* Please note that there will be some spoilers ahead so if you haven't watched the show, please skip this review for now.
In my case, I have watched all 4 seasons of "The Great Escape" and am a big fan of the series. The thing is, after the lead producer/creator Jung Jong Yeon left tvN, Season 5 looks extremely unlikely to materialise unless there is a chance that the concept's copyright can be bought over from tvN and reproduced on another network. As such, "Agents of Mystery" looked somewhat like a successor program to "The Great Escape" due to the fact that both shows were produced by the same PD, obviously had a high budget as seen from the elaborate sets, had 6 regular members and featured mysteries to solve in an escape room setting with various underlying themes and background stories.
However, I don't think this show can fit in the shoes of "The Great Escape" as yet.
While it may not be entirely fair to compare both shows and position "Agents of Mystery" as a successor to "The Great Escape", the way that they were produced and the numerous similarities between both shows such as replicating concepts would be extremely hard to ignore. For example, the time machine concept first seen in S3 of "The Great Escape" took on a new form as a transporter to bring the members to the specified locations where they were supposed to complete their missions and return to their base. Or that the save-someone-from-a-cult or sinister organisation setting appeared again as the first case in "Agents of Mystery". Or even how the second case was set in a mysterious scientific research facility and there was some sinister plot about ethically-wrong scientific experiments.
If I had never watched "The Great Escape" before and was just looking at "Agents of Mystery" on its own, I might not have been bothered by the duplication and similarities because I wouldn't be making comparisons every time I spotted something familiar. As such, for someone who has not been exposed to "The Great Escape" before, I would imagine that they might enjoy this show a lot more better than I did.
In terms of the story developments and execution, it does seem a bit premature to make a judgement for now since "Agents of Mystery" only has 2 cases spread over 6 episodes in Season 1 vs. "The Great Escape" which had 4 seasons. Just looking at the cases on their own, the first case was honestly lacklustre. Usually, a newly-assembled cast for any variety show would take some time to build up chemistry and teamwork in the first episode. Being unsure of what to do and expect would usually decrease the level of engagement they have with the underlying story and concept especially for a show like this where some play-acting or make-believe has to be done. I don't know how well the cast members of "Agents of Mystery" already knew each other prior to filming this show but the atmosphere was as expected as awkward as it could be. And the ironic thing was the show description online was written as such: "Bound by a strong affinity, six mystery agents must solve paranormal incidents in less than six hours through teamwork and perspicacity as the fate of the world hangs in the balance." I can't say that I have seen any significant pairings or closer members except for the Wagon Brothers.
In addition, an obvious requirement (which didn't have to be spelled out) in the first case was to avoid detection and being captured by the cult members but the cast members were obviously not that "involved" in the situation and were talking so loudly and attracting so much attention to themselves that it was stranger that they were not caught earlier. Similarly for the second case, with an unknown murderous creature lurking around in the shadows with the likelihood of being pounced on anytime, the cast members were simply too relaxed and definitely not on their guard. As a viewer, I think that it's even harder for me to immerse myself into the show if the cast members aren't doing the same. While the chemistry in the second case was much improved, the tendency to stick together as a big group working on one thing only was a huge turnoff for me at least. The tension factor would definitely have been raised given the time limit if there were smaller groups working on different things at the same time or potential crises like what happened in the first case where some members were trapped and separated from the main group due to unexpected happenings. Maybe that might happen more often in future cases of "Agents of Mystery", assuming if there are more seasons to come.
"The Great Escape" had an advantage in this sense because some of the cast members had been longtime colleagues in other shows so this familiarity helped them to bond more easily and pull along those who might not be so accustomed to variety shows or were not so acquainted with the veterans. As such, the first episode then was a success partly because of this quick ability for the members to click and there was hardly any awkwardness that could be felt on onscreen.
One signature feature of "The Great Escape" was its difficulty setting. While this might seem like a joke or mockery of the cast's level of intelligence back then, it was unusual at that time for the production crew to be showing a blatant lack of confidence in the cast members' abilities to solve the mysteries with their brains and get out successfully. However, as the cast of "The Great Escape" had shown, intelligence comes in various forms - it can be the academic or intellectual type but it can also manifest itself in ways like being observant, street smart and thinking out of the box.
I think that the cast of "Agents of Mystery" do have the potential to show a variety of skills and talents as they deal with more cases but due to the limited number of episodes so far, the guys seemed to have more opportunities to stand out as compared to the ladies. As of now, the two cases in "Agents of Mystery" were quite underwhelming for me due to the absence of the "Eureka!" moments which were aplenty in "The Great Escape". Was this due to the execution of the storylines that wasn't so good or was it the approach or method how the cast got to finding the answers that didn't create the excitement? Or was it because expectations for the cast members of "The Great Escape" was initially quite low so the viewers would have a heightened level of gratification and enjoyment when they see the cast defying expectations? For me, the moment when I saw John Park and Lee Young-jin in the cast, I was already expecting them to be leading the pack in terms of solving the mysteries. Perhaps that's why the "wow" factor wasn't there because I expected them to get through the mysteries without too much difficulty.
Last but not least, I think the handling of the ending of each case needs to be better. Seeing the cast and the rescued escape into the transporter was such an abrupt way to end the first case. And what happened after they left the submarine to go back to their base? I don't know if "Agents of Mystery" is going to have a similar "behind-the-scenes" summary special at the end of each season like "The Great Escape" but the obvious lack of a proper conclusion or rounding things up nicely really left a bad aftertaste. I was wondering, "was that really it?" and it felt so anticlimactic after investing 3 episodes of my time to go through one case.
While "Agents of Mystery" isn't a bad show after all, I think there's still a lot that can be improved. Even "The Great Escape" also had some "meh" cases along the way among its numerous moments of greatness. The thing is, with such a successful predecessor (whether intended or not), there are big shoes to fill. And it's inevitable for people to compare. As such, how to attract first-timers to this kind of concept and win over longtime fans of "The Great Escape" would not be easy to achieve. I just hope that when Season 2 of "Agents of Mystery" comes along, it will be more polished in terms of the concepts (probably avoid duplicating what the predecessor already did before), has better execution and hopefully allow the cast to have a chance to show off their skills more evenly.
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