Lost it's momentum
The show started incredibly well. The plot revolves around Ha-Won accepting a job from a rich old man to help his four grandsons come together as a family. She receives "missions" from him, and after completing each mission she would receive a bonus to help her get closer to her dream of attending to college and becoming a teacher.The grandsons are the usual, generic kdrama fare. You have the ladies man, the quiet sullen one, the forgettable one and the music one. I wish Seo-Woo (the music one) had more screentime, since as the episodes dragged on he was the only character not tied up in a generic, show-stalling kdrama plotline.
7 or 8 episodes in, I expected the story would continue to be a series of story arcs revolving around each "mission," where the characters learn lessons and improve as people, as well as deepen their bonds and relationships. This, I thought, would be a great format for the series. I was strapped in.
Then, after the (not really a spoiler since every kdrama seems to have this for some reason) vacation arc, the story just stops. There's an entire episode - 1/16th of the damn show - where no one leaves the mansion and everyone keeps going into each other's rooms and enacting the same scene over and over.
Person A walks into person B's room; person A says some dramatic line and leaves the room dramatically; Person B is left in his room looking constipated for five minutes while sad music plays. Then Person B enters Person C's room and the same scene happens. Repeat for about an hour.
Everything I enjoyed about the show just stops. I'm at episode 12 now (and subsequently dropping the show) and for the last 3-4 episodes no-one mentions a "mission." The format of the show changes, like whiplash, into every cruddy Kdrama I've ever dropped.
Everyone spends hours dilly-dallying about who loves who; the main character's IQ drops about 70 points as her laser-sharp wit is dulled; the show just loses its momentum and its focus.
Part of the reason this happens is because the vacation arc changes the focus of the story from Ha-Won to the secondary female lead, Hye-Ji.
Hye-Ji is a great example of how k-drama writers like to add in an emotionless tertiary female character whose only existence is to slow an otherwise good show to a screeching halt. Almost every scene with her ends with her mumbling something, then leaving the scene so one of the two angsty manchildren in the love hexagon can look slightly sad while time slows down, the camera goes crazy, and a loud power ballad plays with the singer screaming "Without you!" 26 times.
The showrunners could have replaced Hye-Ji with a cardboard cutout of a girl with a speakerphone attached and her actress' robotic performance might have actually been better.
Now the show is adding a bunch of side-storylines to muddy the already-slowed-down show into an icicle's pace. The show started amazingly, built up a great format for its story, then hit a wall and never recovered. Out of the 12 episodes I watched, 4 of them should have been cut. I'm not going to dare wasting my time on the other four.
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Tne name of this drama doesn't match with the story
cindrella and four knights starting is good with comedy the story is not much better than I think the crew make it much more interesting I not said that it is very worst drama but it very boring you will bored very fast with this drama.when I watching this drama I am really happy. In my opinion it is well drama but not good.I think the cast doesnt take this drama serious and only do work but the OST is amazing till now I always listen because I like that music. well i cant say anything about this drama so you will watch it or not this is your choice:)Was this review helpful to you?
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In fact, so many cliches are gone over in this drama that in the second half of the series, one of the main characters crosses a road and I still think it's a genuine miracle they didn't get hit by a car. Or truck. Or bus. (You know the cliche I'm talking about, right?) Like so many other romance k-dramas, the initial premise is always interesting and the first few episodes are laugh-out-loud. Yet by the time you reach the middle of the series you're left with a soup of the same old misunderstandings, plot twists and never-ending flashbacks that you have to sit through until the final few episodes, where everything is miraculously resolved and the designated bad guys get their just deserts.
It's really a shame, as I've only ever seen one other "flower boy" drama and so I was genuinely excited by the idea of this, and loved the parallels to Cinderella in the beginning. However those parallels are quickly lost, and instead of having anything to do with Cinderella it just feels like any other middle-of-the-road K-romance. It's also a shame on the actors too, who all play their parts incredibly well despite the boring storyline (with some standout performances from some of the supporting cast). The only actor I can fault in any way would be the second-lead female, who I don't feel added anything to the story and seemed very uncomfortable on screen. Her parts of the story dragged dreadfully. Everything else negative about this drama I would say comes from the scriptwriters, and not the actors themselves.
So in conclusion? If this will be the first "flower boy" style drama you'll ever watch, maybe give it a go as I think it's something every k-drama fan needs to see once. I'd also definitely recommend the first five or six episodes, as they're great fun and had me laughing out loud. That being said, this isn't a drama I'd recommend overall as I've personally seen much better, and I was very glad for it to be over once the final episode rolled around.
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Not worth watching
Very unrealistic storyline. Nothing makes sense, especially when the second male lead loses complete interest in the female lead for no reason. I also hated the male lead and his annoying immature personality. The female lead had WAY better chemistry with the second male lead, in my opinion,And what’s up with the weird music playing whenever they touch each other? Lol I cringed the whole time watching this series.
Although boys over flowers is considered similar but I enjoyed it more than this one. I was not able to feel the emotions of the lead characters in this show compared to BOF.
Myabe if I was 12 years old I would’ve liked this series, unfortunately I’m 27 :D
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disapointing ending
I loved it until episode 7. Then the story became boring with some character's psychology nonsense. The story is all right but poorly exploited. there are lengths and too many arguing dialogue for my sake. Some events don’t happen at the right time to sustain the interest and rhythm of the drama. It’s a shame.I was expecting the scenario to deepen or change in order to brightens the end, but it didn't happen. So I feel a little disappointed.
I didn't drop it but I certainly won't watch it again.
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This review may contain spoilers
The four men that made up the four knights are easy on the eyes, but none of them except for the 2nd male lead had chemistry with the female lead. The beginning of the show was promising as it set up Hyun Min and Ha Won as the main couple, and their bantering was engaging. I shipped this couple until things suddenly turned 180 degrees and apparently Hyun Min has this repressed love for the 2nd female lead who takes the crown for the neediest person on the planet who doesn't have a clue when to get lost. The middle episodes were slow and I wouldn't not have gone through the torture if it were not for my curiosity. The ending revelations came too fast and suddenly all loose ends tied up even forcing some relationships to rebound without rhyme or reason.
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Typical rom-com
I watched this a couple of years ago and decided to give it another go so I could review it. Loved the cast, loved the house, and there were numerous moments of cuteness. However, the second female lead going back and forth between the two men, the main lead watching out for her, I had a hard time knowing if he liked her or not. I wish they had written the ML with stronger feelings. Him constantly running to help the second female, really made it hard solidify the relationship between the leads.The development of the relationship between the men was interesting to watch. They went from hating one another to having each other's backs, and they weren't even aware of it. There is a scene of the three men at the hospital sitting together that is really cute.
The second to last episode was absolutely the best, but as seems to be normal, for Korean dramas, the ending was rushed/minimal.
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This review may contain spoilers
I liked watching it but I can't say that it's good
The story is good in theory. Clichéd? Yes. Unrealistic, even by K-Drama standards? Yes. But it's a fine story to have these characters interact with each other. However it's lacking substances and sense at times. Characters say things just because. Suggested feelings disappear suddenly (Hyun Min not being interesting in Ha Won suddenly was a total mind-f*ck for me. They set up another person to like, which is a mess of a plot by itself, but they have big relationship moments for the first quarter of the series before it's dropped). The title is misleading as there is no 4th Knight. None at all. It's a clever name but it makes no sense. It's not even hinted at as a possibility either. The family abuse plot is irritating for all the wrong reasons. I swear it was only there to draw further comparisons to the title name. One thing I do think is done well is Ji Woon's arc. Whether it be the main relationship with Ha Won or his struggle to accept that he is now apart of a rich family and has expecations to uphold, I thought that was something that you could bite on. The bastard child trying to reject his family instead of the opposite is an interesting plot. He and Ha Won work best out of the three potential guys too. Again, the Ha Won/Hyun Min plot is dropped in a jarring way to the point where the love triangle no longer exists past episode 5/6 but they went the right choice for who is more suitable. Seo Woo is a cool character. He's talented, smart, has good intentions but he does feel like a lost wheel and unnecessary as a whole. The plot is just riddled with problems. The characters are fine enough to keep you engaged for the whole runtime, even if they aren't given much depth. Oh well, at least we have Kim Yong Gun in his natural role as the malignant CEO Kang to keep some consistency.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Are you sure there were four khights?
When I was looking for a drama to watch, I noticed the title of this series several times, but because of the tacky name I didn't want to watch it. One boring day, following a mysterous motive for me, i decided to watch the first episode.When the heroine (Park So-dam as Eun Ha-won) was presented, I thought: "She must be really cool". From the begining she made me curious. She is a woman who can inspire with her will and good heart. The plot began to be more and more interesting when Kang's cousins and Eun Ha-won were brought together.
I have to admit that from the begining I have been supporting the main female character and Kang Hyun-min, from whom it all started. I liked very much the scences of the fans' hearts beating faster. I was a little disappointed when I saw that the love stories was supposed to look different. I have to admit that I missed some scenes because the threads of the grandfather and his new wife weren't interesting to me. In my view quite interesting was the plot related to Eun Ha-won's father. The viewer at one point was confused and nothing was obvious anymore.
As usual in drama, I was annoyed by the excess of buying things that are not used later. For example the scene of leaving three packages of ramen open distracted me a lot. There was too much shopping in the drama, too many moments when a man took the initiative. In this way the character of the heroine, which the drama director tried to emphasize at the beginning, was not so intriguing. I was glad that she didn't always react with great enthusiasm and above all she wanted to prove to herself and others that she was able to take care of herself.
Drama has good moments, but unfortunately, it also has a lot of broken patterns. Despite the title I don't consider het to be Cinderella, who was graciously saved by a horse on a white prince.
I realize that some fans had doubts about the title and wondered who was the fourth knight. In my opinion the secretary should not be the one, as the drama's producers intented. According to their logic, the knight should be a person who has a particular sympathy or interest in Eun Ha-won.
I thing the soundtrack is quite okay. I especially like the songs:
- "For You" (BTOB),
- "My Romeo" (Jessi),
- "I believe" (Younha),
If someone hasn't got hight expectations for drama and likes to look at decent acting, I can recommend this drama.
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This show devoured my life. I was supposed to start actively reading (Hahahahah -_-) We all know that wasn't going to happened, didn't we? In complete honesty, I started this show because I needed something to watch while I ate something. (We all know someone like this. Won't eat until they find a show. It's me.) Anyway, I was like "Okay I'll watch a episode of this while I eat and then cut it off and start doing what I need to do" .... Ha... Haha.... Hahahah.... HAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAH.
Let's all have a nice mighty laugh of "well that was a damn lie" lol. Willing to bet at least one of you (Esther, I'm looking at you) knew "She hasn't updated in a while she must be... ohhhhhhh she found a new show" Hahhaha
Okay so enough about me and more about this show. While yes, It's like your typical Kdrama, can we just talk about the not-so-triangle love triangle?! Geez! I thought I was going to lose my mind! He loved her, she loved that other guy, that guy loves that other girl, this dude over here loves this girl, this girl loves the first dude and this girl over here loves that dude who loves the girl who doesn't noticed and WHERE DOES THIS OTHER GUY FIT IN!?!?!!?
Was it worth it? Oh hell yeah. It always is IMO! Y'all there really is so much I want to say about this show but the fact I just finished it like 2 seconds ago my brain is still screaming and my heart is like o;jghieuhgeirubgieurbvubeluyuebygierubeir
Not going to lie, It gave me a lot of "Boys Over Flowers" vibes. Maybe that's why I loved it so much?
....Nahhhhh!!! This show was so amazing just on it's own. I mean why else would I literally binge watch it? 2 and a half days, y'all. 16 episodes. All of them a hour long. And I watched them all in 2 and a half days. X_X
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I realize that is not something to be proud of but haha... yolo? CAN YOU BLAME ME?!
I can't help it. Apparently I have compulse issues.
We all know the "book hangover" but hell on fire can we talk about the "drama hangover"? I feel like I'm wondering what the hell do I do with my life now kinda thing? Do I read now? I freaking should but my brain is like "lol lets watch another show. *creepy laugh*
So who knows!? But I will say this... If there is ever a show you come across and you're still on the fence about it, and it end up being this show.. FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS BEAUTIFUL!!!! .... watch this show.... and fangirl with me. X_X
~~Once my brain chills out, I just might talk more about the show instead of just screaming through a whole review. ~~
I'd also like to add, I freaking love all the actors. *cries* Whoever casted these people knew exactly what the heck they were doing because they were so on point. I really wish I could do reaction videos to this because I'm pretty sure I screamed through this whole show. I'm wondering if my neighbors ever thought I was getting killed or something.... but since the cops have never showed up, I guess not. Hahahaha XD
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This review may contain spoilers
Not a complete waste of time, though that's hardly a compliment...Story 5.0/10:
The story had potential, but it left a lot of things unresolved while throwing in some tropes towards the end that just seemed try-hard. I'm getting a bit ahead of myself though. I think the show did a decent job of selling the Cinderella piece, Ha Won has been getting the short end of the stick most of her life, she's got the evil step fam, the whole poor status going on, but she's got that spunk, that will to not give up, and despite all of the BS thrown her way, manages to grow into a decent young lady! Unfortunately, I can't say too much more about my thoughts on this title without spoilers, but it was just a middle of the road drama. I honestly watched because there wasn't any other shows on during those days. It had enough to keep me watching until the end, but I did skip over quite a bit as well. It had the forced cohabitation trope, but somehow I still found myself disappointed. There were a couple of scenes that were squee worthy, but overall...meh.
Acting/Cast 6.5/10:
So starting with Jung Il Woo as Kang Ji Woon... I didn't really care for his character, there's the jerkish characters that have a good reason, and then there's just straight up jerks and I felt he leaned moreso in that direction. Not that there weren't good reasons for some of his angst and jerkish ways, but I was unclear about some of his motivations. As far as the acting piece, while I'm not a huge Jung II Woo fan, I feel he does some fine acting, and to be fair none of these characters other than Eun Ha Won seemed to have that much depth to them any way. I've only seen him a couple of other times. The first time I saw him was in "Flower Boy Ramen Shop" (2011), I loved the drama and he had some cool/romantic/squee moments, but really didn't like his character in that either. In "49 Days" (2011) (omg the tears felt like they lasted that long! lol), I think I liked his acting and character best, really top notched. I also saw him in "My Fair Lady" (2009), but again, such an annoying character, that's literally all I can remember thinking back on that dram (though to be fair it was a pretty sub-par drama anyhow. I hope that perhaps I can see him in another good role again soon, I know he can do it. I really need to see "The Moon that Embraces the Sun", I've only ever heard good things about it, I just haven't had the time to watch.
Park So Dam as Eun Ha Won. This was my first time seeing Park So Dam, and I really liked her acting, I always love spunky kiss ass female leads like Eun Ha Won that don't take any shit! I love how she stood up for herself and for others as well. It looks like she's been in a lot more movies than dramas so far, but I really want to make time to see "Beautiful Mind" as I love love love Jang Hyuk, and I'm interested to see her opposite a really good actor (sorry Jung II Woo, no offense!).
Ahn Jae Hyun as Kang Hyun Min. God this character was annoying as hell! Without giving any spoilers away his reasons for doing things....so dumb. I'll just leave it at that. I think I could've looked over the not so great acting if at least I could've liked the character, but alas... to be fair it looks like he's only been an active actor for a few years, but I've been pretty not impressed so far. I think he's okay as a supporting character, like Song Yi's younger brother in "My Love From Another Star" (2013), and Park Tae Il in "You're All Surrounded" (2014). I didn't see him in "Blood" (2015), but I'd heard nothing but terrible reviews and while I usually don't let that deter me from watching something (I do stand by making your own educated decision over just taking a reviewers words for it), but I think I was busy with other dramas and just never got around to it. I'm not sure I will since I'm also not a big fan of Gu Hye Seon (though apparently he is since he married her lol), I liked her in "Boys Over Flowers", and "Angel Eyes" wasn't too bad, but I shudder at the thought of "The Musical" lol. But I digress, I think this drama could've done without his character and would've been just fine.
Lee Jung Shin as Kang Seo Woo. I actually liked Seo Woo, but his character had no real purpose IMHO. He was just kinda there, and I did feel bad at one point for certain spoiler filled reasons, but honestly, his character was pretty weak and didn't grow or change in any substantial way as characters should in a story. This looks to be Lee Jung Shin's first main role, so I can forgive some of the stilted acting, but I feel he's got potential. It also rounded out CNBlue members in dramas lol I'd already seen the rest of the guys in one or two dramas a piece I feel like the circle is complete! lol I wouldn't mind seeing him in something else, hopefully something that's got some better writing.
Choi Min Sung as Lee Yoon Sung. I didn't realize until I looked up his filmography that I'd see him in a supporting role as lead waiter in "Pasta" (2010), Aw, he was so adorable! Unfortunately, I haven't caught anything else he's been in, though I hope to. As Lee Yoon Sung I felt he played the stoic character very well, and while I'm sure I'll be in the minority, I honestly had hoped after some early scenes in the show that he would be a romantic interest for our lead female (pls forgive this one spoiler?), but alas he wasn't which was saddening since of the Four Knights, I liked him the most. I also felt that he totally got screwed over for the latter half of the series, but I honestly can't say more without some spoilers...but ugh. I felt like he had some good chemistry with Park So Dam. I'm looking forward to seeing his next drama whatever that might be, and see if I can't find some time to catch him in his earlier roles.
Lastly, Son Na Eun as Park Hye Ji. I'll chalk up her stiff and not so great acting to just being young and early in her craft, with this being her first main role. I haven't seen any of her previous dramas which she was a supporting character in. Her character wasn't so bad in the beginning and I actually felt pretty bad for her, but unfortunately she became highly annoying and whiney and so my empathy and compassion went bye-bye. As a secondary female lead, Park Hye Ji was underwhelming at best. There unfortunately isn't much else to say about her.
With main roles out of the way, there is the supporting cast, but I don't have anything better to say unfortunately. While I rated the acting and casting highest in the categories, it was still pretty much middle of the road, it wasn't the worst I've seen, but wasn't anything to write home about either. I feel like any good actors could've been switched with those cast because there was no real depth to the characters, I'm sure the actors did the best they could. I often say that actors need to step up and it's possible even with poor writing a drama can be decent at the least, and this drama was just ok, but I think that's the best they could've hoped for. Again, so many plotlines were introduced but then dropped or forgotten. smh
Music 5.0/10:
I usually don't have much to say about music. This was nice, felt like it went with the drama, just middle of the road, pleasant, but nothing I felt I need to run to itunes for.
Rewatch Value 0/0:
1 since I can't seem to choose zero. While there were a few moments that were cute or even invoked a squee, it was all pretty forgettable... I couldn't even tel you what those moments were now lol
Overall 5.5/10:
I wouldn't tell someone not to watch it, but I wouldn't recommended it either... but if it was like a choice between this or Nail Shop Paris, then yes, most def watch this. :P
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