Netflix is kicking butt with interesting K-dramas. [View all]

[Baitball Blogger]

Welcome to Samdal-ri
Since you have to invest 16 hours to watch most K-dramas that most of us have to follow by reading captions, it always pays to be selective. Welcome to Samdal-ri hits all the main requirements for a great Korean drama. So, I can suggest you put this one top on your list.

In no special order of importance*, we can start with the setting. The mini series provides a quick contrast between the fast cut-throat life in Seoul vs a seaside village on Jeju Island, which looks idyllic, but has its own harsh realities. The main characters are children born on the same day to female friends who are both part of the sea-harvesting community on the island. (divers) Their children grow up to be tight friends and later become a couple, but the girl, Jo Sam Dal, has a big ambition to leave the island and become famous in her chosen career: Photography.

The first episode begins fifteen years after Jo Sam Dal left the island to chase her dream; and several years after she has broken all ties with her old Jeju boyfriend. In that time she has paid her dues in the field of photography and is about to debut her first exhibition. Most of the subjects in her exhibit are celebrities, reflecting her popularity in the entertainment industry. This turns out to be an Achille’s Heel. Right before the opening of the Exhibit, Sam Dal is accused of bullying by an envious and devious assistant and in a blink of an eye, Sam Dal’s career takes a near fatal hit. The exhibition gets canceled due to negative public opinion. (This appears to be a true reflection of Korean culture. A celebrity’s career can end overnight if the netizen community decides to go negative on whatever rumor gets circulated. And it doesn’t matter if it’s a false rumor, since it takes time to change public opinion. While you wait for redemption, your business relationships distance themselves from you, leaving you with no means to sustain yourself.)

On the day that Sam Dal’s Exhibition gets canceled, the reporters become hyenas and track Sam Dal to her apartment in Seoul, which she shares with her two sisters and nine year old niece. (The young girl that plays the niece will probably win an award for her performance. She is the most mature of the four of them and delivers her lines like an emerging Julia Sugarbaker.) The family interactions provide wonderful comedic moments, which helps balance out some of the darker themes running through the show.

Losing allies and hope due to the defamation, Sam Dal retreats to her hometown on Jeju Island. She is despondent since it’s common knowledge that most of the children of the Jeju islanders fail to make the transition to Seoul where big money and good careers can provide a better life. Her failure, will also be her parents’ failure. And the thought of bumping into her ex-boyfriend is beyond imaginable.

That is a synopsis of the first episode.

The second requirement of a good drama is the actors. Jo Sam Dal is played by talented Shin Hye-Sun. She played the main role in Mr. Queen, which was a gender bender. She swings from comedy to drama effortlessly. The male protagonist is played by Ji Chang Wook who starred in Healer and Back Street Rookie. Two very different kind of K-dramas, which reflects his range. In Welcome to Samdal-ri, he plays the part of a very passionate weather forecaster, but outside of his work, he’s more like a Chandler from Friends with all that awkwardness and goofy personality.

Finally, the supporting actors. If there is one thing that Americans can learn from a 16 episode Korean drama which is produced well, it is the importance of supporting actors who are given a good story arc. It’s like watching a Variety Show, which enhances the experience.

Bottomline: Welcome to Samdal-ri, highly recommend, especially for the uninitiated. Airs two episodes each weekend. First two episodes are available on Netflix.

*About the importance of Setting.
*The reason I listed Setting first, is because it’s not enough to have two great actors on screen to deliver a story. Not for 16 hours. I watched the first episode of My Demon (Also new on Netflix) and couldn’t get through it. It starred two solid actors, Song Kang ( Sweet Home, Love Alarm and countless other successful hits) and Kim Yoo-Jung Backstreet Rookie, Moon Embracing the Sun. My Demon does deal with a supernatural theme, which is not my favorite genre and I thought it was derivative and slow. The meet-cute was meh and it took too long to get to the point where the two main characters’ stories merge. As I was trudging through it, I thought, gee, it could have helped this show if it had an interesting setting. It was mostly cold corporate rooms or a dark isolated road during that first hour.

By contrast, also new to Netflix that deals with a supernatural topic is Tales of the Nine-Tale Fox. It was released in 2020, but only available on Netflix now. Male lead is Lee Dong Wook, who is extremely popular in Korea and probably internationally. He also had a main role in Guardian the Lonely and Great God (Goblin). In the Nine-Tale Fox there was a great, natural mountain meets coastal setting, and that’s when I noticed how much it makes a difference when you’re dealing with supernatural genres, especially for those of us who need a little nudge.

Sweet Home – Second Season.
Sweet Home is a post-apocalyptic, science fiction crossed with the supernatural. The first season aired on Netflix in 2020, then Covid hit and delayed Season Two until this year. I wondered if it would hold my interest since my interests have changed and I’m glad to report it did very well. The monsters were creative and the original season left so many unanswered questions that Season Two successfully answered. At the same time Season 2 also introduced new characters to prepare us for the grand finale of Season Three next year. There will be crying when you see the fate of some of the original characters, but the new characters also bring interest to the story. It was action filled, with only one episode where the new characters were first introduced, but once they found their footing, the show moved rapidly.