First Impression: Flower of Evil

I think I met my favorite K-drama male lead of 2020!

Drama Profile

Title: Flower of Evil
Main Cast: Lee Joon-gi, Moon Chae-won
Writer: Yoo Jung-hee (Naked Fireman)
PD: Kim Cheol-kyu (On the Way to the Airport, Chicago Typewriter, Mother)
Timeslot: Wednesday and Thursday / 22:50
Network: tvN
Episodes: 16
Genre: Psychological Thriller

Plot Synopsis:

Metal craftsman Baek Hee-sung (Lee Joon-gi) and detective Cha Ji-won (Moon Chae-won) seems to have a perfect marriage, but underneath it all lies a dark past and secret identities that would shake their world.

Major trope: Whodunit

Grumpy’s First Impression

Lee Joon-gi is still the best when it comes to calculated and cunning characters. His menacing smirk is one of the best smirks in the fictional world. He is apathetic and dark. Did you notice how Baek Hee-sung studied how to smile happily? What a scary scene! I didn’t know he has alexithymia! Even I can’t help but be swayed by his seemingly warm facade as a loving father and husband to his family! I feel really bad for his daughter Eun-ha once the truth will be revealed later in the story.

The poetic first scene wherein Lee Joon-gi is tied up in the pool drowning while his wife Moon Chae-won hesitated to save him and just kissed him while they drown speaks volumes.

Serial Killing Madness

Flower of Evil is really testing my patience when it comes to whodunit plots. It’s just the first two episodes but I want my questions to be answered already! Is it confirmed that he is the serial killer or is it someone else? Just like the murder incident in Episode 2 wherein the police are momentarily diverted by the Do Min-seok case? Is the drama unapologetically distracting us to make us believe that Hee-sung is the ultimate bad guy here when in fact it’s someone else?

Let’s talk about Ji-won. Can I just say her chemistry with Lee Joon-gi is just the bomb! They’re so lovely as a couple and even more adorable as Eun-ha’s parents! I wonder if Ji-won really doesn’t have a hint about her husband’s dirty little secrets? From what I saw in the first two episodes, she’s a very capable detective. She doesn’t just trust her instincts, but also back them up with logical thinking. I wonder if her speech about taking that “pill” is a foreshadowing of what’s to come? In the second episode, it’s also evident how she can get scary when things get awry. The way she handled that murder suspect was super satisfying!

Can I just say? My Lawless Lawyer babies both became psychos in their latest projects! Dramagods, what have you done!

“A certain truth can destroy your life instantly and you know that it will also be revealed someday. But if you can put off that moment for another day, I would take that pill.”

-Cha Ji-won

Hee-sung as a Dad

Well, my favorite part of the pilot week has got to be Eun-ha’s confrontation with little bitch Soo-young. Yes, I get it. It’s bad that Eun-ha had to touch something that doesn’t belong to her. But to make her nose bleed like that? That’s overkill! And her hoodlum mother isn’t even apologetic! I was really also annoyed at Hee-sung for apologizing so easily like that when in fact they could have sued Soo-young’s family. But then, the poor girl got what she deserved when Eun-ha’s ~evil~ dad stole her precious doll and throw it in the trash! LOL, what a payback!

I have to say, though, that this also proves how Hee-sung has a long way to go in terms of character development, or would he better himself at all as we progress more into the plot. I’m still currently torn whether to believe that he is indeed the serial killer in the story or we are being deceived to “see what only need to see” (just like how Hee-sung described his own wife).

Overall, this one is a very promising crime series from Lee Joon-gi and Moon Chae-won, and I couldn’t wait to uncover more secrets and develop theories in the coming weeks!