos is kinda very harry potteresque with the houses anyway lol.

could have really cut down and made a solid very rewatchable show, there would have been no need to rush ep20 either. good this has a part 2. when would kdrama writers learn to stick the ending we wait and watch for that miracle meanwhile!


so 8.75/9 for ep 17-20
anywhere between 7.5/8 for the rest.

i guess this concludes that i wanted more badass FL presence. i didn't want janguk to be the main character in some ways lol. that's been done many a times. let our fl assassin shine and be the saviour but obviously not with that reincarnation sort of pheonix from the ashes return that he did from his own funeral fire.

can't rate it 9 cuz it just wasn't bingeable for me. i know when something won't enter my top 10 when i don't binge it lol for finished series. i watched it drawn out over the months because a lot many eps nothing happened and it was tiring
watched many parts at 1.25x speed

Leia Mais

a fun, no loss no gain watch!

ignore the no gain comment tho lol. i gained my favourite second lead couple. a total win!

such an enjoyable watch 🥹 mondays were good again thanks to this drama. noona romance done right with the perfect mix of comedy, blended in with found family vibes that doesn't feel superficial.i loved the bond between the three sisters. all the characters are so lovely and even the side characters are fun and not easily forgettable.

ep12 the funeral scene was so real and natural like it felt like real life. shin mina broke me when she cried. i love hayeong realised the value her mom had on the foster kids and vice versa.
love they explored that topic.

lots of funny scenes, some emotional ones, a bit of action ( with a dildo no less lmfao), and some of the sweetest of romance with both the couples. heck even the third couple were sweet.

some semi bold topics explored right

small complaint being that they really could have done the ending better. kdrama writers have to insert a last minute breakup even if it's on the final episode like what did that even gain. fine jiuk got freed sure but the reconciliation could have happened earlier and we could have had some cute moments and even a reunion btwn all the characters!

anyway i was so focused on the second couple & squealing at how cute they were that i wasn't really bothered lol. gyuyeon are one of the best second lead pairing we have had in a while. can't appreciate the visionary who saw the potential and thought of the spin off enough! a real legend!

Leia Mais

short, realistic, cozy

cozy small town vibes with all the elements of life and characters that you would expect from such a place. depressing at times, hopeful at others. peace and messages of being content in life, however it is, at times, stories of human anguish and tragedy at others.

watched only for shin eun soo - great job and very multidimensional character for her. really loved FL's acting and character too. she fits perfectly with the realistic plain vibe of everyday life the drama wanted to portray.

although i wish they focused more on her mental health and personal healing too (more than just her helping others through theirs) because the girl did go through some trauma. from work pressure to breakip to losing her mom and then moving to a small town where she was unwelcome at first, seeing death and losing people again. taking care of bom and her bro. all this plot though understandable wasn't very concise or clear. what happened to bom's father in the end i wonder. an alcoholic would always be one was that the message, or should it have been a stress point against drinking work culture and peer pressure to do so in thr country.

good and content ending ig. wish we could have seen more of the ml and the lead couple together. by the end i felt like i haven't really seen him all that much?

their relationship - the initial awkwardness, interactions, mannerisms, shy smiles - all veryy wholesome and realistic.

ofcourse there is a murder solving our lead sherlock couples undertake haha along with some high speed running and chasing 😂

Leia Mais