[Beanie Recs] Countryside characters who are not fish out of water
by DB Staff
Ahoy, Beanies! It’s time to gather your collective genius for a recommendation series that features you and your drama knowledge. We’ll drop a drama conundrum and leave it up to you to provide a drama rec, and the appropriate rationale behind it, be it long or short.
As I was watching Motel California, I was thinking about how most of the dramas I’ve seen that are set in a small town are fish-out-of-water stories. Usually there’s some city dweller who ends up having to learn the “zany” rules of a new place to fit in.
But in this case, the female lead is from the small town — and she’s pretty easily falling back into old habits and routines. I really liked seeing the story from the perspective of the town’s inhabitants, and wondered about other dramas set in the countryside that are actually about countryside characters and small-town life. Thanks for any recs!
Have a very particular drama itch that needs scratching? In need of a Beanie Rec? Email us at hello @ dramabeans.com and we’ll feature your topic in a future post.
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Tags: Beanie Recs, Drama recommendations
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1 Midnight
March 27, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Like Flowers in Sand
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2 redfox
March 27, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Bok Sil! from Louie
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3 welh
March 27, 2025 at 2:05 PM
OUR BLUES.
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4 Isa is always time travelling
March 27, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Three of my favorites are When the weather is fine, Racket boys and Meet Yourself (c-drama. The FL is a city dweller but she gets used to the countryside quite easily).
Other shows I enjoyed: Dog knows everything and Hometown Cha Cha Cha.
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beffels
March 27, 2025 at 9:40 PM
I love Meet Yourself; it is easily the best c drama I’ve seen.
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5 aigooooo
March 27, 2025 at 2:16 PM
When Life Gives You Tangerines.
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empressgirl
March 27, 2025 at 8:33 PM
and her earlier work too: When the Camellia Blooms - also an ensemble cast of small town folks.
Their very outlook on life & attitudes shape the narrative of how things play out when a serial killer is set loose (don't worry, it ends very well with a hilariously iconic takedown involving a beer mug and Gong Hyo-jin cussing)
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6 Unaspirated
March 27, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Welcome to Samdalri doesn’t have any fish-out-of-water that I can think of - all the sisters are Jeju natives and their love interests are either neighbors or previously acclimated to the community.
I’d also second When Life Gives You Tangerines - the parts that take place in a small town are populated with almost all folks from the community. I’m not caught up yet but it’s all been amazing so far!
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7 Lostpanda is now Sadpanda. 🪦 fanwall 🪦
March 27, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Little Forest fits this description exactly.
Small town girl, leaves a small town, but now comes back to her childhood home in the small town. I'd describe it as slow, uneventful and absolutely beautiful.
It also has a very intricate portrayal of home cooking. I think it could double as a cooking show. All I know is that this movie made me very very hungry.
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john
March 27, 2025 at 5:02 PM
♫ Just a small-town girl, livin' in a lonely world
She took the midnight train goin' anywhere ♪
Sorry , couldn’t help it. 😂
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Lostpanda is now Sadpanda. 🪦 fanwall 🪦
March 27, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Air supply?? Am I right??
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john
March 27, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Journey 😉
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8 empressgirl
March 27, 2025 at 6:11 PM
I was about to say "Beyond Evil"
But that's the scariest small town you don't wish to live in...
However it fulfils the criteria of prompt, since story is seen largely from the town folks' perspective (minus Yeo Jin-goo)
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wonhwa
March 27, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Who doesn't want to live in a town surrounded by serial killers and really creepy deer?
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9 empressgirl
March 27, 2025 at 11:53 PM
I think Behind Your Touch would count as well
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10 Kurama
March 28, 2025 at 1:17 AM
People going back in their hometown :
- When the Weathe is Fine
- Welcome to Samdal-ri
- Like Flowers in Sand
- Once Upon a Small Town
- My Liberation Notes doesn't really fit the description but in a way, the 3 sibblings are doing it every evening.
And of course the movie The Little Forest! I love it so much!
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11 Babylilo
March 28, 2025 at 8:40 AM
A Virtuous Business. A small-town housewife, desperate to earn an income to support herself and her child, goes into business with three friends selling sex toys and lingerie. She overcomes her community's shock and disapproval and ends up bringing everyone closer together.
The colorful small-town community was the best thing about Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol. I'm not sure whether it's enough to make it worth suffering through the infamously horrible ending.
The big-city FL in Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha is new to the small seaside community, but I don't think of the show as being a "fish-out-of-water" drama.
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12 jerrykuvira
March 29, 2025 at 8:03 AM
My Liberation Notes
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13 technicat
March 29, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Thank You, although I found the locals annoying.
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