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Flower of Evil korean drama review
Completed
Flower of Evil
0 people found this review helpful
by goofball04
May 8, 2022
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 8.0
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 4.0
This review may contain spoilers

Surprisingly Disappointed

*SPOILERS BELOW*

On the surface, Baek Hee-seung appears to live a perfect life. He has a beautiful wife and daughter, who he absolutely adores; however, he is hiding a dark secret. Hyun-soo is the son of a serial killer, and after a tragic accident, he takes on the identity of Baek Hee-seung, who is in a coma. When Hee-seung's wife, a detective, begins to investigate a series of murders, she begins to wonder if her "perfect" husband is hiding something from her. Sounds interesting, right? Sadly, while the synopsis sounds promising, Flower of Evil did not deliver and left me disappointed.

I was excited to start watching this series after a handful of people insisted that I watch it. I will be honest, the first couple of episodes held my attention, unlike any other k-drama before. The beginning episodes had me on the edge of my seat, and the anticipation of waiting for the next episodes nearly killed me. I had come to understand why people asserted this drama as one of the best k-dramas. Yet, after the show's first half, I slowly became displeased. I now think that this drama does not deserve the title of the best k-drama ever. My reasons are listed below.

Likes:
- The cast has excellent acting performances, especially Lee Joon-gi and Moon Chae-won! Everyone delivered!
- The plot is different, but not in a bad way. The main story is unique and not something many shows have done before.
- Terrific cinematography. One of the best I have seen in a Korean drama.
- LOVED the flashbacks presented at the beginning of the episodes!
- Do Hyun-soo's and Cha Ji-won's chemistry is fantastic! They are perfectly in sync. Plus, the scenes of them with Eu-ha were so adorable!
- There were some pretty intense twists.
- Strong female lead! It was like the damsel in distress was reversed. Ji-won was the one who was always rescuing Hyun-soo (e.g., when Park Kyung-choon kidnaps Hyun-soo and when Yeom Sang-cheol tries to kill Hyun-soo).
- The OST has some outstanding songs, but I wish there could have been some more songs used throughout the show instead of the same three songs.

Dislikes:
- Powerful first half but unsatisfying second half. The first sixish episodes were very suspenseful and thrilling! During these episodes, we wonder if Do Hyun-soo is a good or bad guy, but the suspense is gone once it is pretty evident that he is a good guy. The anticipation does not start building back up until around episode twelve.
- The writers should have delved more into Hyun-soo's relationship with his father. I feel like their relationship is never adequately explored.
- Hyun-soo's father's death needs more explanation! Like yes, we know that the real Baek Hee-seung killed him, but how did he make Hyun-soo's father's death look like a suicide?
- The writers could have also delved more into Do Hyun-soo's mental disorder. We know he has an antisocial personality disorder, but I wish we could have seen Hyun-soo come to terms with his condition and get help. The ending episode should have included this instead of the flat-out boring finale episode.
- How did Jeong Mi-sook escape?
- I wish we could have seen the night Do Hae-soo killed the Village Head. The audience could have learned more about Dae-soo and understood where she was coming from.
- I might be in the minority, but I did not care for Kim Ji-hoon's (real Baek Hee-seung) acting. I am not hating on him because I like him in other dramas, BUT I felt like he was trying way too hard to be Baek Hee-seung. Every time I saw Hee-seung, he looked constipated, and his eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head. Basically, trying too hard to look psycho.
- The ending was... interesting, to say the least. The writers could have chosen another way to finish off the series, but they added in the amnesia trope?! The writers already delivered the "someone ends up in a coma" trope, so why add amnesia? I mean might as well add a car crash. Oh wait... that is right, they did :/.

Overall, Flower of Evil was an excellent production. I think the writers did a good job of establishing characters and setting the story, but the second half of the show did not keep my attention. There were too many inconsistencies and cliches. In addition, some episodes dragged compared to the earlier episodes where they ended on a cliffhanger. In my opinion, I think the reason why a lot of people liked this show is because of the romance between the male and female leads. So, if you like romance and want to get into thrillers, this may be a good show to start with. But, overall, Flower of Evil is one of the most overhyped shows I have ever watched, but I do not regret watching it. I will probably never rewatch it, though, unless I am forced to.
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