Secret
비밀 (2013, aka Secret Love) KBS 16 Episodes
Melodrama, Romance, Grade: A-
Korean Drama Review By Alison, USA
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비밀 (2013, aka Secret Love) KBS 16 Episodes
Melodrama, Romance, Grade: A-
Korean Drama Review By Alison, USA
~~~~~~~~~
Secret (aka Secret Love) is a highly entertaining, if a bit over the top, Korean melodrama featuring the very appealing actress Hwang Jung-eum as Kang Yoo Jung, who plays a hard working, loving girl who lives with her father, helps him run his bakery, and is in love with an earnest law student, Ahn Do Hoon, played by Bae Soo-bin (so good as the duplicitous fiance in the K-drama 49 Days and equally dastardly here). She has been helping him pay for his studies, but despite everything she has done for him, his mother (keep an eye on her character!) still encourages him to find a more upwardly mobile mate.
No matter - the two become engaged, but that same night they are involved in an accident that kills a young woman. The heroine takes the blame and goes to jail, even though her fiance was driving. The lover of the accident victim, Jo Min Hyuk, played by handsome Ji Sung, is a rich playboy determined to make the heroine pay for her "crime" in as many ways as possible. The poor girl goes through so much, you can't help feeling for her, especially when her devoted "fiance" proves to be just not a coward but a traitor, moving up the corporate ladder and leaving her behind.
Meanwhile, Min Hyuk contemplates a marriage of convenience with a wealthy childhood friend, Shin Se-yeon, played by Lee Da Hee, even while he is beginning to thaw toward the object of his revenge, Yoo Jung. Se-yeon will do anything to keep her man, but she also enjoys flirting with the smitten Do Hoon.
I really enjoyed this drama, which has many twists and turns, and leaves you rooting for the heroine to get a backbone and fight back for her rights as so many are dumping on her. The love story that develops between Yoo Jung and Min Hyuk may strain credulity a bit, but ultimately the actors do win you over with terrific chemistry and their own charisma. And Bae Soo-bin with his handsome features, sweet smile, and ability to play a really cold snake, is a perfect villain.
At 16 episodes the pace of Secret is just right. However you find it to watch it, it's worth it!
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