Cinderella and Four Knights #review

Based on the Novel by -  Baek Myo
Screen Writers -   Min Ji-Eun, Won Young-Sil
Genre -  Romance, Drama, Comedy
Network -  tvN
Episodes -  16
Released -  Aug - Oct, 2016

CAST

Park So dam as Eun Ha won, Jung Il woo as Kang Ji woon, Ahn Jae hyun as Kang Hyun min, Lee Jung shin as Kang Seo woo, Choi Min as Lee Yoon sung, and Son Na eun as Park Hye ji

PLOT

Based on the novel published in 2011, the drama is about a group of passionate young people in their 20s who live together, and is said to be similar to the 2009 TV series Boys Over Flowers. The series was fully produced prior to its release. ~Wikipedia

REVIEW

If everyone thought the BOF hints were real and anticipated a remake, I'll bet they're pretty bummed right now.

Unoriginal is the bottom line.

Done-to-death plot device (Cinderella and multiple wealthy hot dudes all vying for her pathetic ass) written way too soon after BOF aired, which screams "hoping to cash in on something that works" thinking on the part of the writer(s).

Unfortunately (for them and us) it only works its magic once and then the spell is broken.

But Korean producers, writers, and authors continue to bludgeon this story line to pulp and honestly, I don't know why.

And I can't say I hated it even though I can't really say I loved it, either.

What I did love was Park So dam.

Park So dam

I'm glad she isn't interested in the double-lid eye procedure because it is her eyes that not only set her apart from the herd but also what makes her so pretty.

The surgical procedure, by the way, doesn't work and I don't understand why it continues to be so popular.

She's unique and appears that way, which is great!

Very pretty and not at all boy-ish, though she did dress that way for the 4 Knights role.

Of the four Knights -- three, actually, though they included Lee Yoon sung (Choi Min) as the 4th Knight because his duties as 'butler' and their grandfather's assistant meant he was around the others quite a bit -- I liked him best.

Choi Min

I rooted for him start to finish, hoping he'd be the one who ended up with Cindy, but alas, that wasn't the case.

[sad face]

Anyway, the plot actually involves a goofy grandfather (wealthy, of course) with three sons who married and produced sons as well, leaving three grandsons who are obviously cousins.

Their parents all died tragically, leaving the grandfather responsible for them.

The eldest is simply handsome and doesn't actually 'do' anything in life other than pine away for a girl he hung out with as a child, and he can't get past the fact that when her twin brother died, he ran away instead of helping.

The second oldest cousin lived with his discarded mother, who sat around weeping over her loss until she died tragically in an apartment fire.

The third cousin is a Pop star.

The three live together in a (ugly) mansion (which was actually a club house on a golf course somewhere in Korea) but don't get along and never communicate with one another or hang out together.

The grandfather hires Cindy to live with the boys for 3 months in order to teach them how to become a real family.

They're called 'missions', and for each 'mission' that Cindy accomplishes, another year of her college education is paid in full.

She starts out attached to the eldest cousin, but they don't get along.

He's cocky, overly confident, and brash but always secretly pining away for Park Hye ji (Son Na eun), the pretty girl with looks, money, and an interest in fashion design.

This is where the story gets childish, overdone, and boring.

Not to mention Cindy's stepmother and stepsister, who both behave childish and by-the-book Cinderella style. which is just stupid.

Then the youngest cousin starts to crush when Cindy becomes enamored of the 2nd knight, Kang Hyun min (Ahn Jae hyun).

Now, I have to admit that I enjoyed the romance, which started out rocky, cocky, and lopsided (big surprise) then suddenly became elegant, mature, and gutsy -- three things I adore and long for in any Korean drama.

And the surprise near the end about those two and their shared past was just as delightful to watch being uncovered.

I also have to admit to skipping the odd episodes after 10 because it was simply too boring and tedious to want to watch every, single episode night after night.

The OST was okay but not amazing enough to even recall the main theme song.

Ah, yeah -- the croker voice chick whose horrible English somehow sounds cool -- I remember now.

And the subs? Yeesh.

This time they were legible, but it was SO obvious that the subber wasn't giving us verbatim, which is annoying and condescending on the part of the subber.

There were too many instances where I was thinking, Right. That's so not what he just said!

Anyway, the tweeners probably ate this one up even if the ratings say otherwise.

For me, it was a bit of a yawn but with a surprisingly mature-content romance (once it actually got off the ground, that is).

Cinderellawa Ne Myungui Gisa