Cinderella’s Sister: Episode 10
by girlfriday
Dang, I know I said Dae-sung should have died, but now that he has, I feel kind of bad about it. It’s just that this is the angst I was expecting in Episode 8; it’s been delayed one very long week, which explains why I agree with some of javabeans’ general lack of enthusiasm for Episode 9. (More on this below.) For the record, I am firmly in the column of “Thinks Eun-jo LIED About the Goddamn Letter Because Her Heart is a Stone Wrapped in Thorns Encased in Ice” and NOT in the “Because She Lurves Her Sister” column. Because c’mon. Who’re we kidding here?
I have no illusions about Eun-jo being a nice girl, or good-hearted deep down. That oversimplifies her. So I’m not in her camp because I have some hope of her becoming some redeemed saint. I think she’s dark, damaged, and now…verging on becoming the antagonist…which is why I dig her. Call me sick or twisted, but I am so with this girl, and I’m riveted by her attempts to resemble a human being with a heart. That said, I’ve got more than a bone or two to pick with where we’re going storywise, especially in the department of how fast we’re getting there. Because pace? Is not thine friend, Show.
EPISODE 10 RECAP
Eun-jo is busy fielding work calls, even in her mourning clothes. She’s got the thousand-yard stare going on, grasping at anything work-related to keep her busy, and her mind off of reality. Jung-woo tries to get her back in touch with the present—they’ve got a funeral to attend, but she’s clearly not mentally with us.
At the funeral, Jun-su and Kang-sook stand vigil, as Jun-su bows to all the mourners. (In Korea the patriarchal system is very rigid for ceremonies like funerals. The eldest son is the chief mourner, who stands by the deceased night and day for three days, while daughters are relegated to the background, which is why neither daughter is standing here.)
Jun-su is confused, as a child of his age should be, while Kang-sook is genuinely upset. That is, until Auntie Shaman/Priest shows up, out-mourning her, and oh my goodness, are we really going this route for the funeral? To the funny place? I did not expect to be laughing…
But here we are. Kang-sook throws herself onto Dae-sung’s aunt, not to be outdone at her own husband’s funeral. She flails about, half-choking the poor woman, who in return can’t get free from Kang-sook fast enough. They wail side by side, still hating each other, and it’s funny because the whole funeral’s got this dark comedy bent to it, with the wife who’s more concerned with keeping up appearances, and the son who just looks at everyone quizzically.
In Hyo-sun’s room, things aren’t quite so light. She drinks straight out of a large makgulli jar, trying desperately to get drunk. Ki-hoon watches her from a distance, then finally intervenes to try and stop her from drinking anymore. She spits out: “You won’t let me lean on you! Why are you taking away my liquor?!” Damn straight!
Hyo-sun tells him to get out and take Eun-jo with him, blaming her for pushing the deal and causing Dae-sung’s heart attack. Ki-hoon’s heart breaks as he thinks to himself in voiceover: “It wasn’t Eun-jo. It was me. I did that.” But he can’t bring himself to say it, of course. Hyo-sun lashes her hurt towards Eun-jo, as Ki-hoon embraces her, saying, “Let’s send ajusshi off well.” She cries out: “I can’t do that. How? To where? How can you send him off, oppa?” Oouff. I feel like someone punched me in the gut.
Eun-jo and Jung-woo make their way to the funeral, but she can’t bring herself to face it. She turns back around, making excuses about work…but Jung-woo grabs her by the arm, saying, “Noona, get it together!” Love this kid. And here their dynamic has a pronounced shift, if even for a tiny moment. Eun-jo is the vulnerable child, not knowing how to deal, and Jung-woo tells her what she needs to do, every step of the way.
He appeals to her family pride, saying that Gu Dae-sung’s funeral is a mess, which works to give her something to focus on (she’s a taskmaster at heart) and keep her tethered to reality. It also forces her to say the words: “Gu Dae-sung” and “funeral,” letting the truth sink in.
He asks one last time if she’s got it together, and then smoothes the hair out of her face. It’s a touching gesture because he’s calling her noona, but acting like the oppa here, and he’s looking for nothing in return but the chance to be there for her. She looks up at him, but says nothing. She braces herself, and walks inside.
Presumably days after the funeral, Ki-hoon goes to see big brother, and in turn doles out some of the blame onto him. Not all of it, mind you—he still feels very much the one responsible for Dae-sung’s death, but he’s come to tell Ki-jung that his plan was just to stop Ki-jung from acquiring Dae-sung Co., not take it for himself. He knows no one will believe him now, but his plan was to give it back once he had gotten it. Uh…then what’s all that with your father? And does that mean you’re not in hostile takeover mode anymore? Because I don’t think that’s the case…
Ki-hoon then switches gears to blame Ki-jung for his own mother’s death. Wait. Daddy Hong told you that Ki-jung, who at the time was also just a child, made your mother run (when she wasn’t supposed to), causing her to die? Who would blame a child for that? Not that Ki-jung isn’t a baddie now, but how can you hold him responsible when he was just a child? Daddy Hong might be the devil.
But now Ki-hoon knows what that feels like—because in trying to keep Ki-jung from getting what he wanted, he caused the death of a man. He says that he won’t forgive Ki-jung or himself: “Now I really can’t ever go back to who I was before.” Oh dear. I know I’m not the only one who was hoping you’d drop the corporate espionage and black suits and go back to the flannel-shirt-wearing oppa who used to jabber on about your favorite artists. Is he dead now?
Ki-hoon challenges his brother that Dae-sung Co. won’t die like this—it’ll survive, and he’ll ensure that Ki-jung never gets his hands on it. It’s basically like, thank you for the wake-up call; now you’ve awoken a monster. Ki-jung asks what he’ll do if he doesn’t lay off. Ki-hoon: “I’ll take you down with me…and we’ll die together.”
At home, Kang-sook is in the throes of schizophrenic grief. One second she’s rifling through her bank statements and marriage papers, in fear that it’ll all disappear, and then the next second she’s in tears thinking of Dae-sung and feeling all alone.
Eun-jo meets with the town elders who had lent money, and tells them that half the shipment to Japan was sold to another buyer, while the rest got shipped back, and half of that turned into rice wine vinegar, while the rest…she drank. Haha! No one laughs at her joke, not knowing that she’s ever said a humorous thing in her life (this may be the first).
They get upset when she tells them they won’t be paid back right away. She tries to assure them it won’t be too much longer, but they worry what Dae-sung Co. will be without Dae-sung, especially since the whole brand’s distinction is its particular taste, which is something only Dae-sung could produce. Eun-jo tells them that they’ve graduated from lenders to shareholders—now they’ll own a part of the company and reap profits when the company turns back around.
Jun-su has been running from room to room, looking for someone to play with him, and wakes up Hyo-sun. She’s not in the mood to play with him either, until he says: “Big noona doesn’t play with Jun-su. Little noona plays with Jun-su a little. Mommy doesn’t play with Jun-su a little. Daddy plays with Jun-su a lot. When’s Daddy coming home? Why isn’t Daddy coming home?” Aaaack! I think that kid just sporked my heart out. Is there anything sadder? Hyo-sun hugs him close, and agrees to play with him.
On their way out, they run into Eun-jo, and the three of them go down to the river together. Hyo-sun sits down next to Eun-jo and says: “I was under the impression that you honestly liked my dad. But you didn’t cry. Everyone from the cooks to the day laborers…there wasn’t one of them who didn’t cry.” She asks again whether she ever had true feelings towards her father. Eun-jo of course doesn’t answer, aggravating Hyo-sun even more.
Hyo-sun basically blames her for Dad’s death, while Eun-jo goes on the defensive, asking what she’s supposed to do about it. Hyo-sun cries out: “Bring my Dad back!” She slumps down in tears, and Eun-jo’s cold façade starts to crack, as she tears up.
And then Hyo-sun reaches out to her halfway. She gets down in front of Eun-jo, leaning her head on Eun-jo’s knees, saying: “I’m scared, unni ya. I’m scared to death. I feel like I’m standing outside with no clothes on. I’m cold, and I’m scared.” Eun-jo reaches out her hand…oh, she’s not going to do it. There’s no way. No way. Oh my god, she does it!
She pets Hyo-sun on the head, sweetly telling her that it’s going to be okay. She calls her by name, “Hyo-sun ah,” which we know is something she almost never does. She holds her, gently comforting her, and letting her own tears fall as she tells her not to cry. It’s heartbreaking, earth-shattering, and such a tiny ripple too.
I can’t believe it. A breakthrough of monumental proportions…
…and then? They take it all away. NO! I KNEW IT! Gah, why so cruel, Show? Must thou see me dead and bloodied to be satisfied?
It’s all in Eun-jo’s mind, as her hand stops above Hyo-sun’s head, hovering there in the vast space between two sisters, at once an ocean and an inch.
She gathers herself, then pushes Hyo-sun off of her, screaming at her to stop her crying. And here’s where I’ll be in the minority: my heart breaks for Eun-jo in this moment, because it’s such a tragic juxtaposition between what she could be, and what she is. I sort of hate you, Show, for making me experience it, but I love it nonetheless. Like I’ve said before, I’m kind of a tv masochist.
Eun-jo rips into Hyo-sun for crying all day, every day, when there’s so much that needs to be done to try and save the company. Hyo-sun, still on the ground, asks quietly, “Can’t you comfort me, just once? I’m so scared and lonely. Couldn’t you show me a little affection? I think I’d be less frightened.” Oh, you poor lonely girl. I wish that for you so much.
She looks up at Eun-jo, desperate for a tiny morsel of love and affection. But Eun-jo already has her needles raised, in full-porcupine mode. She shouts: “I’m sick and tired of your childish whining! Stop it!” And she turns and walks away.
Little Jun-su, who sees this interaction, runs up behind Eun-jo and throws a rock at her, shouting, “Evil hag-witch! I’m gonna tell Daddy on you!” Eun-jo pauses at the mention of Dad, but keeps on walking.
Eun-jo goes to check on the workers at the winery and finds them all sitting around. She asks them why they’re not working, to which they pretty much say: what’s the point? Eun-jo lays into them, saying that they’ve always been paid, even in the hardest of times, and that they need to keep working. She overreacts, as she usually does, shouting at them to quit if they’re going to be like this. But in the middle of her rant, Dae-sung’s hand comes to rest on her shoulder, calming her down. In that one gesture, she remembers all the times he comforted her all these years, and what his hand on her shoulder meant to such a girl who never had a home or a father.
Out of her reverie, Eun-jo turns around, and sees that it’s Ki-hoon’s hand. Oh, I sincerely hope this is symbolic of the place he will start to take in Eun-jo’s heart because I’m over the petty letter-lying and such.
In her office, Ki-hoon tells her calmly that she needs to take a different approach with the workers. (And with people in general, ha.) He also offers another company’s story as a model for their company’s problems, and assigns Eun-jo to do a write-up about it as a contributing article, for a magazine, I’m assuming. Oh, he’s assigning her homework! Are we going back to the tutoring days?
The winery workers interrupt them, saying they quit, mainly because their egos are wounded by Eun-jo’s lack of respect and all that. Yeah, I know she’s not a people-person and I’d be pissed if my boss yelled at me like that, but be a grown-ass man and consider she’s a young woman who just lost her father. Were your tiny feelings hurt, wittle guy?
Hyo-sun and Jun-su come home, and Mom has a freak out at Hyo-sun for not telling her where they went, and keeping Jun-su out when he has a cold. Hyo-sun doesn’t understand why she’s suddenly being treated so coldly, while we all know—Kang-sook has finally dropped the nicey-nice mom act. And this? Can I tell you…is the ONLY major plot point in the entire episode. Mythology-wise, this is a biggie, as Kang-sook becomes the evil stepmother and Hyo-sun becomes Cinderella, as it were. But it’s kind of the only thing that happens, which you’ll hear me gripe about below.
Kang-sook has her own gripe session with the gods (or as we might find out later, her other personalities) about ending up a widow with but a hundred thousand dollars to her name. Well eight years ago that would’ve meant a whole lot more, before you became the wife of someone with status. Hyo-sun interrupts her to apologize, desperately trying to get back in Mom’s good graces. Her only mode of relating to people is: to be loved, or not to be loved, and this is vexing her sorely.
Mom shakes her off violently, saying she hates her sticky pawing. It dawns on Hyo-sun that Mom might not be mad at her…that this is just how she really feels. She’s been so blinded by her desire for a mother and Kang-sook’s well-honed act, that this is actually a revelation for her. She realizes that she’s all alone in the world. Now that Dad’s gone no one’s in her corner, and her home just became foreign soil.
She lingers in Eun-jo’s doorway for a moment, wishing that her sister would reach out to her, just once. But she’s been hurt too many times to try going down that road again, especially in one day. She looks next for Ki-hoon, who is busy trying to win back the workers with a little drink.
The next morning solidifies what she’s been feeling: Mom dotes on Jun-su and gives pieces of fish to him and Eun-jo, Eun-jo buries her head in work, and Hyo-sun gets squarely ignored.
Ki-hoon looks over Eun-jo’s article, criticizing it openly. But that’s good, because it gives them something else to be mad about than just being mad at each other over their broken hearts…FOREVER. Ki-hoon tells her to rewrite it and to apologize to the winery workers, which she of course refuses to do. She says they can just quit then, while Ki-hoon challenges her to try and find anyone else who’s devoted twenty years to Dae-sung Co. and has as much experience.
Ki-hoon goes to the winery to find Daddy Hong in the cellar, looking over the battlefield thinking he’s won the spoils. Ki-hoon is quick to tell him it’s not his place to be here. Au contraire, son. Daddy Hong fronted Daesung Co. all the money it needed to get back on its feet, so now it belongs to him. He’d like his money back, or he’ll be taking over, thank you very much. Ki-hoon is taken aback by his father’s brazenness (what, are we surprised?) and realizes that now Daddy Hong is as much the enemy.
Ki-hoon tries to reason with him and ask for more time, but Daddy Hong feels like Ki-hoon’s turned his back on him, so he’ll collect the money and cut his losses, or just take over Dae-sung Co. in his stead. Ki-hoon fills the girls in on the issue (without mentioning that it’s his own father, of course), and tells them he’ll figure out a way around it. Eun-jo digs a knife in: “Why would you care? What are you, to us?” She’s basically challenging what his loyalty is to the family, now that Dae-sung is gone. It’s a question I’d like to know the answer to, but only because I know of his backdoor family dealings, and Dae-sung Co.’s place as the pawn in all of it. But Eun-jo is pretty much out of line here, and Hyo-sun tells her as much.
Eun-jo goes straight to Mom, demanding all of the money that she’s squirreled away all these years. Mom denies having any, which Eun-jo knows is a damn lie. There’s no way in Hades she hasn’t got a small fortune to her name, what with all that Dae-sung had, and she shouts at her to hand it over. Mom tells her she’s crazy: even if she had any money, she’s got to think of how to feed herself, Eun-jo, and Jun-su in the future, not hand it over to a failing company. “It’s the money I traded for my dirty fate in life. What right do you have to tell me to hand it over? I won’t give it. I can’t!” She shakes Eun-jo off and storms out…
…Running right into Hyo-sun, who’s been listening the whole time. Kang-sook betrays a moment of shock, but then realizes that she’s got nothing to be afraid of anymore. It’s a nice little beat that plays across her face in an instant.
Hyo-sun looks hurt and utterly betrayed. This is a truth we, even Dae-sung, have all known about Kang-sook, but she has not been privy to. She comes in to ask Eun-jo, even still with a little hope wavering in her voice: “Is that how it was? Mom…is that how she was? It’s a lie, right? I heard it wrong, right?” So sad that she just wants someone to lie to her and keep her worldview from shattering.
Kang-sook kicks it into high gear and begins her tirade as evil stepmother. She fires the kitchen staff, the two nice ajummas who have been working for the family their entire lives. They quiver in fear and plead, but she kicks them out of the house without an ounce of sympathy.
Hyo-sun chases after them in tears, and Eun-jo sees what her mother has done. Hyo-sun kneels before Mom and pleads with her that the ajummas aren’t just workers; they’re family to her. Kang-sook just looks down at her coldly, saying: “Then follow them. You say she’s like your mom; then go follow your mom.” Damn. Ice, ice, baby.
Hyo-sun asks why Mom is being like this all of a sudden. Mom’s like, time to grow up, princess. She yells at her to get out, and Hyo-sun cries her heart out down the halls of the empty house.
Eun-jo comes into her room to give her the only kind of comfort she knows how: she’s moved the ajummas over to the winery, since she needs workers there. Aw. Are you really just a marshmallow? I sense something soft and fluffy under the glaciers! Eun-jo even makes a small fist with her hand, mimicking her movement to try and comfort Hyo-sun earlier, but again she just pulls back and walks away.
Hyo-sun asks her unni why Mom is like this, all of a sudden. Eun-jo disabuses her of any delusions she might have about her mother.
Eun-jo: You are not the princess of this house anymore. If you make a wrong move, you might get kicked out on your bare feet. My mom? Can do that and then some. You think she won’t? My mother? Get it together, Gu Hyo-sun. I’m begging you. Get it together and be smart, for god sakes. Stop crying like an idiot. Find a way to live by your wits in this house where no one will take your side! You got it?
I know it’s no hugs or teddy bears, but it’s a heartfelt plea from Eun-jo, who wants to see her sister be a stronger person and fend for herself. Obviously, it’s like the blind leading the blind as far as her own emotional growth is concerned, but hey, she’s not wrong about her mom here. She yells at Hyo-sun to get up.
Kang-sook continues her reign of terror, kicking out Hyo-sun’s uncle next. Who didn’t see THAT coming? She tells him he’s got balls, living off of her when he’s the one who killed Dae-sung, and when he goes, “What?” She answers with her own hilarious version of: what’s what in the what now? Ha.
Jung-woo is eager to give Eun-jo a shiny bauble that he bought for her, but she’s too busy with Hyo-sun to notice him. Ki-hoon calls his father because he’s come up with a solution: he’ll just sell his stock in Hong Ju to repay the loan; how ’bout that? Well played, Ki-hoon. Daddy Hong freaks out, and Ki-hoon knows he’s won this round.
But now there’s another kink, as Jung-woo has heard the conversation. He asks if Ki-hoon is affiliated with Hong Ju, which Ki-hoon denies vehemently. But Jung-woo’s antennae are up and he knows there’s something not right here.
Eun-jo leads Hyo-sun to the makgulli cellar, asking her to taste from a jar. Hyo-sun does, not knowing what this is all about. Eun-jo asks her whose liquor that is, and Hyo-sun replies that it’s Dad’s, of course. And Eun-jo, stunned, asks if she’s sure. Turns out she’s made it, and she was able to faithfully recreate the taste.
Both sisters are stunned. Eun-jo turns to the jar, repeating over and over: “I…I did it. I didn’t think I could…I thought I wouldn’t be able to…” She shakes, tears brimming in her eyes. Okay, I suppose this is the one other thing that happens in this episode. But did anyone doubt this would come to pass?
Eun-jo, rather than sharing a nice moment with her sister, uses it to challenge her in her usual bristly manner. She says this is going to be the new hope for Dae-sung Co. What will Hyo-sun do to stake her claim and keep Eun-jo from taking it all? Would it kill you to show her ONE tear? Just one teensy one? I know, it would. Gah.
She lays down the gauntlet: “My mother is no joke, and I’m my mother’s daughter. I might even surpass her. I’m a lot smarter than her, you see. Don’t get burned. Even if you do, I won’t save you. You’ve been warned.” Oh, snap. It’s ON, bitch!
Eun-jo hugs the makgulli jar tight and walks out. Jung-woo tries to tell her about Ki-hoon, but she tells him not to follow her. And in a nice lyrical moment, Eun-jo walks through the compound with the jar, going from empty space to empty space, sending Dae-sung off in her own way.
She ends up in his office, placing his picture next to the jar, and putting a bowl of makgulli in front of him. (Offering alcohol to the deceased is a common practice in Korea, but here the meaning is twofold because it’s also an offering of the makgulli she’s made to save the company.) She tells him that she’s gone over it a thousand times, how she could have done things differently for it to not end up this way. Suffice it to say, she blames herself as much as Hyo-sun blames her.
She offers the makgulli to him, saying that she made it. “Hyo-sun said it tastes the same, but I want to be praised by you…” And then, she strains with the first few syllables of “Father,” the thing she couldn’t bring herself to call him when he was alive: “Ah….Ah…Ah…beo…” Tears fall as she searches for the word, and then it comes out: “Daddy.” Ack! Stab. (Appa can be Dad or Daddy, but coming out of Eun-jo’s mouth, consider it the difference between calling your dad “sir,” and then “daddy.”) I knew she would never say “Father” when Dae-sung was alive, and I knew she’d finally say it when it was too late, but I did NOT expect “Daddy” to come out of her blackened heart. She cries, pouring out her regret, asking for forgiveness, calling out: “Daddy, Daddy!” Dae-sung’s death didn’t move me very much, until this moment. Sniff.
The thing I’m struggling with in this episode and the last two, is that I saw all of the narrative elements coming, so the wind was already knocked out of them. This episode, while containing beautiful moments of reverie and sadness, are not at this show’s height of narrative tension, while, let’s be frank, at ten episodes in, it should be.
In response to javabeans’ comments on Episode 9: In general, as I mentioned above, I agree with her frustration in relation to the story, while disagreeing that it comes from the lack of finding anyone to root for. Does Eun-jo frustrate me? Hell yes, she does. When she lied about the letter I wanted to smack her to high heaven. Do I feel like the characters are stunted adolescents who need to grow up? Uh-huh. Do I hate the weenie that Ki-hoon has become? Yup.
But call it the power of the dark side, or whatever, but I’ve always been interested in villains. And in their own way, EVERYONE—Eun-jo, Hyo-sun, Ki-hoon, Kang-sook—is on the road to hell, paved with all manner of self-important good intentions. And while that makes for a much grayer scale on the wheel of morality, it also makes for delicious drama.
The problem? There’s so much drama to be mined that they’re not doing, because we’re still mired in the same one-two conflict between the sisters, and the as-yet-to-be-executed hostile takeover. Just do it already. I want things to move faster—twenty episodes is not an excuse to languish in pace. If I had to fill twenty episodes, I’d cram it full of so much story that moved so fast people got whiplash from it.
Because I feel like the current love story is between the two sisters, I don’t find too much fault with all of the tension and the snowballing angst between them. But just because Ki-hoon/Eun-jo/Jung-woo are the secondary romance, as it were, doesn’t mean that we should just let all the love fizzle out. Why hasn’t anyone been caught making out yet? I mean this in a narrative tension way, not that I don’t mind some smoochies, as you might know. I just want someone to DO SOMETHING. Something crazy. Involving lips would be better, but whatever.
I get why everyone’s guarding their hearts and being all, “I DON’T love you! Really!” But too much of that leads to…people staring at each other meaningfully…which is boring the seventieth time around. If we get one more episode where there is only ONE major plot point the entire hour…I’m going to start writing letters. Because just as javabeans gets angry about characters—I’m a plot-monger. If I feel like the train is at a standstill, I will get my ass off and walk home.
So put me down for both agree and disagree, because I think this show is doing something very interesting tonally (like the funeral, and other moments of oddball hilarity), and something awesome with characterization. The problem for me is that it’s moving at the pace of “It’s a Small World” when I want to be on “Space Mountain.”
As for all of the love/hate of Eun-jo out there…maybe for me, it comes down to this: I’ve been her, or some shade of her, in my youth. And while people say things like, “Eight years…get over it,” this kind of darkness isn’t something that gets washed clean with time—you have to learn to dig yourself up out of it. I think we’ve picked up with Eun-jo as she’s learning this, and for better or worse, she kind of stinks at it. But I love that she’s on this journey, as flawed and twisted as she is, and I would have been sorely disappointed if we had picked up with her eight years later and she was already a perfectly well-adjusted adult. Where’s the fun in that?
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Tags: Chun Jung-myung, Cinderella's Sister, Lee Mi-sook, Moon Geun-young, Seo Woo, Taecyeon
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51 curiouscat
May 4, 2010 at 9:44 PM
Haven't read the entire recap but this line here: “Thinks Eun-jo LIED About the Goddamn Letter Because Her Heart is a Stone Wrapped in Thorns Encased in Ice” already makes me look forward to all your thoughts about this episode! Girlfriday your recaps have always been such a fun read, thanks!!!! Looking forward to more of you and JB's recapping(?) together!
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52 ernie
May 4, 2010 at 9:46 PM
I think episode 11 picks things up- I watched the preview for it, and it certainly showed some character development.
Great recap, girlfriday! I'm super glad we share the same view for Eun Jo- I too, love villains because I feel they're so much more layered than the regular people are. Why are they villains? Why have they become villains? What triggered them? And maybe that's why I like how dark EJ is, although I must admit she tore my heart out when she pushed HS off of her knees. When I saw that moment, I was like, FINALLY. EJ, HS needs you! But it was just all imagination. The moment was played out very well, and I suppose we needed it to show how EJ is slowly, gradually taking steps into helping HS.
I really do wonder how this Cinderella thing is going to play out..
Man, Kang Sook is amazing. How does she do it? Villain most definitely, but clearly she still has love in her because she cares for her daughter and son (although not for Hyo Sun). She's deliciously evil and good- she's my kind of onion, layered and tearjerking.
This drama is playing out pretty well for me. I guess I like when dramas take things slow but still with important moments? I usually don't cry with dramas. In fact, I never do but something about the scene where EJ thought DS was putting his hand on his shoulder and she was hit with all these memories made me cry. Silly, but I love how it's little moments like that in this drama that truly tear at a person's heart.
Like the rest of you guys, I do think KH needs to man up and "grow a pair." JW's cute.. but that's pretty much it. I'd love to see him become an onion, complex and layered, although not like the way EJ is.. how about a nice onion for once?
Don't know about the rest of you guys, but I like Hyo Sun's character very very very much. All the reasons she hates Eun Jo for makes sense if you view it from her point of view and although she's petty, she just kind of lives in her own little world and makes it all understandable. I mean, Hyo Sun prob isn't going to end up with Ki Hoon (and I don't want her to) but she's a favorite character of mine and I'd love to see things turn out right for her. Rather than someone dark (.. and well, it's hard to describe) like EJ or someone kind like JW, she's stuck, fighting against what's right and what's wrong, which winds up to the same issue we all deal with: trying to do what's right.
This certainly is not the best drama I've ever seen, but it's quite enjoyable, and I'm happy with the pace, development, and acting of the drama. :)
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53 woot
May 4, 2010 at 9:50 PM
thats true that after 8 years it would be weird to see her all smiley and happy but i think people (including me) like to rant about the characters problems which of course make the story..like venting anger hehe it just makes it more fun! damm i was annoyed at her letter lie and i wanted to take her collar and shake her til she admits it but then again...its always fun to see them find out later and run in to each others arms ^_^ awwwwwwwwwwww
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54 danni
May 4, 2010 at 10:06 PM
Yep, bitch vs. bitch doesn't bother me a bit and that's why I really don't care that I don't have anyone to root for. I can understand the issue, I like to root for someone, but it makes the battle that much more fun because you don't really know who will win in the end. Just because this is the Cinderella story doesn't mean that Cinderella will win, especially with how weak Hyo-sun is at the moment, but it seems to simple for Eun-jo to end just because the show's called Cinderella's Sister. Ki-hoon is still kind of pissing me off and I've never cared for Kang-sook, so I've just given up on this show as a one where I can root for someone and can watch people hate on each other because come on, how is that not interesting?
With Dae-sung's death, the plot should be picking up and I think the fact that episode 9 and 10 are seen as slow by the majority is because they're transitional, necessary episodes. Yes, we know that Kang-sook becomes evil stepmother after Dae-sung dies without them showing it to us, but we need to see it so we'll see Hyo-sun getting the shock she needs to (hopefully) grow up. Did they need to spend a whole episode on it? Probably not, some other things could have happened, but whatever, I'm not the writer. We already knew that Eun-jo and Hyo-sun have been competing against each other, but now there is much more to lose and that's becoming a reality in these two episodes.
That scene with Eun-jo and Hyo-sun where Eun-jo imagined reaching out to Hyo-sun killed me (come on writers, can't Eun-jo be human for once), but I still loved it. I wonder if this means that Eun-jo will become more inhuman as the series goes on since she seems to be repressing any trace of human nature, but I really hope that she'll eventually reach out to Hyo-sun. The scene at the end kind of counts, but then of course she ruins it by challenging Hyo-sun to fight back. *Sigh* Why can't we all get along?
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55 aiqcn
May 4, 2010 at 10:08 PM
I'm not rooting for EJ-KH love anymore. I'm rooting for sisterly love between EJ & HS. These two actresses are doing really really good job. Way to go, EJ-HS!
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56 fyoora
May 4, 2010 at 10:19 PM
More tissues please!!! Poor HS, and EJ too...like everyone I would like to see more sisterly bonding between two of them..but something across my mind, maybe EJ push HS so hard n tries hard to save the company so that she will leave that place n leave the company on HS's hand..but not before HS can stand on her own feet..wonder what gonna be with the 'evil' stepmom if that happen. As for Ki Hoon, I can't imagine what will happen if the girls found out about how their father died....
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57 Rosaida
May 4, 2010 at 10:27 PM
I simply love the recap and I coundn't agree more with you.
I can actually count the times I cried while watching this episode: 1st. When Junsu went to look for HS so they could play, asking for his father, 2nd. When EJ imagined herself acting like her patting HS head like her mom used to do and 3rd. At the end of this episode.
One of the scenes from this whole drama that I've liked so far would be the end of this episode. Eun Jo asking for his approval, forgiveness, calling him father. For me that was it. I cried and even though I have felt what she has gone thru, all her emotions thru out the past episodes, this one made me realize she is more human that what she lets everyone else see. Moon is an amazing actress; she shows her emotions so well that you actually believe are for real.
In my opinion she is mean to HS because she wants her to be stronger, to act for herself, and be someone that could actually surpassed EJ in the future. Everything she has said to HS is for a reason.
I know most of us pity HS for all the things she is going thru, yes, she didn’t deserve any of this but, is whining all she can do about it?
I think HS needs to realize that now is her time to show what she is actually capable of. I know that in moments like this all you want is someone to make you feel everything is going to be ok, that she is going to be fine, that things will get better but, she needs to push herself more, do things for herself, grow up and stop wanting people to comfort her all the time. Now should be the time for her to actually shine.
As for KH, I am not sure what to think of him.
I have never liked villains in any drama but, I have been fascinated with EJ, she is just something else. I wonder if at the end of this drama the villian is going to have her on type of happy ending.
Thanks for a great recap.
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58 T
May 4, 2010 at 10:34 PM
Love, Love, LOVE your recaps. We are on exactly the same page. I prefer villains especially female ones they interest me. I've also been Eun Jo or forms of her in my youth and I now how that kind of anger and frustration can turn you into a person many people won't/don't like. I feel sorry for Hyo Sun,but not enough to root for her per se. She has cried so often in this drama that I found myself impatient with her legitimate tears for her father. Enough already! Stop your sniveling and do what you have to do to win. You're charming and beautiful and you know how to use that to your advatage...do so! The plot is slow. I can't wait to see what will happen when Eun Jo finds out just who Ki Hoon is. She already warned him that she would kill him if he hurt her sister. I wonder what she'll do when she finds out he hurt her father. lol...I like the idea of their romance I do, but I can't help but LOVE the fact that she is not some Cinderella waiting in some corroded tower for her white night...she's her mother's daughter ...smarter even and one to be reckoned with. Can't wait!!! Thanks for the recaps:)
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59 Barbara
May 4, 2010 at 10:44 PM
I agree with girlfriday's comment of sympathizing with Eunjo because of their shared experiences. That's why I love Eun-Jo's character, because I can relate to her in various aspects of her complicated life. If she ever finds her definition of a happily ever after, it's the journey that I'm looking forward to watching.
Does anyone think that it's funny how EunJo's thoughts played around with the audience? In the previous episode where the sisters were arguing about the loan and HyoSun pushes EunJo to express her true intentions. I found it interesting how EunJo says that HyoSun is so good at predicting her thoughts yet Eunjo doesn't even know her own thoughts, although we understand that Eunjo's thoughts and intentions are her form of caring about others. I understand that HyoSun doesn't know the true affection that EunJo possesses, but if HyoSun just thinks harder and sees beyond her hate, maybe/possibly, she can understand the way EunJo cares.
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60 Tha
May 4, 2010 at 10:51 PM
LOVED this expisode. LOVES every episode. Loves this drama!!!
More is yet to come!!! I definitely think that EJ will leave now that DS is dead. He was truly the only valid reason why she stayed back the last 8 yrs because EJ&KH relationship was never validated for her to wait for him to me. She is just now getting HS ready for the ownership of her father's home and company, then will disappear leaving everyone else chasing after her. Will anything be revealed before she leaves? Lets hope so. Because I am for EJ and KH connection, I feel like the writers are going to betray me and let it be EJ&JW and KH&HY, of course, by miscommunication between EJ&KH, but that is also why I continue to watch. She goes on the run, everyone looks but who will find her first?!?!?! I'm so excited!!!
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61 jandoe
May 4, 2010 at 10:56 PM
girlfriday, your best recap by a mile, awesomeeeeee! :D:D:D:D
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62 nycgrl
May 4, 2010 at 11:00 PM
I don't much care for what happens between EJ and KH. I think I stopped liking them as a couple back in ep 6 when I secretly hoped everyone will marry someone else like EJ with KH's ice-in-his-veins brother (they will conceive and beget ice babies since EJ can't conceive something warm bodied) and KH with HJ. KH and HJ will bicker, make mad passionate love and hate each other the rest of their lives. KH wondering what his life would have been like with EJ and HJ wondering what her life would have been without EJ. All angst all the time.
In some ways their individual story arcs are all that I have left in terms of interest (and of course the brilliant acting in key scenes) like Seo Woo's hospital scene and EJ's farewell in ep 10 ending. Ep 7 & 8 were really really bad--to the point I almost gave up on this show. Ep 9 & 10 really should have been ep 7 & 8. So despite my complaints, considering what ep 7 and 8 gave us, I'm happy enough with the bones ep 10 threw my way but sadly CU does not grasp me the way the story did back in ep 1-4.
Also though I totally empathize with EJ, I'm a bit weary of her and the rest of the doom and gloom gang. I'm frustrated about their inability to break away from their misery and create their own happiness. Believe me I've been where they are at but... when I was 18 yo and certainly not past 20. But I feel like the three of them create their own swirling vortex of drama and they exist to torture each other by prodding each others weaknesses and getting their jones on by dumping salt on each others wounds. And what is baffling is even the accidental hurts are lied about and wholly owned by the individual because god forbid if the person you love the most should find out you actually care. See what I mean about the characters creating their own drama?
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63 janie
May 4, 2010 at 11:30 PM
on the last scene, I do hope KH is somewhere in the room witnessing the situation...'cos i think one of the things she confessed/questioned was that she might have this ambivalent feeling towards KH etc... at least if KH were overhearing it then he will know she does have him in her heart all those years. (correct me if i am wrong with the confession ;p)
p.s. naughty-boy-boy- with-round-big-spec ah, you better be nice to big noona... else I'll tellie tale Taecyeon hyung what you did to noona and see if hyung would ever want to act as monkey bar again for you to climb all over him!
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64 animedork101
May 4, 2010 at 11:52 PM
"…maybe for me, it comes down to this: I’ve been her, or some shade of her, in my youth."
@gf: I can never really put my hand on why I root for some people the way I do. Lack of depth maybe? *shrugs* But I am glad you pointed this out because, quite frankly, I'm there with you on this one. Long (sob - Pft!) story short, my nickname was Evil Reincarnated (*rolls eyes* blah blah blah)... Anyways maybe I like Eunjo because she's badass, or maybe I like her because I can easily relate to her and I hope that she'll change for the better (with a brighter future). I don't know. But it's good to have someone put this feeling in words for me.
So...This episode was when Daesung's death actually seemed real to me. When he died, I felt nothing but anger and frustration (which were directed towards the other characters). What hit it home was not when Jung-woo helped the truth sink in for Eunjo, or Hyosun's cries to Ki-hoon, or even when Jun-su asking for his father. It was when "Daesung's hand" touched Eunjo that it (finally) became real that this guy isn't there anymore. That he was such a big force (of good and support) in Eunjo's life, and now he's gone. I was touched (bawling more like it) because I thought "Oh man, even from beyond the grave this guy is pulling through to heal Eunjo", and even when he's gone he is still here - so I do hope Ki-hoon's pulls his act together SOON. And yeah, Daesung's legacy is the Alcohol Factory, but is it safe to say that whatever changes (for good) Eunjo has or will go through in the future all began from him? Is it safe to presume that Eunjo might be one of the remaining traces of Daesung's life, maybe even one of his better legacies (assuming she, you know, becomes a force of good in the end, and not delve further into darkness)? Well as they say in Moulin Rouge (what is this a monologue?), on with the Show!
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65 liz
May 5, 2010 at 12:04 AM
@57 Rosaida - great points
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66 sam
May 5, 2010 at 12:41 AM
"For the record, I am firmly in the column of “Thinks Eun-jo LIED About the Goddamn Letter Because Her Heart is a Stone Wrapped in Thorns Encased in Ice” and NOT in the “Because She Lurves Her Sister”
I disagree with you there. Other than that...I wholeheartedly love your recap. :)
EJ's love is not as simple like you or me love. Her love is a lighter shade of her mother's love. It was felt but not shown. Sometimes she will show it in her actions but, for now, always never in her words. Her mother's love was worse. It was twisted...she love EJ but she can emotional blackmail her, hit her (even when she is 26), talk bad at her, leave her alone to solve her problems etc.
"And then Hyo-sun reaches out to her halfway. She gets down in front of Eun-jo, leaning her head on Eun-jo’s knees, saying: “I’m scared, unni ya. I’m scared to death. I feel like I’m standing outside with no clothes on. I’m cold, and I’m scared.” Eun-jo reaches out her hand…oh, she’s not going to do it. There’s no way. No way. Oh my god, she does it!"
During this scene, I really said out loud..."Touch her EJ, reach out!" I even reached out on the computer screen and touch HS's head, willing very hard for EJ to do the same. I SO want EJ to reach out and touch HS. And when she did it, I was bawling like mad. And my children passing by looking at me one kind. AND THEN they have to make it... IT IS JUST ON EJ'S MIND!!!. I am not eloquent. But it felt like my heart was fried, drove by a truck... you get the point. Then bawled out some more. "Someone is getting out of their mind," my kids said.
The second time that I felt my heart was ripped apart was when EJ starts her ritual of saying Goodbye to DS, her way. Starting from her walk alone, after she told JW not to follow her. Till, "appa" at the end. I just couldn't stop crying. It's not just tears falling. My body shook with sadness along with EJ. Never in my life have I been this emotionally invested. Even reading your recap and writing about it brought tears to my eyes.
After watching that episode, I need to stop thinking about it. If not I'll be replaying that 2 scenes in my mind and crying as I do my work the next day. So I watched one of the current light themed drama. PP was it. And the HR/SJ exercise date was hilarious. There I was, with bloated face from crying, laughing like mad. :)
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67 Ladymoonstone143
May 5, 2010 at 12:47 AM
Thanks girlfriday for a great recap as always...
I laugh out loud when I read "Why hasn’t anyone been caught making out yet?" because I was wondering the same thing too. I was thinking, don't tell me they will just have that final kiss on the final episode kind of thing. I wish Kihoon will just grab EJ and do the 'game over " thing like in PT..lol. Wishful thinking though. I was deeply moved on the last scene where EJ was crying and finally succumbed to calling Daesung Dad. That cry was gut wrenching. I didn't realized I was crying with her.
If this is a 20 episode drama...we are halfway there already. I just hope the pace will be faster now and more development. Thanks again...
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68 dimsum
May 5, 2010 at 12:58 AM
ahh. =D
i was actually expecting a big conflict arising from daesung's death - namely - INHERITANCE. however, it was not mentioned, or maybe it's for this week, or maybe daesung did not leave any will.
i'd like to comment about eunjo & daesung, the relationship which saddened me the most.
i didn't expect eunjo to become little miss sunshine in 8 years, we all know she's damaged goods and i figure it's going to take more than 5 centuries to bulldoze through the chip she carries on her shoulder.
however, i was hoping she would take to daesung like she did towards kihoon when he did right by her. eunjo showed kihoon her appreciation and acknowledged that they had a special type of relationship - like showing him her class award and accepting his gift of pen.
her actions towards daesung confused me because she obviously feels she's his daughter, not an employee or an outsider who's just living with them temporarily.
for example, she went ahead and asked the elders for financial help, without consultation - an extremely BOLD or dare i say ARROGANT move. i don't think even us "real" children would do such a thing so easily, specially not without informing our parents first. it would be considered too presumptuous - unless of course at the back of our heads we know that whatever we do, our parents would support unconditionally. in this manner, you could probably say eunjo's been acting princessy - she's not the owner of the factory yet she's been making decisions on everyone's behalf, including daesung himself. even after daesung's death, she went and offered stock to the elders like she owned the entire thing.
this confidence/freedom to do as she wanted with the company's financial operations speaks volumes of her place in the family, so, why then was she withholding affection from daesung? so it's ok to mess about with the family's finances but not call daesung DAD?
i refuse to believe she did it because she is, simply put, a "bad" girl. she has the highest standards of fairness. in the first episode - she even made side dishes for the man who beat up her mother in payment for this and that.
so there, i'm hoping to get some sort of insight as to why she acted the way she did with daesung because aside from jungwoo, i believe that man truly wanted the best for her.
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69 tokyojesusfist
May 5, 2010 at 1:06 AM
@ 17 "And to add to that, the glass chopstick won’t fit Eun Jo’s short hair, so just like in Cinderella, that hair thingy will stay on perfectly on Hyo Sun’s long locks."
Eun-jo will have longer hair in the future, as seen in the music video.
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70 Mel
May 5, 2010 at 1:23 AM
"But now Ki-hoon knows what that feels like—because in trying to keep Ki-jung from getting what he wanted, he caused the death of a man. He says that he won’t forgive Ki-jung or himself: “Now I really can’t ever go back to who I was before.” Oh dear. I know I’m not the only one who was hoping you’d drop the corporate espionage and black suits and go back to the flannel-shirt-wearing oppa who used to jabber on about your favorite artists. Is he dead now? "
You can bet as much that there are many of us who feel the same way. Sigh. It's time he reclaims his old self. We miss the old, smiling Ki-Hoon oppa!
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71 Selli
May 5, 2010 at 1:37 AM
I must really say that I love you, girlfriday!! =D I just hope those two sisters can finally be friends, without killing each other first and then getting along as ghosts X_X'
But apparently there is going to be a second time-skip, or something? I think. And then they STILL aren't friends, because Eun-jo slaps Hyo-sun X_X' Or at least that's what that music video showed XD PLEASE, PLEASE, have a nice ending, pleaaaase!!!! I'm so tired of the "everyone dies in the end" dramas XD I don't want anyone to die D: Although Kang-sook will probably die eventually, or just be a very frustrated elderly woman ^^'
Eun-jo and Hyo-sun could complement each other so nicely, I seriously wonder why they don't get that, and why the heck they can't just be friends?!?! What is stopping them?! XD Well, appart from the script-writers, of course.
I'm kind of scared of what other heart-wrenching things are still going to happen, which is why I'm only reading the recaps at the moment, and not watching the show, as it's emotionally easier to take : )
Okay, what the heck did I just write, it seems like a bunch of blabla...but yeah, anyway, I think that's my opinion XD
All the best <3
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72 Moonblossom
May 5, 2010 at 1:57 AM
Great recaps and good work Girl Friday! It is more interesting than watching ep 10 except for the wonderful acting put in by the 3 ladies.
I'm faintly amused that many people don't seem to like Hyo-Sun. Yes, her sweetness, some of which is real, some of which is fake, gives sugar a bad name. But seriously, what real harm did she do besides hiding the letter? I feel for her rude awakening this episode, and hope she can grow up soon. Great if she can pair up with Ki-hoon too : ) if that means it leaves En-joo to a better man.
Yeah! It's Wednesday again. Hopefully ep 11 is engaging before I drop out from this series altogether.
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73 msles59130
May 5, 2010 at 2:09 AM
I dont agree that Eun Jo did not own up about the letter out of love for HS or because she is a stony, thorny cold moo-cow. I think she didn't tell the truth about the letter to repay the debt she has felt for Dong Woo, or whatever that boy''s name was 8 years ago. That was her intention, but as reality sunk in, it really hurt her more and more, and that's when she launched into her tirade about awful and childish to HS. She understood that HS may have just been trying to get her back, but is upset that HS did not see exactly how horrible of a thing that it turned out to be. She took away what EJ perceives to have been her last chance, her only chance, to open up and love someone. She let it go because she knew that wasn't the intention, but is hurt because HS does not even see exactly what it is she did, even now.
Just my two cents. I love this show also, but the pacing is ridiculous!! If we just get a kiss at the end, I am going to be so angry. I want a good reward for hanging in there through all this angst!
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74 djeedjes
May 5, 2010 at 2:09 AM
Thank you for the great recap as always, girlfriday!
This is the story about Cinderella and her sister, not Cinderella and her Prince Charming...and it's so damn interesting!
Nowadays I don't really care about the love relationship among them, but I'm really interested with the relationship development between the sisters.
EJ loves HS in her twisted way, so does HS, and now what's next? How these sister deal with the evil mother?
i feel sad whenever EJ couldn't show her real feeling to her sister, she wanted to console her, but that's not the way she is.
The only thing I want for the ending is, both of them can be happy at last.
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75 ivy
May 5, 2010 at 2:15 AM
oh LOL girlfriday, I love your reference to Disneyland at the end. I know right? This pace is killing me. I so utterly hate It's A Small World... Stupidest ride in the entire theme park. Forget Space Mountain. Gimme California Screamin' or Six Flags!!! Argh.
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76 ara
May 5, 2010 at 2:18 AM
""I am firmly in the column of “Thinks Eun-jo LIED About the Goddamn Letter Because Her Heart is a Stone Wrapped in Thorns Encased in Ice” and NOT in the “Because She Lurves Her Sister” column""
thats my point! i also think she lied it simply because she has such a big ego and cold stone heart. if she didnt lie, what could she say? "No, i never received any letter.. i didnt know you actually sent me one. i took back all my ugly words i've thrown to you"? and that, would hurt her pride!
and the most annoying character i find? it is Jung Woo. he is annoying. i actually hate his over smiling. and cooking. and tailing everywhere. doesnt he have other dream? he should get a life. i know it's supposed to be sweet. but how can he actually try to propose EJ on a critical time like this? doesnt he have sense of sensitivity?
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77 thekors
May 5, 2010 at 2:41 AM
as usual, for CS, so much to dissect and comment on. but one thing i've got to comment on..
"And while people say things like, “Eight years…get over it,” this kind of darkness isn’t something that gets washed clean with time—you have to learn to dig yourself up out of it."
the truth and nothing but the truth. that's why we have immature adults. i think it'd be even more questionable to have EunJo fast-forward 8 years later, being someone with totally different persona. i have a good friend who went through similar thing and.. it stays with you. beyond marriage. beyond having kids. trust me.
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78 Jen
May 5, 2010 at 2:54 AM
It's funny because I see Eun-jo in a different light. Even though it oversimplifies her character, I do believe that Eun-jo is a good person--and not just deep down. She has a realistic point-of-view on life and everything she does must serve a purpose. In this, Eun-jo is a lot like her mother. Her mother does something because it serves a purpose to her, or at least she pretends it does. For example, in the case of Dae-sung, Kang-sook tells Eun-jo that she's with him because of what he has to offer, but there's a hint of genuine love in the way she treats him and looks at him.
Eun-jo may seem cold towards Hyo-sun, but she does it because of tough love. Coddling Hyo-sun will do her no good, and even though Eun-jo may want to openly show that she cares for her sister, her reasoning tells her it's not what Hyo-sun needs. What Hyo-sun needs is a wake-up call. It may seem cruel now, but it's what will protect her sister at this point and in the future. When Eun-jo challenges Hyo-sun, I don't see that as a bitch move. Yes, she made it sound all catty. However, to Eun-jo, this game serves the purpose of Hyo-sun saving something they both love for someone they both care about. This is her way of motivating Hyo-sun. As mean as it may seem, Hyo-sun doesn't react to anything else. Ki-hoon had to treat her the same way for Hyo-sun to realize that she needed to protect what she believes is hers. The girl is thick headed. Tough love for the win!
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79 MS
May 5, 2010 at 3:22 AM
love the review but just a minor grip. Schizophrenia is not split personality, I think thats what you were referencing in your review. Its a popular misconception though...think Beautiful Mind instead.
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80 sam
May 5, 2010 at 4:23 AM
Lots of people have been stinging KH. If you are in his shoes what would you do?
KH is emphatic. Even as a child he understands how his stepbrothers would feel towards him and his mother. If he were in their shoes, he would hate the woman and the son that take their father from their mom.
But he also have the right to exist in that family. After all the harsh treatment to him and his mom, he is claiming his right. Mostly for his mom, because she had a pitiful life. Like EJ said to HS. "I will leave myself, on my own two feet because I want to, not because you want me to." He is making that stand.
Why couldn't he just leave? Good riddance with his family?
This is where I admire KH rather than JW. KH may hate his family but they are his family after all. There are some of us who hates some of our family members but to sever ties like JW is unthinkable. One day in the future you will have to face whatever problems bugging you with your family. You need to face that problem bugging you with your family for you to move on. He ran away once. It's time he stopped running and face it head on.
On the other hand...he has DS, who is more like a father to him than his own father. He loves and respects DS. He don't want DS winery to be swallowed, lost and forgotten. He wants the DS Winery name to be strong and remembered long after DS is gone.
He also loves HS, as a sister. Their family has long history. He wants his sister to be strong. Independent.
EJ...he loves. Who can choose who we love? We just did.
Because he is emphatic he also knows that both EJ and HS has something to contribute to the business. He saw their potential.
One is smart, but have temper. When she sees things that are not fair, she will become agitated. Case in point, the older workers of DS. DS Winery pay these people salary and they just sit down, doing nothing? HS's Uncle...place of stay provided, meals provided, salary given and he bring bad name to DS Winery to the ground. Production stopped. No Income coming in and the person responsible not prosecuted? Same with rice seller. I do think EJ do know how to talk to elders respectfully. That is why she got funding from the elders. And when the elders were bickering about it after DS funeral she is able to talk respectfully. It's because her logical mind is in balance. The scale of fairness is in balance.
The other one has no paper qualification (she's not stupid, but she believes that she is not smart...so she becomes... not smart) but she knows how to put on a sweet face to get her way. She just need to mold it to fit working live. HS need to stand on her own feet. If she stumbled, EJ or KH will be there to help. She might not believe it. But it's there.
EJ's way of guiding is the same way she learn and survive. Her mother just throw her in the deep end of the pool and it's up to EJ to sink or swim. That's the way she is going to teach HS too.
Both EJ and KH know that they are running against time. They need HS's help to grow up faster. If only the three of them works together! Then we won't have drama.
I think KJ is not as bad as what their father wants KH to believe. I think KH father is just like EJ's mom. Manipulative. His leadership style...Divide and Conquer. He sure look smug when he thought he already have DS Winery. It's like he wants to erase the existence of DS name. Why is he so jealous or spiteful of DS?
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81 Sakura
May 5, 2010 at 4:43 AM
Thanks for the recap girlfriday.
The script writer can't provide a romantic space for the lovers to have their first kiss as they are still mourning but I noticed the girls are not pinning the white ribbon on their hair, so if viewers are wanting to see the kiss, then I think there will be a time lapse for that to happen but whom will he kiss? or who will kiss him?.Huh Huh.
Never ending angst with the mum and daughter towards hyo sun, when will it stop ?.
I hope hyo sun will leave the house temporarily and come back in a few years time successful. Let her step mother enjoy her days philandering again with the long hair man because she is not sincere with her love for DS, there are so many evidences of her character that I don't trust her eventhough recappers have soft spot fo KS.
I am also doubting EJ's claimed that she has successfully found the yeast fermenting, I noticed doubt in her face and also the exclamation to Hyo Sun - eehm.
That big jar could be daesung last magkuli. Felt sorry for EJ for not being able to say appa before his death, it is not her destiny to claim another dad.
KH deserve to be punish and Jung Woo will never ever get her noona for sure, she can't share her love with anyone, rigid heart no space for consolation, everything must be first prize !!..
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82 maria
May 5, 2010 at 5:22 AM
let me try to get this right--- i believe that the pacing is what it is (and you're right: SLOOoooOoOOOoOOw. like sunday walk in the park slow, makes it's a small world after all look like witch mountain) BECAUSE the love story is:
- ki hoon- eun jo, hyo sun-ki hoon, jung woo-eun jo
- hyo sun-eun jo (awesome points about this, btw)
BUT PRIMARILY---- the characters, with themselves.
the 8 years that passed wasn't the catalyst, it was dae sung's death. and here you have them now, grown up emotional toddlers, now needing to be just plain grown. up. but with all the things left unsaid, i agree with you that there is just SO MUCH to mine out of these characters, but the truth is, any of the other *love* stories will NEVER be possible, if their love affairs with themselves isn't addressed FIRST.
so like i said last episode, i find this compelling... sure, i find it emotionally draining. this reminds me too much of real life and the complexities and real layers of emotional baggage built upon years and years of erm.. LIFE. it is painful to watch, almost.. perhaps that's why the "daddy" scene "sporked my heart out" too, if you'll allow me to pirate that for a bit :P but still, it has me. i am in the very confusing and highly unusual state of rooting for ALL our main characters. i hope they all get, if not what they all WANT, then please please pleeeaaassee gods of kdramas, what they NEED.... to ultimately learn to love: THEMSELVES.
aaah blah blah blah, i guess my point here, is... you are totally right, girlfriday:
“Why hasn’t anyone been caught making out yet?”
*high five* for this awesomejuiced recap?
;p
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83 mjb
May 5, 2010 at 5:56 AM
I Love all the character even kang Sook, LOL
and i bcoz i must said, I Like this drama bcoz i have a dark side in my life too.... So I can relate to Eun Joo's character... LOVE HER, and i can see her pain... :(
and I felt like my soul was being slaped when people say something harsh and called her bad girl .... Bcoz it's the same thing they called me a bad girl, too...
yes, maybe I'm the same page as you,girlfriday,
I always love the Villain char, not only in korean drama land, but in All fiction story, lol...
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84 lb_tmi
May 5, 2010 at 6:48 AM
awesome recaps, as always, girlfriday!!!
i do, however, respectfully disagree w/ your stance why EJ lies about the letter... is not simple enough to say that EJ loves HS because there are so many more layers and issues that surround their relationship.. but in her own twisted, cold, stone wrapped heart, EJ does care about HS to some degree.
@ 80 sam
JW hasn't severed ties w/ his "family"... his noona/EJ was the only person he's ever felt a "family" connection with.. Mr. Jang isn't his dad.. so he no family. and with the abuse and fear he endured--as evident in the black eye after helping EJ and KS escape, and when he's ordered to go get the thugs to follow the twosome--JW has every right as a human being to leave Jang ajusshi's abusive abode. in the beginning, JW's calling that guy "hey mister" not dad. as far as we know, JW has no family...
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85 birdscout
May 5, 2010 at 7:02 AM
girlfriday, your excellent recap enhances the experience of watching this episode by ten-fold. Really, really enjoy your awesome writing. Thank you!!!
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86 Iviih
May 5, 2010 at 7:26 AM
Err i know that it was a long time ago, but it seems that no one remember that pen that Ki hoon oppa gave to Eun jo... I would love if he found that she keep that with her. because that means that she did remember him while keeping the pen. while everyone was talking about the letter, and letter that, letter this.. the pen is important too! well i think so. lol i'm saying that if KH seems the pen he can at least see that she did cared for him. i don't want him to do not have any hopes and do something stupid again.. i think he won't but who knows.. he can blame him and since he have no hopes with Eun jo he decides to marry HS because he pity her and blame himself?? lol i would hate that. so yes i would like to see he having hopes for eun jo.. it is better this way than thinking in trying to love HS that likes him. (well she thinks she likes.. i think she too never knew what true love is.. she is like JW. both belive that love that person.. but that kind of love isn't love of a man and woman. is a love of family. i think that lol)
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87 Tha
May 5, 2010 at 7:30 AM
@80 "It’s like he wants to erase the existence of DS name. Why is he so jealous or spiteful of DS?"
Hmmmmm....
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88 Fafa
May 5, 2010 at 7:34 AM
i started hating EJ little by little after the flower bouquet incident bc of how she treated HS. Now i HATE her. What the heck is wrong with this girl? does she think that DS would be happy about her calling him DADDY and then treating her daughter like that? So what if you have had a hard life? Now you want to take revenge on the world? Psycho!
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89 Fafa
May 5, 2010 at 7:35 AM
forget to say thank you. Thanks. ur recaps r great.
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90 morillix
May 5, 2010 at 7:39 AM
Thank you for the recap Girlfriday, you can't believe how much i waited for it. i love all the characters, except JH i think he's winning like a little girl. Now that JW knows he's involve in something fishy i expect this is gonna spice the story up and make prince charming lose his place.
Hopefully the plot is gonna run faster from now on since ep.10 was about mourning DS death and i think there's nothing more about this matter rather than missing and remembering him when things get difficult. I wish the writers had decided to fast forward if not a year at least a few months so we can see the changes, why? i would like to see the results of the death twist in the future and maybe some flashbacks to explain them.
oh! and i don't know who said i would be interesting to see EJ with KH brother, but i think it would be brilliant! not possible because she's not the kind of girl who would sell herself to this kind of guy but if she does it for revenge, we all know she's her mother's daughter and she has the ability and the brains to pull off something that would ache him more than a million kicks in his .... you know =P.
Thank you again, looking foward for the next recaps!
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91 Fishstix
May 5, 2010 at 8:00 AM
Erm, no offence but that's a pretty big spoiler! Some of us depend on subtitles to watch and haven't been following recaps. It's visible as soon as you enter the site. I'm only up to Ep6 so I didn't really want to know who died just yet :(
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92 caryatid
May 5, 2010 at 8:34 AM
when i saw eunjo finally hugging and comforting hyosun i was like all happy and about to float away to happyland then it was all her hallucination... right at that very moment my happy bubble burst and bring me back to earth hard... i was like i thought i'll finally see some sister loving.. oh well...
nice recap GF and i agree with you about seeing some smooching action around...
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93 Candidmom
May 5, 2010 at 8:41 AM
Hi,
I love your wonderful and very entertaining recap. I just love them soooooo much! I love all the characters, but, I am very dissapointed with EJ's reaction on this episode. I was hoping at least the drama would give us some hope with EJ's true feelings with her step sister. Nevertheless, I still love the flow of the drama.
I hope this drama would give us a very good ending after sucking up all our energies with the heavy drama episodes and character-masks of "I don't care about you" set-up.
'Love to see the ending. I am hoping for a more positive development with EJ and Ki-Hoon's relationship. I hope the producers of this drama will give us some love on this side of the story. I guess this is the spice of this drama. Although, the episodes are beginning to be dragging, it holds its viewers to nothing but to hope, hope hope for a better turn of events.
Looking forward on your future posts. Keep up the excellent work Girlfriday! You're the GIRL! :)
xoxo
candidmom
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94 Leila
May 5, 2010 at 9:30 AM
I like eun jo's character alot, I agree that she is really a bitch sometimes, but she hasn't got a black heart, we, the viewers, are the only ones to see eun jo express her true feelings, she is capable to love ( KH, her sister, her mother, her "father")
its just she isn't able to express them, instead of showing her true feeling, she is supressing them by acting really bitchy
so I loove her complex personality
I can't wait to watch the next ep
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95 mookie
May 5, 2010 at 9:34 AM
@66 sam
Gosh it's like u describing me watching ep10. I love every word you've written.
I love your recaps, girlfriday, but I really cant agree to EJ unable to love...if that's the case, she wont feel the guilt in the flower incident in apparently consciously inflecting pain on HS. There are also many incidences, say w/ that petty letter, if she's void of human emotions, she is so capable of even more shit towards HS...example apparent: Mom post DS. I'm not sure if the general 'fed up' of 9, 10 is the cumulative of 7, 8. But if we r annoyed by the pace, I dun think fr the get go, CU has ever been that plot heavy. It's always been true to subtle layered character development.
Personally I love10. Instead of regarding that 8 yrs of ample time for EJ to 'get over w/ it', I saw it as her shaping up a fragile, outwardly normal existence. She's THIS close to develop full blown antisocial personality disorder, tbh, instead of just saying she's damaged, jaded, I think she is close to a diagnosable mental illness... and I cant fault a patient in having a disorder. and what she's gone thro up till 16 (or 18? she's 26 now), that's quite a load of abuse and trauma, and we cant ignore the developmental imprinting (mostly filial), many ppl cant get over it w/ prolonged therapy... w/o KH's abrupt leaving, she may have a better chance for the subsequent 8 yrs to shape her into what a lot of us r demanding fr her, but that blow was detrimental and it shattered her chance. And I do think at the beginning of the 8 yr jump, she's making progress, but then she's served another blow of KH back in her life... and now mostly in HS' arms, her mom is still this big hanging complex mess of lies and tough love to her. I dont see how she can not regress back to building higher walls. Instead of seeing no development on EJ, I saw her making progress, but then KH's presence reopened the wounds.
But with 10, she's given the chance to properly mourn and be more in sync w/ her feelings...and we get a change to see it. If she's really heartless, she wont even hallucinate the HS petting scene. Quilt-ridden, she's in worse shape mentally than HS, she's in no way capable of comforting her, at that point of the ep she's still just grasping DS' death. She's stinted in her emotional growth, and in no way she's capable of expressing the grieve as HS, and on top of that inner guilt she's accused of not loving DS by HS.
I appreciate the 'stagnant' pace of 10, it allowed us to grieve DS' death along with EJ w/o being emotionally manipulative. I would hate if we didnt give DS his deserved dignified goodbye and for things to move too fast, characters to move on too rapidly in the name of plot development.
and again @80 sam, that's a bravo analysis of KH. I dont hate ANYONE, and I root for them all, I may dislike mom more but still I see where she's fr, I see where all these characters r fr and I understand quite well y they say or do things. I'm still satisfied w/ Show.
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96 Bithy
May 5, 2010 at 10:11 AM
Hi - I just wanted to say how much I've enjoyed reading some of your synopses and comments. You are very good at expressing your views and describing the scenes through writing!
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97 Maddy
May 5, 2010 at 10:37 AM
Am I the only who finds Eun-jo hotheadedness a flaw in characterization?
One would think a demeanor of hers, who's quiet and yet very observant is a lot more level, much like Kang-Sook. I don't see the two personalities, between her cool exterior and hastiness a matching personality.
Maddy.
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98 Laura
May 5, 2010 at 2:35 PM
kyaa, for those that are talking that the drama is slow, and that is dragging too much and sad, ep. 11 will change everyone mind. lol. just saw the raw, and without subs i know, a lot of changes will happen! and i bet you will back off in your words about eun jo or Ki hoon and even HS. i was like *woa this drama can really surprise you* for those that stop seeing the drama i just say ' you don't know what is missing... * yay and sorry for talk a lot of ep.11 but i'm way too happy!
Just to you know, the next episode is good! very good and i think the episode 12 will be more good. thank god that the next episode is tomorrow!^^. =) it was a while since i saw the characters smiling x)
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99 sam
May 5, 2010 at 4:03 PM
@84 lb_tmi. JW is not Jang Ajussi's son? I stand corrected. TQ
@ 87 Tha. Hmmmm indeed. :)
@95 Mookie. It's safe to say we see and feel the same way with all the characters. :) Let us enjoy the ride seeing our children (EJ, HS, KH) grow up. :)
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100 enkhee
May 5, 2010 at 4:47 PM
Please don't put spoilers in the beginning!!!
I haven't started watching it and now when I start, I will see this Dae-Sung and immediately peg him as a to-be-dead character. That's not right. Please please put spoilers after the cut.
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