Probably the best korean drama in terms of its execution. Brilliant cinematography elevates this drama to a league of it's own. Tight editing and fast-paced narrative will leave you wanting more. Rewatching this one because it is that good. Highly recommended.
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All of these elements come together in each episode to present excellent paranormal mysteries, whose threads are neatly tied up by the end of the 45 minutes while simultaneously unraveling the knit of a much larger mystery. However, to this larger mystery, the show does not offer an easy or concrete answer. Ultimately, this show is about moving away from the comfort of the known into the unknown where answers are rare and difficult to find. In the end, Secret Investigation Record leaves it to the viewer to interpret the events of the show, to find their own truth in the investigation of Inspector Kim Hyeung Do, Magistrate Jang, and Assistant Heo. It's a challenging watch, but the questions raised and the conversations sparked are well worth it.
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There were intriguing moments, especially in the episodes involving geomancy and other time- and place-specific mystical traditions, but as soon as the cheesy glowing space balls started flying around I began reaching for the remote. At forty-five minutes long, the stand-alone episodes felt too short to allow for much emotional engagement and the monster-of-the week plots weren’t especially original. The overall mythology was potentially intriguing, but the writers, perhaps angling for a second season, seemed hesitant to actually “reveal” anything, settling for atmospheric vagueness instead of genuine narrative payoffs. There was lots of artsy hand-held camera work and an effusive fog machine, but I never felt there was much substance behind all the smoke and shakiness. The truth may be out there, but you’ll have a hard time finding it in the oblique writing and the dimly lit, bouncing frames.
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Brilliant historical/sci-fi mystery drama
Brilliant. Very intriguing drama, but some violence~~ primitive period. You get enough hints to relate it to scientific developments of advanced civilisations without losing the period atmosphere. Sort of historical X files. Oh, and the romance is slight, with a nice twist at the end, assuming I am right in how I interpret it. Would a woman be in that position in Joseon period, though? Ah, but there's the twist at the end again that explains it. I do not know much about Korean history but as the Joseon dynasty lasted 500 years, which period is this? Never dull, plenty of different story-lines and characters you can identify with. The stories are only around 40/45 minutes but seem to pack in more than hour long shows with slow patches. For anyone who likes a mix of drama, sci-fi, supernatural, mystery in historical setting this is highly recommended. Even if you do not like historical, still worth watching, it converted me to looking at historical shows.Was this review helpful to you?
It's something....
Back then when they dared to try something different to varying degrees of success. It's not fair to compare this to The X-Files, they have nothing in common other than sharing a similar genre. Anyway, the drama was a mixed bag, some cases were better and more interesting than others. The main story that was progressing in the background wasn't well fleshed out to tie everything together and the ending was just okay. The performance of the cast was alright, nothing major but some scenes lacked the effort.Was this review helpful to you?
