Cinderella’s Sister: Episode 3
by javabeans
She’s not as tough as she looks, is she? Don’t try to hide that you have a heart, you big softie!
Loved this episode, which had a lot of character movement. This is such a good drama — whimsical, thoughtful, funny, and well-balanced. Prior to the drama’s premiere I had guessed it would be high-quality, and Moon Geun-young tends to pick good projects. My misgivings were therefore not about whether it would be good but about whether I would like it, and I’m thrilled that I do because it’s one of the meatier offerings to come around recently. Even so, the complexities leave room for a sense of humor.
SONG OF THE DAY
Cinderella’s Sister OST – “뒤돌아봐” (Look back) by JOO [ Download ]
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
EPISODE 3 RECAP
Following the slap, Dae-sung is actually disappointed in his wife for taking such an extreme measure against her own daughter. He recognizes that Hyo-sun has been doing her share in harassing Eun-jo and tells Kang-sook, “I was embarrassed and upset. Don’t do that again.”
He’s more generous regarding Eun-jo than Kang-sook gave him credit for, and she sees that her move has backfired — she was trying to look like a good mother to Hyo-sun but she has come off looking cold to her own child. So she breaks down and says that she was afraid he’d look down on her because of her daughter’s behavior.
While this is true enough, Kang-sook the Opportunist sees a chance to use this moment to her advantage. She cries that she can feel the judging eyes of others, and that people (like uncle and the ajummas) give her dirty looks and think she’s just a lowly widow who wormed her way in.
Ain’t she crafty! She’s not lying about any of this, but her master stroke is in twisting the situation so that she comes off as a total innocent. As a result, not only does she get herself off the hook, Dae-sung issues a stern ultimatum to his staff: anyone who doesn’t accept his wife can resign. Hyo-sun’s uncle and the ajummas gulp uneasily.
We introduce an element of fantasy — it’s not overdone, just a touch of delightful whimsy — as Eun-jo sits by the lake, moodily tossing rocks into the water. She thinks, “In my thoughts, I’ve packed my bags more than a hundred times.” An imaginary sheet of paper drifts from the sky to settle at her side, upon which she envisions clothing and a suitcase. With a finger, she drags items into the bag, mentally packing her belongings.
Thus packed, Eun-jo decides she’s ready to depart for a place without her mother, and grabs the handle of the suitcase that has appeared out of thin air.
She stops short to see Ki-hoon, ever smiling, who has been searching for her far and wide. She’s holding her suitcase with one hand so he takes it from her grasp, only now the luggage has turned back into a rock, like a pumpkin that has lost its magical properties at the stroke of midnight.
He starts to lead her away, but she wrenches her arm out of his grasp. That sudden movement causes the glass slipper hairpin (which he bought for her) to fall out of his pocket. It settles on the sand, unnoticed.
Eun-jo pushes past Ki-hoon, who calls after her to wait up since that she doesn’t know the neighborhood. When he stumbles and falls over a rock, she looks back momentarily but keeps walking on. Hilariously, just as he grumbles over her unconcern, SHE trips and falls. She pops back up instantly, trying to save face, and continues on.
With some effort, Ki-hoon catches up to her and notices that her knee is bleeding profusely — the rock has cut a huge gash in her leg.
Shocked at the extent of the injury, Ki-hoon exclaims that it must hurt. It won’t stop bleeding and she’ll need to attend to it. Eun-jo keeps a stoic face and he asks, “Doesn’t it hurt?”
Finally, sick of his fussing, Eun-jo retorts, “It hurts! Why wouldn’t it hurt? But so what?”
At home, Hyo-sun asks Kang-sook hesitantly where she heard that the kids were making fun of Eun-jo for having a different last name. Hyo-sun has asked every student in her class and nobody said such things, which Eun-jo also confirms.
Kang-sook isn’t about to admit she lied, so she tells Hyo-sun that she must have misheard. Thankfully, she’s got the tried-and-true head-pat to win Hyo-sun’s affections, and the girl agrees to let the matter die here.
Eun-jo keeps a blank expression on her face while a doctor disinfects her injury, then stitches it up. Ki-hoon is a big ol’ wuss and can hardly stand to watch her being fixed up, and is incredulous at her lack of response. He even asks the doctor if she has a problem perceiving pain, because that would make a lot more sense. It’s her lack of expression at feeling pain that he can’t fathom.
As they walk home, Eun-jo asks Ki-hoon what language he was singing in the other night. Ki-hoon perks up at her interest and explains that it’s a Spanish song. Liking the idea of Spain’s distance from Korea, Eun-jo thinks, “If I go hide there, nobody will be able to find me.”
But first, she’ll need to be prepared. She asks whether Spanish is hard to learn, and Ki-hoon starts talking enthusiastically about Barcelona and Gaudi. Uninterested in that, she cuts him off to tell him to teach her Spanish. They can use one hour of their math lessons for Spanish lessons. Without letting him get in a word in edgewise, she walks off.
Ki-hoon hasn’t had a chance to tell say anything, so now he worries to himself, “But I don’t know Spanish.” HAHAHA. I love him.
Ki-hoon’s only half-right about Eun-jo not showing pain, because it’s only in front of others that she won’t display her hurt. When Eun-jo comes home to see her mother cradling Hyo-sun, both asleep, her emotions are much easier to read without anyone around to witness it. Her hurt plays across her face, and a tear even glints in her eye.
That night, Ki-hoon starts to study Spanish on his own, trying to learn enough to teach Eun-jo without giving himself away. And I LOVE the flipped dynamics in their subsequent tutoring session, because he has to fake his way through it. Tutoring sessions are the only time Eun-jo shows him any respect, and he doesn’t want to be found out as a fraud.
As they start, Eun-jo asks whether South America is farther away than Spain. Ki-hoon takes issue with the way she rudely cuts him off, which is when she cuts him off again to say they ought to start the lesson.
Ki-hoon wants to start by teaching her the alphabet, but she has studied that on her own last night and is eager to advance to Lesson 2. Having only studied enough to stay one step ahead of her, Ki-hoon’s face falls and he looks a little panicked. He isn’t ready for Lesson 2, so he turns to her previous question. Drawing a vague outline of South America, he points to a dot representing Ushuaia, Argentina, which is the world’s southernmost city.
She asks how long it would take and how much it would cost to get there, prompting the question of why she’d want to go to Ushuaia. Curtly, Eun-jo tells him to forget it and turns back to await her lesson expectantly.
Faced with continuing their conversation or revealing that he’s a fraudulent Spanish teacher, Ki-hoon chooses the former. Thankfully, he’s rescued by the sound of voices outside, which give him an excuse to cut the day short.
(To Eun-jo, asking Ki-hoon for Spanish help is a necessary evil, and she figures that nobody will be able to find her if she runs for Ushuaia. Ironically, she’s just setting this up so that nobody would be able to find her EXCEPT for the one guy who will become the one most determined to track her down. I’m not saying she’s going to be running to Ushuaia anytime soon, just that she’s giving him the tools to figure her out without realizing it.)
(Also, the conversations are so well crafted here. You can reveal so much through conversation structure — what is said, what is not said, the order in which things are said. Well done.)
The noise comes from arriving guests, here to celebrate Dae-sung’s birthday. As Eun-jo watches from a distance, Hyo-sun approaches to offer one of two gifts she is holding. She figured that Eun-jo wouldn’t have had a chance to buy a present for her father, so she prepared one for her. It’s a sweet gesture, but unsurprisingly Eun-jo rejects it.
Returning to her room, Eun-jo checks a voicemail message on her phone, which immediately darkens her mood. It’s from Jung-woo, warning her that the drunk ajusshi (he’s only identified as Ajusshi Jang by the drama) is on his way to find her mother.
Eun-jo confirms that Hyo-sun’s uncle gave him the address, and takes out her agitation on him. How could he? The uncle has no idea why this is a cause for upset, nor does Ki-hoon, who is eating dinner with him.
Eun-jo finds the drunk Mr. Jang sitting in a heap just outside the front gate. He has settled here after peering into the party to witness Kang-sook presiding as hostess, singing a song for the guests. Miserable, he cries as he sings along with Kang-sook — it’s a song he taught her, he explains.
Nervous that he’ll be caught and angry that he came here to crash the party, Eun-jo drags him away, just as Ki-hoon comes up to them. He doesn’t know what’s going on but he can read the general tenor of the situation, and ushers both to the wine cellar so they can hash this out in privacy.
After Ki-hoon steps out, Eun-jo tells Jang that Kang-sook is out of his life now — he’d better get over it. Is he here for money? Jang insists that he loves Kang-sook and that this is not about money.
The sound of men’s voices makes Eun-jo tense, and she claps a hand over Jang’s mouth to silence him. Dae-sung and another partygoer have come from the party to grab more makgulli from the cellar, and they’re headed straight inside.
Thankfully, Ki-hoon is waiting outside and intervenes, volunteering to deliver the wine to them. He comes inside to grab a cask, then warns Eun-jo not to stay in this room for too long, lest they be discovered.
Eun-jo speaks harshly, trying to drive the point home to Jang: he doesn’t have any of this — a grand house, a large family, status. If he did, Kang-sook would go to him without a second thought. But instead, he’s a lowlife gambling drunk “whose body and heart are rotten.” The sharpness of these words finally cuts through his drunken haze, and he mumbles, “Stop it.”
I actually think Eun-jo’s derision is as much (if not more) directed at her mother for being so mercenary, although she doesn’t harbor warm feelings for Jang, either. She warns him not to come back until he can bring Kang-sook these things: “If you don’t show up, I’ll believe that you loved my mother. Disappear now. If you don’t, you’re a lowlife who just came for money.” She’s unable to stop a tear from falling down her cheek.
Slowly, he gets to his feet and stares at her for a long, uneasy beat. Eun-jo looks scared — it’s unclear what he means to do when he steps closer to her — but holds it together under the weight of his glare. Finally he decides he’s had enough and stumbles off, and only now does she allow herself to tremble in fear and relief.
After making his delivery, Ki-hoon finds Eun-jo in front of the house, staring: Jang is passed out in a heap by his truck. Frustrated — so close to getting him gone, yet thwarted at the last step — she growls, “Will you kill that guy for me?” She’s powerless to do anything in this moment but stare at him, wishing him gone.
Ki-hoon sees the frustrated tears in her eyes and takes charge, taking the driver’s seat to drive him home. Eun-jo doesn’t say a word, but he assures her it’ll be fine — he’ll take the last train home and make it back by morning. Eun-jo can’t tell him she’s worried about him, but he seems to sense it anyway and repeats, “Don’t worry.” With a last small smile, he drives off.
This entire encounter is more proof that Eun-jo does care about her mother and, perhaps to a lesser extent, her new family. If she didn’t, she could wash her hands of everything and let the others discover Jang, letting the chips fall where they may. Jang would have babbled freely about his relationship with Kang-sook, reflecting badly on her and giving others reason to look down on her. It would also disillusion Dae-sung about his wife and by extension disrupt the familial harmony that he is hoping to achieve.
If Eun-jo truly didn’t care — or if she were as heartless as people may believe — wouldn’t she be fine to let that happen? Or even enjoy the disruption? The fact is that she’s preserving the family and trying to be as invisible about it as she possibly can.
Heading back inside the gates, Eun-jo sees Hyo-sun leading Kang-sook in a song and dance routine. (For the curious, it’s Two Two’s 1994 hit song “One and One Half.”) Dae-sung beams approvingly, but he notices Eun-jo trudging off in the distance and indicates to Kang-sook that she should check in on her daughter.
It’s out of duty that Kang-sook finds Eun-jo in her room, where she complains about her rudeness and Dae-sung’s attentiveness regarding Eun-jo. After her ordeal tonight, Eun-jo orders her mother out, screaming in frustration when her mother ignores her.
Eun-jo’s hurt that her mother has barely noticed her and asks why she even bothered bringing her here. She didn’t even know that she needed stitches in her knee! Ironically, despite Eun-jo’s facade of cynicism, the only thing that really gets through to her is sincerity — like Ki-hoon’s and Dae-sung’s (though not Hyo-sun’s) — and she cannot abide her mother’s fakeness. So now she rejects her mother’s concern when Kang-sook worries over the stitched knee.
I believe that Hyo-sun is being sincere in her overtures, so it’s interesting that Eun-jo views her motives suspiciously, not believing that her kindness is real, though Dae-sung has (somewhat) earned her trust. Perhaps the difference is that Hyo-sun is monopolizing her mother’s affections and pleading for Eun-jo to like her back, while in contrast Dae-sung offers his help without any demands on Eun-jo’s feelings.
When Hyo-sun finds her outside their room to tell her that she gave both gifts to her father, Eun-jo says flatly, “I don’t like you. You don’t like me either, do you? You can’t like me. There’s no reason to, so how could you?”
Hyo-sun says, “But I really do.” Eun-jo can’t believe that, and says, “It’s much more natural to dislike me. It’s harder to make yourself like someone because you have to. So it’s fine to dislike me. I’m saying to act like you don’t know me.”
Crying now, Hyo-sun asks Eun-jo to believe that she isn’t just pretending to like her, or forcing herself to act friendly.
Eun-jo returns, “You’re fooling yourself” and tells Hyo-sun to think carefully. As she walks away, she meets eyes with Dae-sung, who has overheard the exchange. This is unfortunate, and Eun-jo probably would have preferred he not witness this, but she walks on stoically.
Eun-jo calls Jung-woo to let him know that someone is driving Jang ajusshi home, and asks him to call her when Ki-hoon leaves. Not one to bother with pleasantries, she starts to hang up, but Jung-woo keeps her on the line. He has something to tell her, and announces, “Noona… you’re my woman! I love you!”
Jung-woo hangs up quickly, then exults that he confessed his feelings at last.
Eun-jo stays up that night waiting for Ki-hoon to return home. When it’s past 4 am and there’s still no sign of him, she opens the gate and waits in the dark on the front step. But still, he doesn’t come, and finally she heads back indoors, leaving the gate slightly ajar so he can make his way inside.
When dawn breaks, she is still awake, not having slept all night.
The reason? Ki-hoon has been called to see his father, and now we get a bit more insight into his background. He’s a youngest son, but he’s also illegitimate and has been disowned by the Hong family. Neither man enjoys this encounter, but President Hong (who runs his own company) feels he must address this issue before it grows out of hand. Recall that Ki-hoon’s photos had been taken in an earlier episode, and the family had paid off the source to hand them over. But the longer Ki-hoon stays as a worker in Dae-sung’s wine company, the more possibility there is of him being discovered and written about in the papers. This possibility has the family on edge, in particular Hong’s wife. They’d all prefer he dropped off the face of the earth, because that would make life easier for them.
Ki-hoon replies that he won’t stop working for Gu Dae-sung. Wasn’t it President Hong who said that he had no place in the Hong family? Therefore he gives his father no right to dictate how to live his life. He will sign the document giving up his inheritance.
Enter the hateful stepmother, who tells Ki-hoon to show some respect — they’ve done so much for him. If by “so much” she means neglected, sent away, and pretended he didn’t exist, then I suppose she’s right.
Interesting that even with a shared dislike of Ki-hoon, both spouses are also at odds with each other. This is a political marriage, not a love match.
Dad tells him soberly, “If you don’t save me, I have nobody on my side.” As Ki-hoon stands up to leave, President Hong stops him with the words, “I need you.” His wife and eldest son are buying up stocks of the company. Ki-hoon understands that his father needs his shares, not him. Although he has never placed any great expectation for affection from this man, he is bitter in his response: “I almost believed you for a moment when you said, ‘I need you.'” He adds accusingly, angry with his father for getting his hopes up, “I almost thought you really needed me.”
Ki-hoon visits his mother’s mountainside grave, where he sits despondently. He asks his mother whether he ought to go ahead and talk with the reporters and reveal everything, just as the Hong family fears. Or maybe he should let them pay him off handsomely in exchange for his silence. What should he ask for? His tone is bitter at this fresh reopening of old wounds, and he takes swigs from the bottle of soju he has brought (which is a common offering to the dead).
All day, Eun-jo remains distracted. In class, her ears perk up when Hyo-sun calls her uncle to ask about Ki-hoon, who isn’t back yet and isn’t answering his phone.
At nighttime he’s still absent, and she lies awake in bed, unable to sleep. She gives up trying and heads outside again.
Only, this time he stands there slightly drunk, leaning against the wall. (Warning: this next scene will break your heart just a little, and you will like it.)
Surprised, relieved, nervous, Eun-jo thinks to herself, “He’s here.” And then he smiles at her and she thinks, “He’s smiling.” Simple words, but they carry the weight of a revelation.
He calls out to her, “Eun-jo ya,” and waves her closer. Her eyes fill ever so slightly with moisture and she thinks, “He called me ‘Eun-jo ya.’”
Ki-hoon tells her to come over, but she stands unmoving, thinking again, “He called me ‘Eun-jo ya.’”
Unaware of how very much she feels his presence, Ki-hoon misreads her non-response as disinterest and mutters in dissatisfaction, even as she revels one more time, “He called me ‘Eun-jo ya.’”
Thinking she’s not going to come to him, he walks over to her, stumbling at the last moment. She reaches out to steady him, thinking, “He called me ‘Eun-jo ya.’”
Ki-hoon leans into her, wearing a stricken expression on his face, and says, “Eun-jo. I’m hungry.” Potentially comic words are actually quite telling of his emotional state — i.e, his emotional hunger. He fights his tears — one falls — and says, “I’m starving to death.”
So, what exactly is the significance of “Eun-jo ya”? Would it be too maddening to answer “Nothing, and therefore everything”?
Plainly put, there’s nothing terribly significant about Ki-hoon calling her “Eun-jo ya.” One could argue that it implies closeness, because the suffix “ya” is the casual way of calling someone’s name — someone your age or younger, with whom you are on somewhat familiar terms. You couldn’t use “ya” to address someone older than you. But since she is still a minor, “ya” is a perfectly appropriate way for Ki-hoon to address her. I don’t think it’s that meaningful that he uses that term because it just means that he’s older and has that right.
I’ll argue that the significance lies entirely in Eun-jo’s reaction to the words. She is moved by them, not because of some deep meaning in the words themselves but because of the context. She wants to be close to him in this moment, and for once she’s not fighting herself and trying to close off this new feeling with ironic eye-rolls. It’s an emotional breakthrough for her, and all because of a simple matter of him calling her name.
Hunger is one thing she can help him with, so Eun-jo busily prepares a table of food for Ki-hoon. All the while, she thinks to herself — and even her inner voice seems softer now — “He called me ‘Eun-jo ya’… He called me ‘Eun-jo ya.’” As though the repetition makes it more true.
When she takes the food to his room, he’s asleep. Uncertain, she lingers in the room and tells him to eat, but he’s dead to the world.
She looks at Ki-hoon closely, noticing that one of his socks is loose. She reaches over to pull the sock off gently, but when he moves in his sleep, she leaps up and runs away like a startled animal. She’s panting when she reaches her room — a combination of physical exertion and a more emotional stirring.
When she looks down at her knee, the scar is healed. Symbolic?
In the morning, Hyo-sun bursts into Ki-hoon’s room and wakes him. She wonders why he bothered to prepare food but didn’t eat any of it.
Seeing the table, Ki-hoon remembers Eun-jo’s words to eat — heard subconsciously in his sleep — and that killer smile emerges again as he realizes who’s responsible. He digs in, leaving Hyo-sun sad to sense that he’s miles away from her. She asks, “Oppa, who am I?” but he’s too busy eating to respond.
On the way to school, Hyo-sun hesitantly brings up her upcoming dance competition. Mom and Dad may miss it, and she’s not sure about her uncle or Ki-hoon. Working up the courage, she asks if Eun-jo can come see her, and gets back an immediate no.
Hyo-sun is disappointed but doesn’t press the issue, now that she’s used to Eun-jo’s attitude. She says with fake cheer that that it’s okay — Dong-soo (the boy who told her to stop texting) has been acting nicer to her now, and when she told him about her competition, he said he’d make it.
Eun-jo doesn’t care to hear this and sighs. In a trembling voice, Hyo-sun says:
Hyo-sun: “I know what a sigh means. It means you’re tired of me, right? I know, but unni, no matter how I think about it I don’t know what you mean about me fooling myself. I really like you for real. But you hate me. I know, so you can keep hating me. I’ll keep liking you. Even if you hate me, I’m not going to bug you to like me, so don’t tell me to force myself to hate you too. If it makes you happy, I can do anything — just not hate you. You probably hate me harping on this, don’t you? I know. I’m sorry.”
Hyo-sun runs off to join Dong-soo.
As Eun-jo studies, Ki-hoon’s voice intrudes on her thoughts. It’s a little unnerving to her. After school, her walk home takes her by the lake, where she sees Ki-hoon sitting alone on the hillside.
For a moment she seems pleased, but her mood sours when an unknown girl joins him and hands him a shopping bag.
When she arrives home, Dong-soo is lurking around the house with flowers. He trips at the sight of her and drops the bouquet, then runs off without a word. Eun-jo has no desire to convey the flowers to Hyo-sun, so she leaves them there.
Inside, she sees Mom clipping Hyo-sun’s toenails in another of their cozy moments. While I don’t think she wants the same kind of attention from her mother, she certainly feels hurt to be passed over entirely for her stepsister, and this darkens her mood even more.
It’s been a bad afternoon for Eun-jo, who has been passed over three times now — first Ki-hoon and his mystery girl, then Hyo-sun’s Dong-soo with the stupid flowers, then Mom. So when she finds a tea party set out in the bedroom, she glowers.
Hyo-sun presents it as a surprise, because Eun-jo is moving in to her own room tomorrow. This is her way of celebrating their last night as roommates.
Any other day, Eun-jo may have just ignored this, but today she’s feeling angry and perverse. So she asks Hyo-sun leadingly, “If you like me so much, can you give me everything I ask for?”
Hyo-sun brightens — it seems like Eun-jo’s finally ready to take a step forward! — and asks what she wants. She’ll do it!
Eun-jo asks, “You can handle it no matter what I take?” Hyo-sun nods without hesitation. Eun-jo challenges, “No matter what I have, you can like me through the end?” Hyo-sun promises that she can. Really!
So Eun-jo heads outside to retrieve the bouquet from where Dong-soo dropped it, thinking, “I don’t know why I wanted to play that kind of joke. I just felt really angry about something, but I couldn’t figure out exactly what.”
We can presume that it’s Ki-hoon’s defection to another woman that rankles the most, but Eun-jo doesn’t recognize the stirrings of jealousy. When Ki-hoon comes walking home holding the shopping bag, she turns away coldly, to his surprise.
She presents the flowers to Hyo-sun and announces that Dong-soo gave them to her and wants to date. There, she’s made her point that Hyo-sun was fooling herself. Now that Eun-jo has claimed Hyo-sun’s crush, she can’t keep liking her no matter what.
Hyo-sun is stunned and hurt. She sees the card in the bouquet, and starts to read it. Eun-jo hadn’t noticed the card, which is about to ruin her joke, so she snatches it away as Hyo-sun starts to cry and walks out in a daze.
As harsh as the joke was, Eun-jo is content to use it to make her point and let it end here. But when she looks down at the card, to her shock it actually IS for her: “Song Eun-jo! I like you. I want to go out with you — let’s go out! I’ll treat you well.”
I think her upset reaction shows that Eun-jo is mean enough to play the trick, but she’s not so mean that she would have done it for real, had she known the truth. Her expression shows her regret.
Just then, Hyo-sun storms back into the room. Glaring, she mutters quietly, “Beggar.” Eun-jo asks her to repeat herself, so Hyo-sun, brimming with anger, says in a loud, clear voice: “BEG-GAR! Get lost.”
And Eun-jo’s actually relieved at that reaction.
COMMENTS
There’s no question that Eun-jo acts in rude, unkind ways. But she’s generally the type who reacts when people bother her; she doesn’t incite trouble. Therefore, this lie to Hyo-sun falls outside of her normal range of behavior, because she initiates the conflict. And when she realizes that she has hurt Hyo-sun unintentionally, she’s upset with herself. It may seem inconsistent that she’s been fine hurting Hyo-sun’s feelings all along but feels bad now, but the difference is that this time the hurt inflicted isn’t the hurt intended, if that makes sense.
Also, Eun-jo is uncomfortable with the idea that Hyo-sun likes her when she dislikes her back — it makes her the bad guy. She pretends that doesn’t matter, but she would have a hard time justifying being so mean if Hyo-sun were truly as good and nice as she seems. So at the end of the episode, it’s a relief to have Hyo-sun fighting back — it relieves that guilt.
I don’t think Kang-sook’s reason for treating Hyo-sun nicely is purely calculated, but I think that her bonding sessions are her way of “earning her keep.” A large reason Dae-sung married her was after seeing his daughter taking to her so well, so it’s up to her to maintain that.
I also suspect that Kang-sook finds Hyo-sun easier to treat nicely than her own daughter, so she prefers to maintain this illusion of doting mother rather than work on the relationship with Eun-jo. Eun-jo doesn’t let her get away with crap and brings out her true self, and Kang-sook doesn’t like that reflection. Perhaps Eun-jo’s insistence that Hyo-sun is fooling herself stems from Kang-sook’s behavior. It’s like Kang-sook is pleased to live out this fantasy as someone’s devoted wife and loving mother. I bet she likes that vision of herself better than the one Eun-jo reflects — the one that shows her in the harsh light of reality without any fancy mirror tricks.
If you disagree with the following, that’s cool, but as for me:
I find Eun-jo is eminently relatable. I mean, how many of us have seen kdramas with an adorable and/or plucky and/or perfect heroine and wanted to be more like her (gorgeous even through the “shabby” clothes and with men falling at her feet), but really had nothing in common with her?
Eun-jo, however, is constantly misunderstood — and sometimes by her own fault. She gives us hope that someone out there will see the real us despite the way the world misinterprets our behavior, and who finds enough value there at the core to try to connect even when our pride puts up that wall.
RELATED POSTS
Tags: Chun Jung-myung, Cinderella's Sister, Kim Gab-soo, Lee Mi-sook, Moon Geun-young, Seo Woo
![[Beanie Recs] Dramas about fangirling](http://d263ao8qih4miy.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/BeanieRecs.jpg)
Required fields are marked *
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
101 Zuru
April 12, 2010 at 7:02 AM
@45
I think EJ cried when facing with Kang Sook's former boyfriend due to numerous emotional reasons: why her mother hangs out with a string of losers like that? look at him, he's such a loser that he did not know to do anything but singing along with Kang Sook outside the house? yeah, let's assume that it's love, then how Kang Sook deserves such a love? no, it's definitely not love, if it's love, he has to live more properly than this....
Anger (with him, with her mother, with herself who gets no affection from her mother but still ends up cleaning the mess that her mother left behind), scare, bitter, hurt, sad - twisted and mixed.
She's just too emotional that it makes her cry - not for a specific reason but because of all of the reasons bottled up.
-------
Honestly, I love the animation screen - it shows that EJ in the end is just a kid. She may endure lots of hardship, she may act and think seemingly as an adult - but she's still a kid at heart
.
It also shows us how lonely she is. EJ has gone through a lot, and everytime she's hurt like this, she has no one and nothing to turn to but her own self, her own magic world, her imagination that she would pack up and leave her mother forgood - she has to figure out a way to relieve her own pain like that, though temporarily, but at least she can continue to carry on with her life.
Again, it reminds us that he's at her teenage. C'mon, how many kids have ever thought of leaving home when something bad happens? EJ did think of it thousand times, she's packed up thousand time in her heart but she's never done it for real. The reason why she didn't do so might be the same as the reason why almost every kid else did not. EJ's aware that KS is anyway her mother and EJ has no one else but her. She may dislike her mother but she cannot just leave her, whether it's out of love or moral awareness. That's why in Ep.1 when Jung Woo assured that KS has leaved EJ for sure, EJ said "hurray" with a smirk, with a relief (However, I bet that if it's the case then there would be a time she cried out of hurt for being abandoned)
If Ki Hoon was not there at the river bank when EJ decided to leave with her imaginative luggage, I still do not think that she will truly leave.
And if Ki Hoon was not there, just like all the previous times when EJ has to heal her own wound, she would dust her sorrow off and come back to her cynical and stoic face. Just think of it makes me feel so sorry for EJ...
Required fields are marked *
102 Deborah
April 12, 2010 at 7:04 AM
After reading this, I am definitely watching this series! Thanks JB and girlfriday for your lovely and insightful recaps, and I can't wait for the 4th episode - which everyone seems to be making a (good) fuss about! :D
Required fields are marked *
103 Isabella
April 12, 2010 at 7:19 AM
I've been waiting for this. I like the way you cut through EJ's shield and reveal her (possibly) true feelings. Excellent, JB! :)
Required fields are marked *
104 tina
April 12, 2010 at 7:25 AM
I think my mom summed it up best like this: "It's like a comedy, (melo)drama, and a fairy tale all wrapped up into one." I can definitely relate to eunjo. Mostly because I remember that she's still very young in these first episodes. I know what it was like when you just feel mad and alone but mad at yourself again for feeling lonely because you want to be strong dammit. I remember when I felt like that I reacted pretty much the same way eunjo did. My mom doesn't like her very much but every time she's hurt and trying her hardest not to show it, my heart cries for her.
And... let me take a moment to fangirl over Kihoon/CJM and the "I'm hungry" scene. KYAAA~~ From there on until he sees the food and grins and eats.. SQUEEEE omo... I want to make him mine. :D
Is it just me or is little jungwoo the most adorable thing ever?! I want to bite his chubby little cheeks! er.. the ones on his face..
Thank you as always for a wonderful recap! I can't wait for the next recap as well as when five and six air on wed/thurs~
Required fields are marked *
105 dokutokunaneko
April 12, 2010 at 7:50 AM
I like this drama, precisely because except Ki-hoon and the dad, everyone has their dark side (scratch that, maybe Ki-hoon has it too!), and thus they are all believable (in the fiction realm of believability, of course. I don't think I've met anyone as dramatic as Eun jo.) I understand EJ's behaviors - like you said, it's to relieve the guilt that she treats HS harshly. But also, I think, it is because it's hard for her to trust people. She doesn't want to be betrayed - it's easier to deal with people who hate you, because, well, they can never betray you. I can somewhat relate to her in that, although I'm not sure if it's common human behavior to cloak ourselves so much and constantly hope for someone to find our "true self" (and thus can't easily be relateable). The usual dynamic in relationships is the exchange of trust - you put yourself out there, and meet the other person halfway. Withdrawing and even constantly letting yourself be misunderstood is the behavior of someone with a different psyche (like someone who has been hurt and hasn't grown up in a loving, normal environment like EJ).
I know everyone thinks Moon Geun Young is a great actress, and she does have her great moments when she portrays more subtle emotions. Otherwise, however, she tends to overact. I do believe that EJ can be overcome with violent emotions sometimes, but if she just scaled it down a little bit, JUST a little bit, in her expressions and gestures, it'd be perfect. (for example, I always find MGY's turn of the head too dramatic). Also, maybe because she's always played the soft type, I do feel the trying-too-hard vibe at times, esp. when she tries to glare at someone.
But that's just me :D
Required fields are marked *
106 linz
April 12, 2010 at 7:56 AM
Thanks for such a thorough and insightful recap! I've never watched a mellow-drama before (I hesitate to call this a mellow-drama, but it kinda fits I guess in that category?), but the pull of Chun Jung-Myung was too strong for me to resist! However, it's really all the actors who have kept my interest; each character brings their own strengths and flaws that are real and often relatable. This is just overall a really well-done drama so far. I hope it keeps it up!
Required fields are marked *
107 lynx
April 12, 2010 at 8:05 AM
This drama has me feeling so much for the characters with just 4 eps and now that it's turning towards their adult lives, I'm going to bite my nails, wait for the rest as it pans out.
I wish I know how closely matched the trailer for this show is to the actual drama, but that said - the chubby cheeks are gone in the adult version! Ooh.
It will be keeping me company and breaking my routine of work/studies/papers. :)
Thanks JB for the recaps. Can't wait for ep 4... :)
Required fields are marked *
108 Judy
April 12, 2010 at 9:20 AM
Thanks for the great recap. I have been watched ep 3 and 4 is waiting for your recap.
I smiled when I read your warning: "this next scene will break your heart just a little, and you will like it." Because I have the same feeling.
I find the scene to be refreshing and touching. Even though I could not interpret KH's line when I watched it (I can understand it better now with the help of JB), I just fell for the atmosphere and the emotion flowing between EJ and KH. CJM and MGY have good chemistry.
The directing is great. Did you notice that the camera is "flowing" in some scenes? It reflected EJ's state of emotion as well.
In fact, this scene is an encore to ep 1's running scene where KH was stunned by EJ's beauty when her hair fell down. The slow motion effect of the running scene is great. In ep1's running scene, KH was love struck. So ep 3's night scene is EJ's turn to fall for KH. The "whispering" of MGY is liked casting a spell. So the audience is also bewitched by MGY and CJM.
I have catched up some of CJM's past dramas and movies. I watched "Fashion 70" a few years ago. CJM's role is likeable in "Fashion 70" but I watch the drama for Joo Jin Mo. "What's up Fox" is actully quite good and funny. But KJ in CS is the best role for CJM so far and his hairstyle is the most "normal" in CS as compared to his previous dramas. He should be able to gain a lot of new fans after this drama. I become one of his new fans.
Not to mention that MGY is impressive. I just hoped that the story will not turn out to be too sad so that I can bear with it until the end.
P.S. CJM and MGY both got beautiful eyes.
Required fields are marked *
109 okdubu
April 12, 2010 at 9:27 AM
i........ need to watch this episode again.
Required fields are marked *
110 lovin it
April 12, 2010 at 9:45 AM
thanks for the recap :) im really enjoying this series. everyone's carrying their own weight.. except i wish moon geun young would be slightly less mean to hyosun.. the poor girl ha
Required fields are marked *
111 giddygirl108
April 12, 2010 at 10:01 AM
I totally agree with you on how relatable Eun-jo is. Yes, she may be portrayed in a more extreme light than what we're all most used to (I mean...I didn't have to constantly run around my entire life from one mom's boyfriend to the next mom's boyfriend), but the point is, she showcases those inner-fallacies that I think most of us deal with.
Required fields are marked *
112 lemon
April 12, 2010 at 10:16 AM
"She gives us hope that someone out there will see the real us despite the way the world misinterprets our behavior, and who finds enough value there at the core to try to connect even when our pride puts up that wall."
i really love how you wrote that
Required fields are marked *
113 julisensei
April 12, 2010 at 10:26 AM
not to offend anyone here -- but i've been watching some episodes so far and i don't know if it is just me, but Hyo Sun vs. Eun Jo -- i know some people call Hyo Sun as "doll-like" but to me, there's something fake and unbalanced about her face. Eun Jo looks like a natural beauty compared to Hyo Sun. When i did an internet search on the actor who is Hyo Sun, I found out that she really DID get plastic surgery after high school. I definitely like Eun Jo a lot better than Hyo Suo.
I wonder how deep Hyo Sun truly is because my impression is that as the Cinderella of this drama, she's kind of an airhead -- yes, she craves a mother's affections, but she seems overall a bit shallow to me. It's ironic that I find that the Cinderella qualities are actually bestowed to Eun Jo but with twists-- she's hardworking and smart, but she's cynical to others and while she has glimmers of a good heart to someone she deems worthy of affection she's also has a massive sense of self-preservation. So she won't be selfless without being sure if it is worth the sacrifice.
I am really looking forward to see how the mix of the girls with the two male leads will work out in this drama. I know there will be a love triangle for sure between Eun Jo with the two male leads but wondering now if Hyo Sun will develop feelings for Eun Jo's old doongsaeng that Takyeon plays (or it he will develop feelings for her). At this point in the drama, there are a lot of possibilities.
Thank you so much for the episode recap postings. Even though i don't know Korean, reading these posts is as good as watching. :o) Looking forward to reading more!
Required fields are marked *
114 lilly
April 12, 2010 at 11:04 AM
I watched the preview of episode 5 and I find HS a lot prettier than before.
Required fields are marked *
115 liz
April 12, 2010 at 11:13 AM
@ firewife - Finally! Someone finally got Hyo-sun.
Per Firewife:
I think the reason Eun-jo doesn’t respond to Hyo-sun’s “sincerity” is because she instinctively recognizes it as insincerity. To me, it isn’t that Hyo-sun likes Eun-jo, but rather that she wants Eun-jo to like HER. After all, isn’t she the cute, popular girl, adored by daddy and all his workers? Everyone is supposed to like her aren’t they? At least that’s the way it’s always been.
Even her acts of kindness are slightly tinged with a hint of selfishness. When she buys pajamas for Eun-jo they’re the kind she herself would wear, she doesn’t have a clue what Eun-jo would like and apparently didn’t bother to find out. The late night conversation was all about her life. Did she show any interest in finding out anything about Eun-jo? And the tea party…..she’s been living with Eun-jo for a while now, did she really think she was the tea party type?
I’m not saying that I think Hyo-sun is knowingly being insincere, in fact, I think she’s convinced herself that she really does want to get along with her new unni. I just think there’s more self interest in her actions than first appearances suggest. She’s more invested in getting Eun-jo to like her than she is in really getting to know or understand her.
It's far easier to be nice and sweet, even after the loss of a mother, if everyone adores you AND if the prevailing social code is to be warm and caring as it is in her father's world. This is obviously not lost on Eun-jo, who grew up in worlds where the lack rather than the presence of warmth, kindness, generosity, affirmations, and reliability were givens. While Hyo-sun's overtures were indeed sincere, her sweetness is untested. As much as she believes herself capable of loving without being loved in return, by the end of the Episode 4 when she finds her affections unrequited not only by her crush or even Eun-jo but by Kihoon, she proves herself to be at the core far more petty, selfish, mean, and vindictive than Eun-jo ever had been. Her reaction to discovering her world order challenged is not to accept those changes gracefully but to resort to outright deception to maintain a world order that no longer is. It would have been far better for Hyo-sun to just have hated Eun-jo and left it at that. Methinks Hyo-sun needs to listen to some Rolling Stones: no matter how wonderful a person may be, "you can't always get what you want."
Required fields are marked *
116 Jersey girl
April 12, 2010 at 12:00 PM
Cinderella Girl is one of the best Kdrama currently airing now. I totally agree with you javabeans about EJ's mom Kang-sook. This must be the best relationship she ever had both emotionally and financially so why ruin it. She is not only doing this for herself but also for EJ's sake too.Being extra nice to Hyo-sun is a very small price to pay in exchange for a life of security for her and her daughter. Even
her new husband Dae-sung looks so much better than Mr. Jang who looks terrible and smelly. EJ should just be happy that at last her mom is happy with a guy who respect and don't beat up her mom. I really like this drama much much better than Personal Taste and Prosecutor Princess. MGY never disappoints me as she always pick the right drama and I am not sure if she has a say on her co-stars but always have the right supporting cast to her drama character. No wonder it is no# 1 on its time slot .
Required fields are marked *
117 linly
April 12, 2010 at 1:13 PM
I am totally HOOK on this drama... one of the best for 2010 this year... I want to see their story of their adulthood falls out... I like the tough I don't give a crap character that Eun Jo gives off...
Required fields are marked *
118 supah
April 12, 2010 at 2:34 PM
Absolutely love the recap, Javabeans, and that you've picked up on all those little symbolisms dotted around like little puzzles in this drama.
Aw, Ki-hoon - so meltworthy. I loved his 'Eun-ju-yah' and her reaction. Thank the heavens for the emotional breakthrough!
In spite of the little glimmers of Eun-jo's inward self coming to the fore for us viewers, like the packing the suitcase scene and all things related to her new-formed attachment to Ki-hoon, I was still rooting for Hyo-sun and sardonically, got a kick out of the ending: ''BEGGAR!'' Hah!
Required fields are marked *
119 supah
April 12, 2010 at 2:49 PM
Oh yeah, me and Eun-ju have a very similar wardrobe! xD
That grey oversize top she's wearing in the first picture, mine has a hood and front pocket, but still, samesame and I wear it with a full-sleeve top under it too.
And that khaki green, drawstring parka she wears in the first episode.
Not like I'm a bit emo like the Eun-ju character, I'm just boringxpreppy.
Required fields are marked *
120 chewywonbin
April 12, 2010 at 3:06 PM
I just want to say GREAT JOB ON YOUR RECAPs and I hope EP4 recap comes out soon.
Required fields are marked *
121 Chocolatetree
April 12, 2010 at 4:02 PM
Wow, how much do I LOVE THIS DRAMA? It's so emotionally painful. Very nuanced. Loved it, and love your recap. Can't wait to read more of your insight into Cinderella's sister. :)
Required fields are marked *
122 whatsupalisa
April 12, 2010 at 4:48 PM
god my heart was like beating out of my chest in the scene where he almost fell and she was like holding him
can't wait till wednesdays and thursdays!
gotta love ki hoon
his smile makes me go insane
Required fields are marked *
123 Jo
April 12, 2010 at 5:01 PM
I find Eun Jo as a truly compelling character. There is so much depth to her, I dont even think (even though this recap is great) this does her as much service as the writing and Moon Geun Young's acting implies. Throughout the whole drama so far, her yearning for a mother is apparent. Despite her obvious dislike of her mother, she still loves the woman. So that is why she gets so sensitive when approached by her mother, even bringing up "immature" statements like "you didnt even notice I got stiches" etc. She wants her mother to pay attention to her. I also think this is why she was so stricken by the "Eun-jo ya" thing. Mothers often call their children like this and thus this could explain why she was so moved. He called her in such a ...paternal way, her heart just responded right away.
Also, as probably everyone has already figured out, Eun Jo's cold character to keep people away is in direct correlation with her childhood. People have been in and out of her life, always leaving behind a bigger scar. Thus to precent such superficial relationships, Eun Jo has learned to keep from having any at all.
Sigh* WONDERFUL DRAMA AINT IT?!
Required fields are marked *
124 jackie
April 12, 2010 at 5:18 PM
my god. i cried about 2983729 times in this episode. and i NEVER cry in kdramas, NEVER. this was.. amazing. does anyone know how many episodes this drama has?
Required fields are marked *
125 sam
April 12, 2010 at 6:12 PM
@20 kaedejun
"...as in, she is in pain and so wants someone to be in pain with her… if that makes sense.. THAT is something i can’t relate with, so while i know we should cheer for eun jo, i also can’t jump on her bandwagon and be completely sympathetic,..."
This is a classic example of human nature. If someone is not feeling good emotionally at that moment, do give them room to reorganize. Eun Jo just suffer her first pang of jealousy. She don't understand her feelings yet and hasn't put a name on the not nice feeling she is feeling at the moment. Then came Hyo Sun all so happy and chirpy. She just feel like bursting Hyo Sun bubble.
It is out of the ordinary for her ("Why did I do it? It's driving me crazy") because it's the first time she took the first step to hurt other people. At other time Eun Jo is just REACTING to other people actions to her. Her reactions as we can see is't always nice by society standards.
Other example is from GLEE. When Rachel heard Mercedes sang so good, she acknowledge her performance but deep inside she feels awful as in her mind she should be the only star. So she told Finn about the baby's not his. I can give you lots more. There is in YAB. Remember the time TK lashed out to GMN, in the bathroom the day after GMN vomit on him? "She should have let me take my shower first (give time to calm down), before she apologized" Or something like that...
What I want to say here... we are also capable of such behavior. Just be aware of it. It's something we will regret doing especially to people we love. That's why, what Eun Jo did was so relatable. We are human.
I do enjoy the drama unfolding. It's like a study in human nature. Let's all learn something from it and make the world a better place for everyone. This is not the usual drama where you can pigeon hole one character good and one character bad. This is a drama where we learn to treat people sincerely and love absolutely.
Required fields are marked *
126 sam
April 12, 2010 at 7:00 PM
@24 starlighttears
"the last line where you wrote that Eun Jo sees relieved, i actually never thought it was a look for relief, i thought it was more a look of surprise.
because even though Eun Jo was eternally suspicious of Hyo Sun’s bubbly everlasting goodness, I dont think she expected Hyo Sun to actually retaliate".
However nasty Eun Jo is, she is not a bully. She just shun other people attention. She don't take out the bad experiences in her life by resorting to things like vandalism, bullying, drinking or partying, etc .
To me she is relieved, just like what Javabeans wrote, because Hyo Sun reaction is a reaction she can understand. Because that's how a person like Eun Jo would react. So when Hyo Sun react that way, they can battle on the same ground.
@ 51 nycgrl
"I heard my dad once say that orphans can never feel full even after they eat because they feel a void from not having parental love."
Love your input on that (on top of what JB wrote). I just take it literally about him being hungry at first. But there is very deep meaning to his simple sentence. " I'm hungry". I'll never take that sentence lightly again. My son always say that " Mother's cooking is the best because it's filled with love." How right he is! Have to make sure that my family is not starved like Ki Hoon. :)
Required fields are marked *
127 crystal
April 13, 2010 at 12:29 AM
I just look for the song when EJ waited for KH on the first night. She walked and walked, just waited for him. I really love this melody. But I dont know the title :( so sad. Anyone here knows this?
Required fields are marked *
128 alodia
April 13, 2010 at 1:22 AM
can't wait to watch this drama... (coz i still have a handful to finish)
Required fields are marked *
129 hmi4
April 13, 2010 at 5:25 AM
@105 insertusernamehere (omg you remind me of a soompier)
I agree that MGY has been a little too intense. For me, a true cynical character would just smirk, say something biting, and walk away. EJ yells and screams too often, which reduces the cynicism down to teen angst :D I mean, this could be appropriate too since she was just a teen, but it made her a bit less cool lolz.
@115 liz
Yes! for me, HS isn't as sweet as she likes to think. HS & EJ are like a native sponsor of a rich country & an immigrant from a poorer one. The native sponsor likes to think herself generous by helping out the immigrant. But no matter how kind she tries to be, there's somewhere deep down inside that she thinks the immigrant a lesser person, not by intentional arrogance, but just because they're different in a way she doesn't approve. Like the immigrant is unpolished in looks, doesn't have the right ettiquette, etc. The immigrant on the other hand is having to adjust to a new environment. One where you don't have to be aggressive and watchful all the time in order to survice. The sponsor never thinks to cut in line because where she's from, if she waits her turn she'll get there. But for the immigrant, if she waits her turn, she'd be last in line, even if she got there first. In the same way, HS never got abandoned. Dong Soo's and KH's affection for EJ, and therefore a lack of for her, is the closest to abandonment she's ever gotten. So now she's learned to push her way through the crowd. Except when EJ protects herself, she doesn't do it at the expense of other people. Her words are rude and people get offended, but they don't get hurt. HS on the other hand is hurting EJ in her vindictive ways.
Required fields are marked *
130 Sakki
April 13, 2010 at 7:46 AM
Ahhh...... So good this drama.... one of the best ever.... I love it.....
Really thank you for your recap..... you always make my day brighter!!!!!!!
Required fields are marked *
131 starlighttears
April 13, 2010 at 8:48 AM
@ 26 Sam
Yes, I do agree that Eun Jo is definitely not a bully, I just tried to use an analogy. Like you said, they now are on the same battle ground after Hyo Sun fought back, so I think she doesnt like that as such because shes always had the upper hand because Hyo Sun was always so nice.
Also, i dont think that Eun Jo was provoking Hyo Sun because she wanted to fight on the same grounds. I think she was just so uncomfortable with that degree of affection that Hyo Sun showed her, she tried to push it away and didnt understand why someone would like her. In her mind, noones ever 'liked' her for real, so it just sees more natural for them to not like her but i dont reckon she actually wanted Hyo Sun to start hating her. maybe just to leave her alone.
I didnt exactly mean surprise, i could think of the right word to describe at the time, but now i have, its more disbelief, not surprise.
I guess I was drawing up a bit on my experiences as well, because whenever i dont like someone and the go out of their way to please me instead of saying anything about it, then it just annoys me even more. But when they actually address the issue and fight back I start feeling a bit remorseful and ashamed, so same battle ground as you rightly said.
But in the recap, we all agree that Eun Jo definitely did not mean to have Dong Su actually like her, she thought it was for Hyo Sun and she pretended it was hers and it actually was and when it was, Javabeans said that her expression showed regret and she expressed it as such.
So on that note, i just didnt think it made sense for her to be relieved at Hyo Sun turning on her when she actually felt bad for what she did. In my head I'm trying to work out natural emotional progressions lol.
If you did something really mean to someone else, and then felt bad about it, why would you feel relief when they told you off for it?
consider also, after all of Eunjos ignoring, harsh words, dirty looks toward Hyo Sun, she never wavered in her like for Eun Jo. So as stoic and suspicious as Eun Jo was, no matter what, that HAD to come as surprise to her. She given it all her to stop Hyo Sun liking her and she didnt, and then all of a sudden she does a 360 and full snaps at EunJo. Thats gotta be surprising, even a little.
& not that im trying to interpretative the scene at all, it was when i was watching it, deeply absorbed without thinking or analysing it, when Hyo Sun called her a beggar and told her to get lost, Eun Jo made that face, i imediately took it for a little scoff of disbelief and thats how i always saw it, so i was genuinely surprised when javabeans said otherwise so thats the only reason why i said i thought it might not be relief :)
thanks for replying to me and ofcourse i dont you or javabeans are wrong by any standard, I could be totally wrong. EunJos such a layered character we could discuss it all day and never know and thats whats so great about Cinderellas Sister <33
Required fields are marked *
132 lb_tmi
April 13, 2010 at 12:33 PM
@ starlighttears
you just described EXACTLY how i felt when i watched the scene play out. i agree that EJ did not see HS's back talk coming. Yet, EJ is just like "about time you started showing you're true self" at the same time as "did you just say what you said?"
and for me, i took the "eun jo yah" as a much more personal level. referring back to samsooki's OT explanation, for having just met recently, Ki Hoon and Eun Jo are not that close YET, so wouldn't they start off calling each Eun Jo-shi and Ki Hoon-shi until they are closer? isn't the "yah" reserved for more close relationships? i may be completely wrong, but that's how i perceive it, and how it makes sense w/ samsooki's explanation.. so i thought it was more personal..
the other thing is.. WHEN will Ki Hoon realize he lost the hairpin?? i mean, it's been a day or two already. wouldn't he have noticed that he no longer has it?
Required fields are marked *
133 Javabeans
April 13, 2010 at 12:39 PM
@lb_tmi
I will contend that it's not terribly personal to use "ya" at their age. For instance, in high school if you're talking to someone in your year or younger, you would still talk informally even if you were strangers. They wouldn't use "sshi" until they're adults, so no, it would be quite strange for him to call her "Eun-jo sshi."
Required fields are marked *
134 lolly :))
April 13, 2010 at 12:50 PM
I was kind of hesitant at first to watch Cinderella's Sister because first of all I'm a die-hard LEE MIN HO fan and I've been giving my 101% support for him and his new drama Personal Taste which is as we all know the rival show of Cinderella's Sister, and I've really promised myself to not watch it... [hehehe. BIASED MUCH.^^] But my sister was really hooked up on this show that she forced me to watch it with her. At first I thought I wouldn't enjoy but---WHOAH. Surprisingly I did! I found myself routing and excited as the series continued.... I'm not into melodramatic stuff but this one pretty much got me interested. I'm kind of sad that Cinderella's Sister has been outshining and stealing the spot light from Personal Taste because CS has been really rocking those ratings in Korea, I was furious at first [seriously. HAHAHAH.] but then now I realized why it is on top of the Wed-Thurs line up, it because CS offers a refreshing and unpredictable plot. Even I myself couldn't wait for the next episodes. :))
PS: My vote still goes to Personal Taste but still I'm gonna keep myself updated on this one, especially to one of the many reason that CHUN JUN MYUNG is sooo hot and cute :D HAAAA. I love him to bits! kekekekee.
Required fields are marked *
135 Sakki
April 13, 2010 at 12:54 PM
Oh my god !!!!
I kept refreshing the page 4 hours.... where is ep 4?!!! ahuahaua
without life...... 0___o
lol.....
Required fields are marked *
136 sam
April 13, 2010 at 2:54 PM
@131 starlighttears. Hi
"Also, i dont think that Eun Jo was provoking Hyo Sun because she wanted to fight on the same grounds."
In this particular incident, Eun Jo provoked first not because she wants to have the same battleground as Hyo Sun. She was not feeling nice at the moment. She saw Ki Hoon with another girl. In came Hyo Sun so happy. Eun Jo burst her bubble and regretted her action instantly. Then in came Hyo Sun, saying "BEGGER". She thought she heard wrong, ask Hye Sun to repeat it. From Hye Sun facial expression and the way she said it...Eun Jo do feel relieved because she thought..."Ha...I shouldn't feel guilty after all, I was right in the first place in thinking that she is not sincere in her affection of me." And that she's also right that Hyo Sun was just like any other people in her life. Just showing a nice front but thinking bad things about her inside.
Scarred people act like that. they are suspicious when people are too nice. they have to have the proof that the other person sincerely care. Eun Jo first knows her stepfather is who he seems to be from her overhearing him defending her and her mother in front of relatives. Even then she's still reserved in her interaction with him. She do need more proof to be warmer to him. Came ep 4, she do see that he is what he show to her. He's the real deal. Ki Hoon? What's not to like about him :)
In this particular ep. she do feel relieved that what she thought is right. so she don't have to feel guilty anymore. But that conviction that Hye Sun is not sincere will be shaken (a bit or a lot, i don't know yet ) in ep 4...
Let's have fun watching the drama unfolding together. Can't wait for Wed :)
Required fields are marked *
137 liz
April 13, 2010 at 5:53 PM
@hmi4 - great analogy, especially the analogy re: standing vs. jumping in lines.
Required fields are marked *
138 janie
April 13, 2010 at 6:48 PM
i lub u 2, fatty boy :P
Required fields are marked *
139 msles59130
April 13, 2010 at 8:50 PM
32 lb_tmi
I agree 100%. When HS snapped back, EJ seemed to scoff, like, there, I knew that you had this in you. She still felt bad, but kind of relieved, because she felt like she could still trust her impressions of people.
I puzzled for awhile about why she was so mean to HS. When she looked first relieved and then confident, it seemed clear that she felt vindicated about her initial impression.
Required fields are marked *
140 lb_tmi
April 14, 2010 at 7:17 AM
@ JB
i was thinking about this in bed last nite.. what's the difference when a person addresses someone w/ the "ee". i noticed this way back when i first watched Winter Love Song, but didn't know what the difference was... other than one seems like it was more polite and the other seemed more personal.
yujin always called Sanghyuk-ee but she called joonsang-ah. but when she met him again, she called him (as minyoung) minyoung-sshi.
i'm so confused again w/ the formal and informal ways of speaking. we don't have that in my mother tongue or English.
i lub the fatty boy too!!! he's so adorable!!!
Required fields are marked *
141 pabo ceo reom
April 15, 2010 at 12:00 AM
Love. love. love.
That is all. Now to wach episode 5!
Required fields are marked *
142 Rant
April 15, 2010 at 7:26 AM
Youtube can watch many yele interview and review of relate Cinderella's Sister Episode. Someone favor and newest review.That's very well.
Past http://mo.dbidb.com can Download subtitle to computer format with translate subtitle for any languages.
Especialy covert other languages(for example en,es,ru)...
http://mo.dbidb.com
Required fields are marked *
143 Selli
April 18, 2010 at 5:07 AM
I just want to say that I seriously love your comments, I really, really love reading them, alongside watching episodes of "Cinderella's Sister", which I have taken a liking to as well =D I agree that they could have stayed in the teen-phase for longer Q_Q But I will still continue watching =D Something about this drama just really appeals to me, it's sort of hard to explain @_@~ I'm with you there, I love Eun-jo, and Moon Geun-young is just really likable, I just like bad-ass women, yay!!! XD
I can only repeat myself, your comment are so cute, and make me smile from time to time, but then they also make me understand the characters better, as well as the plot, as your interpretation of their actions really makes it seem as if you were actually their creator, it's awesome how well you understand them =D
Just wanted to get all of this off my chest, sorry XD And I'll most certainly check up on this every day, to see if you might have commented on a new episode : )
Thank you for doing this!! =D
Required fields are marked *
144 ninjasrock
August 14, 2010 at 11:11 PM
lawl. i love the first 4 eps, i can read the recaps and just not watch the drama :)
and still get a reli good feel for the drama
but for me before the drama was released i thout moon geun young was going to be some real bitch but i think if its cinderella's sister. she seems kinda more like cinderella. just the super angsty version . .. but that could be just me. :)
Required fields are marked *
145 G
December 3, 2010 at 10:29 AM
I think Eun Joo does know Hyo Sun is genuine but lies to herself that she's not because it's easier to have someone else to blame for her mother's preference for HS over her. I should know, cos sibling rivalry as I grew up was really strong and I intensely hated my sister even though she didn't do anything to me but be the perfect daughter. Starting to really like this show, because it shows human inter-relationships really well, and Moon acts really well as well.
Required fields are marked *
146 G
December 3, 2010 at 10:51 AM
Ha, I knew that guy liked Eun Joo! Hm. I can relate to EJ so much, it's almost like reliving my past through her.
Required fields are marked *
147 G
December 3, 2010 at 10:55 AM
Ha, I knew that guy liked Eun Joo! Hm. I can relate to EJ so much, it's almost like reliving my past through her. I used to despise happy-go-lucky girls like HS.
I don't understand however how HS doesn't realise her feelings for Ki-Hoon are romantic and didn't ask him to be her boyfriend a long time ago! AND can still have a crush on someone else?
Even nice people have limits and EJ pushed enough buttons to finally get HS to react. Who knows, maybe when they grow up, HS'll turn into the bitch. And hers will be a real bitchiness and hatred because EJ actually did stuff to her. Not like EJ's hate for HS for no reason.
Required fields are marked *
148 peach_bloom
December 28, 2011 at 10:56 PM
JB..!!! I really love your recap especially since I'm not a Korean. But I have cultivated this love for K- drama and CS is one of my favourite so far....... And to be able to read your writings and understand the story better is like having the finest wine after a heavy meal..... Thanks and do keep up your good work!!
Required fields are marked *
149 cinthy
July 13, 2012 at 5:42 PM
they mention Argentina I live there!! I was so surprised to hear it!!
Required fields are marked *