430. Flower of Evil 악의 꽃 (2020) Korean

Lee Joon Ki, Moon Chae Won, Jang Hee Jin, Seo Hyun Woo, Kim Ji Hoon

Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: A+

The premise was too good to pass, the cast was too good to pass, I was super excited to start this show. But still I waited to start it. Then I binged it until I caught up with it. It was so good and intense, I had a hard time not being able to just start the next episode. But sadly, it was my one drama I loved while I was being stressed out from everything, but having to stop and wait in the middle of a  hugely dramatic climax made the stress of anticipation overwhelm me, and with everything else I suddenly was too stressed to watch it. Which is so interesting because if I had the ability at the time, I would have just binged watched it to the end. However, though it took several weeks of getting to a place where I could watch anything besides We Bare Bears, I finished it and it remained good until the end. Even though the last episode was an extreme change of pace. It was still good. And then I still too even longer to write this review because that is what last year did to me. Apologies.

So the previews were a bit misleading, but also not at the same time. It was meant to be this way, because it's a show about a detective who is married to a metal crafter, but then she starts investigating a series of murders, and suspecting that her husband is involved. You are not sure who to trust. Really, to watch it you just have to be okay with the fact that the male lead is definitely a psychopath and probably a serial killer too. It doesn't take long for him to be locking people in basements and threatening them, wearing the classic black hat/jacket combo, and clearly be full of lies and deception.

However, the beauty of the show is that nothing is black and white, and there is a lot of gray area about people, their stories, and the past. It makes it interesting to see how the detective's nature of only believing what she can see both helps and hurts their relationship, because her eyes can be deceived, but she also will give him the benefit of doubt that most people wouldn't, based on how she sees him.

This show was really just written for Lee Joon Ki. He loves to do those complicated and creepy roles. Beautifully creepy/scary. He does it well, especially as he turns the cute on and off as he turns the creepy off and on, and that just makes it all the better. Plus he has excellent chemistry with Moon Chae Won. They were so cute together, but also good at the complicated mistrusting scenes too.

Yes, there were times when I was filled with hate and rage, people were dying, people were manipulating, people were mistrusting, and being unfair. But the build of the show was fun, the portrayals of mental states beautifully and (as far as I could tell) decently done. So yes, I would 100% recommend, especially for those who like darker, psychological thrillers, who also don't mind a heavy emphasis on romance. It definitely is still about that.