I grant a lot more to this show than @solstices, although I do agree with a comment made a few weeks back by @marcusnyc20 that there seem to be two separate voices...which finally sent me over to check out some facts. I make note that according to MDL the "original creator" of this work is the director of Alchemy of Souls, What's Wrong with Secretary Kim, and Because This Life Is Our First (among other faves), but the screenwriter is someone he worked with on his first (and no-so-well-known-or-beloved) drama. I don't know the backstory between these two, but there is indeed a little support for there being two sets of ideas about how to make this story come to life.

No matter why, though, this show remains desperately uneven. After this week, I now honestly wonder if that's somehow the key to why I spent 25 straight minutes at the end of episode 7 heaving and sobbing in blubbering tears. Starting with that utterly amazing scene in the restaurant where Yeon-seo is talking to an incredibly attentive and caring man but who, is patently the WRONG MAN to be hearing her story...all the way through to the funeral hall courtyard where Ju-won takes her into his arms because that is what she needs and he simply cannot help but comfort her. I did not find their reconciliation lacking at all, nor did I find his proposal odd--he'd had the ring prepped for her birthday even before his brother changed his tune. He just couldn't wait any longer.

But would have been as effective if this show were just scene after scene of punch-in-the-gut emotion? I'm not saying I love the office pair (definitely not) and the silliness injected into our second couple was also unwelcome. And yet, I rarely, if ever, get as caught up in the moment as I do during certain scenes of this show. I think I've decided that it's something to do with the fact that in the "silly scenes" the characters just out and say what they're thinking, but in the punch-in-the-gut scenes you're offered a moment to infer what those feelings really feel like.

As for the mother, she seems like the type who can't let her sons go. It's a cliché, but a common enough one in real life, although not necessarily played out so forcefully. Here in fairy-tale-land it means she doesn't want them to be happy with other women...So-jin's character sees it for what it is--her utter loneliness--and we see it too as she wanders around her big, empty house. I think it's being done really well, at the 50% accuracy we've come to expect from this drama.

At any rate, I'm glad our couple is back together and, for some secret reason known only to fairy tales, I am absolutely sure that these two will never deny their feelings for one another, for even one single second, ever (after) again.

Ten episodes are definitely enough for this drama. Still, I like it, I find it relaxing and quite cute.
It's not just because of the second couple, I've also grown fond of our ML and FL, even if ML is sometimes very clingy, but apparently that's exactly what FL needs.
FL's backstory actually moved me to tears at times. It explains her decisions and behaviour very well.

While I thought her colleagues were okay last week, this week the male colleague got on my nerves with his fuss about the missing promotion. He didn't deserve a promotion just because of this childish and unprofessional behaviour.

Thanks for another great recap!

Jang-hee is the most annoying and unnecessary character I have found this year (or ever) in Dramaland.
This drama would have been better without him.

However, I love the secondary couple. They are cute and fun to watch. I agree: they stole the show this week. I appreciate the way they are speaking and clarifying everything to avoid long misunderstandings. I see now they are quite comfortable in the company of the other.

@solstices: Thank you for being such a dear and making sense of this drama, which is a drama in a drama in a drama...

I think my biggest struggle has been that I don't find FL consistent or deep. I understands her scars, and I have nothing against a clingy ML but I just can't understand what keeps them going. I stuggle to find their common gounnd - if that makes sense?

I have seen chewing gums have less elasticity when stretched.

But it's cute, I have to give that.

The second couple though.....I just keep falling in love with Yoon Park.

Given this is only 10 episodes, and therefore every episode carries the potential of big developments, I'll wait and see next week before making a final assessment--although like everyone else, I hated the work colleague character especially because, as is often the case, the writer lazily relied on drunkenness to have him behave in ways that were supposed to be funny. (I actually have no problem with the trope of drunkenness removing inhibitions in rom-coms, but the success of that trope depends totally on how extreme they make the drunken behavior, and in this case, it was way, way too much.

I also find the male lead underwritten--although the female lead is beautiful and appealing, his utter devotion in the face of demands to break up is a little hard to account for. Still, unlike @daebakgrits I didn't mind the reconciliation and did not find the kissing particularly awkward by kdrama standards. (Although come to think of it, I have to say the kiss scenes have been really substandard overall. Unlike last year, no sprinklers have been set off by the smoking passion.)

As far the disappearing love triangle, I found that more abrupt and unconvincing. Sorry, unlike a certain commentator whose name begins with "S" I still see no reason to believe that because he called the ML in one scene that the artist was playing the role of "fairy godfather" or that he had a revelation that he was mistaking gratitude for his affection--his behavior even in that the drunk scene was that of a love rival, until the moment he nobly called the ML. I appreciated his consideration in this case, but not the writing of his character from semi-stalker to self-sacrificing phone-caller.

Continuing my writing critique,the same goes for the Mom--more time spent on her motives would have helped the story. The secondary couple was more to my liking in these episodes, although I think they repeated the pattern of of the husband misinterpreting his wife--first hopeful that her actions meant she was interested, then disappointed when it appeared she was just doing things for Instagram promotion, then being reassured that there was indeed something to it, was repeated one time too many.

But after all these criticisms, let me just say that I continue to like the female lead character, and I find her more interesting than a lot of rom-com FLs this year--and maybe the last 2 episodes will wrap things up well and alleviate some of the criticisms I have so far.

Now that the main couple has got back together and we are in the second to last week, I think I am finally able to make my main critique of this drama. As @daebakgrits mentions, the show is kinda swirling over the same material over and over (like in a toilet). Usually in dramas, this is to provide some tension in the plot (in this case, will they or won't they). However, in this situation, I find the swirling to be a lot more meaningful. The best use of narrative swirling is to allow the author to peel the onion of an idea, which is, the real reason why they broke up and each layer provides an additional clue about the complex nature of a breakup. (Really, this show is about the rough patch in a relationship when it goes from having fun to planning a life together. But, the Cinderella theme is a metaphor not for breaking up but challenges in deciding to commit)

In the first week, we have external challenges in entering a committed relationship. Mother, work, class... All relationships have external factors outside of the couple that the couple has to deal with and accept if they want to stay a couple.

The second week was about family struggles and past struggles. Balancing family needs with couple needs is another thing that the couples will have to deal with. And, everyone has past trauma that must be dealt with when deciding to become a committed couple.

The third week was about personal struggles. The FL realizes that she is being selfish and afraid and this is the real reason she doesn't want to commit and deal with the external and family issues of the previous two weeks.

And, that brings us to this week. It turns out that it wasn't even the personal reasons from last week that scared the FL. It was the reason that inspired the title of the show. Shame. A poor cinderella who decides to get into an infamous public relationship will be exposed to public scrutiny and she has to accept it before going into a committed relationship.

Hum... The original idea of the FL taking the money wasn't like I pictured it in my head. I was more imagining her enjoying a new style of life with this money... But instead, it was more like a very sad break-up between the characters that didn't make sense because they really cared about each other. So now, I'm happy they got back together.

The colleagues never showed any competences at their work, so I didn't understand how he dared to complain. Did he forget he abused his power on the new member of the team?

On a personal note, I really like the idea that being overwhelmed was linked to feeling sorry for yourself. It resonates with me and gives voice and perspective to a feeling I often have. I empathized with Yoon-seo's struggle with her past suffering and trying to live a dignified life in spite of it.

Thanks for the recap! I agree with @attiton: this show is very uneven! The sad parts are great. The writers are onto something: people who had really bad relationships with their parents tend to have a harder time, not an easier time, when their parents die. They have to mourn the relationship they never had. I am trying to recall a k-drama that has done as well with this idea as this one.

The problems are, I do not vibe with these leads as comic actors. They just aren't very funny here. Yoon Park is hilarious in his role as the brother. He's also good at a soft, lovey-dovey face. Park So-jin is killing it opposite him. They are a lot of fun to watch.

I feel like we're still missing a sense of the ML's family or past. We know his parents don't live together and his mom is lonely. She thinks of arranged marriage as a business deal. We don't know whether he ever had a trauma or anything like that--just that he's been raised to work hard and have expensive tastes. (Opera is not cheap!) Part of the reason they seem unevenly matched is that the actor is 24 and was given zero backstory. You know? Can we have one in the last two episodes, please? I was going to say, "It's a tall order," and of course it is, they hired him and said, "be tall and have a pretty face." That's his jam, man! But seriously, it's not fair to the kid to do that to him. Of course the second lead seems like a better match--he isn't so flat!

In defense of Prince Charming … let's take a quick detour to the origins of "Cinderella", long before Disney got a hold of it. The Grimm brothers first recorded it around 1812 in Germany, but it's probably a lot older and there are several slightly different versions in all of Europe.
It's Her-story (like most fairy tales). It's Cinderella's story, a woman overcomes all adversities of her extremely bitter and sad life and wins a prince.
In the Grimm version, he doesn't even have a name, he has no description other than being "young" and maybe even "handsome", he has no personality, no story, he happens to be there at the right time to give the heroine whatever it is she needs most - he is the ultimate reward.
And Joo-won fits that profile quite perfectly.

I have almost completely lost interest in this show. It's like the writer had one good idea - twist the offer-money-to-break-up trope - and then had to try and build a whole drama around it. So we have a bunch of scenes strung together until we can get the leads back together (when it's so obvious they should have just stayed together in the first place). I feel bad for the ML - this is his second drama in a row (after Wedding Impossible) that fell apart after a good premise. I hope his next show is a better one!

Late to the party. Thanks DAEBAKGRITS, @daebakgrits for the recap.
Great comments from the faithful few so I won’t repeat but a few random thoughts as we come into our (hopefully not crash) landing:
1. Both FL and ML have given beautiful performances with the material/script they were given. Yoon-seo had the heavier lift dramatically. Ju-won less so, but when things got serious both actors rose to the occasion;
2. The comedy between the Ml, FL and coworkers was pretty awful and the blame goes for how the coworkers’ roles were written. The production must have brought in ringer writers for Yoon Park and Sojin’s parts because those two shined.
3. So as not overlook. 2 of the actors in the drama with maybe the toughest parts to act were the young actors: So A-rin (playing the young Yoon-seo) and the (other) Kwon Yul (playing the young Ji-seok).
They were in one scene of abuse after another and gave terrific performances. (Once again I am in awe of kdrama child actors.)

I have to say that this drama is really not working for me. I have no emotional connection to any of the characters and I just don't feel any chemistry between the main leads. I was looking forward to this show, and it is very hard for me to jump ship, but I'm not sure I will be able to finish it. Thank you for these recaps, @DaebakGrits; I'll enjoy your final thoughts on this one, but don't think I'll make it though the episodes.