Welcome to Samdalri K Drama 2023 Episode 13 with Ji Chang Wook and Shin Hye Sun

Episode 13 of Welcome to Samdal-ri begins with Sang-tae bursting in to find Yong-pil and Sam-dal together. However, what we didn’t see was Sang-dal lurking about outside. Yong-pil spirals when he realizes that his own father is the reason they broke up.

Sang-tae gaslights his own son, telling him he may need to cut ties with him unless he stops this romance. Yong-pil is furious and as Sam-0dal tries to explain herself, Yong-pil drags her outside to the dock so they can talk. He’s not hapy about her keeping all of this to herself and not telling him.

Sam-dal couldn’t bear to take his own father away from him after everything they went through with Mi-ja (their mum). This is why Sam-dal did this, especially because they both witnessed Sang-tae almost committing suicide and popping pills outside. Seeing them torn up and in each other’s arms, Sam-dal decided to sacrifice her own happiness to help Yong-pil. But then that “damn one-sided love” caused Sam-dal to stack up every guy alongside Yong-pil. And none of them could compare.

Sam-dal can never overcome him, but given Yong-pil’s father only has his son, while she has her sister, family and friends, this is her cross to bear. Yong-pil doesn’t want a one-sided love and tells her not to make the same mistake he did 8 years ago. He’s clearly going to try and set things right with his father.

Sam-dal heads home and Mi-ja gives her daughter some words of encouragement. She tells her to continue liking him and to keep following her heart. And while she does that, Mi-ja decides to use herself as a human shield for them, dropping by some food for Sang-tae. She’s hoping that by focusing his anger on her, it’ll stop him from hurting Sam-dal. When Yong-pil drops by, she reassures him that she’s not afraid of his father anymore and he’s not alone either.

Meanwhile, the miscommunication between Hae-dal and Ji-chan is cleared up as the latter finally understands the relationship she has with Ha-yul. Hae-dal points out that her dream to be a professional swimmer was shut down when she had Ha-yul, but just because the dream changed, does’n’t mean her life is over. She’s happy with what she has… and Ji-chan is very clearly interested.

When he drops them off, he even offers them to drop by the dolphin center as they have lots for kids that Ha-yul will enjoy. Just before they part ways, Ji-chan points out it’s not weird what she and Ha-yul have, and he likens them to sisters rather than mother/daughter given their ties.

With the food in hand, Yong-pil heads in and decides to sot out some food for him and Sang-tae. He prepares all the dishes, and sits before a drunken Sang-tae to try and sort things out. He even has an old photo out of their family too. He promises to keep upsetting Sang-tae so he can take care of him, Sam-dal and Mi-ja all by himself. “No one is okay right now,” He says and tells him to embrace his pain so they can move past this and move on to the next chapter in their lives.

Meanwhile, the voting results come out and 66 people voted yes for the theme park! It’s clear that Jin-dal has had quite an affect on the people… and her authority too. In fact, she’s made it so the whole family vote with a “yes”. When Mi-ja finds out, she’s livid and races down to find Jin-dal. Dae-young jumps in and stands between them. He ends up getting a nasty slap across his back for his troubles.

While Jin-dal explains her actions, it’s little Ha-yul who manages to get through to Mi-ja, pointing out that she doesn’t want her to dive and be lost like her old friend.

Speaking of old friends, Sang-do ends up sitting and having snacks with Sam0dal that night. He knows about her ties with Yong-pil, having seen the note from the yarn at the very start of the season. After, he speaks plainly to her and points out there’s someone he’s liked for a long time. He admits that he likes someone, but knows that she likes someone else.

Sam-dal encourages him to give up and keep looking for someone else, even if it’s super painful. It’s hard to tell whether she knows it’s about her, but it’s enough for Sang-do to cry a little without her seeing and deciding to move past this.

Speaking of moving on, Yong-pil does everything he can to try and help Sang-tae confront his grief and move past it. Apparently there’s a crack at Samdal-ri Gallery. In reality, the only crack here is the one in Sang-tae’s heart (well, and the crack in the wall too but the sentence sounded good so we’re keeping it in!) Yong-pil is here and he encourages his dad to properly see the two Mi-jas and how close they were.

Mi-ja also reveals the first time she went to the hospital 8 years ago. Yong-pil was the one who took her and he also broke up with Sam-dal specifically because of her mum. However, all of this eventually leads to big drama when Yong-pil heads to the forecasting center and realizes that there’s high tides and some serious drama going on with Sam-dal.

Sang-tae heads down to the docks as well, along with the divers as Ms Yang goes missing and leaves. She happens to be down by the water, and it’s Mi-ja who spots her. Unfortunately, it’s thr wrong Mi-ja and she berates her, hitting the poor mother repeatedly. Sang-tae sees all this, and on the way home, Mi-ja encourages him to take all his anger out on her and she’ll take it. But in exchange, allow Sam-dal and Yong-pil to be in a relationship.

As Sang-tae starts to kick off, Mi-ja points out that she too is in just as much pain given she lost her best friend and her life partner. Sang-tae seems to realize all of this and watches as she doubles over and weeps.

Sam-dal receives word back from Seoul of what Yong-pil has done for her, including leaving his name in the guestbook and leaving the big note for her. As Yong-pil catches up, taking her by the hand and leading her away from the rising tides, she stops him and wraps her arms around the guy, realizing how much he’s done to try and protect her.

The Episode Review

So Welcome to Samdal-ri returns with a solid episode, one that sees Sang-tae’s pain come to the forefront of the drama. Specifically, we see how his actions have destroyed Yong-pil and Sam-dal’s relationship, and how Mi-ja has handled this pain and agony in a very different way to Sang-tae.

While the latter has chosen destructive behaviour and pushed everyone away, Mi-ja has instead suffered in silence, while also trying to keep her family together. It’s a nice symbiotic way of showing how these two souls have dealt with grief in polar opposite ways.

Beyond that, it’s nice to get more drama with Hae-dal and Ji-chan, although I’d actually quite like to see more of their story. It’s a nice refreshing take on romance, given she’s a single mother and Ji-chan very clearly clicks with her and would make a great addition to their family set-up!

Beyond that, Welcome to Samdal-ri finally gets some closure over Sang-do too, who realizes how he’s never had a shot with Sam-dal and will now, hopefully, move onto better things.