Once Upon A Small Town – K-drama Episode 6 Recap & Review

Episode 6 of Once Upon A Small Town starts with a flashback from when a young Ji-yul was coming inside the town with his parents. On their drive, due to the bad weather, Ji-yul’s father loses the balance of the wheel after an animal comes in their way.

The car falls into a ditch and it is Ja-young’s father who manages to break the glass and take Ji-yul out of the car before his unconscious parents drown. Worried about Ja-young now, present-day Ji-yul manages to break the glass and help save her just like she had taken care of him as a child.

Ji-yul waits beside Ja-young’s bed in the hospital. He is about to touch her hand but is startled when  Sang-hyeon arrives. Sang-hyeon thanks Ji-yul for helping her and leaves to get the paperwork done. Ji-yul leaves the hospital, and gets in his jeep but is unable to drive away.

After a while, Ja-young wakes up and Sang-hyeon asks if she was okay. Ja-young asks if Ji-yul was the one who took her to the hospital and Sang-hyeon tells her that Ji-yul was with Seon-dong during her call with the child. After a while, Sang-hyeon takes Ja-young home and Ji-yul watches them from his tempo.

Back at home, Ji-yul tries texting Ji-yul to say thanks to him but is unable to find the courage to do so. Sang-hyeon is at the cafe as he recalls seeing Ji-yul waiting outside the hospital until Ja-young is in the car. At his house, Ji-yul is still shaken from the events of the day. The next morning, Chief Man-sung is upset that Ja-young and Geun-mo are at work.

The two officers state that they were both okay and were good to work. Despite Man-sung’s vain attempts, Ja-young states that she will be patrolling the town instead of going back home. Ja-young arrives at the animal hospital to thank Ji-yul but Yeong-suk tells her that the vet was on a house call. Ja-young is dejected with nowhere to go either.

Since it is the day of his parent’s death anniversary, Ji-yul visits their tombstones to see them. Ja-young meets Ji-yul on her way around and he asks about her injuries. He suddenly gets an emergency call and has to run without being able to hear her out. Sang-hyeon offers Ja-young a ride on his tractor.

On their way, Ja-young is about to answer his proposal but Sang-hyeon dismisses her asking her to think over it some more. Ji-yul is on a house visit to the house of an old villager. His cow has gotten very old and needs to be put down. The old man is mature about it and allows Ji-yul to do so.

The villagers from Huidong and Majeon are having a debate about which town is a better fit to host an upcoming event. The discussion soon turns into a battle of words and eventually gets physical with Ja-young stuck in the middle of the women. Once Ja-young gets angry trying to calm them down, Majeong’s Mal-geum ends up saying that Ja-young is a brat because she does now have parents.

The fight goes out of hand and Ja-young gets furious and threatens to arrest them if they did not stop. With no way to put a stop to them, Ja-young ends up getting stuck in between. Meanwhile, since it is Ji-yul’s first time putting a large animal down, Ji-yul asks Dr Choi for his suggestions on what medication to use.

Outside the meeting hall, Sang-hyeon talks to Ja-young about Mal-geum’s comments but she asks him to give her some space and leave her alone as she walks back home. After the advice, Ji-yul is able to administer put the cow down and helps the old man bury it. He chats up with the old man who reminds him that Ji-yul and Ja-young were close friends as kids.

He suddenly remembers his time in the village as a child and his bond with Ja-young. Ji-yul is back at the animal hospital but turns back around to go to the secret lake and unsuspiciously finds Ja-young there. He recalls their time as friends when they were little. Back to the present, their eyes meet as they are a few feet apart from each other. 

The Episode Review

The episode just got 10 times better now that Ji-yul finally has memories of Ja-young. He obviously likes her and remembers how Ja-young was there for him in the past when he was unable to speak due to the trauma of losing his parents. The show is really healing and it is sad how we only have small 30-minute episodes instead of proper hour-long chapters.

I wish the makers would explore Ji-yul’s past troubles and why he was reserved and how he overcame the trauma of losing his parents all in one accident. Sang-hyeon is too lovable to be left without a partner and I hope the makers of the show come to a realization and give him one immediately, if now for Ja-young.

Ja-young seems to be like a pushover when she doesn’t stand up for herself when Mal-geum insults her and bearing nasty comments from her is not a way for Ja-young to redeem herself. I hope she realizes her self-work and how she is a human being before being a cop.