Finland Papa (2023)

Short and Simple Healing and Slice-of-Life Drama about Forgiveness

“Finland Papa” is a short (6 episodes/30 minutes long) healing, slice-of-life drama. Four individuals who have suffered through life’s challenges and loneliness found their way to work at this cafe owned by a mysterious Papa. They are instructed to become a fake (but found) family and learn to support each other in resolving their own inner struggles. I love them hula dancing together! There’s a central theme of forgiveness - to forgive and to ask for forgiveness.

Because the drama is so short, we only get to know the bullet-point version of each character’s background story and their own arc, with the exception of female lead Yoo Ri. She suffered the loss of her father and her grandmother, and had to learn to live alone. Not only that, there are many unresolved emotions towards her father and his death. She has to learn to forgive and let go, and it took her a while to get to that point. We all know it’s hard to sincerely apologize but it’s just as (if not, more difficult) to forgive someone and move on.

I was impressed with Kim Bo Ra’s acting as the female lead. I’ve always seen her as the annoying high schooler, or irritating supporting character that causes trouble. I almost didn’t watch “Finland Papa” because of her, but I wanted to see male lead, Kim Woo Seok (he’s adorable!). I’m glad Kim Bo Ra took this role and showed a more mature side of her. Her character has to go through the happy-go-lucky high school phase, and move into the lonely, healing phase.

If you are in the mood for a simple, healing drama, this is it. There’s really nothing exciting or surprising. The plot is quite predictable but this could be just what you need as well.


Completed: 5/16/2023 - Review #308

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Sharing IS caring

This show is unabashedly sentimental with the focus on the overwhelming grief suffered by the college age FL. She recently lost her grandmother who is more like a mother to her after the sudden death of her father through misadventure 5 years previous. It is a blow she is ill prepared to handle. Her life grinds to a halt at that point.

Sharing meals is a common device used to signify a bond between friends and family members. We see flashbacks of meals happily shared in her humble abode with her closest friends and small family unit. It contrasted starkly with the scenes in the present where she ate bento boxes bought from convenience stores in silence with the TV providing nothing but background noise. The loneliness and heartache are palatable.

However, her seemingly unrelenting despair began to lift once she started to work at a cafe called Finland Papa. The whole raison d'etre of the establishment seems to be the healing of those who work there. The writer-nim certainly took some liberty with the narrative here. Just don't ask too many questions. ;)

FL is the focal point of the show, and she has to display the broadest range of emotions. I think she did well, and she was ably assisted by the ensemble cast. Speaking of the ensemble, I'm not going to spoil their stories. The writer-nim doesn’t have time to paint with a fine brush, so we have to settle for some broad strokes surrounding their tropey backstories. Nothing untoward and certainly within the realm of plausibility. I almost forgot to mention, the grandma character is the underpinning of the main plot. She dispenses wisdom and bonhomie to all who would accepts her hospitality.

This leads us to the other key motif of the show. The found family trope is a favourite for a good reason and it is used to good effect here. The motley crew working at the cafe started with a love-hate relationship. Their growing bond is what gave them strength to heal through their various wounded psyches. While the process is a foregone conclusion, its steady progress is nice to watch, nevertheless.

The show will hit you with the feels as long as you are not too critical about the simple story and straightforward delivery. There are no high dramas nor funny gags. But sometimes you just need a show like this to give you an excuse to step away from our crazy world for just a moment. I'd like to think of this show as is a soothing salve to the soul. It won't appeal to everyone but that's ok too. That just means there are more Xmas parfait for me. :)

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Simple, Healing, & Short Drama (Worth the Watch)

This drama follows a short and simple storyline. You meet 3 best friends with one of them as the female lead. These best friends drift apart as they grow older because of many circumstances with one of the reasons to be death. The female lead mourns and heals throughout the 6-episode drama as she finds work, comfort, and family in her new workplace called Finland Papa where there are rules such as eating dinner together as if the employees were one family.

This is one of those dramas which should have added 1 or 2 more episodes for its ending. The pacing is good for me since it does not need more scenes to it and if they did add in more, it would have been boring. Personally, I would have either added one more episode or allotted more scenes and time for the reconciliation part. It made the ending unsatisfactory for me, the way it happened so fast. there should have been more "drama" , crying, and interaction.

Regardless of the feedback I gave, I still think this drama is WORTH THE WATCH, especially on a rainy day, on a weekend, anytime where you feel like you may need to rest and binge. It's sad but it calmed me and the conversation between characters makes you whisper to yourself, "I agree." or "Right?" where it could also heal you as well.

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Calming/healing

First, if you are looking for full-on romance, look elsewhere. We don't get many scenes with the ML and FL, the romance is more in what he does for her.

This is a drama about loss, healing and found family. The beginning credits, camera work and music are reminiscent of a Japanese drama - slow, peaceful. I think you probably need to be in the right frame of mind to really enjoy this one because there is more happening emotionally than physically, and that's what moves the story forward. The use of flashbacks was very effective, allowing us to see what brought Yoo Ri to where she is.

All of the actors did a very good job, but I was especially impressed with Kim Bo Ra as Yoo Ri and Sung Byung Sook as her grandmother. To be honest, I didn't even recognize Bo Ra. She usually plays secondary, somewhat irritating characters. This was a very mature role for her, and she did an excellent job conveying her emotions. Byung Sook as the grandmother was warm, wise, and she has a sweet, soothing voice.

I love a good story about found family, and the melding of these scarred people into a family was lovely to watch.

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Filled with gratitude and reflections

I always write reviews for dramas that bring a message with them and there is no exception with that one too.
First, before I share my reflections, I would like to bring attention to costumes, scenery and soundtrack that created a background for the plot and made the story feel somewhat more realistic and homey.
I've had many reflections while watching all of the episodes but I'll leave some that are the most important in my opinion:
- In this world of loneliness and individualism it is hard to remember about spending time with those who you love the most
- a simple moment of sharing a meal, rules in house that may seem silly, those moments turn into meaningful memories that last forever
- creating a bond with people through workplace makes you feel that work is not work anymore
- it is not the place that makes home lively, but people that are a part of that place
- a talk with anybody relieves feelings and let you see them clearly
In summary, I would say that I would recall those beautiful quotes when having a hard time and I recommend that drama for everybody to enhance the gratitude towards together time with people we love.

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Sad and Heartwarming

At first, I thought Yu Ri had a sibling bond with Wu Hyeon but I wasn't expecting like a friend-crush relationship. when I was watching episode 5, I thought Yong Jun was the boss but I wasn't sure. It was sad that Yu Ri told Wu Hyeon that she apologized to him for what happened when he was in the rain. it was heartwarming about the memories that Yu Ri had with her grandmother.
I finished watching it fast. The episodes feel like it's short but I did enjoy the episodes. I am aware the show has 6 episodes but I wish there was more episodes.
All free episodes with English Sub on Rakuten Viki.com!

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Eu preciso de detalhes!

Facilmente esse drama seria incrível e nota dez se tivesse de uma grande produção, pois a história é boa mas faltou muitos detalhes que seriam SIM de suma importância e simplesmente não existe ali, ou foi ocultado. A personagem principal é um ser que foi bem desenvolvido apesar do curto período que temos pra conhecê-la e só conseguimos isso através de flashbacks confusos que são da visão dela (logo, não tão confiáveis) e também são rasos, queria ver mais dela. Eu só quis assistir esse drama pois meu querido Kim Wooseok estava no elenco, e tudo que esse homem faz eu estarei assistindo, e até nessa produção onde ele é o protagonista oculto (apesar de só aparecer em flashbacks e nos últimos dois episódios) ele faz um excelente trabalho e entrega emoção. Queria ver mais dele também. Como assim o pai dele matou o pai dela e vocês me dão essa informação IMPORTANTÍSSIMA numa conversa informal em um bar?! Sabe. A morte do pai dela também, coitada. A avó um doce e os demais personagens da família também. Inclusive essa parte da família, eu só fui entender de fato no ep 3 - 4, achei a dinâmica confusa, eu fiquei perdida. Foi legal de assistir e acompanhar.

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Uma lágrima com sabor a café.

A série é muito curtinha, o que dá para ver num dia tranquilo. O tema que ela aborda é muito interessante. Mesmo tendo só seis episódios de apenas meia hora, existe a exploração de sentimentos e emoções, alguns desses podem ser sentidos pelo espetador. Por vezes algumas daquelas situações podem já ter acontecido com um de nós.

A tristeza, está quase sempre presente na nossa vida, não importa a razão. Mesmo com uma protagonista triste, ela encontrou aquele café/restaurante, que aos poucos foi ajudando-a a caminhar e encontrar um pouco de felicidade no meio de tanta tristeza. Ela realmente teve um crescimento e isso é notado de episódio para episódio.

Eles realmente pareciam uma família que jantava junto, enquanto mantinha uma conversa, essa que a maioria das vezes era mais como se uma daquelas quatro pessoas se aliviasse enquanto falava da sua tristeza. Acho que aprendi um pouco com essa série e nós deveríamos sentar e conversar com amigos, familiares sobre algumas preocupações, isso ajuda muito a manter um dado relacionamento e também a aliviarmos a tensão, que pode estar sobrecarregada nos nossos ombros.

Porém a série poderia ter sido um pouco melhor desenvolvida, eu gostaria de saber mais para além do final que foi mostrado. Também gostaria de ver os outros três elementos ( da família falsa), serem um pouco mais desenvolvidos, o que vimos foi uma versão rasa do seu sofrimento, por vezes eu me questiono, se não poderiam ter dado mais dramatismo para aquelas pessoas.

Infelizmente a música, na minha opinião, foi um pouco superficial, parecia sempre a mesma com uma melodia triste e frágil. Penso que poderiam ter colocado um pouco de diversidade na música.

Eu não sou fã desse tipo de série, já que ela apresenta um ritmo lento, talvez, se ela fosse um pouco mais envolvente com todas as personagens eu gostaria ainda mais e quem sabe poderia ver uma segunda vez. Eu não pretendo rever esta série.

Recomendo esta série para quem gosta do tema, porque quem não gosta, será como eu.

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