Drama Reviews - Flower Of Evil (2020)

Flower Of Evil is a thriller about Baek Heeseong, a seemingly perfect guy with a perfect family, but actually harboring a terrible secret - he has been living under a fake identity to escape a murder charge, and is currently married to a cop who is re-investigating the case.

I have been watching a bunch of American and UK shows (The Queen's Gambit, The Crown S1-4, Broadchurch S1), then I watched Start Up till ep 10 and lost interest, so Flower Of Evil is the first kdrama I've watched in awhile and it's the perfect show to suck me back in because I loved it, at least up until episode 12. It's been on my radar for awhile because my main kpop girlie Nayoung made her acting debut in this show as young Do Haesoo, but the show wasn't on Netflix for the longest time.  

The strongest part of this show was undoubtedly the acting. Lee Junki showcased an acting masterclass with his performance as Do Hyunsu/Baek Heeseong, equally convincing as the loving husband and father, and the manipulative Hyunsu. 

Moon Chaewon, I've loved since The Princess' Man (wonderful wonderful sageuk) and The Innocent Man, and she continues to impress me here as the smart and fiercely protective Cha Jiwon. It's been awhile since I was moved to tears but episode 11 where he finally found out that she knew and still protected and loved him made me tear. I especially loved the middle section when she realised her husband is Do Hyeonsu, and then starts plotting to push his buttons and try to cause him to make a mistake. So cruel, so painful but oh such awesome angst that was wonderfully portrayed by Moon Chaewon.

I also enjoyed our supporting characters with Jang Heejin as Do Haesoo and Seo Hyunwoo as Kim Moojin, and I really liked their little romance on the side. I actually loved Haesoo as a character because she is so complex, someone who killed a person and then let her brother take the blame for 18 years, but obviously being torn away by her guilt, and then making the ultimate sacrifice by protecting his wife and kid. Moo Jin is also absolutely hilarious which provided much needed levity in this otherwise very serious show. 

And of course, Kim Jihoon was very effective as Baek Heeseong, our resident big baddie. The image of him hiding behind the doors, with his long hair and biting his nails always gives me the creeps.

Special dedication to my girl Nayoung, who was cast as the younger version of our main character's pretty noona. She did have a few key scenes that allowed her to show some range - like the scene of her at the village head's murder, and the funeral scene. Considering her nickname on Produce 101 was Stone Buddha because of her lack of facial expressions, I thought her acting was pretty decent. I'm so happy that she made her debut in such a good drama and I have high hopes for her future. Also I'm biased so I will love anything she does. 

Now, on to the writing. This writer is good at writing individual scenes that are heart pounding, impactful and successfully make me cry, and generally the story was engaging, but on closer look, the plot holes were everywhere. It got worse and worse as the show moved on. I thought the choice to make Jiwon discover that Heeseong is Hyeonsu via his sleeptalking abit anti-climatic, but since it sped things up, I was okay with it. I was also okay with Heeseong being the real accomplice, because it makes everything ironic in how Hyeonsu, in his quest to escape the label of being his father's accomplice, ended up taking the identity of the real accomplice. But I could not overlook some other glaring plot holes, for example the whole plot of trying to frame Hyeonsu for the maid's murder. How were the Baeks supposed to know that he would come to their house that night. And then the character of Hyeonsu also frustrated me to no end in the latter few episodes when he kept trying to lie to Jiwon, or trick her and go off on his own. If I were her, I would suspect him too since he isn't helping himself by being so suspicious and keeping secrets all the time. Also, in ep 15, why would Hyeonsu use Heeseong's phone to try to call Jiwon?! But never mind, because that led to his emotional breakdown when he believed Jiwon to be dead which was obviously the climax of the show. Let's not even talk about that last minute amnesia plot. It's one of those tropes that I hate no matter when or how it's used.

Directing was strong and managed to successful convey the urgency of the situations that Hyeonsu finds himself in. That scene above was peak excitement. Some of the shots like the one where Hyeonsu met Haesoo again was just gorgeous. 

The music was also aptly used to create tension in the nailbiting moments or stir emotions in the heartwrenching parts. I especially loved Feel You Using Shin Yongjae is just cheating cos his voice is amazing.

All in all, while there were plot holes, I thought it was still worth the watch because there was just so much heart in the show, from the leads' relationship to the strong familial bond among the blood-related family and that among Jiwon's team. It's been awhile since I've been so addicted to a korean drama.

Quite a few of my faves are having new releases - Lee Da Hee in LUCA and Jeon Yeo Bin in Vincenzo, so I'm really excited. And one day, I'll finish the last 6 eps of Start Up haha. I've heard so many good things about Hospital Playlist but the fact that it's a medical drama makes it so hard for me to watch because I can't turn off my critical brain while watching.