@Fern, @birdie, @Table122000,
This thread is for us. I don’t mind spoilers.
I’m enjoying this countryside romance more than those Hallmark Christmas movies.
From the PYOP (pick-your-own-peaches) farm, @Fern. Don’t they look gorgeous?
gifs from mostlyfate’s tumblr
I liked that how she knew all the shortcuts around the village.
The potato scene was funny. I wonder how that lone potato ended up on the gate, though.
Yes, his grandparents must really want him to settle in comfortably. They kept his sweatpants and running shoes.
A coffee shop in the middle of farms must be the millennials’ version of an oasis in the desert.
lol. The logo is cuter than Starbucks.
I fell in love with this coffee shop. I’d so jog to it every morning if I lived in this neighborhood.
So, was he waiting for JaYeong?
Let’s enjoy the show!
@packmule3, thanks. Those peaches look like the sort that are so juicy, you have to eat them while leaning over the sink. The air must have been full of the smell of ripening fruit.
The coffee van is adorable, too. Poor Mr Peach – I hope he gets his own love line.
I watched another Austin. Will comment on the ‘watching’ thread.
@packmule3, Lots to love about this drama: the large animals-piggy vaccinations, goats; bicycle riding with grunts-no phony gym workouts; the honor system for paying for coffee; the kid; grandma on the phone asking grandpa where the passports were; our hero being uncomfortable sleeping on the floor; and the whole fish out of water trope AND our Uber confident female lead. So happy it is not the treacle we get from Hallmark and Lifetime. I like the leads(so happy ML is not stuck in BL mode-aftetall he is an actor and should not be typecast).Also like the country it’s a breath of fresh air.
@OAL,
I think the time when the hero buys a bed will be a milestone. That means he’s thinking of staying.
He’s been holding back on buying one because he doesn’t think he’ll stay in the village long enough to warrant the bed. So he suffers sleeping on the floor. 😂
I think it’s funny how he has to crack his back first thing in the morning.
@packmule3, I’ve enjoyed this week’s episodes. I thought it was interesting that the screenwriter made our vet Ji-Yul a vegetarian. This is not often seen in k-dramas. The locals scoffed at it, but I don’t think it’s something that is a townie/trendy thing for him. I think that he, like the old farmer in the last episode, has much empathy with the animals he works around. The old farmer treated his elderly bull less like a hardened livestock owner and more like a domestic pet owner. He clearly hoped that the bull and he would be reunited in another life, even including his wife in the reunion. Ji-Yul took good care of feral animals and pets regardless of their pasts.
Ji-Yul is also unthawing around Ja-Yeong, starting to smile at the beginning of episode 5, but is confused about her feelings towards her old friend the peach farmer Lee Sang-hyeon. I don’t think that Ja-Yeong is deliberately misleading Ji-Yul, but I think that she is concerned about how to deal with her long time friendship with Sang-hyeon.
They all seem very young, naïve and prone to miscommunication. Ji-Yul said he had a girlfriend, but I think it was to stop the local matchmakers. I suppose it could be true. We’ve seen no evidence, but neither has he seen fit to clarify to Ja-Yeong. I feel a bit sorry for Ja-yeong being the only girl her age in the village and one of the few in the whole area, seemingly.
The trauma of the police car accident and the conversation with the old farmer who remembers him has brought back some of Ji-Yul’s repressed memories, including that of Ja Yeong as a childhood friend. I liked the ending scene where Ji-Yul and Ja-yeong look at each other from opposite sides of the stream where they used to swim as children.
There are a lot of tropes – the ML staring at the unconscious FL, the SML starting out friendly but becoming agressive due to both jealousy and protective feelings towards the FL, two orphans or semi-orphans getting together as children and as young adults. But I don’t mind because these scenes seem fresh here somehow.
Thanks, @Fern. I caught up on the drama yesterday …. while waiting for my dinner to cook. It was a fun watch. I laughed when the heroine appeared with that dog and it was yellow daisy (or mum?).
Yes. I liked that the hero was a vegetarian and as you said, it made perfect sense. I could relate. I don’t eat lamb chops and horse meat. And ever since I started taking care of koi fish, I feel a teensy-weensy bit of guilt eating fish. Thank goodness for fillets though.
I agree. I don’t mind the tropes because they look so “fresh” as you said. Will write (or dictate) my highlights while the drama is still fresh on my mind.
I caught up on all three yesterday. I felt like I was just getting to the good part when it ended.
I think he developed some affection for the FL but remained passive because he 1. Only planned to be here for a short while 2. Knew the SML feelings for her and assumed he was doing the best thing by letting him take the lead.
Now that he’s realized he, too, has a claim to the FL also, I look forward to seeing what he’s like in pursuit. Or at the very least, how their dynamics change.
From what I was able to understand, the used the term secret friends because they never exchanged names? He told her his name when he left her a note in the book but he never got her name. Why were they secret? Because he was supposed to be in mourning? I think I missed that explanation.
Am I correct in thinking he hadn’t forgotten or repressed the memories of his friend. If that’s the case, even without knowing her name, he would’ve known about what age she was. Why not ask around and see what happened to the young girl?
The bull storyline was my favorite and I liked how his friend and vet partner spoke to him and reassured him.
Will they show the singing contest and have the FL be a contestant? Watching the ahjumma with her awful hair and attempt at dressing more formally for the meeting seemed even more humorous since I’m just coming off watching her in Attorney Woo. I really hate groups of women arguing and yelling, gives me a headache even watching on tv.
@birdie007, I think they’ll show the singing contest because our FL is the idol actress Joy who already sang in the ahjumma dinner scene. She has quite a resume. Our ML was actually the lead in the BL, You make me dance, and heis dance scenes showed grace and athleticism
I”m happy he isn’t type cast and is in a hetero love story.Jo In Sung and Joo Jin Mo come to mind in I think it was called The Forbidden Flower. I like him and hope he has a varied career. And I like these two together. They have deliberately made our FL almost plain. She pulls it off and is believable as a police officer.
Altogether I like the slow burn, the ahjumma(reminds me of CLOY), the second ML, the kid, the cop colleagues. The fish out of water plot, the fact that the ML actually consults with his partner back in Seoul on difficult cases(recognizing that he has not seen large animals since vet school). As they say, the devil is in the details and this drama is lively that way. I am looking forward to the rest of the ride and hope our two leads get together in this sweet alive of life drama.
I’m watching on Netflix. I must have missed the subs about the dog’s name and also about why they are considered ‘secret’ friends. Even the old farmer mentioned secret and them playing together, so it wasn’t completely secret from the community. (Was he the one driving the tractor when the family car crashed?) Everyone who knew the grandparents must have known the name of their grandson, especially if the parents’ were laid to rest there. Perhaps they snuck out to play with each other. I could see in historical times or with some very traditional cultures that it might be forbidden to play while in mourning, but that doesn’t seem likely here.
@birdie007, there was a mention in episode 6 of putting bad memories away. I shall have to look at it again to quote it – but that is what made me think that the young Ji-Yul ‘shut the book’ in his mind once he was brought away from the village or shortly thereafter, whereas Ja-Yeong did the opposite, possibly even embroidering her memories of the encounters. His life changed drastically and he had to cope with many new things at that point, while hers continued in a similar way even to the current day, with her memories of him becoming a high point for her.
I like your perception that Ji-Yul now could consider that he had a claim on Ja-Yeong due to their connection. I hadn’t thought of that. I suppose he could say he has a claim on her because he rescued her as well, but he’s too much of a gentleman. I’m glad that he first started to like her for her actual/current self.
Speaking of embroidery, how is the knitting going, @packmule3? 😊
Just a couple of other observations on episode 4: about 2 minutes in Ja Yeong has thrown a ball for Nurungji to fetch, but he is more interested in hanging out with the vet than chasing the ball. She has to run across a gravelled playing field. There is an overhead shot of the grounds showing overlapping circles – a Venn diagramme, and she runs out and back across these. I like to think that it wasn’t an accident.
Nurungji means scorched rice. Cute name. He looks a lot like a corgi I once had, except he has legs, lol.
https://www.google.com/search?q=nurungji&rlz=1C1CHZN_enGB973GB973&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjKq9fOmJf6AhUjnVwKHc12CoAQ_AUoAXoECAIQAw&biw=1342&bih=706&dpr=1.25
@birdie007, I re-watched and found the scene. Episode 6, with the old farmer and his now deceased bull. The old farmer knows Ji-Yul. Ji-Yul apologised for not recognising the old farmer from back when his parents died. He had been placed temporarily in the farmer’s care by his grandfather while he sorted out the funeral arrangements. The old farmer replied, “In life there are things you’d rather forget. Today will be something I’d rather forget, too.” So I think it’s reasonable to think that Ji-Yul blanked out those painful days.
Later he said (my mother said) ‘As long as you don’t forget about someone you yearn to see, they will come to you as the rain or even the wind.’ I wonder if my mother came back as that bull.”
The old farmer also complimented Ji-Yul on his looks and said “You can talk properly now, too.” At first watch, I thought he meant that Ji-Yul was a well spoken adult, but looking at the scenes of Ji-yul post-funeral, he didn’t speak, although he was able to until the accident. The farmer said, speaking of Ja-Yeong, “You were so adorable playing together in secret back then.” Ja-Yeong helped him come out of his shell to the point that he could laugh and swim with her.
In a sense, while I can understand the childhood meeting trope, the FL has two good men who both knew her since her childhood and either could be good for her. I can’t imagine her moving to Seoul, so perhaps the peach farmer may actually be a better match unless, of course, Ji-Yul stays in the village. As long as the two leads get resolution with their pasts and a sure way into a good future, I don’t mind. I wish I could binge-watch this.
@packmule3, I just realised what the policewoman reminds me of. She looks like a vintage Kewpie doll. The way Joy sometimes tucks her chin in and widens her eyes while looking away to one side and the way she holds her arms straight. I can’t unsee it now. 😀
https://www.etsy.com/uk/market/antique_kewpies
Will open a thread in a bit, @Fern.
Just have to run to the cleaners to pick up and drop off clothes. 🙂 Fall weather is here! Hurray! Time to take out the sweaters, plaids, boots, scarves, blazers, and fall suits.
You’re right! She’s a Kewpie doll. Yes!
I was thinking Betty Boop but Kewpie doll works tool. I also noticed the way she would stiffen her arms to side and push her shoulders back. I thought she was thrusting her
boobschest out. 🙂I’m moving some of your comments to the new thread.
Thank you, @packmule3.
It may not be how people speak to each other in real life, but I’m enjoying how the characters lay bare to each other their thoughts, emotions, and motivations. This is a short show with short episodes, so no time to waste wallowing in miscommunication. I’m finding that refreshing.
@Welmaris, I like this drama for its simplicity. The characters are sweet. I like slice of life and fish out of water plotlines.The supporting characters are all familiar, but still seem fresh. I like the cinematography-it is bright and cheerful. And the kids and animals are scene stealers.
I think that a nice light drama is exactly what the doctor ordered.