Who is The Accomplice?
With a whole slew of Korean dramas cancelled this week, it’s perhaps a miracle that Flower of Evil isn’t one of the casualties. This highly engrossing crime drama has been one of the must-watch shows of the year and this episode confirms that this train isn’t slowing down any time soon. Episode 9 of Flower Of Evil begins in the past as Hyun-Soo shows Ji-Won a beautiful room full of Christmas lights he’s crafted for her. She’s pregnant and encourages him to speak to their child. As they sit and eat together, she asks whether there’s anything he wants. “Yes there is,” He says in reply. Back in the present, Ji-Won pushes her way inside the house and finds Hae-Soo. She apologises for her behaviour last time they met and confirms that she’s there to help Moo-Jin. She plays the role well until Ji-Won finds the black marker up on the windows. As her eyes trace the various names, she decides to team up with them given their end-goal is the same. “What does trap mean?” She suddenly asks, pointing out one of the words. It catches them all off-guard as a heavy silence descends over them all. As Hae-Soo gets up to leave, Ji-Won asks whether she believes Hyun-Soo is the one responsible. She instead deflects the attention back to Min-Seok and loses her temper. Eventually she looks set to admit to the murder herself… until Hyun-Soo breaks a glass and distracts them. Meanwhile, Hee-Sung awakens and immediately asks for his Mother, telling her it wasn’t her fault. As they fuss over him, Hee-Sung asks about the guy who hit him. Uh oh. As Mi-Ja heads out to compose herself, Man-Woo takes charge of the situation and talks to his son. He believes there’s a happily-ever-after in his future. As a side note here the music is so incredibly epic for such a simple scene. I love it but my gosh it seems so uncalled for! Elsewhere, Ji-Won and Hyun-Soo drive back together. There, she breaks down a comprehensive timeline of what happened the night with Min-Seok. She figures out that the accomplice in question would have arrived at the theatre. Distracted, Hyun-Soo almost hits a group of pedestrians crossing the road. Eventually he composes himself long enough to realize Ji-Won isn’t wearing her ring anymore. That evening they sit on the rooftop and have dinner together. Only, Ji-Won receives a call from work confirming the sound analysis has been completed. It’s impossible to isolate the background noise but she does uncover something else. When the static is removed, another voice comes through in the background. “Would you like an ashtray?” As memories of the past come flooding back, Hyun-Soo relives a crucial scene with his Father. Hyun-Soo was sat up at the bar. The bartender asked them if they want an ashtray while chipping away at some ice. A hidden man came up from behind and brushed past Min-Seok. He was wearing a hat but his identity is skewed for now. When Eun-Ha is in bed, Ji-Won lets her true feelings be felt. She admits she doesn’t like her husband anymore. In a cruel sense of irony, he happened to be the one thing that kept her mind away from work. Now though that’s come crashing down and caused her a whole world of pain. In the morning, Hyun-Soo gathers Hae-Soo and Moo-Jin and talks about his relationship. In order to win his wife back he knows what he needs to do. He needs to catch the accomplice. In his car, he looks over the text messages to Ji-Won and sends a few more. Unfortunately, she doesn’t reply. Instead, he heads to the old whiskey bar he remembers from his memory and talks to the owner. There, he plays the audio recording and asks if he recognizes it. Although he tells Hyun-Soo he doesn’t, it’s clear he’s lying. There’s definitely something going on here. This much is especially true when he sees the man’s pen which happens to be a special art piece linked to Min-Seok. Meanwhile, Moo-Jin drives Hae-Soo home and sees the conditions she’s living in. The lights don’t work and there’s barely any belongings. The only things she does have are various pictures and she’s suffering from amnesia. She tells him she’s broken and looks down at the ground as he walks away sadly. Only, he returns some time later with a toolbox intending to fix her light. There’s no way Moo-Jin is going to let her live like that. Back at the police station, Ji-Won is clearly raring to go with work. She wants to set a trap and use herself as bait. She’ll become Mi-Sook. As the team sit huddled around the phone, Ji-Won strikes lucky and finds a possible lead in a businessman named Sang-Cheol. As Ji-Won races there, Hyun-Soo also finds out the same information. Threatening the barman, he learns that Sang-Cheol knows who Min-Seok’s accomplice is. While they talk, Ji-Won manages to catch Jung-Soon out with an illegal transaction. As the police officers arrive to arrest her, Ji-Won takes her eye off the ball for a second. It’s just the opportunity this woman needs as she throws herself off the balcony to the ground below. It’s a complete disaster and the woman is kept in for surgery. However, it doesn’t look good and she may not make it. Ji-Won heads out the station to catch her breath, and finds herself reading all the messages Hyun-Soo has left her. As she struggles to keep her emotions in, she admits that she misses her husband. Meanwhile, Hyun-Soo is grabbed by Sang-Cheol and looks set to meet a grisly end. With no other way out, he agrees to become one of Sang-Cheol’s clients. Hyun-Soo is put in a difficult position and it’s one made worse by Ji-Won phoning. She immediately senses he’s in hot water and asks him to reply with yes or no. Eventually he keeps it together long enough to admit he’s okay. Only, it’s obvious he’s not so Ji-Won gives him an hour and promises to find him if that timer runs out.
The Episode Review
With Hee-Sung slowly waking up and getting back to normal (or at least a very weakened normal) it looks like this could cause some serious drama later on down the line. For now this is sidelined for the real drama of the episode. This comes from Ji-Won and Hyun-Soo’s conflicted states. It’s obvious Hyun-Soo cares about his wife, even if he struggles to emotionally show it. His moping scenes with Moo-Jin and Hae-Soo are definitely quite telling and it’s clear he wants to do right by her. Ji-Won absolutely sells her scenes though and the anguish and heart-ache she’s feeling is really well written. She’s obviously torn up over the situation she finds herself in. It’s something that’s made all the more difficult by hearing Hyun-Soo admit he doesn’t love her. No matter how hard she tries, she just can’t help herself. And this week introduces a new antagonist in Sang-Cheol. The evil CEO trope strikes again but it’s one that looks to be developed further on down the line. For now though, Flower Of Evil bows out with another really strong episode. Fingers crossed this show isn’t delayed in the near future as right now it’s shaping up to be one of the must-watch thrillers of the year!
