Cinderella at 2AM: Episodes 9-10 (Last)
by DaebakGrits
With just one impediment stopping our OTP from discovering their happily-ever-after, you’d suppose it could be clean crusing for our lovebirds. However one doesn’t merely persuade a chaebol momma to let her son marry whomever he needs — at the least, not with none strings connected.
EPISODES 9-10
Now that Yoon-seo and Joo-won are formally a pair once more, Joo-won is raring to make up for all of the misplaced time by spending each potential minute he can together with her. If which means driving her dwelling after which weaseling his approach into her condo after listening to that Ji-seok will probably be out late, then so be it. Yoon-seo places up a half-hearted struggle in response to Joo-won’s intrusion — as a result of heaven forbid her adult-aged brother be scandalized by his noona having a gentleman caller — but it surely’s clear that getting caught by her brother in a compromising place isn’t her solely cause for tapping the breaks after their reconciliation.
She has a couple of unfastened ends that she needs to tie up earlier than committing totally and accepting Joo-won’s proposal — starting with Ji-seok’s future. He’s an grownup now, and earlier than she formally makes Joo-won a part of their household, she needs to see her youthful brother develop into somewhat extra unbiased and begin his personal journey. So when he formally decides his dream is to be a chef and take culinary programs, Yoon-seo provides him the cash she’s been setting apart for him since she was in school.
Though I struggled to visually settle for Kim Tae-jung within the position of a teen, I favored his portrayal of Yoon-seo’s youthful brother, and usually, I discovered their sibling relationship one of many higher storylines on this drama. From exploring their shared childhood trauma, to witnessing Yoon-seo’s light however agency parenting fashion, to experiencing their complicated and emotional response to their mom’s loss of life — I’m keen to miss Kim Tae-jung’s bodily incongruousness to be able to have Ji-seok’s character shift from being a baby in Yoon-seo’s care to turning into an unbiased grownup. Clearly, Yoon-seo and Ji-seok will proceed being shut siblings, however his transition into maturity additionally signifies that her position as pseudo dad or mum is over and he or she’s extra free to consider her needs greater than their (her and her brother’s) wants.
Sadly, Yoon-seo beneficial properties somewhat an excessive amount of freedom unexpectedly when she’s unexpectedly minimize unfastened from her job. Though she’d already submitted her resignation with the intention of quitting, Chairwoman Kim expedited the method with out giving Yeon-seo a heads up as a result of Yoon-seo had the audacity to return the cash to her. So Yoon-seo needed to awkwardly uncover her unemployment standing through the safety guard who defined why her firm ID was not legitimate. (Dang, Chairwoman Kim, you petty AF.)
On the intense aspect, Yeon-seo now has ample time to work out the proper situation for her shock proposal acceptance — and he or she may actually use the additional time as a result of her first tough drafts have been atrocious. Nevertheless, the draw back to her unemployment — you realize, apart from a scarcity of revenue, after all — is that it not directly instigates one final eye-roll-inducing pissing contest between Seong-min and Joo-won.
It begins when Seong-min lures Yoon-seo to his studio beneath the false pretext of being upset that she’s not part of the AL Group workforce collaborating with him. After all, he really sees her expedited termination — and reconciliation with Joo-won — as a trigger for celebration, however Joo-won doesn’t like the 2 of them having a celebration with out him. Seung-min makes a wager with Yoon-seo over how briskly her chaebol boyfriend will arrive at his studio, and Joo-won beats Seong-min’s expectations with a time that’s unimaginable in Seoul site visitors. (Did he constitution the corporate helicopter once more?)
Joon-won’s arrival initiates one other tug-of-war session with Yoon-seo substituting because the rope, and I discovered the bodily roughness extraordinarily pointless, particularly since Seong-min not has a canine on this specific struggle. At this level, he’s simply being petty to be able to get beneath Joo-won’s pores and skin, and also you’d suppose a person abused as a baby would at the least hesitate to seize a girl’s wrist and roughly jerk her forwards and backwards.
Then once more, I believe the writers didn’t suppose an excessive amount of past their want for plot filler after they shoehorned this love triangle into the plot. Such a disgrace, too, as a result of Seong-min was an attention-grabbing character, and when he and Joo-won make their peace over dinner and an excessively lengthy noraebang scene, I may see glimmers of the bromance that would have been — had the writers toned down the jealousy and childishness of their male characters.
At this level in our story, the one remaining impediment between Yoon-seo and Joo-won is Chairwoman Kim, and regardless that issues didn’t go so effectively for Yoon-seo when she returned the cash, a drunk Joo-won manages to melt her up. You see, after getting wasted and dueting with Seong-min, he stumbles dwelling in the midst of the night time and pleads his case. For the primary time in a very long time, he needs one thing badly sufficient to voice his wishes, and he tries to interesting to his mom — not the chairwoman. Fortunately, this time Chairwoman Kim softens, and offers him permission to be with Yoon-seo.
As soon as Yoon-seo hears from Joo-won that his mom has given their relationship her stamp of approval, that’s her cue to formally settle for Joo-won’s proposal. She plans out a pleasant tenting journey for the 2 of them, and simply when every thing reaches peak romance, she pretends to burn her finger whereas grilling. She asks Joo-won to take away her glove to allow them to take a look at the burn and — growth — engagement ring! Aww, Joo-won’s happiness upon seeing the ring is infectious, and I had an enormous grin on my face the entire time.
Come to search out out, although, Chairwoman Kim’s approval got here with one caveat. She needs to nominate Yoon-seo as the top of their charity basis and use her real-life Cinderella story as propaganda for the corporate’s picture. On the one hand, operating a charity basis looks as if an ideal match for Yoon-seo, however on the opposite, the entire PR stunt is exploitative and would expose her and her brother to all kinds of gossip.
When Joo-won catches wind of the clause connected to his mom’s approval, he’s instantly incensed on Yoon-seo’s behalf. His hackles rise, and he prepares to go to battle together with his mom — however then his father’s long-term abroad affair turns into public data. Yoon-seo explains to Joo-won that now isn’t the time for him to struggle together with his mom. His anger can wait. As a substitute, she and Mi-jin encourage Joo-won and Shi-won to consolation and distract their mom from the gossip. And this is the reason the brothers band collectively and kidnap — and I imply that within the literal sense — their mom so she will have some recent air a change of surroundings.
Their diversion turns into the type of street journey that may make the Nationwide Lampoon franchise proud, as mishap after mishap plagues their little journey. However the place I’ve usually discovered the humor ineffective or misplaced on this drama, I’ve to applaud this specific sequence of scenes for efficiently utilizing comedy to not solely underscore how out of sync the brothers are with their mom — and with out their employed assist to fill their gasoline tank — however deliver them nearer to at least one one other via a sequence of minor calamities.
By the point they’ve pushed their automotive to the lookout level and downed their roadside on the spot espresso, it’s obvious that they’re barely extra in sync as a household. Most significantly, although, for the sake of our rom-com plot, Chairwoman Kim admits it was unfair of her to need to use Yoon-seo’s Cinderella story to cowl up her divorce scandal, and he or she provides Joo-won her full blessing — this time with none stipulations. She genuinely hopes Yoon-seo can provide him the loving household that she was unable to present him rising up. (And methinks there’s additionally nonetheless an opportunity for her to loosen up and develop into the loving mother-in-law Yoon-seo wants.)
Our story skips forward two months into the longer term. Joo-won and Yoon-seo have already taken their marriage ceremony images, however they’ve but to formally tie the knot as a result of they’re nonetheless very a lot within the late planning levels. Properly… Joo-won continues to be planning. He’s the one signing the paperwork for his or her future dwelling (with Ji-seok) and choosing out new furnishings (with Mi-jin) and finalizing their marriage ceremony invites (with Seong-min). Yoon-seo, a lot to Joo-won’s disappointment, is working time beyond regulation for AL Group’s charity basis.
As a substitute of managing the entire basis, as was Chairwoman Kim’s unique supply, she opted to work because the lead of a smaller division, aiding youngsters with histories like her personal. This fashion, she works for a trigger she’s enthusiastic about whereas additionally studying extra in regards to the basis earlier than, presumably, taking on at some point. Though Joo-won is happy with her, it turns into a degree of rivalry for him that he appears to be the one one enthusiastically planning their marriage ceremony. Yoon-seo will get defensive, insisting that she’s been serving to him when she has the time, and so they half methods for the night time with out resolving their dispute.
And talking of lovers’ quarrels, Shi-won and Mi-jin are formally topped the king and queen of miscommunication (and reconciliation) throughout our finale. Earlier than the time skip, Shi-won caught his personal foot in his mouth and introduced up the subject of his old flame, which angered Mi-jin’s green-eyed monster. She resorts to her personal model of petty when she introduces her enticing cousin (cameo by Lee Ha-yul) as her oppa — with out additional context or clarification. This specific argument is finally put to relaxation after Shi-won admits he has emotions for Mi-jin however doesn’t know tips on how to categorical them as a result of he’s confused about what he’s and isn’t allowed to do. Technically they’re married, however they aren’t, like, a actual couple. So, he asks so far her and determine issues out as they go alongside.
After time skip, we see extra damage emotions as the results of one other failure to speak their priorities. The date of their marriage ceremony anniversary arrives, and whereas Mi-jin put a number of thought and time into the matching makgeolli cups that she personally crafted as her present for Shi-won, he forgot their marriage ceremony anniversary. So the necklace that Mi-jin had been excited to obtain (and had painstakingly matched her outfit to) had been a perfunctory present picked out by Shi-won’s secretary.
Mi-jin is understandably damage, so when Yoon-seo (in an equally forlorn temper) calls Mi-jin to thank her for the furnishings she purchased her and Joo-won for his or her marriage ceremony, Mi-jin invitations her future sister-in-law out for a drink. Predictably, they get completely wasted, however I moderately loved seeing these two hang around collectively and commiserate over having Chairwoman Kim as a mother-in-law. Much more amusing was watching their important others scramble to intercept them earlier than that they had the prospect to air their grievances on to Chairwoman Kim’s face. (Chairwoman Kim calmly consuming wine and being utterly oblivious to the chaos exterior the window behind her is an entire temper.)
The subsequent day is stuffed with hangovers and apologies. Shi-won explains that his earlier fake pas was as a result of he didn’t place a lot significance on their marriage ceremony anniversary as a result of their marriage was organized. As a substitute, he’d been extra targeted on celebrating their one hundredth day as an official couple, and he’d been planning to renovate their home in order that they might begin sharing a bed room collectively. Mi-jin is so glad to clear the air that she sees no cause for them to attend till their one hundredth day to share a mattress. (Cue: suggestive eyebrow wiggles.)
In the meantime, Yoon-seo makes an attempt to kill apologizes to Joo-won with a house cooked meal and acknowledges that she’s been extra targeted on work. However by this level he’s already been principally appeased, having heard from his mom how she’s gone above and past to make the charity profitable and help all the youngsters in want. Yoon-seo additional demonstrates her need to be extra concerned with the remaining marriage ceremony planning by asking Seong-min to place a rush on their marriage ceremony invites, and given how few persons are in attendance at their small however elegant marriage ceremony, it’s completely potential that Seong-min managed to make all their invites in lower than twenty-four hours. The marriage could have been small, but it surely was nonetheless gorgeously becoming for our Cinderella and Chaebol Charming.
Every week, as I’ve lined Cinderella at 2AM, I’ve struggled a bit to articulate my opinion of this drama. It’s a type of bizarre reveals that I’m entertained by within the second whereas watching it, however when the time comes for me to truly suppose about what I watched, the shine is gone. After our finale, I believe I’ve lastly found out why I’ve such blended emotions about his drama. All of it boils all the way down to the truth that I really like these characters — however not in this story.
Cinderella at 2AM started with the query: What would occur if a Ok-drama heroine accepted the proverbial envelope full of cash? In my view — and based on anecdotal proof submitted within the feedback part of a current Would You Reasonably submit — if the main woman takes the cash, logically considered one of two issues goes to occur. She’s both going to comply with via with the breakup and use her new windfall to vanish someplace extra tropical or — loophole! — she and her chaebol boyfriend are going to run off and spend the cash collectively as a result of nobody needs a dad or mum/in-laws who provides ultimatums.
Cinderella at 2AM, nevertheless, is a 3rd choice that the writers cooked up as a result of they wished the breakup to occur (as that’s the largest subversion of the trope) with out it really killing the OTP’s romance. The ensuing drawback is that the almost eight-episode quasi-breakup arc that happens after Yoon-seo takes the cash shouldn’t be integral to Yoon-seo and Joo-won’s character progress. It’s merely a prop used to maintain the writers’ subversion of the trope, whereas all of Yoon-seo and Joo-won’s conflicts — inside and exterior — may have simply as simply occurred in a extra conventional — albeit formulaic — rom-com format the place our characters meet, have Joo-won’s chaebol id uncovered, after which sort out every of Yoon-seo’s misgivings collectively as a pair.
So, if given the selection, on this case I’d have most well-liked a paint-by-numbers rom-com the place our OTP and secondary OTP breathe new life right into a drained outdated method. As for the subversion of the Separation Bribe trope, effectively, I imagine that ought to have been saved for a number one woman who would have taken the cash, invested it, quadrupled its worth, and absconded to Jeju Island, the place she has to cover the preliminary supply of her wealth from her new chaebol boyfriend who runs in the identical circles as her ex. However, you realize, that’s simply me.
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