My Secret Romance (2017)
Grade:
C+
14 Episodes, 50 minutes each
Viewing
Platform: Viki
Lee
Yoo-mi is a quiet, modest girl in the midst of her nutritionist
studies when her former erotic-film-star mother decides to remarry.
Yoo-mi has a few accidental encounters with a bell hop, Cha Jin-wook,
and the two find themselves in a sleepy seaside town, sharing a
bottle of wine at the shore. Jin-wook and Yoo-mi spend a passionate
night together, but Yoo-mi slinks off at first light. Three years
later, Yoo-mi is assigned her first real work experience at the large
conglomerate DaeBok Group, which – unbeknownst to her – is
Jin-wook's father's company. Jin-wook, unable to forget Yoo-mi, has
put his partying days behind him and focused on work to the point of
being malnourished. What happens when Yoo-mi is required to
personally make all of Jin-wook's meals? Will she pretend their
one-night stand never happened? Or is she finally ready to stop
letting her mother's life choices get in the way of her own
happiness?
*This
kdrama seemed much older than its 2017 airing date – probably
because it felt like a low-budget production. There were some plot
holes, sound editing issues, and far too many flashbacks, plus some
weird end-of-episode filler that was an identical scene from that
episode, shot from a different angle. (All kdramas utilize
flashbacks,and it can be an effective tool for storytelling, but
usually it's kept to a reasonable amount. This show
was nearly 30% flashbacks.) The writers' decision to have them sleep
together right at the beginning killed the rhythm of the show, and
from that point I just couldn't get into it. I also prefer more
comedy in my kdramas. I loved Jin-wook's secretary, and Sung Hoon is
very handsome, but again, there really wasn't much substance to the
story. Won't watch again.*
