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Modern Fairytale
Cinderella and Four Knights is a modern day Kdrama based on a book of the same name. While it draws certain plot devices and characterization like the step mother and pseudo maid lifestyle of our heroine from the original fairy tale premise, there is the feeling that it’s an original story. This is mostly due to a mix of good actors and some great on-screen chemistry. I must commend the female cast of this drama in particular as they’re all convincing in their various roles. The female lead Park So Dam stood out in particular considering the fact she’s a relatively new face in the drama scene.
For a rom-com, the drama does indeed bring the viewers lots of hearty laughs and heartwarming feel-good moments. But while I think the cast is excellent, I also felt that the characters lacked real emotional depth. This made it hard to understand their reasons and motivations for a lot of the actions that went down in the drama. An example is the stepmom and sister who maltreated the heroine so much throughout the story, but then suddenly accepted her as one of them at the end. So if you’re looking for a good laugh and fun times, then this drama could work for you. However, if you’re looking for solid plots, explainable plot twists, relatable characters, and story endings that don’t disappoint, you may want to look elsewhere.
The cast is excellent, but the characters lacked real emotional depth.
Episodes 1-2 Review
Cinderella and Four Knights starts with an easy, seamless introduction to all our major characters so that we’re well acquainted with them from the beginning. We have Chairman Kang, a cheerful old man with vast wealth and three grandsons who don’t get along with each other.
The grandsons are cousins and make up three of the four knights. First grandson Kang Hyun Min (Ahn Jae Hyun) is an unrepentant playboy; second grandson Kang Ji Woon (Jung Il Woo) is an angry, abrasive automobile fan; last grandson Kang Seo Woo (Lee Jung Shin) is a cheerful, kind artist. Chairman Kang’s loyal personal secretary and the grandsons bodyguard Lee Yoon Sung (Choi Min) is our fourth knight.
The premise isn’t all that unfamiliar either, and we are all aware of the fact that our Cinderella – Eun Ha Won (Park So Dam) – will soon join the boys in Sky House (the proverbial castle). But the drama does a good job of spicing things up by making her entrance into Sky House a fun ride. In her case, the fairy godmother is Chairman Kang who asks her to help make his warring grandsons into a family of loving siblings.
At this point, I am unsure what our heroine will make of the situation, but so far she has proven to be strong and capable of handling everything that is thrown at her. So, I have no doubts that her cohabiting with the four knights will be nothing short of adventures.
Episodes 3-7 Review
Cohabitation hijinks are always fun to watch, even more so when the entire slew of main character line up under one roof. As mentioned, Ha Won moves into Sky House under Chairman Kang’s directives, and we get to know all our characters’ backstories a little more to fully understand their motives and emotions.
Of course, Cinderella and Four Knights quickly show us that uniting the warring cousins may not be an easy task as they put up a valiant fight against Ha Won’s efforts. But at the same time, I’m pleased to see deeper character advancement of the Kang cousins thanks to these conflicts. As such, we get to see a more relatable and humble side of our heroes, especially Hyun Min, who doesn’t handle rejection well.
Needless to say, a major factor of my enthusiasm at this point is the uncertainty concerning who the heroine will end up with. To keep things interesting, the drama cooks up various levels of chemistry that could lead to something more with each of the four knights. I find myself playing a thrilling game of “guess the partner” so very often.
It’s a thrilling game of “guess the partner”.
As their stay together progresses, atmosphere at the house gets a little warmer as friendships form between our heroine and all the knights. And somehow, they all find themselves uniting for her sake. Friendship soon leads to blooming feelings and we finally begin to see a possible future with one of the grandsons, keeping me eagerly pressing the play button to next set of episodes.
Episodes 8-12 Review
In this section of Cinderella and Four Knights, our unconventional family of Sky House goes on a trip to get a fresh start. This trip was used as a convenient plot device to help us discover new truths about our characters. For example, the chairman’s health may not be as good as it seems, and I suddenly understood the need for an heir and the toll this could take on the boys already fragile relationships.
Here, the romantic relationships also becomes more complicated by the day. First, the unspoken love triangle becomes literal between Ji Woon, Hyun Min and Hyun Min’s childhood friend Park Hye Ji (Son Na Eun). All the while, the feelings between Ha Won and Ji Woon grows stronger, and the two finally act on their feelings.
The one flaw I found in this segment is the increased focus on Hye Ji. I feel that her character doesn’t do much for the story, other than provide Hyun Min with his own partner; as everybody gets one in this drama. To this end, it’s unnecessary to have the love triangle between her, Hyun Min, and Ji Woon become the focal point of the story as much as it did.
The one flaw in this segment is the increased focus on Hye Ji.
In addition to the love struggles, a few hidden secrets that the drama has subtly hinted at throughout come to light. The real connection between Secretary Lee and Chairman Kang’s wife, and the truth about Ha Won’s birth are addressed with clarity, keeping the plot line somewhat more interesting than just the romantic woes.
Episodes 13-15 Review
The drama reaches its climax and picks up the pacing as all cast members simultaneously find out things about their families and pasts that they weren’t privy to before. Unfortunately, that means our Cinderella and her Prince’s happiness might be cut short as Ha Won is forced to choose between her Prince and her future.
All the angst and melodrama is packed into two episodes, which made for a lot of heart-wrenching moments for me. The angst and uncertainty is taken to new heights here and it’s nearly panic inducing for me to watch. Since the drama has been a fun, zippy ride from the onset, I wondered for a minute how everything got so intense so quickly. But I have to admit that the drama did a good job of subtly building up to and making the switch from lightheartedness to seriousness.
On the other hand, I also start to get an inkling that Secretary Lee may not be as good as he seems, as he starts to liaise with the proverbial enemy. However, I find this to be rather positive for the story as Secretary Lee’s character seemed too stable and uninteresting otherwise. Now I just hope Cinderella and Four Knights gives us a satisfactory ending and not let all the emotional build-up go to waste.
Episode 16 Review
All lose ends are tied up in the final episode of Cinderella and Four Knights, though it all happened in what seemed like a sequence of rushed, piled upon montages, much to my disappointment. Our characters get the happy ending that they deserve, even the evil step mother and other antagonists are spared. While this makes total sense for characters so lovely and so fun to watch, I find it a stretch that every single character should get a happy ending.
But even if I was willing to look past the ‘happy ending for everyone’ trope, the conclusion of the drama is hardly acceptable. It commits the fatal mistake of adding the overly-used childhood fate trope for the main couple. Granted, a prior connection between them had been hinted at through the length of the drama. But to have them meet, exchange mementoes and promise to meet again as adults is more than a little unnecessary. In my opinion, this childhood backstory and the “unfair” distribution of happy endings to everyone were the two major flaws of the drama.
While Cinderella and Four Knights did make me laugh and wish for more of Park So Dam as an actress, it also made me question everything I had watched by the time I got to the end.
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