Summer Strike is what I would call a mood slice of life drama. It's a story about Yeo Reum "Summer" whose hectic life is falling apart when she decides to pack a backpack with a few belongings and go on strike from the life she's known. She winds up in a strange small town full of interesting characters and makes the choice to lead an unconventional life without any responsibilities or plans. The concept is pretty inspiring except for one thing... Yeo Reum is a frustrating mess. Good thing for her, the entire town is full of messy characters.

Although Yeo Reum is the main character the true star of the show is Yim Si Wan as An Dae Beom. He is so awkwardly adorable and endearing, and honestly the most interesting character even while barely saying a word. He has cute chemistry with Yeo Reum from the very beginning, and their connection is super sweet, but if you are looking for a conventional romance be warned that this is NOT it. Think more slow-burn kindred spirits who like to run a lot and you will be far less likely to be disappointed. Many of their interactions happen in the library which should give you an idea of how adorkable and wholesome these moments are.

The rest of the ensemble is great too, but full of frustrating characters, from Grandmas to single dads, HS students, and ex-cons. I don't want to speak too much about them all in detail since the interesting part of the story is learning about these characters as Yeo Reum does. The town is full of sadness and tragedy and is haunted by a mysterious murder from years ago. Of course, Yeo Reum's presence changes things in the town mostly for the better, but not the mood. This drama is still mostly melancholy, frustrating, and sad. Still, this isn;t quite the "fish out of water" trope that I expected. It's more about the town adapting to and at times blatantly rejecting a stranger's presence.

Would I watch this again? Probably not. Although I like the simple concept of the drama, I do think the plot isn't as interesting as the characters. There also aren't many scenes that I would necessarily want to rewatch. If I were a bigger fan of slice-of-life dramas then maybe just the small-town atmosphere would be enough to make me want to rewatch/revisit Angok. I thought it was nice to escape to Angok each week, but since many of the characters were frustrating, I was more than ready to say goodbye to them by episode 12... the perfect length for this drama.


Overall, this drama feels a little like reading someone's diary. Or rather, listening to someone's diary since there is a lot of narration. There isn't a major character transformation but watching feels intimate and definitely piqued my curiosity throughout. The romance and mystery parts of the story were a little disappointing because they were so played down. However, it's certainly an eventful summer, no matter how slow paced the drama feels at times. If you ever had a fantasy of running away from your life this will either inspire you or scare you. By the end, I did feel comforted by the sense of community, I was touched by Yeo Reum's imperfect pursuit of happiness, and there's an emotionally healing feeling even if it left me dry eyed throughout, so I would recommend binging this it if you're in a introspective and reflective mood, and I appreciate this simple drama reminding me to appreciate the simple things.