Flower of Evil suffers from the same things as other action kdramas, namely hammy villain, overly dramatic music, Cliff of Doom, plodding police work. I rolled my eyes at the last-minute amnesia. Despite all this, I did enjoy it and some parts were quite moving. I'm also giving it bonus points for Moon Chae-won and Jang Hee-jin. I liked the fact that this was an established, already-married couple. A solid 8/10.
I would definitely not have chosen this premise or this FL for Junho BUT he's made good choices with his work so far so I'm just gonna have to trust him. I'm praying with all my might that the writing turns some cliches on their heads. At the very least, we'll him back in suits!
I appreciate that this was quite refreshing when it first aired, but watching it almost 10 years later I can't get past the circular plot with plotholes everywhere, some distractingly cheesy acting and directing, and a ML who has as much personality as bland porridge. The reason I watched to the end was the side characters, particularly Jinsook and Soo. Although the fact that Jinsook is in love with someone to whom she was a parent figure is kind of weird and icky. If the genders were reversed I think there'd be way more outrage.
This drama was so insightful about motherhood, imagine my surprise when I found out the writer was male. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys family drama. The love line is very wholesome, the murder mystery adds some suspense and momentum to an otherwise quite leisurely-paced show (but don't expect a intricately plotted crime drama). Kang Haneul is so good at comedy!
Finally finished the epicly long last two episodes. I think the editing got a bit choppy in the last part of the drama, probably because they were filming much closer to deadline. The tonal shift between scenes was sometimes jarring in a way that wasn't present in earlier episodes. Overall I really enjoyed it. Even though I had some issues with the plot and pacing, the drama was made with a lot of care and thought. The performances were exceptional. I appreciate that they didn't sugercoat things or imply that love was enough to cure all woes. In that sense, there's a heavy dose of realism even though the setup of a royal romance might imply some kind of fairytale. A mark of good writing is that I felt for all the characters, even the minor and "evil" ones. I would've liked to see more of their life as parents, as I think this was an important aspect of their relationship (as per Jeongjo's epitaph for Uibin). I also would've liked to see more of San's achievements as king, since they spent so much of the first part of the drama emphasising his aspirations for his country and people. The drama skipped some other events that I think would've played really well on screen. Nevertheless, this is a drama I could easily rewatch, it's so full of symbolism and double meanings. And finally, as a fangirl, I'm incredibly proud and happy that Junho's military comeback project was such a roaring success. I just hope he doesn't have to cry so much in his next drama!
Hmm I wonder if this is related to the missing girl thing that Deokro was put in charge of solving? I realised that plot point is still dangling and it's been years in drama time since then
goodness...... cant he just break the rules and only have her? so tomorrow will be TWO episodes? why is that?…
It's because there are only two airing days left, tomorrow and 1st January, so they have to fit all the episodes in. 31st December is MBC Gayo Daejejeon. So next week there'll be two episodes on Saturday again.
A clue about how Deokim comes to accept San's proposal is in the synopsis "she starts to understand that forming a union with him could ultimately benefit his troubled realm". I think she'll realise that San would be a better king with her by his side, because he'll be happier and more settled, or because he still has so many enemies and needs someone truly loyal next to him (after what happens with Deokro), something like that. After all, a big motivation for her so far has been helping San as a king because she believes in him as a ruler. And now she's seen how much influence she has on his actions as king.
And I just remembered about those book pages Deokim still has, so maybe her acceptance will come after the fallout from that?
Also, Detective Choi deserves a promotion.
And I just remembered about those book pages Deokim still has, so maybe her acceptance will come after the fallout from that?