By: Cameron Tyo
August 12, 2023
Spoiler Alert: This review will contain significant spoilers for the show Flower of Evil.
Flower of Evil is a K-Drama which is primarily crime/thriller with hints of romance. The first episode of the series was released on July 29th, 2020, while the final episode aired on September 23rd, 2020, running a span of over two months, consisting of 16 episodes. I got into this series after looking up some dark crime/thriller Korean shows to watch because I was bored and, at the moment, had nothing else to do. This is where I saw Flowers of Evil recommended many times and ultimately decided to try it.
Flower of Evil’s plot revolves around Cha Ji-won (Moon Chae-won), a detective who, after investigating a string of murders causing her and her team to delve back into an old serial murder case, later down the line, feels that her husband, Baek Hee-sung (Lee Joon-gi), whom she has always seen as a perfect husband for her and father for her kid, is putting on a facade and might be connected in the murders and case in one way or another. From here, the whole K-Drama revolves around the team finding out the identity of Do Hyun-soo, the serial murderer’s son, and eventually the accomplice of the murder after many events occur.
The characters in the show have fantastic character progression. For example, the most prominent character progression is that of Baek Hee-sung, who is ultimately revealed to be Do Hyun-soo. Hyun-soo is first seen to be a total psychopath who fakes most, if not all, of his emotions, but during the show’s progression, you learn of the trauma and pain in his life that he’s endured, which have ultimately resulted in his hardships in controlling and showing his feelings properly. He hides this past from his wife as he ultimately wants to forget about his past and live a normal life. He tries so hard to pretend to be normal as he practices how to smile properly and learns to act normally in front of people, which he finds easy in front of his wife, saying how she expects simple things from him. Ultimately he moves on from his fake feelings for his wife as they turn out to be honest as he is concurrently trying to find the accomplice of his dad to clear his name, as many people think he is the accomplice to his father’s murders.
Cha Ji-won goes from completely trusting her husband to uncovering the truth way before any of the other people on her investigative team of who her husband is causing her both internal struggle between not only herself but an external one between her husband and her homicide investigation team members Choi Jae- sub (Choi Young-Joon), Im Hoo-joon (Kim Soo Oh), and Lee Woo-cheol (Choi Dae-hoon) whom ultimately one by one find out that she is keeping a secret from them causing conflict amongst each other. The other two main characters are Kim Moo-jin (Seo Hyun-woo), a journalist, and Do Hae-soo (Jang Hie-jin), Do Hyunn-soo’s sister, who were once in a relationship when they were kids until Kim broke up with her calling her a freak in a way after finding out her father was a serial killer. The show revolves around how they meet again as they help Hyun-soo find the accomplice of his dad’s serial killings.
The revelations that occur in the story are amazing as well. Finding out that Do Hyunn-soo’s fake parents are keeping their actual son, who is revealed to be stabbed by his mother after he is discovered burying Do Hyun-soo after hitting him with a car in their house on life support is done so simply and in a flashback which the show uses many times to reveal important things quickly. It is also hinted many times for the eventual reveal that the actual Baek Hee-sung (Kim Ji-hoon), whom Hyunn is acting as, is the true accomplice to Do Min- seok’s (Choi Byung-mo) murders which is why his parents, Gong Mi-ja (Nam Gi-ae ) and Baek Man-woo (Son Jong-hak) who would do anything to protect their son are hiding him until the statutes of limitations for the murders expire.
There are also many suspenseful scenes and episodes that I think are impactful in showing how the serial murders and other events in the series have impacted different people, such as the episode in which Park Kyung-choo (Yoon Byung-hee) abducts and tortures Do Hyun-soo by drowning in order to get him to reveal where his wife Jung Mi-sook (Han Soo-Yeon) is mistakenly believing he witnessed where she went as he thinks he is the accomplice or at least witness to his father’s murder. Another suspenseful scene is where Baek-hee-sung taunts Do-Hyun-soo to kill him after revealing he seemingly killed his wife, causing there to be a chase between the two with Hyun-soo angered to what seems to be the point of no return until Baek is killed as revenge for his presumed death of his wife. These same scenes also have some of the most emotional moments, such as when Cha Ji-won saves her husband from Park and gets him to come back to his senses, revealing she’s alive before he kills Baek right before he gets shot. Some other emotional scenes include when Ji Woon overhears Hyun telling his sister he never loved his wife. The OST that plays in these scenes and the incredible chemistry between the actors and actresses only helps to heighten the emotional impact of these scenes.
All these revelations and events result in the end of the series, which consists of Do Hae-soo going to trial and later being found guilty for the murder of the chief leader of the village, which Do Hyun-soo was accused of for a long time as he tried to protect his sister. An event I found unnecessary to the story is the whole amnesia plot. While it is true that in the previous episode, Do Hyun gets shot and fractured his skull, the plot seems to be padding to make the final episode as long as the previous ones. However, I do like that the episode ends with Hyun-soo coming back with most if not all, his memories and getting back into a relationship with his wife, and becoming the family they were at the beginning of the series.
With this being said, Flower of Evil is an amazing crime/thriller with an exciting murder investigation, a mix of emotional and suspenseful scenes, and character development that make every episode feel quick and without any filler, minus the amnesia plot, in my opinion. I think anyone with an interest in this genre of any media should give this show a fair chance and watch it.