Welcome to Samdalri K Drama 2023 Episode 5 with Ji Chang Wook and Shin Hye Sun

Episode 5 of Welcome to Samdal-ri starts with our power rangers practicing their moves over on the hilltop. Shout out to the fellow Power Rangers gang who used to do the same thing at school!

Anyway, this brief moment paves way for Sam-dal, as a student, racing across the fields to find her beloved, Yong-pil ,crying. Seeing him weep is enough to make her cry and he drops to his knees, tying her shoelace up.

These two prologues pave way for the present, where Sam-dal’s words hit deep regarding meeting a loser and ending up back where she started from. He’s not happy with her glaring when he chases after her and after some back and forth rapport, she eventually leaves when he tentatively says that they’re friends… and exs.

He stumbles over his words and it all ends rather awkwardly. The thing is, these two have a long history together and there’s a lot of shared encounters when they’ve both been feeling low.

Sam-dal wakes up with the words “I’m your ex” bouncing around in her head like the red woolen ball Yong-pil has been throwing at the wall. Things take a turn for the worst though when news of Reporter Ahn spreading more stories about Sam-dal being a bully surface online.

While she handles this, Yong-pil finds himself reminiscing on the past over at the gallery. There are pictures up on the wall of his parents and he’s joined by Sang-do and the pair talk about the past. However, the vision for Jeju Island is actually on the future, and specifically with an upcoming business venture that could revolutionize the island.

The Three Sisters’ Group, led by President Jeong Da-young, is intending to build a new theme park there. However he makes a big scene up on stage when he decides not to eat the local delicacies, slips on the floor and then lands right on his backside. He even has a nickname – Clumsy Dae-young – as a result of falling over and news spreads like wildfire across the internet.

Things aren’t going much better for Jin-dal to be fair. She takes up her job as traffic cop and finds herself berated by numerous different people who drive past. One such guy rubs her up the wrong way and immediately realizes his mistake.

This is angry Jin-dal of the gang on Jeju Island and she races up the road as they drive off. However, she passes Dae-young on the way, who has experience with her from the past given he badmouthed her mother’s side-dishes.

Back in town, Sam-dal decides that Sang-do needs to be careful of the lambo in town. She doesn’t realize that it’s actually his… but when she does she cant believe it. He agrees to take her out for a drive and she can’t stop screaming.

It’s a simple encounter but this does pave way for Yong-pil showing up when Sang-do leaves her by the dock. They discuss their relationship and, specifically, how people change as they get more experience with dating through life.

That afternoon, there’s more trouble on the island. A reporter for Index Daily, An Kang-hyun, shows up at Sam-dal’s house and wants an interview with the family. He phones through to his bosses and decides he’s going to come back later on.

While he’s out and about, Eun-u and Gyeong-tae find him and begin talking about the theme park, believing he’s there to discuss this. That is, until Yong-pil messages warning about the “sly rat” reporter who’s out and about.They immediately destroy the SIM for the reporter and make a big song and dance about his presence.

All of this ends up over at the police station, where Sam-dal finds out through the local gossipers who show at her house. Sang-do shows up with a whole bunch of cash to bail them out, and makes the reporter look silly when he claims that they’re poor, standing him up completely.

The Power Rangers work together and manage to thwart evil (ie. the reporter) and tell the guy just how amazing Sam-dal is with her career.

The reporter though decides that he should write up a slanderous article about how these guys worked together to destroy his camera. And just aa things look set to kick off, Sam-dal shows up herself and decides to report some crimes. Specifically, about the reporter showing up on private property and doing wrong by them. And guess what? There’s evidence of it too on Sang-do’s dashcam footage. Get in!

Afterwards, Eun-u and Gyeong-tae explain that they found it weird to see Sam-dal and how in reality, they actually admired her and followed everything through her career. They were really proud of her and always have been. They even got her a big flower delivery, sending it over to Seoul under the alias of “Bu” and always working as her biggest fans.

Sam-dal struggles to contain her tears as she’s taken aback by how amazing they are.

That afternoon, Yong-pil does his weather report and learns that it’s going to rain on Jeju Island and this sunny weather is going to turn quickly. When he’s about to get an umbrella and head out to see her, he checks on the cameras and notices that Sang-do is there first. He shows up and protects her.

As we see through some flashes, Sang-do has always liked Sam-dal but he’s been second best to his friend, Yong-pil, who got in there first.

The Episode Review

We are fast moving into love triangle territory here and I can’t help but feel this one is going to be a tough call. Although to be fair Sam-dal and Yong-pil will probably end up together, there’s enough chemistry between our other characters to make it a difficult affair to judge.

The show has done well so far keeping things light and comedic, while also balancing that against the more serious themes that Sam-dal is going through. It’s clear that the past and present is going to collide together and when it does, and we learn more about the break-up and exactly why these guys fell out, it’s likely to shed a lot more light on the problems between them.

Everything has been going well with this show so far, and it definitely looks like one of the best weekend K-dramas airing at the moment. Fingers crossed that continues throughout the show!