Once Upon a Small Town: Series Finale

The thread is open, @Fern and @birdie007. I’m down two episodes so I’ll let you go ahead.

I’m in love with the director of photography of this drama.

#once upon a small town from I promise you, I'll treasure it

The visuals of this shot carried the point across. Although time has flowed between the two of them like the running stream, they’re back together again because their connection is as solid as a rock.

#once upon a small town from I promise you, I'll treasure it

Same here. The shot was on point.

Joy’s side of the frame was packed with lines — vertical, horizon and diagonal lines — formed by the wooden structure of the shed as well as the equipment inside the shed.

In contrast, JiYul was standing outside in the open. Joy’s chaotic surroundings mirrored her confused state of mind. She felt conflicted on how to go forward since JiYul already remembered their past, so she was hiding.

For JiYul, however, it had become clearer.

#once upon a small town from I promise you, I'll treasure it

Hmmm… is this farm from “My Liberation Notes”?

I think the difference between the cinematography in MLN and this drama is the color saturation.

In MLN, the colors were muted, making the trees, crops, and even the roofs look dried up, parched, or worn-out. The somber scenery matched the characters of that drama since they found country life stifling and exhausting.

In contrast, in this drama, country life is shown as healing and rejuvenating. Hence, the plants are greener, and the skies are bluer.

#once upon a small town from I promise you, I'll treasure it

I like the lighting here. Note how the streetlamps seemed to spotlight JiYul. Except for him who was wearing white and standing in the middle of the street, everything else was in the shadows.

To me, he was being put in the limelight because he was about to apologize. That’s the whole point of the episode, remember? His apology.

He didn’t know how to apologize to JaYeong for having forgotten her.

#once upon a small town from I promise you, I'll treasure it

This was funny. The two suitors were pretending to tend to Joy’s garden; they were really waiting for her to come out. The aerial shot (or bird’s eye view) was a good choice because it established the distance between the two men.

#once upon a small town from I promise you, I'll treasure it

Here, the wide shot is a good choice. As the audience, we were given the impression that these two were in a world of their own. We could only be bystanders to their developing romance.

#once upon a small town from I promise you, I'll treasure it

When Joy was walking down the lane with SangHyun, the trees formed a green wall that was fitting for the moment. Joy was about to reject him and privacy was needed.

#once upon a small town from I promise you, I'll treasure it

A lot of subtext going on in this scene. The city girl is out-of-place in this simple, unpretentious house. The city girl is pretending to befriend the country girl while the country girl is pretending not to be hurt by the city girl’s words.

#once upon a small town from I promise you, I'll treasure it

When JiHul sat on the bench, his blue-green world matched his low spirits.

#once upon a small town from I promise you, I'll treasure it

And this is an omen that SangHyun is fated to be a lone wolf howling at the moon. lol.

All the screenshots and gifs were taken i-got-the-feels’ tumblr. Please give her/him the credit (not me!) when saving the images from this blog.

Let’s enjoy the ending.

 

 

6 Comments On “Once Upon a Small Town: Series Finale”

  1. What a satisfying ending to a great little romance drama! This show was just a wonderful light, easy watch with 2 cutie leads! I was expecting Ji-yul to end up taking over the grandfather’s practice, so no surprise there. But satisfying all the same. I think his grandfather set things up the first time hoping that Ji-yul would like the work and agree to eventually take over. Everything about this production was well done, including the directing, cinematography, setting. Nice performances from all cast members. Pacing was just right with the 12 episode length. Thatnks to @packmule3 and everyone else for all of your insightful comments! Netflix surprised me this year by providing 2 of my favorite rom coms for 2022, this drama and A Business Proposal. Final Thoughts: Really enjoyed this sweet rom com set in a small rural community in the South Korean countryside. Good if you are needing a light, breezy, feel-good watch and well paced at 12 episodes.

  2. @Table122000, I agree with your thoughts. This drama was light, but contained good insights on how adults can have good relationships. I liked how Ji-Yul’s friend was a bit goofy, but had great advice on relationships. I would rate this as very satisfying in a low-key way. Haha, @packmule3 mentioned a bromance and indeed it looks like the ML and 2nd ML had become gaming buddies.

    @packmule3, once you mentioned the differences between the countryside in MLN and this drama, I couldn’t stop seeing the colour saturation. The countryside in MLN may have been attractive, too, but the farm was more derelict, the colours of the fields were faded as though the sun and the heat had starring roles. It was more of an oppressive-feeling location compared to the shining village in OUAST.

    Did I miss the singing contest or was it mentioned again? I kept thinking it would happen in this episode.

  3. @Fern: The Singing Contest was not mentioned again after the scene with the town ajummahs complaining that the rival town was selected to host the program. The one lady remarked that it was Okay, they would put all of their effort into getting the special funds (or whatever it was) for their peach farm. The other town was also trying for the special funds. Yes, I was like you. I thought they would have a scene of the Singing Contest program and Joy would sing on it, LOL.

  4. I don’t think we ever found out who got the special funds as well. I hoped that it went to the smaller town if the bigger one got a singing contest and related income. The rivalry never got resolved, which is rather a pity. I hate seeing grown-ups acting so childish rather than pooling their energy and resources for the good of the area. I think that was the biggest thing I disliked about this drama.

  5. I think you are correct, drama never mentioned who received the special funds that both towns were vying for. I agree with you the “town rivalry” was one of the negatives of the drama. The scenes of the respective “Ladies’ Associations” members getting into screaming matches and catfights with each other was cringe and actually rather boring to me, even though I know it was played for laughs. I would have preferred it if they had toned down those scenes.

  6. I’ve been slow to catch up with this one, but I’m also liking the slow pace, and the lovely scenery. I thought the childhood backstory was sweet and poignant and not just added at the last minute (as some kdramas have done, to help further establish the OTP). It is integral to the story, and is about finding love and acceptance after loss.

    I have watched through episode 9–I’d downloaded several episodes up to E9 before I traveled to Portugal—but the series isn’t available here. Bummer! So I’ll have to wait until I get home to watch through to the end.

    BTW the list of kdramas available on Netflix in Portugal includes many only available on Viki in the USA.

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