Recap Korean Drama "Once Upon a Small Town" Episode 3

Sep 7, 2022

Once Upon a Small Town episode 3 starts at the police station wherein Ji-yul and Ja-young bring the kid to be questioned. After a fight breaks out between the representatives of the two villages over where Ji-yul can get a nice girlfriend for himself, he gets extremely frustrated and starts screaming about not dating anyone and having a girlfriend.

After he huffs off, Ja-young offers to give him a ride home and help clean up the mess, but Ji-yul has had it with her and the villagers and asks her to leave him alone. He doesn’t like the lack of boundaries for everyone and finds it suspicious that he constantly bumps into Ja-young wherever he goes.

Still From Once Upon a Small Episode 3

That interaction doesn’t go well, and that night Ja-young and Sang-hyeon talk about the memories of their childhood and the fact that they both remember significant parts of growing up. She laments that maybe her and Ji-yul’s childhood interaction only had significance to her; maybe he didn’t find it as meaningful as she did. However, Sang-hyeon assures her that she’s not the only one who remembers things; he remembers them with her.

Meanwhile, Ji-yul has finally finished cleaning his home and feels a little high from cleaning the sticky booze from the floor. Exhausted, he falls asleep on the phone with Yun-hyeong, who asks him whether he made an enemy out of someone as annoying and nosy as him. The next morning, he wakes up on the floor confused and with a backache.

When he attempts to go out of the house, he finds Seon-dong and Ja-young outside the house, and she clarifies that she’s not there to meet him but to help Seon-dong get to school. Ji-yul attempts to talk to her, but she blocks any attempt and rides off.

On a house call, Ji-yul is shocked to find Ja-young there as well, but it’s almost as if he’s looking forward to her. After he’s done with work, he finds the Majeong representative asking Ja-young about her mother, and it’s really an awkward conversation all around. Poor Ji-yul looks like he’s about to run and hug Ja-young, who is almost on the verge of tears. He attempts to give her a shortcut, but Ja-young isn’t having any of it, and Sang-hyeon sees the entire interaction.

Still From Once Upon a Small Episode 3

Ji-yul follows Ja-young as she walks back, all the while looking rather morose. When he later goes to get coffee from Sang-hyeon’s coffee truck, he again comes across Ja-young and gets roped into helping the peach farm. However, this time around, he seems nicer about working and helping out and even apologises to Ja-young for being too emotional the other day.

Meanwhile, the villagers ask Sang-hyeon to be careful and to make his move with Ja-young; otherwise, what if Ji-yul takes her off to Seoul? Later, when Ji-yul asks Sang-hyeon about the truck and hints at the latter and Ja-young being together, the villager ladies clear up the misconception, although Sang-hyeon looks rather disappointed. Selling the truck becomes a competition thing between Sang-hyeon and Ji-yul, and it’s actually hilarious watching them try to one-up each other.

Once Upon a Small Town Episode 3 Ending

She later tells Sang-hyeon that Ji-yul is the one who was her secret friend from all those years ago, which takes Sang-hyeon by surprise. She tells him that she’s only trying to make their guest comfortable and that he shouldn’t act like that after this since it’s not that serious a matter. On her way home, Ja-young thinks back to what Ji-yul had told her – who does she have to rely on?

Once Upon a Small Town Episode 3 Review

Still From Once Upon a Small Episode 3

The series has honestly made me look forward to a new episode thanks to its calming scenery and rather likeable characters. Although my introverted butt would really lose its mind with the constant nosy attitude of the villagers, it’s still a rather sweet watch.

I think the humour works better if you relate and attach yourself to the characters. After 3 episodes, I think the humour grew on me rather than it as an individual part of the show.