Episodes 15-16 (Final) » Dramabeans MGG

Welcome to Samdal-ri: Episodes 15-16 (Final)

by quirkycase

While our couple has finally overcome the family hurdles that kept them apart, it’s not smooth sailing yet. Our heroine finds herself at the epicenter of a public storm again, but this time she’s got a support team to help her out. After dealing with this final conflict, the finale covers a lot of ground and holds few surprises. But it’s a satisfying conclusion that lands our characters in a much better place than we found them at the start of this journey.

 
EPISODES 15-16

Now that Sam-dal and Yong-pil have gotten the official okay from both families, they date happily and publicly, sickening their friends with their lovey-dovey behavior. Sang-do is sad but doesn’t let his feelings get in the way of his friendships. It might take time, but all signs point to him finally moving on from Sam-dal.

Right when everything is coming up roses for Sam-dal, her evil ex-assistant Eun-joo strikes again, this time outing Sam-dal as the controversial photographer Eun-hye. Thanks to the overwhelming amount of bad press, the meteorological association decides to cancel the Jeju exhibition featuring Sam-dal’s work. Yong-pil and his friends are livid, but Sam-dal takes the news calmly. If she can’t do that exhibition, she’ll just set up her own.

The main problem is the horde of reporters who have once again descended on the town to harass Sam-dal. This time, the neighborhood is ready and determined to help. While the residents send the reporters on a wild goose chase, Sam-dal’s friends and loyal assistants band together to take Eun-joo down. They find evidence that Eun-joo was doing sponsorships under the table, slipping sponsored items into shoots.

Eun-joo has been so awful that even Sam-dal’s ex can’t take it anymore and breaks it off with her. He rats her out to protect himself, corroborating what Sam-dal’s crew found. They’re able to get the story to a reporter, which immediately swings fickle public opinion in Sam-dal’s favor.

The whole neighborhood helps Sam-dal prepare her exhibition. Sang-tae, no longer a hater, finds a venue for her. The haenyeos distract the reporters who wait outside the weather station, thinking the exhibition is still on (thanks to Yong-pil pulling strings). Only one reporter discovers the ruse – the same reporter who was run out of Samdal-ri several episodes back. However, he has a change of heart when he sees her exhibition: a loving tribute to her beautiful hometown and its residents. He even pens a positive writeup.

Meanwhile, Hae-dal seriously considers Ji-chan’s idea of her becoming a haenyeo. What seals the deal for her is when she realizes Ha-yul blames herself for ruining her mom’s swimming dreams. Despite fearing the water, Ha-yul has been saying that her dream is to become a professional swimmer. Hae-dal is heartbroken and insists that Ha-yul only needs to live out her own dreams – she’s not responsible for Hae-dal’s. And with that, Hae-dal marches out to her mom and announces she’s going to reconnect with swimming by becoming a haenyeo.

Next up is Jin-dal who, as much as she’d love to, can’t stop feeling for her ex-husband. She’s upset when she learns he’s been staying in a cheap motel after his dad cut him off. When she asks Dae-young why he pushed his dad so hard for her sake, he timidly admits it’s because he still loves her. Jin-dal was worried this would happen and tries to push Dae-young away for his own good. He’s sick of that, though, and asks her to think of her own feelings. Why does she always do what she thinks she should do instead of what she wants to do?

They get drunk, and Jin-dal admits she does love him, but she can’t put herself through that again. Then, she wakes up the next morning beside him in bed. She’d escorted Dae-young back to the motel the night before and came into his room to catch a cockroach for him. One thing led to another, and now he suggests they start over without his family.

Elsewhere, Yong-pil discovers he got accepted for his dream forecasting post in Switzerland – his boss applied on his behalf – but he refuses. Instead, he plans to return to Seoul with Sam-dal and work at headquarters. Sam-dal finds out and isn’t about to let him pass up this chance. He’s supported her all these years and helped her achieve her dreams, so now she’ll do the same for him. She convinces him to take the post in Switzerland.

We then get the finale time jump to wrap up everyone’s stories. It’s two years later, and most of the crew returns to Seoul. Kyung-tae is dating one of Sam-dal’s assistants and opens a restaurant with Sang-do, Eun-woo finds success as a manhwa artist the second time around, and Sam-dal returns to her work as a famous photographer. We get a cameo from Kim Tae-hee who Sam-dal learns sent multiple gifts to her during the power abuse scandal. It helps Sam-dal realize that maybe she wasn’t as alone as she’d thought.

The sisters have gotten their lives on track too. Jin-dal is back with Dae-young and working as a flight attendant at the airline he started. Hae-dal has become a haenyeo and is dating Ji-chan with Ha-yul’s wholehearted approval. She and Ha-yul seem happily settled in Jeju.

Then, there’s Yong-pil who has been working in Switzerland the past two years. He and Sam-dal have been doing long distance, and he surprises her with a Christmas visit. We end with the two of them narrating: “We’re only going for 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.”

I was worried that everyone would stay in Jeju, and the big city would get blamed for all Sam-dal’s problems. But I liked that it was more about the strength and courage you can find with the people who know you best. While some, like Hae-dal, find happiness back home, others find it somewhere new. Sam-dal needed to recharge and remember what was important to her before she could jump back into the fray. Home, to her, was the place where she could find a respite when she needed it.

While the ending might have been a little too tidy and happily-ever-after, where everyone ended up made sense. It took a while for me to connect to Hae-dal as a character, but I really appreciated her arc. I loved that she found a way to reconcile her present with her past dream, showing both Ha-yul and herself that she didn’t have to give up what she loved because she had a child; she just had to find a new way to incorporate it into her life.

Sam-dal and Yong-pil deserved their happily-ever-after, which they got on their own terms. They both pursued their goals, knowing they had each other’s backs. Sam-dal returned to the job she loved but with a much healthier mindset and a strong support system. Yong-pil finally got the chance to put himself first and be the one supported. Although I liked them together, I did worry that the relationship felt too one-sided, so I’m glad Sam-dal immediately encouraged him to take that job and stop putting his own goals aside. By the end, the relationship felt much more balanced and mature.

I do wish we could’ve cut down on the parental angst, gossiping ajummas, and cartoonish villain Eun-joo and spent more time on developing Sam-dal and Yong-pil’s relationship as adults. And I wouldn’t say no to more sisterly bonding time either. They, along with Ha-yul, were a highlight. I also loved the friend group and how much they supported each other. So even if some of the conflicts and angst got overblown, I enjoyed watching our couple and their loved ones find their own happiness whether that was in the big city or somewhere closer to home.

 
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