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A young athlete makes his living on the county ssireum team for traditional Korean wrestlers.  He has grown up with a father and brothers who have all been ssireum champions.  But despite his early reputation as a child prodigy, he has never been able to win a championship.  Just when he is ready to retire from the sport a new manager comes to town who looks just like his childhood friend and first love.  And when she encourages him to continue working toward his dream, he begins to believe in himself again.  But the new manager has a secret past that threatens to shock their small community and cast a shadow on some of it’s respected members.

Lee Joo Myung as Oh Yoo Kyung/ Oh Doo Sik

Oh Doo Sik is Baek Doo’s childhood friend and first love.  She is forced to leave town when she is young after her father is accused of murder.  Although he is acquitted, many in town still believe he is guilty, so they move away to find a fresh start.  But Doo Sik always believed that her father was purposely framed for the crime he didn’t commit.  Now as an adult, Doo Sik has followed her dream of becoming a detective.  And when a case similar to her father’s comes into her department, she begs her mentor to let her go undercover to investigate.  Posing as Oh Yoo Kyung, Doo Sik takes a job as the county ssireum team manager.  But of course her old friend Baek Doo immediately recognizes her. And although she tries to maintain the secret of her identity, she is eventually forced to confess and swear him to secrecy.  Now the pair, with the help of Doo Sik’s partner and their childhood friends, will try to solve the current case and clear Doo Sik’s dad once and for all.  

Oh Doo Sik is tough and outspoken.  As the only girl in their friend group, she took charge of every situation and beat up anyone who disagreed.  As a “tomboy” whose father was the ssireum coach, Doo Sik grew up loving the sport and her friends who competed.  Because of this, she is thrilled to have a chance to come back to the hometown and friends she has always missed.  I enjoyed Lee Joo Myung as Oh Doo Sik.  This character would have been easy to overplay, but I thought she kept the role balanced and consistent all the way through. I especially loved how her character could go from mature police detective to overbearing and immature leader of the pack in the blink of an eye.  It gave her character a nice, yet understated complexity.

Kim Bo Ra as Joo Mi Ran

Joo Mi Ran runs the small cafe in town.  No one knows where she comes from and her habit to randomly close the shop whenever she wants seems like a confusing business model.  But little do they know that Mi Ran also grew up in Geosan.  Although she was younger than them, she used to follow all of them around and try to play with them when they were kids.  Mi Ran’s father was the wrestler Doo Sik’s dad was accused of killing.  Mi Ran is also back in town hoping to find closure from the trauma of her past.

♥ The Sport

I am not a huge sports enthusiast, but Netflix seems to have found a formula for sports dramas that draws me in.  And while I knew nothing about ssireum, I am a huge fan of sumo, which shares some rules and strategies.  So I loved watching their training and matches.  The focus on the sport gave the drama a unique appeal and I felt like I got to learn a bit about it.

 ♥ Baek Doo and Doo Sik

I loved this sweet romance.  Their characters reminded me of one of my all-time favorite couples from “Fight My Way”.  The childhood friend to lover trope can be tricky, but I really enjoyed the way this one is written.  Yes, there is a huge amount of head hitting and silly childhood games, but I feel like this fits two friends who haven’t seen each other since middle school.  They are fast forwarding through the adolescence they missed together so they can get to know each other as the adults they have become. 

Culprit

It seemed like the actually murderer was pretty obvious from the beginning.  First, because Lee Gyung Myoung’s character was so grumpy and unlikable. And second, because Ahn Chang Hwan is so good as a criminal.  I don’t know why, but he just felt like the natural choice from the start.  I mean, even his on-screen wife, who coincidentally is also his wife in real life, doesn’t seem to like him much. The revelation of the cause for the crime is interesting enough to make the mystery fun, but I wasn’t surprised by the culprit himself.  

Poor Mi Ran

You have to feel for Mi Ran.  First her father is killed and she is left alone in a new place.  But when she comes back to her hometown, none of the kids she used to idolize even remembers her.  Yet Doo Sik comes to town with a new identity and they still figure out its her.  Mi Ran is left, as usual, watching from outside of the inner circle and wishing they would be her friends.  Of course, she does finally get the friendship and healing she deserves, but I sure felt for her during the early parts of the show.  

“Like Flowers in Sand” comes away with a sweet, satisfying ending.  The real killer is revealed, bringing restoration to Doo Sik’s dad’s reputation and closure to Mi Ran for the wrongful loss of her father.  The killer, Lee Kyung Moon, the owner of the rice cake shop, is caught and arrested.  Baek Doo finally wins his championship after a hard-fought match that again comes down to a last minute decision.  Luckily, this time, the decision goes his way.  And after the match, he finally gets a confession from Doo Sik that she does have feelings for him too. The couple finally share a kiss before meeting up with the gang at the coffee shop.  At the shop, the friends joke and reminisce together before going out to take a walk and play along the beach.  In the end, we find out that Baek Doo’s dream for his future self was much more than wrestling or his love for Doo Sik. He wished he could spend time together with all his friends. It looks like he is going to have to start a new bucket list, because with his recent win, Doo Sik’s confession, and his friends suddenly closer than ever, he has achieved everything he has ever wished for.