Secret Royal Inspector and Joy is about an intelligent man (Taecyeon) with no goals who ends being a secret royal inspector and a fiery divorced woman (Kim Hye Yoon) that team up to go undercover and reveal corruption.
Taecyeon plays Ra Yi Eon. He’s a bit aimless but loves to cook. He reluctantly becomes a secret royal inspector and soon finds himself getting involved in a bit case.
Kim Hye Yoon is Kim Jo Yi. She’s unhappily married and seeking a divorce, but she encounters one difficulty after another. After tragedy strikes, she finds herself teaming up with Ra Yi Eon to get answers.
Secret Royal Inspector and Joy was a fun drama. It’s a lighter historical with a lot of humor, but it still has a solid overarching story with a more serious side. We watch as Yi Eon and Jo Yi begin working on cases together, and what appears to be simple turns out to be part of a much larger conspiracy.
Yi Eon and Jo Yi Start out bickering, but they soon want to help each other. As they continue to work on cases, they slowly start to grow closer and romance develops. They have a very fun and playful relationship. I always enjoyed this duo when they were on screen and thought they had an adorable chemistry.
We get a great ensemble cast with this one which comes in the form of a bromance and a girlmance. Yi Eon is close with both of his servants, Yook Chil (Min Jin Woong) and Goo Pal (Park Kang Sub). This trio was always a lot of fun delivering plenty of comedy.
Then Jo Yi becomes friends with two women, Bi Ryung (Chae Won Bin) and Kwang Soon (Lee Sang Hee). They develop a beautiful relationship that is so caring and supportive of each other. Both of these trios were wonderful on their own, but they were also a lot of fun together as a group.
There are plenty of villains floating around in this drama. I thought they were all great from the more sympathetic to the love-to hate-kind. At the center of this group was Park Tae Seo (Lee Jae Kyoon). He’s a tortured soul and the illegitimate son of the Chief State Counselor (Jeong Bo Seok). The Chief State Counselor is right in the middle of the big conspiracy and is an all-around awful person.
Overall, Secret Royal Inspector and Joy nicely balanced the humorous, fun side with the more dramatic, serious side. It gives us a fun romance as well as wonderful friendships. It wasn’t anything revolutionary and is pretty simple for the most part, but the story was engaging enough. I enjoyed it all the way through.
My Rating: 7.5/10
Check out more Korean Drama Reviews.
Leave a Reply