"Cinderella and the Four Knights" Episode 12 recap

There was a lot of progress in episode 12 and we have Ha-won and Ji-woon to thank, but especially Ha-won. The traits that the CEO hired her for came through for her again: her faith and tenacity. Her influence causes a waterfall effect in the behavior of the Kang cousins, making them problem solve and take charge of their own lives.

As Ha-won deals with her own problems, although she wants someone to lean on, she proceeds to take care of things on her own. This is what inspires Ji-woon to do the same. He confronts Hye-ji about merely using Ji-woon to fill the void that Hyun-min left behind. It was such a wonderful moment because we got to see him grow. He then takes this new honesty and tells Hyun-min to care for Hye-ji himself instead of using Ji-woon. Ji-woon's character is changing for the better, learning to pull strength from within himself as Ha-won does.

Hyun-min makes a small change in himself after Ji-woon's blunt encouragement. But a little goes a long way with Hyun-min because he's hardly changed at all in twelve episodes. He finally manages to go after Hye-ji and resorts to immature tactics to prolong their interaction. Although immature, the tactics were funny and it gave we the viewers some much needed light-hearted interaction between the estranged lovers.

The reason behind Hyun-min's purposeful distancing is good: he feels responsible for Hye-ji's brother's death. But after this buildup, the emotional impact of the revelation was extremely anticlimactic. I hope the show really gives us a good catharsis for the couple surrounded that tragic event so we can understand Hyun-min's insistence on pushing Hye-ji away.

Another Kang cousin influenced by Ha-won's honesty is Seo-woo, who confesses his love for her on a show and lets her go at the same time. This character's mature handling of a painful one sided love is as refreshing as it is sad. The last Kang cousin, Yoon-seong, is still coming to terms with his difficult mother, but hopefully this stage of his realization won't last much longer because it's beginning to drag.

There were two major highlights of the episode. One is that both Ha-won and Ji-woon realize that fake dad was just after money. Ji-woon does a secret DNA test, but Ha-won decides to believe in her mother's fidelity and tells the fake dad to leave her alone. She can't give him what she wants. She also lets him know that the fire took her mother's life, and still Ha-won is living well, not like a beggar so he needs to buck up and get living properly. Another wonderful growing moment. (And all of this fake dad stuff makes me wonder why her real dad hasn't really had a presence in this drama except in passing.

The second highlight was Ji-woon's blunt and honest confession. He tells Ha-won he likes her, not Hye-ji. He thanks her for getting close to him, and then literally and metaphorically promises that he will "go to her" now and gives her a kiss. It was such a satisfying confession because there was a proper buildup to it, both of them feel the same, and they'd both come such a long way.

What worries me now after this is that there will only be problems to solve until the end of the drama. I hope the romantic tension doesn't completely leave because it is a major part of my enjoyment of "Cinderella and the Four Knights". Despite that, I'm looking forward to next weekend's episodes.

Written by: Lisa Espinosa AKA Raine from 'Raine's Dichotomy'

"Cinderella and the Four Knights" is directed by Kwon Hyeok-chan, written by Min Ji-eun and Won Yeong-sil, and starring Park So-dam, Jeong Il-woo, Ahn Jae-hyeon, Lee Jung-shin, and Choi Min-I.

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