Flower of Evil (2020)

Simply brilliant, a forever favorite

when thriller / mystery dramas are done well, they leave an impact on you and man, did this drama break and fulfill me at the same time. i’ve seen many thriller movies and shows but FOE truly left a mark on my heart from how brilliant this drama is — i was hooked from the start and above all what transcended the most: a couple whose love would get tested and that showed the true meaning of loving someone and believing in them even when everything else tells you not to. hyun soo is loving, gentle, and kind to his beloved wife but in reality he’s haunted by a dark past — being the son of a serial killer and a psychopath that struggled with being rejected from society, thus leaving him scarred emotionally. yet he is innocent of the crimes pegged against him and forced to clear his name from a crime that would lead to his own wife investigating him; events that were seemingly impossible and devastating that it left me wanting to know how ji won would handle the fact that her husband was connected to the case she was handling and her choice in trusting in her husband is simply incredible. seeing ji won as a skilled, badass detective that is passionate about her work and an empowered woman that knew how to let people know she meant business without walking all over them was awesome — once again applauding MCW’s bomb acting skills!

i applaud the casting because lee joong ki and moon chae won’s chemistry as a married couple was impeccable. their romantic scenes made my heart skip a beat and i’d laugh and cry with them. i’d say one of their most meaningful scenes is when hyun soo denied ji won’s love, saying he’s incapable of loving her and her only response was “you love me. i can feel it”. that scene upon from others simply made me fall in love with them as characters from the mix of angst and love from our leads — and the acting from both LJK and MCW was astoundingly wonderful; LJK especially left me mind blown by his ability to make one feel for his character hyun soo especially his facial expressions — it was also impressive to see him completely switch his demeanor from the loving husband to a sinister man with that dark look in his eyes. his character truly had me pondering if he was good or bad at times and just when i thought i had figured him out, a twist would suddenly yet again leave me in the dark. it was quite a ride following the characters as they attempted relentlessly to uncover the true culprit, the thriller aspect shining through brilliantly. lee joong ki simply smashed his role and i will forever remember his acting in this drama as one of the best performances i’ve ever seen.

the plot in this drama stayed consistent and always left me wanting more, rushing to watch the next episode because of how captivated i was. the music that set the eerie, mysterious vibe only enhanced the scenes and truly made the scenes enjoyable — especially the villain’s subplot. baek heesong is a bone chilling villain that would make shivers go down my spine from the creepy facial expressions to when he mercilessly killed his maid — the actor did a great job in portraying his character, especially when he was dangling from the cliff, his psychopathy showing and the darkness that lived inside him resurfacing even in his last moment of life. the aesthetics and lack of plot holes made the drama all the more enjoyable and it is a true gem that deserved the high praise it received. some viewers i noticed were unsatisfied with the ending but i personally thought the drama ended well on an open ending, hyun soo may not remember ji won completely but he could properly love her and be happy with her and their daughter. the writer did an incredible job in execution and i applaud the impeccable raw talent by the actors; this is one of the best dramas i’ve ever seen and i highly recommend it to all thriller lovers out there!

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– watched 6/30 through 7/5 –

BRILLIANT!
im gonna be honest, the first couple episodes were slow for me but as i kept going it was getting more and more interesting and the pacing catches up real quick! for starters i didn’t really know what the drama was about i kind of just watched it like i do with most dramas i watch, but the crime and suspense kept me going and it DID NOT DISAPPOINT! for me the plot was kind of confusing at first and i had a lot of questions but at some point i picked up on what was going on and started understanding more as it went on.
lee joon-gi (is such an amazing actor you can literally feel his emotions as he’s acting and GOD did i love him in this drama. from start to finish his performance did not disappoint! the same for kim ji-hoon, the way he portrayed baek hee-seong had me shaking every time. you could really tell all the actors gave it their all. THE ENDING: that second to last episode had me SCREAMING, then the way do hyun-soo had lost all those 14 years of memories with ji-woon broke my heart 💔 but that last scene with the whole family made me happy and sad again. truly a show that gives you everything!

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Drama maravilhoso de bom!

Outro que eu sobrestimava e acabei quebrando a cara.

O drama é um suspense policial "mucho loco" e emocionante, e ao mesmo tempo com um romance muito lindo! Amei a escolha do elenco, assim como dos personagens. Meus pontos com o Lee Joon Gi subiram muito e não a toa né! Ele foi incrível no papel, principalmente com aquele olhar 43 dele. Foi a minha primeira vez com a atriz Moon Chae Won e pode ter certeza que ela entrou pra lista de patroas. Maravilhosíssima! E a fofurinha da Baek Eun Ha, melhor atriz mirim que já vi, tenho que admitir.

Outro ator que merece meus aplausos de arrepio é o Kim Ji Hoon. Que personagem doentio e acho que foi um dos piores vilões até agora, pois realmente me passou arrepios com aquelas caras e bocas dele.

Uma coisa que me deixou impactada, foi minha reação inesperada no episódio que a Hae Soo "morre". Sério, lágrimas começaram a sair do nada e eu chorei muito, mesmo sabendo lá no fundo que ela não tinha "ido pra outra". Foi impactante porque eu não tinha percebido nenhum afeto meu pela personagem dela, sendo secundária e tals. Porém, eu realmente chorei muito ao pensar que ela poderia morrer.

Enfim, atuação, desfecho, química entre o casal e trilha sonora, tudo perfeito neste drama. Super recomendo e amei!

Concluído por mim: 20/10/21

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Stunningly beautiful

This drama is an emotional rollercoaster, so put your seatbelt on, bring some tissues and some pillows. I have binged watched this masterpiece in a couple of days and am writing this review after finishing it.

Our main character is emotionally numb (as I’d like to call it), deceives the people around him and tries to live a quiet life after taking on the burden of being labeled a psychopath and accepting what people see in him. After his wife investigates a new murder case, she stumbled upon more and more clues which lead her to his true identity.

I don’t want to write anything more than something similar to the synopsis since I am sure I will spoiler the whole plot due to me being absolutely overwhelmed by the gorgeous acting, complementing music and breathtaking story which left me utterly speechless.

The moment you think you can take a breather and relax, you are surprised with sudden events you cannot foresee.

I hope you give this one a try and love it.

Enjoy.

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A melodrama disguised as a thriller

It's a bit difficult to write an in-depth review without spoilers (and this drama is best enjoyed going in blind) but Flower of Evil is hands-down one of the best kdramas I've seen to date. It's gripping, the plot is well-done (barring a few plot holes), the character development is incredible, and the ending, which some viewers disliked, I found fitting. Plot aside, Moon Chaewon and Lee Joongi were incredible and had amazing chemistry. I can confidently say this is Lee Joongi's best performance so far, and his nuanced expressions really brought his character to life.

I think it's important to note that those who really adore Flower of Evil are the ones who are fall in love with the characters rather than the overall crime plot. While majority of the show is crime/thriller, the core of it is the main characters and their relationship. If you have no interest in seeing their relationship unfold, the main themes and emotional impact of the show will simply fall flat. I suggest go in as blind as possible, watch at least three episodes, and hopefully it will enrapture you as much as it did me.

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LOVE IT

I just finish watching it. Love it, wish there was more. Wish I could have heard it in English. There should have been a second season. I will watch it again but slowly this time. The plot and acting was very good. I loved the male main character acting. I will recommend it for everyone to watch who loves a good mystery. I knew the conclusion of the show. But I did not know he got in a coma but I was not surprise by who did it. She was able to vent some of her frustration, where as the father did not. No wonder he lost it! What did surprise me was who was still alive and how it came to be.

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THE BEST KDRAMA EVER

Flower of evil is the perfect kdrama. It got me hooked from the first episode and the acting and chemistry between the leads is chef's kiss. Do hyunsoo and Cha Jiwon are my favourite couple. The scenes with their daughter ❤️🥺. It's incredibly sad what Hyunsoo had to go through just because he was father's son. This drama showed how people's trauma really affect them. Hyunsoo for his whole life thought he's a psychopath when he was just traumatised. He loved Jiwon even before he knew and accepted it. Also one of the rare times when I like the amnesia plot, it made sense here for him to not have to remember those horrible times and start a new life with the people who love him 🤍

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Well-Crafted Melodrama

The key to this drama is managing expectations. While this drama has noir, mystery and thriller themes, at it's core it is a melodrama. It's not a bad thing; South Korea is excellent at crafting melodramas and probably my favorite genre of Kdramas. But since this a melo, not a crime drama, things like civilians openly conducting investigations along with the police or classic logic fails are par for the course. It's more about the drama, the story and the characters than accuracy or depth. Keep that in mind and the ride will go much smoother.

The absolute BEST part of this show is the acting. The leads absolutely nailed it. The glances, the facial expressions, the small movements, everything was on point. Certain scenes might not have packed the same punch if it was not for those two. They have brilliant what I call non-kissing chemistry - they can give the couple vibe just by being next to each other. The support characters also did a very good job and all the characters came to life.

Story: The story, for the most part was pretty solid. It starts off a little slow but builds up to a delicious and addictive flow. The writing for the last third was not as strong, but the story finished off to a respectable end. There was some shortcoming in the story-writing minutia and some personal things that frustrated me but overall, everything made sense in a satisfactory way. I will half a point off just because the show was initially presented to be very dark and thrilling with the theme of exploring morally grey characters but did not really go in that direction.

The highlight for this show for me was MCW's Cha Ji Won; she carried the show for me. From a story perspective, I appreciate her role as a active character whose actions directly affected the story line. As a character, I loved how she thought through things to make informed decisions and her strong love for her husband. I admired her perseverance, her compassion and her no-bullshit moments. LJG's Do Hyun Su/Baek Hee Sung was also very good and it interesting to see the character development he goes through. Something that really frustrated me was that he had a very subtle paternalistic side when it came to the females in this life which lead to him keeping secrets or not properly communicating with them. I honestly couldn't tell if this was done on purpose to show the background he grew up in or if it was the writer's bias seeping in. It is subtle and not directly related to the plot but did affect me enough to 1) notice it and 2) dampen my enjoyment.

The Baek couple was also interesting. They were not how they seemed at first and ended up being the greyest characters in the show. I wish we got to spend more time with the police team. Their interactions so natural with no forced team dynamics. I really liked Chief Lee despite his short screen time. He was so low-key I would initially have a hard time remembering he is the chief but he is the kind of leader I would dream of having. He knows when to push, when to let things go and how to keep his team together.

The music was amazing and really enriched the emotions of certain scenes. The lighting, camerawork and was also top-notch and another reason why this drama excelled. It has pretty good re-watch value.

Overall, this drama is a visual and auditory treat to watch with great characters and good plot. Go in expecting a very good Kdrama melodrama to come out satisfied.

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SO intense, a must watch for thriller fans.

Okay, I am not usually a fan of thrillers when it comes to kdramas but this was INSANE. Literally each episode I was on the edge of my seat and having constant anxiety. This show was crazy. The main couple had great chemistry but wow of course Lee Joon Gi's acting was incredible. His diversity and change of emotions is just remarkable. You really feel like you are watching a true crime story with all the details and background history within the show. The writer did a amazing job, actors was wonderful, plot thickened constantly within each episode. Definitely recommend!!

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Remember 5 Love Languages

The storyline sucked you in and each episode kept you hooked. Episode 16 had me worried. The FL and ML were outstanding. The little girl bears watching for future performances.

Now, the spoilers. The ML was raised by a deviant who tries to replicate himself in his son. The progession of the MLs emotional development may have been the genius of the scriptwriter, but anyone who has grown up in an abusive home can relate. Wether nature or nature he responded like a psychopath. Emotions in general and especially strong ones confused him. He had an inability to feel or express genuine emotions. Strong emotions frightened him. I'll say no more, but if you consider the abuse he suffered the storyline is conceptually believable. I will definitely rewatch this one.

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