Flower of Evil

This drama definitely deserves the hype and also this incredible high rating here on MDL! Although I rated it 9/10 stars, I still very much liked it. I preffered the beginning and the middle of the drama rather than the ending: especially the 15. episode and some parts of 16. episode were too melodramatic for my taste. Don't get me wrong, I like melodramas too but I feel like it didn't really suit this drama.

The acting was done brilliantly, especially the main male actor did such a great job in portraying the ML, all his sides, it was really chilling (in a good way!) to watch it. I came to love the FL's character as well and the police team was great too. <3

Overall a very satisfying watch! Worth the hype.

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Best of the best!

I am usually not one for thrillers but this drama...it touched my soul.

The acting by Lee Joongi and Moon Chae Won was beyond words. This drama is definitely one the best I have ever seen in all the years I've been watching dramas. The directing and production brought this already incredible script to another level of brilliance. I can't leave out the editing and the beautiful additions of the OST.

Each actor performed their role so brilliantly that you're glued to screen wanting to know what happens next.
Everything about this was just phenomenal. I am so happy that director Kim Cheol-Kyu won the award for Best Director at the 57th Baeksang Arts Awards. It is truly deserved.

P.S. I've known Lee Joongi's since 'Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo' and Moon Chaewon from 'The Innocent Man'. So I knew both of them were good. Moon Chaewon however completely blew me away with her performance. I am now officially her fan as well.

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Heart-pounding, heart-stopping

This was absolutely fantastic from the get-go — starting off by making us question the ML's identity, then watching the tension between him and the FL, and finally figuring out the mystery and having it play out...the story was extremely well-written and the performances and chemistry between the two leads was fantastic.

I also want to give massive props to the actor for Baek Hee-Sung, whose stare sent absolute chills down my spine.

I admit, however, that the ending definitely soured my love for this show a bit — I'm never a fan of the amnesia trope and while I don't think it was necessarily overblown in this show, it felt unnecessary and I would've loved for the leads instead to carry the burden and move forwards together (the way they'd been doing so far).

Still, there's a lot to love about this show from its story to its questions about humanity...and it's a thriller I'd highly recommend.

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A character driven story.

Flower Of Evil is one of those shows that takes you entirely by surprise.
Shows are frequently overhyped, but they often can demonstrate their worthiness of being hyped up. This slow-burn thriller is a brilliantly written show that easily jumps between genres while never losing sight of its central idea. It's a show that deserved to win the Asia Artist Awards as well as the Baeksang Arts Award that it attained.
The story itself is played as a combination of a procedural crime drama and a cat and mouse thriller. Even after weeks of finishing this drama, the characters, themes, and plots didn't let me go, nor did I wish to let go.
This is a winding thriller, and you'll want to watch this very delicate and shocking story to the end.
There are some great moments that will surprise you. I can't select which of the many strong goodies in the drama to highlight first. The primary characters? The supporting cast? What about the acting? What about the writing?
The tone shifts slightly when we learn more about Hee-Sung's intentions. These tonal swings eventually move into the realm of romance. The first thing you notice when you start the drama is one of the most touching married couple you've ever seen in the drama world, accompanied by their lovely little daughter.

There's something you can't notice straight away, as the storey synopsis already implies. Something that begins to rip those nicely constructed barriers down from within. Hee-Sung is suspected of being the perpetrator of a series of mysterious murders. Hee-Sung quickly reveals that he is not who he appears to be, adopting a false character and being unable to feel any emotions. Adopting a fake persona and unable to feel any emotions, it soon becomes apparent that Hee-Sung is not at all what he seems. However, being experienced with a lot of crime tropes, I sensed there was something fishy about the dark past they were trying to sell me. How far can a drama go with the main character being the bad guy? Could he be the one who killed these people? Is it possible that something else is at work here? That question followed me around like a shadow while my suspicions grew.

The finale removes some wind from the sails. It is mainly used to wrap everything in a neat bow, borrowing some proven Kdrama metaphors. Moon Chae Won and Lee Jun Gi's acting is exemplary, and both have plenty of room to play a role that really relies on their emotional performance.
There's definitely a lot of tension here, from the mob boss tying up Hee Sung and threatening to set the room on fire, to our heroes slowly lining up in a water-filled pool. This is completely contrary to Ji Won's police investigation, as she is torn between her obligations and her relationship with Hee Sung.
This relationship really moves the story forward. Unlike many Korean dramas, Flower Of Evil takes time to turn this simple love story into a much more complex case than the misunderstandings we've seen. It is that the chemistry between the two is very powerful and both help to nourish each other and enhance their achievements.

I do have to admit that at times the tempo is a little off. There are a few barely noticeable lulls along the way.
I have the ability to without a doubt say, Flower Of Evil is a fantastic drama. It's the ability to combine the romantic, dramatic, and action-packed genres without becoming bogged down in its own convoluted plot is amazing.
This one is definitely worth checking out if you haven't already!

X0X0 <3
---Taemango

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INTENSE!

Intense pace but perfectly controlled. Great plot, great story, great acting. OST lack a bit of pop culture but is still very good. The main actor and actress are really EXCELLENT. Most other kdrama have bad actors or bad plots. This one is almost perfect!

The emotional intensity of the main character are so great and it is intensified with the great score. ONE little mistake of this is their description of a psychopath. It is mostly true but not really accurate, because the main actor is too emotional in his facial expression and saying that psychopath can evolve into a normal being is simply not true.

Because of this, I'll be lowering scores for other series. This is now the new reference for masterpiece.

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Could have been great

I was hooked for the first few episodes. The premise was great, the acting was good and the mystery was smartly pulled together. I was still all in till about the 10th or 11th episode but the drama cliches made me finally drop it. Jiwon is meant to be a smart, capable, physically fit police officer, why does she need to be rescued so much when the plot suddenly needs her to be less capable? Hee Soo is a grown woman who clearly loves her brother and feels guilty about what he took on in her place, why was everyone babying her to keep quiet about it instead of clearing up the huge misunderstanding that implicated Hyun Soo? Hyun Soo seems to have a very dark streak in him as well from the beginning, but instead of it being a more complex arc of having the darkness but still getting a different future, he was just everyone's victim. I was really disappointed.

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Hooked

Oh, my heart, I am so completely head over heels with Lee Joon Gi and refuse to believe he’s on the wrong side. I’m so desperate for him not to be the killer that I find myself coming up with excuses as to why things are unfolding the way they are – he must have a reason, of course, there is one, please let there be one. He’s working to clear up his name even if events unfold to belie that thinking, and I am sticking to that. I am also holding out to the hope that when Ji Won figures out HS’s reality, and she will sooner than later, she’ll instinctively trust he isn’t a cold-blooded killer. Boy is this is one stellar drama or what -- I am hooked!

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A decent thriller that completely falls off a cliff

Flower of Evil starts off great, the story grabs your attention right off the bat because it’s “different” and certainly more unique than the stereotypical K-Drama. A husband who’s secretly been living a fake life and has a past marred in murder and mystery? Sign me up. But what starts off as 11 pretty good, even great, episodes ends up falling off a cliff at terminal velocity as the plot becomes marred with inconsistencies, holes, tropes, and poor characterization. The last episode was one of the most mind bogglingly bad endings I’ve ever seen.

The acting from the ML is expectedly very good, Lee Joon Gi always delivers. The FL lead I found to be quite weak, she really only had a few expressions and her acting felt stiff, honestly the weakest among the cast. I keep reading about the chemistry and wonder do people praise the chemistry for every pair cause…can we be honest it was non existent here. They spend the last entire half of the drama just crying every scene or having the most repetitive conversations. I can’t recall being moved a single time and I’ll cry to paint drying. Everyone else is okay but forgettable, largely attributed to the fact that the writing in this show as mentioned previously, completely gets shot, stabbed, burned and then reincarnated only to be shot again.

They spend the entire first 60-70 % of the show building up the story of how his wife knows about him but she’s madly in love and also trusts that he didn’t commit the murder so she works behind the scenes to figure stuff out. Then suddenly in episode 12 (?) after the couple reconcile and it feels like the drama is wrapping up they completely flip and now she wants to turn him in for murder???

Outside of this, there’s so many inconsistencies, plot holes, lack of consequences and constant convenient events. Why is the police so incompetent? Why do the ML and FL escape all consequences despite committing countless crimes? …. the FL literally lies to her coworkers the entire show puts them in dangerous positions and probably even got someone killed. Why doesn’t Baek Hee Sung know what Jiwon looks like?

I can tolerate suspending reality to a certain degree but this got ridiculous and completely lacked rationale. The ending created several different storylines instead of wrapping up those that existed. Overall the show is mediocre, it starts off strong and develops the mystery very well but then develops outlandish and ridiculous plots that make no sense, this is one of those dramas that desperately needed to only be 12 episodes and it would have been great.

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