"My Secret Hotel" Episode 16

The mystery is solved in a mostly satisfactory way. Personally, I'd quibble a bit on the issue of exact timing. The main essential element to solving the�murders only appeared a few episodes ago with Seong-gyeom's mother. Without her I have a lot of trouble guessing how we were supposed to�identify the killer at all, though I can see how Geumb- managed it. But then there were other reasons why she needed to be held back this long.

The way this drama's been playing it I genuinely thought there was a good chance that Seong-gyeom was going to end up being, if not the murderer, at least sort of involved somehow in a guilty way. But the last few episodes have been kind of weird in that they've pretty much shifted the mystery protagonist viewpoint over to his direction. Well, not really shifted since Sang-hyo has never been much of a lead character in dealing with the mystery in the first place.

Overall that's really the main issue with the genre bending here. The only excuse"My Secret Hotel"had for keeping all this information obscured was the off-chance that our leads would be the ones seriously indicted. And now that we've got to the end, with none of that happening...look, I've seen worse mysteries. The trouble is I've seen better mysteries, too, and while I can appreciate the ambition behind the concept here,"My Secret Hotel"really needed better narrative cohesion on this front.

As far as the romance goes- well, it's appropriate, really, that Seong-gyeom gave up on romance once the story came up with something else for him to do. But even given that, I think I'm all right with the specific way Sang-hyo and Hae-yeong end up back together. As has been the case lately, they've been moody and brooding over each other. However, there is that essential spark to change- not romance, rather just the fact that they're now willing to speak frankly to one another instead of running away because they get spooked by a misunderstanding.

That's a pretty good social statement to make on the institution of marriage, even if"My Secret Hotel"has mostly been missing on the satirical elements. Additionally, that simple element of their making an actual effort and trying to be intimate rather than making big over-the-top romantic gestures really does carry a fair amount of meaning. Ultimately the drama ends up fairly subdued in execution. Still, given that the story arcs end up huing the same general direction, I think I'm all right with that.

Review by William Schwartz

"My Secret Hotel"is directed byHong Jong-chan, written byKim Do-hyeonandKim Ye-ri-IIand featuresYoo In-na,Jin I-han,Nam Goong-minandLee Young-eun.

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