I literally stumbled into this drama. I was watching something else, clicked the wrong link and, viola. I was watching a beautiful Woman do something so incredibly STUPID, I couldn't turn away. Throughout my history of watching dramas (kdrama in particular), I have rarely encountered a character whom I wanted to punch in the throat more than Prosecutor Ahn.
I have recognized that in drama, there are basically three kinds of Men among whom the Woman in the story must choose to fulfill the intent of the writer to make the play resonate. I've generically categorized them as: Boneheads (who wouldn't know a good Woman if she fell from scaffolding into his arms); Jackasses (whose manipulation, abuse and treachery against (usually) the Female Lead is entirely body-bag worthy); and, the Lucky Bastard (to whom, for whatever reason, the Woman chooses to give her whole heart; whether he's worthy of it or not).
This particular drama has the Female Lead straining the limits of her own Love and Fidelity to watch two Men, over the course of sixteen episodes evolve (and devolve) through the above categorized Male archetypes. One went from Bonehead to Jackass to Lucky Bastard; whereas the other went from Lucky Bastard to Bonehead to Jackass. As mentioned above, there a few examples of a less worthy Man to breathe free air in this day and age. In every sense of the word I do believe that we have encountered a hybrid species of Male drama characters: the Weenie. Dude is/was/and remained to be, throughout the course of the series, irredeemably a freaking Weenie. Whose suffering could have been ended really early in this drama (but, what's the fun in that?)
The storyline held until very late when surprise revelations and incongruous turns neither fleshed-out lingering questions or resolved underlying tensions between the characters which is why I couldn't give it a higher grade. It almost seemed as if the writers who began the series caught the flu all at the same time and new writers had to be flown in from another continent to complete filming on schedule. And, though there was a binding thread running through it all from beginning to end, that thread was inevitably undone by it's destined conclusion -- (you'll know what I mean when you watch) -- or not.
That aside, I recommend watching this drama at least once. Performances were tolerable, the music was phenomenal (situational and OST selections) and production value was very well done; befitting a much tighter script. OMO, My Personal Favorite: Jailhouse Unni with the Bette Davis Eyes kills every single frame she's in! Overall rating of 'Secret Love' is out of due respect for the main characters who accurately portrayed what it must truly be like to Love, lose and win; (because the Love losses and wins weren't ultimately charged to one's own account in the long run anyway)...
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