First, I liked this drama very much, but there is no way it deserves a 10/10. Read the reviews that gave more realistic grades and the reasons they were given, and let them guide you. Is this a feel good drama? Absolutely. But realistically speaking that's about it. And despite the fact that I think Shin Hye Sun is one of the best actresses working, this drama isn't in the same league as Hometown Cha-Cha or Hospital Playlist. It isn't even Shin Hye Sun's best work. (Check out "Thirty But Seventeen" or "Mr. Queen".) This drama is simply good, not great.

I thought Welcome to Samdal-ri was going great until the final quarter, where things kind of petered out to the expected conclusion. There is a lot of filler in the final two episodes in particular. There just wasn't enough story to fill up all 16 episodes, and dragging things out exposed some issues with the story. Sang Do's 30-year one-sided love was more than a bit farfetched, and the amount of screen time it was given made even less sense. The extent of Cho Yong Pil's father's animosity toward Go Mi Ja felt way too harsh, and it also deserved less screen time. (There had to be a better way to create tension in the plot.) Other storylines really deserved a lot more screen time, like Hae Dal's relationship with the dolphin scientist. (And her daughter was a complete delight, stealing nearly every scene she was in.) More could have been made of big sister's wacky relationship with her chaebol ex-husband, and finally more could've been made of Sam Dal & Yong Pil's reunion, giving them more time to explore their new dynamic. Not exploring these storylines made the presence of so much filler all the more frustrating.

As much as I liked this drama, its flaws were obvious even to me. It is not a 10/10, but if you like feel-good dramas you will like this one. And if you have a more critical eye, there are better shows to watch.