3
12
1
Maritza
Serbia
This review may contain spoilers
An alluring account of a lonely mind which keeps you engaged
"Some truths can ruin a life in a single moment."
Whenever I would pop on this website in search of a drama to watch, "Flower of Evil"kept jumping out at me, carefully luring in my interest until one day I gave in and decided to watch it for myself. To see to which degree the hype around this show is justified. And, for the most part, it is earned. But then there are some decisions I can`t help but question.
For starters, most of the characters in this drama, I like. They are acted with ardent precision(most of the time) and keep you engaged since they`re far from one-dimensional. Lee Joon-Gi gave an incredibly convincing and layered performance and I`m glad I managed to see him at the top of his game, considering that this is my first experience with his acting. In that sense, I`ll be sure to check out some of his other projects. The way he presents his character of Hee Sung/Hyun Su(which I noticed have the same initials, whether that was done intentionally or not, it`s an interesting titbit for sure) is both intriguing and clear enough for me to figure out his worries and thoughts through the way he looks at other characters, through some facial cues(like his cheeks shaking just slightly) and these are for me signs of a quality actor. It also helps that he was dealt a character who`s both rather atypical and compelling. Hyun Su`s story, for me, is one of caution tales that are always told but never minded. Being raised by a psychopath and cold blooded murderer Do Min Seok(whose potrayal is also a big favorite of mine, wish they included him more, because he is, without a doubt, the most menacing presence of the drama), shunned by his community upon losing most of his family and even regarded as the second coming of his dad are all just the start of his troubles. Constantly being accused of doing something he hasn`t done, having so many near death experiences etc. it`s a miracle he only came out of all that with antisocial disorder. Throughout this drama, I understood him and cheered him on because I cared greatly for him and his family as a whole. Though I do think at times, writers were unnecessarily cruel with other characters` reactions towards him, namely Moo Jin and Ji Won. When it comes to his turbulent relationship with Ji Won, I was also invested. I felt like both of them were at times making decisions too volatile for what they`ve been through, but they created a solid foundation and believable feelings for one another for me to get over that. Ji Won is optimistic, ambitious, uncompromising in her beliefs but still mentally strong to handle the ordeal presented to her upon facing her husband and his troubled past. On the other hand, she can be cruel, cunning and blind to answers right in front of her eyes. As I said, most of these characters are wonderfully layered and are the backbone of this drama. Another thing to be commended is the cinematography. The shots of this drama can be quite creative in certain moments, when even I went:"Oh, that`s neat!"I even applaud the writing of this drama for some nuanced details, like how Jung Mi-sook`s body was never found, only for her to be alive. There are some fun things and surprises to be found within the writing of this drama.
The atmosphere is done well, for both the alleviating and menacing moments. For the most part, this drama is acted, written, shot and presented well and I`ve come to really appreciate everything it has to offer.
However.
Around the 10th episode mark, up to which point everything flowed remarkably well, the mystery was unfolding, our characters were facing conflicts too striking to miss. Then we hit a wall, which was removed in the 14th episode. For those three episodes I was both uncomfortably confused and started to disengage. With the reveal of the accomplice(which I commented about on my feed), the mystery aspect of this drama became quite predictable. And it all comes down to the way they decided to present the character of Hee Sung. Our actual main villain, Hee Sung, was someone I was both unsure and wary of due to my extensive knowledge of dormant characters who appear for a brief period of time, only to reappear and take center stage in mystery novels and shows. Agatha Christie did this a lot. In fact it was done to such a degree it became incredibly predictable, so I was really hoping it wouldn`t happen here too, as this drama was too refreshing for such a trope. But it happened. And then it was followed by MEMORY LOSS. And just like that, the voice in my head became that of Michael Scott`s famous NO!NO!GOD PLEASE NO!NOOO!
My stance on the villain of this show is this:I wished they picked the sensible motivation over sensationalism. While Kim Ji-hoon did a fine job with the role he was given, he would at times come off as genuinely threatening, but other times it crossed into this comedic territory where I thought how I`ve seen this many times before. Honestly, I did wish his father was the accomplice. To some it might`ve been predictable, but honestly, a villain with true motivations is far less predictable then an incorporated lunatic whose only job was to be a villain. Not only would such a role fit with his father`s temperament, but the clues we were given would fit in a lot more with his profile. Most importantly, at least in my case, I felt like his father could really be a somber presence and a nice juxtaposition to his wife and Do Min Seok too. Again, I don`t mind the villain we got, but I wish there was more to him and that he was incorporated into the story with more conviction. That part was done really clumsily. There were also some convenient coincidences, but others have already expanded upon the idea, so I won`t go into it too, but they were CONVENIENT. Finally, the last episode happened and it was...something. Whilst the way they went into the whole memory loss shenanigan was admittedly more original that most, and with some purpose, it was still MEMORY LOSS in an otherwise quite original drama. And I hated that, can`t mask my feelings. It was weird, nonsensical and I wondered if we REALLY needed to end on this note. I`m glad mostly everyone got their happy ending, though. I cared about these characters and wanted their lives to finally change for the better.
In conclusion, there were some things I really loved about this drama and there were some things I really didn`t care for. But, it is a drama I`ll remember from time to time and smile to myself, because it still managed to stand out from the rest.
Whenever I would pop on this website in search of a drama to watch, "Flower of Evil"kept jumping out at me, carefully luring in my interest until one day I gave in and decided to watch it for myself. To see to which degree the hype around this show is justified. And, for the most part, it is earned. But then there are some decisions I can`t help but question.
For starters, most of the characters in this drama, I like. They are acted with ardent precision(most of the time) and keep you engaged since they`re far from one-dimensional. Lee Joon-Gi gave an incredibly convincing and layered performance and I`m glad I managed to see him at the top of his game, considering that this is my first experience with his acting. In that sense, I`ll be sure to check out some of his other projects. The way he presents his character of Hee Sung/Hyun Su(which I noticed have the same initials, whether that was done intentionally or not, it`s an interesting titbit for sure) is both intriguing and clear enough for me to figure out his worries and thoughts through the way he looks at other characters, through some facial cues(like his cheeks shaking just slightly) and these are for me signs of a quality actor. It also helps that he was dealt a character who`s both rather atypical and compelling. Hyun Su`s story, for me, is one of caution tales that are always told but never minded. Being raised by a psychopath and cold blooded murderer Do Min Seok(whose potrayal is also a big favorite of mine, wish they included him more, because he is, without a doubt, the most menacing presence of the drama), shunned by his community upon losing most of his family and even regarded as the second coming of his dad are all just the start of his troubles. Constantly being accused of doing something he hasn`t done, having so many near death experiences etc. it`s a miracle he only came out of all that with antisocial disorder. Throughout this drama, I understood him and cheered him on because I cared greatly for him and his family as a whole. Though I do think at times, writers were unnecessarily cruel with other characters` reactions towards him, namely Moo Jin and Ji Won. When it comes to his turbulent relationship with Ji Won, I was also invested. I felt like both of them were at times making decisions too volatile for what they`ve been through, but they created a solid foundation and believable feelings for one another for me to get over that. Ji Won is optimistic, ambitious, uncompromising in her beliefs but still mentally strong to handle the ordeal presented to her upon facing her husband and his troubled past. On the other hand, she can be cruel, cunning and blind to answers right in front of her eyes. As I said, most of these characters are wonderfully layered and are the backbone of this drama. Another thing to be commended is the cinematography. The shots of this drama can be quite creative in certain moments, when even I went:"Oh, that`s neat!"I even applaud the writing of this drama for some nuanced details, like how Jung Mi-sook`s body was never found, only for her to be alive. There are some fun things and surprises to be found within the writing of this drama.
The atmosphere is done well, for both the alleviating and menacing moments. For the most part, this drama is acted, written, shot and presented well and I`ve come to really appreciate everything it has to offer.
However.
Around the 10th episode mark, up to which point everything flowed remarkably well, the mystery was unfolding, our characters were facing conflicts too striking to miss. Then we hit a wall, which was removed in the 14th episode. For those three episodes I was both uncomfortably confused and started to disengage. With the reveal of the accomplice(which I commented about on my feed), the mystery aspect of this drama became quite predictable. And it all comes down to the way they decided to present the character of Hee Sung. Our actual main villain, Hee Sung, was someone I was both unsure and wary of due to my extensive knowledge of dormant characters who appear for a brief period of time, only to reappear and take center stage in mystery novels and shows. Agatha Christie did this a lot. In fact it was done to such a degree it became incredibly predictable, so I was really hoping it wouldn`t happen here too, as this drama was too refreshing for such a trope. But it happened. And then it was followed by MEMORY LOSS. And just like that, the voice in my head became that of Michael Scott`s famous NO!NO!GOD PLEASE NO!NOOO!
My stance on the villain of this show is this:I wished they picked the sensible motivation over sensationalism. While Kim Ji-hoon did a fine job with the role he was given, he would at times come off as genuinely threatening, but other times it crossed into this comedic territory where I thought how I`ve seen this many times before. Honestly, I did wish his father was the accomplice. To some it might`ve been predictable, but honestly, a villain with true motivations is far less predictable then an incorporated lunatic whose only job was to be a villain. Not only would such a role fit with his father`s temperament, but the clues we were given would fit in a lot more with his profile. Most importantly, at least in my case, I felt like his father could really be a somber presence and a nice juxtaposition to his wife and Do Min Seok too. Again, I don`t mind the villain we got, but I wish there was more to him and that he was incorporated into the story with more conviction. That part was done really clumsily. There were also some convenient coincidences, but others have already expanded upon the idea, so I won`t go into it too, but they were CONVENIENT. Finally, the last episode happened and it was...something. Whilst the way they went into the whole memory loss shenanigan was admittedly more original that most, and with some purpose, it was still MEMORY LOSS in an otherwise quite original drama. And I hated that, can`t mask my feelings. It was weird, nonsensical and I wondered if we REALLY needed to end on this note. I`m glad mostly everyone got their happy ending, though. I cared about these characters and wanted their lives to finally change for the better.
In conclusion, there were some things I really loved about this drama and there were some things I really didn`t care for. But, it is a drama I`ll remember from time to time and smile to myself, because it still managed to stand out from the rest.
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