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[Why you should watch] Flower of Evil
by Guest Beanie
By: @Kmoon79
You know when you love something and you want everyone to love it too… yet you are jealously protective of it and don’t want anybody to know about it? That’s how I feel about Flower of Evil. I don’t want people to just watch this show – I want people to LOVE this show. I really want people to see how perfect it is, or not to see it all.
Now, after having seen over 40 K-dramas (I just started this year), Flower of Evil wins the Oscars in my personal book in pretty much every category:
- Twisty-turning unpredictable plot? Check.
- Ambiguous lead? Check.
- Charismatic villain? Check.
- Adorable family? Check.
- Gut-wrenching suspense? Check.
- Beautiful shots? Check.
- Angsty soundtrack? Check.
- Amazing chemistry between leads? Check.
- Lee Jun-ki? CHECK CHECK!
Let me set the scene for you, spoiler-free.
The drama opens with a flash-forward of a barely conscious Baek Hee-sung (Lee Jun-ki) underwater and Cha Ji-won (Moon Chae-won) desperately trying to save him. In a voiceover we hear Baek Hee-sung saying: “Do you want me to tell you what kind of person I am?” and Cha Ji-won responds: “I will love you even more from now on. I will be really good to you. Then everything will change at some point. Like magic.” These first two minutes drive home the lifeline of this show: a man living a dubious truth while his wife tries to save him with unconditional love.
The episode then quickly cuts to the couple having a tender moment to the angsty beat of “Feel You” by Shin Yong Jae. Soon we are shown the main leads’ family dynamic: she’s a gutsy, badass police detective, and he’s a sensitive stay-at-home dad who makes jewelry on the first floor shop of their home. Baek Hee-sung is a sweet, doting husband and a caring father to their adorable daughter, Eun-ha, who loves her dad more than anything. He even prepares cut fruit as a snack for her teachers! At his birthday dinner we see that his parents are extremely cold and unwelcoming to his wife and daughter. Not even her “Halmoni, haraboji, I love you” melts their icy demeanor. What a vibe, yikes.
Hee-sung’s family constantly reminds him that they “own his life” and at first it seems they are very jealous parents who think the wife is “stealing” their son from them or maybe is after their money. Hee-sung affirms to his mother that his life belongs to her as long as he lives as Baek Hee-sung, and tells her to stay away from his wife because she (the mother) is not as good at fooling her (the wife) as he is. WHAT? This family definitely has a skeleton in their fancy walk-in closet! *cough*
One day a reporter comes sniffing around the shop for someone called Do Hyun-soo, and next thing we know, he’s being attacked, bound, and imprisoned in the shop basement by Hee-sung. WHAT! Then we see Hee-sung playfully preparing dinner with his daughter as Ji-won comes home, as if the violence a few hours prior never happened. His ambiguity leaves us reeling!
Throughout the drama we get flashes of Hee-sung and Ji-won’s early relationship. Hee-sung is a totally different person, with bleached blonde hair, and is very closed off and apparently indifferent to Ji-won’s advances — even pushing her away. But she sees something in him, and she declares that she will love him no matter what, and the more that he refuses, the harder she will love him. In one scene (one of my favorites), Hee-sung comes into the convenience store where college-age Ji-won works. The power goes out and Ji-won casually mentions how scared she is to be in the shop alone, since the other shops get robbed when this happens, so Hee-sung silently stands watch outside in the cold to make sure Ji-won is safe. Awww.
Back in the present, Cha Ji-won is investigating a case in which the wife cries: “Our family is perfect! There is nothing wrong with our family!” This eerily echoes an important theme of the story: families are complicated, and not what they seem from the outside. Case in point: we see Hee-sung secretly watching a video on how to show and recognize emotions while practicing in front of a mirror. He also has recurring visions of a creepy black-eyed man which clearly terrify him (and us — dude is SCARY). There is definitely something wrong with Ji-won’s family, but she doesn’t yet have a clue.
The plot thickens as people get murdered in the same manner of a sadistic serial killer who’s been missing for years… and maybe he’s back at it? Or maybe it’s a copycat killer? An accomplice? Ji-won is assigned to the case and unknowingly ends up chasing her own husband (cue classic saving-from-falling-objects scene).
I’m going to stop right here to avoid spoilers. There are layers and layers to this story: Hee-sung and the strange relationship with his parents, his mysterious past and contradictory behavior, and his wife’s growing suspicions about his identity. The plot is intricately woven around Hee-sung: his complexity leaves us questioning everything we think we know about him, and even though we are given more insight to his past than Ji-won, we are on the same journey as her.
Is he a villain, or someone who just always attracts trouble? Is he a killer? Is he the killer? Are all the nasty rumors about him true? Lee Jun-ki is perfect for this role: he showcases his flawless, nuanced acting and his physical prowess. (Yes, he really was hanging on the edge of that building, albeit with a safety harness.)
Every episode of this series throws painful punches and curve balls, leaving us confused, and hanging on the edge of our seat. Flower of Evil is 10/10 and a gem for those who enjoy a good mystery-suspense thriller. I can only hope I’ve whet your appetite with this sneak peek of the setup, and you’re ready to love it as much as I do.
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