A young veterenarian from Seoul is tricked into taking over his grandfather’s vet clinic in a small country town for the summer.  But living in a close community and caring for large animals and livestock are all far outside of his experience.  A bright and eager police officer tries to help him adjust to his new surrounding.  But she carries a secret about their past that he has totally forgotten.  And as he begins to get to know the people in his new home, he begins to wonder if his future path is leading him down a new road he would have never predicted.  

Choo Young Woo as Han Ji Yul

When Han Ji Yul receives a phone call that neighbors have been unable to reach his grandparents in the country, he jumps into his car to check on them.  But when he arrives, he finds that it was just a plan by his grandfather to leave his veterinary clinic in Ji Yul’s hands for the summer.  He quickly learns that the life of a country vet is hard work, taking care of large livestock and traveling everywhere by bicycle.  And living in a small, nosy community is no picnic either.  But with the constant help of one very eager and beautiful police officer, he finally begins to settle into his new surroundings.  

Han Ji Yul lost his parents in a car accident when he was young.  This traumatic experience left him with a scar that makes it hard for him to show a lot of emotion.  This kind of life-style was easy enough to maintain when he lived in the city, but coming to a small town in the country is a whole different story.  He will need to get used to people who assume a close relationship to everyone they meet.  Choo Young Woo played this role well, although there is never much emotional depth to his character.  As the drama goes on, he does get to show a looser, more natural character, which I enjoyed.  

Ha Yul Ri as Choi Min

Choi Min is Ji Yul’s ex-girlfriend.  He was devestated when she broke up with him, but over time he has been able to move on.  Min decides that she wants to get back together with him, and shows up in town to try to persuade him to start dating her again.  

 ♥ Animals

Because Ji Yul is a veterinarian, this drama has lots of cute animal scenes.  Thankfully, most of the stories are uplifting and positive for those of us who are animal lovers.  It would have been easy to over-emphasize this element with excessive cute animal scenes.  But instead this drama uses them for story elements without overdoing it.  It was also interesting how they highlighted the difference between a city vet who focuses on pets and small animals vs. a country vet who works with livestock.  

 ♥ Scenery

This drama was aesthetically unique in that the vast majority of scenes take place outside.  They really managed to use the beautiful small town setting to its advantage.  The bright, natural light and beautiful blue and green tones of the landscape made a nice backdrop for most of the story.  

Lead’s Missing Years

Both of the leads have pieces of their stories that are introduced vaguely but never fully explored.  For Ja Young, I was curious about the years she said she went away to school.  It’s hard to imagine her living a life away from their small community, and she has the naivete of someone who has been sheltered her whole life.  And for Ji Yul, I wondered why he didn’t stay with his grandfather after his parents death.  And who did raise him?  While neither of those issues were blaringly necessary, it seemed weird that they weren’t addressed a bit more.  

 Old Bull

I found the story of the old man and his bull to feel a bit out of place in this drama.  Not that it was a bad story.  It was actually surprisingly touching.  But in such a light-hearted show this somber plot felt a bit too heavy.  If it hadn’t been the only story of its kind, it might have worked.  But as it was, every other animal story had a happy ending without much drama to it.  

It’s all happy, easy endings for “Once Upon a Small Town”.  There isn’t really much dramatic tension here.  Ji Yul goes back to Seoul once his grandparents come back.  He and Ja Young do the long distance dating thing, with some advice from Yun Hyeong, who has become something of an expert himself.  They have a slight bump, because they each feel like they should not bother or worry the other one. But they quickly talk it out and move on.  Eventually, Ji Yul decides to take over the business from his grandfather and proposes to Ja Young with matching rings.   Cue the music and the happily ever after!