Episodes 13-14 » Dramabeans Kdrama MGG

Welcome to Samdal-ri: Episodes 13-14

by quirkycase

This week is all about parental drama and old wounds that continue to inflict pain on everyone. But those involved have had enough of a certain father disregarding his son’s – and everyone else’s – feelings in favor of drowning in his own grief. For the sake of the next generation, it’s time to move on and stop living in the past.

 
EPISODES 13-14

Sang-tae continues to make the younger generation suffer for no good reason, leaving Yong-pil and Sam-dal heartbroken again when he berates Sam-dal for returning as if he owns the entire town. Yong-pil is distraught over learning that his father forced The Breakup eight years ago, but at least everyone knows the truth now. Sam-dal has been in love with him this whole time too – it’s only his dad’s anger that has ever stood in the way.

It’s ridiculous how Sang-tae is so selfish as to choose his unjustified anger over his son while acting like the victim. (Who is the child here?) Lucky for him, he has a kind son who still cares about winning him over and refuses to give up on him.

Mi-ja is over letting the kids suffer for their grudges and fully supports Sam-dal and Yong-pil’s relationship. She confronts Sang-tae, asking him to direct all his anger at her and let Yong-pil and Sam-dal be happy. Then, she finally starts asserting herself. She makes herself at home in his kitchen to cook him and Yong-pil breakfast, declares that Yong-pil is her son too, and yells that she will no longer act like a criminal and hurt their kids. What would Bu Mi-ja think of this? It is so satisfying to watch Sang-tae get flustered no one is catering to his nonsense anymore.

Even Sam-dal’s dad gets involved, letting out his anger at how Sang-tae has selfishly ignored everyone else’s, even his son’s, suffering for years. Unfortunately, the men resort to physical fighting rather than talking like grownups. On the plus side, at least no one is holding their feelings in anymore.

At first, Sam-dal is ready to call it quits again with Yong-pil over his father’s ire. But after realizing that Yong-pil steadfastly attended her exhibitions throughout the years, Sam-dal caves and is ready to be with him regardless of what his father thinks. So they agree to be together and figure it out, no matter who opposes. Now that everything is out in the open, they are finally talking about their feelings and relationship honestly, which is nice.

Although it’s obvious to everyone that Yong-pil and Sam-dal are in love and likely together, Sang-do still can’t bring himself to confess or give up. He roughly explains his situation to Sam-dal – leaving out, of course, that she’s the girl he likes – and she encourages him to give up. From her personal experience, it’s better not to take the painful route of love from afar. And now, he finally seems ready to let go, knowing that he has no chance of coming between her and Yong-pil.

Sam-dal’s sisters are thrilled when they learn Sam-dal and Yong-pil are back together. I love the siblings and how supportive they are of each other – their relationship is one of the best parts of the drama. Speaking of sisters, Hae-dal and Ji-chan grow closer through Ha-yul’s new fascination with dolphins. Hae-dal shares that she was on her way to becoming a professional swimmer before she got pregnant. But she’s not resentful or upset about it – she just changed her dream to motherhood. Although she can be immature as a mom, it’s nice to see how much she loves Ha-yul and truly enjoys spending time with her.

Meanwhile, Jin-dal finds herself on the outs with her mom over the theme park, especially after she fraudulently votes “yes” on Mi-ja’s behalf to decide if the town will allow the park to be built. Mi-ja is livid and stands her ground even when Jin-dal says it’s all to stop her from diving. It’s little Ha-yul who gets through and gives Mi-ja pause when she says she’s afraid the sea is going to take her like it took the other Mi-ja.

Despite all that drama, the theme park might not even happen. Dae-young’s father found out what’s he’s up to and cut him off. So now, Dae-young has to go convince his father that the park being in Samdal-ri is a good business decision. Given his track record with his family, that might require a miracle. It’s Ji-chan who offers a potential backup plan if Mi-ja insists on diving and they can’t stop her: what if Hae-dal, the ex-athlete swimmer, were to go diving with her mom to keep her safe? Hae-dal has never considered becoming a haenyeo, but you can see her wheels turning.

In other news, Sam-dal’s assistants make a surprise visit to Jeju after she mentioned her exhibition. As luck would have it, they show up right when Sam-dal and Yong-pil are headed for a romantic camping trip to take photos. Yong-pil is grumpy about the intrusion, but he can tell how much these loyal assistants mean to Sam-dal.

When they return, Yong-pil realizes his father went to stay at the temple that serves as his wife’s resting place. Yong-pil is disappointed and hurt that his father once again is prioritizing his deceased wife over him, so Sam-dal takes action. She visits the temple to talk to Sang-tae, sharing her own feelings. His change from someone who cared greatly for her to someone who resented her broke her heart, but she’s never resented him. She’ll wait for him by Yong-pil’s side.

Sam-dal unwittingly echoes Sang-tae’s own words to Mi-ja when they were young, vowing that she’ll love Yong-pil forever until the day she dies. And miracle of miracles, she gets through to him. Yong-pil arrives as Sang-tae says with a smile (the man can smile!) that they have his blessing. Thank goodness! I was worried we’d drag this on into the finale week, and I’m not sure how much more of that I could take.

But fear not, we’ve got another frustrating villain filled with inexplicable amounts of hate to fill the void. In an epilogue, backstabbing Eun-joo cooks up more trouble because she’s bitter and hates anyone more talented than her. She sees Sam-dal is doing the Jeju exhibition and calls a reporter, likely trying to stir up the controversy again.

I really thought we might be done with her, but alas, the villainess returns. There’s enough left to wrap up without all this added last-minute drama: we’ve got the sister’s stories, Mi-ja’s diving situation, Sam-dal’s career, and our couple who has barely had a moment to themselves since getting back together. I guess that all isn’t exciting enough, so now we’ll have to contend with the almost cartoonishly evil Eun-joo once again. Sam-dal and Yong-pil really cannot catch a break.

 
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