tvN Premieres New Unabashedly Comedic and Earnest Mon-Tues Sageuk Secret Royal Inspector and Joy to 4.961% Promising Ratings

The Mon-Tues time slot for tvN has been weak for the past year, not since Record of Youth has it really delivered solid dramas and/or rating hits. I’ve only liked Awaken (Night and Day) since then but the other dramas in that period include Birthcare Center, LUCA, Doom at Your Service, You are My Spring, Navillera, and most recently High Class. Just premiered sageuk Secret Royal Inspector and Joy is also the first sageuk in awhile in that slot and it feels like a breath of fresh air. The drama premiered to a decent 4.961% ratings but I don’t know if it will go up or down because this drama is either your cup of tea or not. There is no in between, it’s that strong in local flavor. It’s the K-sageuk version of a Stephen Chow movie style from the 90’s for sure, what’s referred to as “mo lei tau” or nonsense. From the moment Taecyeon‘s government official got dressed while running through town in his innerwear while carrying his lunch box, which I found charming and he pulled it off so well, this drama doesn’t even pretend to be serious. I’m sure it’ll eventually tone shift there once the conspiracies and Big Baddies show up but for now it’s just taking audiences into one province to see if the newly arrived secret royal inspector can root out corruption, deliver the hammer of justice, and make friends and partners with a Joseon era feminist. I find Kim Hye Yoon perfect in her role so far but her plight in this drama world is really tough to stomach. I hope she gets her divorce ASAP so she can bust crime with Taec and the foursome along with his servants can bumble their way to righting wrongs.

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