"Beautiful Gong Shim" Episode 12 recap

As tensions at the company escalate in tandem with Dan-tae's executive pin investigation, his eyes of suspicion include his bromantic buddy, Joon-soo. No one is safe as Dan-tae delves to the bottom of his kidnapping and into his father's attack, including Dan-tae himself. He is so reckless in regards to the emotional well-being of those around him that it's a good thing Gong Shim has decided to stick to him like glue.

The course of events in the show is predictable and only balanced by the significant character strides made by Gong Shim. Dan-tae is so intent on his investigation that he skewers his friendship with Joon-soo in order to find answers and has a strange sort of non-reaction. This non-reaction also happened with the news that he has a family he never new. He has not once reacted to the fact that he has a new family or changed his behavior in front of them.

The tension and lack of open discourse between Dan-tae and Joon-soo was to be expected. In terms of inheritance they are at odds, and  Joon-soo's mother was involved in Dan-tae's childhood disappearance. Joon-soo independently investigates his cousin's disappearance, but it leads to misunderstanding. With eight episodes to go, the friends are bound to turn to enemies at some point. Whether or not they restore their brotherly relationship is up in the air at this point.

As for Gong Mi, I still don't know where she factors into the picture. She hasn't done much of anything but win over Joon-soo's wicked mother and beg Dan-tae to pretend not to know her. We haven't even seen her reaction to Gong Shim's rebellion - she reclaimed her room back as a space for herself rather than as her sister's closet.

Gong Shim in love makes her braver. She has rediscovered her artistic talents, and those are opening up her parents' eyes and allowing them to see her as her, rather than Gong Mi's younger sister. Gong Shim has taken a stand on her relationship with Dan-tae, to be by him no matter what, but we have yet to see that manifested beyond a drunken confession and kiss.

The steam in this drama has been lost as Dan-tae's childhood mystery takes the forefront and I hope that trend doesn't continue.

Written by: Raine from 'Raine's Dichotomy'

"Beautiful Gong Shim" is directed by Baek Soo-chan, written by Lee Hee-myeong, and features Namgoong Min, Minah, Oh Joo-wan, Seo Hyo-rim, Oh Hyun-kyeong, and Woo Hyeon.

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