Once Upon a Small Town (어쩌다가 전원일기) is a Korean romantic-comedy-drama series directed by Kwon Seok-jang and stars Choo Yeong-woo, Park Soo-young, Baek Sung-chul and Jung Suk-yong, alongside other cast members. Once Upon a Small Town episode 5 has a runtime of 36 minutes.
Netflix describes the series as:
AGAINST HIS WISHES A VETERINARIAN FROM THE BIG CITY RELOCATES TO THE COUNTRYSIDE, WHERE HE MEETS A POLICEWOMAN, A TOWN INSIDER WITH A FRIENDLY SECRET.
– Once Upon a Small Town Episode 5 Recap Contains Spoilers –
Once Upon a Small Town episode 5 starts the day after the very awkward moment between Ja-young and Sang-hyeon – Ji-yul and Ja-young come across each other outside his house, but both of them are really awkward and don’t know how to approach their relationship anymore. Ji-yul, clearly liking Ja-young, obviously feels a bit put off after the other night’s festivities.
Ja-young, too, feels a bit odd on her lonesome and turns down her colleague to make a visit to the peach farm. But, as luck would have it, Sang-hyeon makes a visit to the police station to deliver coffee to her. She thinks back to their conversation from the other night, wherein he had asked her to think about his confession without getting too serious – he wants her to start seeing him in a different light.
In the present, Sang-hyeon tells Ja-young that even if they don’t date, she would still be in his life since she is more than just a lover or a friend; she is also his family, sister and cousin and much more. So the awkwardness will pass eventually. As this conversation is taking place, Ji-yul is driving into town and witnesses Ja-young bidding goodbye to Sang-hyeon and obviously gets the wrong message.
Thus, when Yeong-suk tells him that Ja-young took a cage with her to get the puppies from the mountains, he immediately rushes out to help her. In the mountains, he finds one of the pups but isn’t able to see Ja-young anywhere at first. When he does find her with a handful of puppies, he’s quite short with her and seems annoyed that she got herself hurt.
Back at the hospital, everyone is happy with the healthy puppies, but the tension keeps growing between Ja-young and Ji-yul. She does end up asking him whether he’s mad at her about something as he tends to her wound. He doesn’t tell her the truth, but her response does cut through the tension a bit, and he ends up looking after her as she walks away with longing eyes.
That night, both of them look rather morose as Ji-yul’s time in the village is slowly approaching. There’s also some awkwardness between Ja-young and Sang-hyeon, now that he has confessed his feelings to her.
The next day comes with new challenges as early in the morning, Sang-hyeon brings Seon-dong’s puppy to Ji-yul after the little dog ate some chocolate. After taking care of him, Sang-hyeon tells the vet that Ja-young fell down really hard that morning and was thus in the hospital. She fell down because she used a part of her bicycle to fix it and probably forgot about it.
For some reason, Sang-hyeon takes the social justice warrior route and tells Ji-yul off and warns him not to give Ja-young the wrong idea. Since he will be gone soon, he doesn’t want her to suffer unnecessarily. It’s weird how much he makes Ji-yul feel guilty for something that he isn’t really doing.
Anyway, Ji-yul goes to meet Ja-young and obviously starts screaming at her for helping others while in the hospital as well. Ja-young, however, doesn’t take it lying down, and tells him that she’s going to do whatever she wants regardless of what anyone else thinks.
When she gets out of the hospital, she goes to hospital to get some work done, but the chief sends her straight home. As her colleague drops her off in a patrol car, Seon-dong asks Ji-yul not to be angry at Ja-young because she’s a nice person and always means well. Seon-dong, in order to get the two to patch up, dials Ja-young and gives Ji-yul the phone.
Once Upon a Small Town Episode 5 Ending
While on the phone, he overhears the car getting into an accident and rushes out to find her. When he finally finds the car in a ditch, he tries to open the doors desperately but in vain. After a flashback from his past, he desperately tries to break the glass with a rock, determined to get Ja-young out.
Once Upon a Small Town Episode 5 Review
Once Upon a Small Town episode 5 further cements Sang-hyeon as someone who is just absolutely annoying. I hate male characters who think that they can take decisions on someone’s behalf, especially women. Like, he doesn’t bother asking Ja-young what she wants in this context and thinks that he knows best. I mean, Ja-young might want to have a short fling for all we know; how is this even considered to be any form of cuteness?
Ja-young, meanwhile, continues to be too naïve and sweet. Sure, it’s not a bad quality to have, but at least be aware of your surroundings. I personally am not despising Ji-yul’s character only because his character has been proven to need time to open up to new things. However, his screaming at Ja-young for no reason was totally uncalled for.
In the end, I hate how the two men are treating Ja-young. It’s frankly annoying and patronising, and I don’t want her to choose either of them if it means that they are going to undermine her thoughts and wishes constantly.
All in all, it’s an entertaining episode and good for its 30-minute runtime. But I am not enjoying these characters at all.
Once Upon a Small Time is streaming on Netflix.
Also Read: All of our Once Upon a Small Town Reviews