Flower of Evil: Episode 4

by TeriYaki

In the pursuit of a murder suspect, our detective comes dangerously close to discovering that her husband isn’t who she thinks he is. Somehow, he manages to stay just one step ahead of her in his desperate bid to keep his past hidden. With more questions than answers, our heroine isn’t about to give up digging into the background of a serial killer, unaware that her dedication will threaten all that she holds dear.

EPISODE 4 RECAP

Ji-won and Hee-sung took refuge from a sudden rain storm under some eaves where she complained, “I’m wearing new clothes, new shoes, and I spent an hour styling my hair…So much for a first date.” Hee-sung confessed that he wasn’t interested in her but Ji-won protested, “Then why do you spend time with me on your day off?”

Others in the neighborhood assumed they were already dating and Ji-won suggested, “Has it ever occurred to you that you’re the only one who doesn’t know you like me?” Ji-won proposed a game of rock, paper, scissors to relieve the tension, with the loser having to stand in the rain for 30 seconds. Hee-sung dismissed the idea but Ji-won played anyway and won. With a laugh, she pushed Hee-sung into the rain and at the sight of her smile, he unknowingly smiled back.

They were both surprised and when Hee-sung turned away, he saw Do Min-seok’s black eyes staring at him from across the street. When Ji-won followed Hee-sung’s terrified gaze, Min-seok disappeared. Hee-sung demanded, “How could you like a guy like me,” and walked away, leaving behind a tearful Ji-won.

In the pharmacy, Hee-sung’s mother shouts that if people find out their secret, she’s kill herself in front of him. Taking a tonic from a nearby shelf, Hee-sung urges her to calm down.

Mom apologizes for slapping Hee-sung but when she learns that Ji-won is in charge of Nam Soon-kil’s murder case, she throws the bottle, “I warned you, didn’t I? I told you she’ll make things worse.” Sweeping up the glass, Hee-sung assures her that since the killer’s blood was found at the scene, the investigation won’t lead to Baek Hee-sung, “…as long as you continue to stay on my side.”

Before Hee-sung leaves, Mom complains that her house is too big for just two people and asks him to stop for by for dinner once in a while. Hee-sung reminds her, “It’s not just you two.”

When Hee-sung’s father walks through his front door, the housekeeper writes a note, “Your son needs to eat.” Dad heads to the secret room, its walls lined with the photos of the real Baek Hee-sung and his mathematics awards. After expertly connecting a feeding bag to a port in Hee-sung’s abdomen, Dad gently strokes his son’s hair.

At the police station, a review of Do Min-seok’s family register reveals the existence of a daughter, Hyun-soo’s older sister, Do Hae-soo.

A woman crouches beside the bloody body of a man lying at the bottom of an empty swimming pool. Blood dripping from her fingers, she asks, “It doesn’t hurt anymore, does it,” and the man’s eyes open when he answers, “It doesn’t sting. But it smells weird.”

When a director instructs Hae-soo to make the wound look fresher, we learn that she’s a makeup artist. Mildly frustrated, Hae-soo asks the director if he’s ever seen a murdered corpse before applying more fake blood. Hae-soo is interrupted when an assistant alerts her to a phone call.

Ji-won enters a café and locates Hae-soo right away (her real sis-in-law). Asked, “How did you know? Do I look similar to Do Min-seok,” Ji-won admits it was just a lucky guess and holds out her business card. Hae-soo ignores it and tells Ji-won, “After Hyun-soo disappeared in 2002, I never saw him again. For 18 years, I’ve met tons of cops and told them the same thing. Can I go now?”

That’s not Ji-won’s question, she wants to know about the buildings that belonged to Do Min-seok, suggesting that they weren’t sold to provide refuge for Hyun-soo. Hae-soo explains that she only sold her father’s land to pay the victims’ families, she left everything else alone because she didn’t want her father’s money.

After Hae-soo repeats, “I haven’t seen our Hyun-soo for 18 years already,” Ji-won asks why she sounds sad rather than resentful when speaking about her brother. Announcing that she needs to get back to to work, Hae-soo leaves without answering the question.

Moo-jin’s online search for Baek Hee-sung reveals that the name belonged to the son of a university hospital director and that he was a recognized math whiz. Moo-jin jumps when Ms. Kang leans close to ask, “What are you doing?” Tossing two huge cases on the table, Ms. Kang informs Moo-jin, “This is the father’s case and this is the son’s case,” and reminds him “I’m waiting for that exclusive.”

Hee-sung ignores a text from Moo-jin and when he walks out of the bathroom, Ji-won is waiting with his raincoat. He allows her to put it on him and after pulling up the hood, she laughs when Hee-sung asks if she thinks that he’s the killer. Ji-won explains, “When you came home like this…I didn’t recognize you at first…how did Nam Soon-kil recognize him right away?”

Hee-sung helpfully suggests, “Maybe he was mistaken,” but Ji-won wants the killer to be Do Hyun-soo so that she can be rewarded with a special promotion. Hee-sung looks worried when Ji-won sends him to bed first so she can work late.

Joining Ji-won on the couch, Hee-sung lays his head in her lap, “I want to sleep here tonight.” Hee-sung sees the file for the foreman’s murder on the coffee table as Ji-won questions if Do Min-seok’s kids were really unaware that their father was a serial killer. Ji-won deems the father and son the perfect case to study the role that DNA plays in antisocial personality disorder.

When Hee-sung asks about the case, Ji-won informs him that the Chinese restaurant owner will be working with a sketch artist on an updated image of Do Hyun-soo. Hee-sung gets Ji-won to lie down beside him and after studying his face, she brags that she’d know him from just his shadow.

When her eyes start to close, Hee-sung asks if Moo-jin is helping with the sketch too but Ji-won doesn’t remember telling him that Hyun-soo and Moo-jin knew each other. Hee-sung fibs that she mentioned that they were classmates and when Ji-won asks him not to share what she tells him, he promises, “Of course not.”

In Hee-sung’s hometown, an old woman sees a report on the Chinese restaurant murder. An appeal for the public’s help in identifying Do Hyun-soo gets her attention.

Ho-joon supervises the meeting with the sketch artist which isn’t going well because Moo-jin and the Chinese restaurant owner keep contradicting each other. Remembering that Hee-sung tasked him with sabotaging the sketch, Moo-jin helpfully volunteers that Hyun-soo has a scar on his forehead.

In the back of a taxi, Hee-sung watches another facial expressions video and practices looking sad. When he impersonates Moo-jin for a meeting with Nam Soon-kil’s widow, Hee-sung weeps when she mentions that he was the last person that her husband called, “If only I had picked up. I’m truly sorry.”

After Nam Soon-kil’s widow insists that he’s not to blame, Hee-sung asks why her husband was at the restaurant so late. She explains that once a week, her husband worked late on new recipes and when Hee-sung asks who else knew, she can’t think of anyone.

Back in the village, the old woman removes a photo from an album and in the background, Hee-sung/Hyun-soo has his arm around a very pregnant Ji-won. When the woman calls the police about the photo, Ji-won takes her call.

The Chinese restaurant owner complains that the police sketch doesn’t look anything like Do Hyun-soo. Ho-joon has doubts about Moo-jin’s recollection but he’s not lying when he insists, “I remember it as if I had met him yesterday.” After a call from Ji-won, Ho-joon announces that they no longer need the sketch and dismisses the men.

Hee-sung asks Nam Soon-kil’s widow to call if she remembers anything. He’s about to walk away when she remembers something, “The taxi!”

Because the old woman can’t text an image of the photo, Ji-won insists on picking it up personally. After instructing the woman not to show the photo to anyone, Ji-won hangs up and goes in search of Ho-joon.

Noticing the taxi driver’s tumbler, Jae-sub calls to remind him to pick it up. The taxi driver promises to come by later, even though he’s parked across the street from the police station. Placing an earpiece in his ear, the taxi driver hears Woo-chul tell Jae-sub, “Once we have Do Hyun-soo’s photo, the case will basically solve itself.”

In a flashback, Nam Soon-kil borrowed the taxi driver’s phone and recognized the faded, hand-painted fish tile attached to it. Nam Soon-kil remembered seeing a newer version of that tile hanging from Hyun-soo’s cassette player when they were roommates. After Nam Soon-kil uttered Do Hyun-soo’s name, the taxi driver pulled over. In the present, the taxi driver stares at the faded fish before driving away.

After the widow informed Hee-sung that her husband was picked up by the same taxi whenever he worked late, he gets a call from Moo-jin. Moo-jin delivers the bad news that a woman from their village recognized Hee-sung in a photo taken five years ago and Ji-won is on her way to pick it up.

Moo-jin shoves a voice recorder into a jacket pocket just as Hee-sung gets into his car. When Moo-jin asks if they can beat Ji-won, Hee-sung tells him, “I know for a fact that we’ll get there first…Because they won’t run any red lights.”

While stopped at a light, Ho-joon and Ji-won discuss Do Min-seok’s seventh victim, who was never found. Ji-won can’t understand why Do Min-seok committed suicide since it was the investigation into his death that led to the discovery of his victims. When she muses, “Do you think he really did commit suicide,” Ho-joon labels her doubt a conspiracy theory. Ji-won reminds him that the victims’ left thumbnails were never found, suggesting that Min-seok had an accomplice, someone like Do Hyun-soo.

As Moo-jin speeds through one red light after another, Hee-sung asks why he had Hae-soo’s necklace. Hae-soo returned the necklace when they broke up and Moo-jin claims to have forgotten about it until he found it in a drawer. When Hee-sung tells him that he threw it away, Moo-jin’s reaction suggets that the necklace meant something.

Remembering the recorder, Moo-jin asks, “How did Do Hyun-soo become Baek Hee-sung…How did you manage to fool Detective Cha?” After Hee-sung answers that Ji-won knows nothing about his past or that he’s abnormal, Moo-jin wants to know if he has any feelings for her, especially after having a child together.

Hee-sung recalls their first date as he shares that his dad is scared of Ji-won, “He won’t be able to come near me as long as she’s with me.” Pulling out the hidden recorder, Hee-sung deletes everything on it and warns, “If Ji-won ever finds out what you know, I might really kill you.”

Being back in the village triggers traumatic memories for Hee-sung — being bound to the tree as well as dragged before a twirling shaman in front of the entire village.

Parked outside of Oh Bok-ja’s house, Moo-jin goes over the plan as we see it played out. Moo-jin surprises Oh Bok-ja with a friendly visit and convinces her to show him the photo. After Moo-jin texts its location to Hee-sung, he steals it when Moo-jin lures Oh Bok-ja outside to greet the police. When Hee-sung gets away, he and Moo-jin reunite at a predetermined spot.

Hee-sung asks what happens if thing don’t go as planned but without a backup plan, they proceed. After Hee-sung hides in a small shed, Moo-jin approaches the house and sees that the front door is already open. Finding Oh Bok-ja with her arms and hands bound, Moo-jin runs to her side and gets hit on the back of the head.

From the shed, Hee-sung sees the intruder exit the house, wearing a black rain coat. The intruder runs when Ji-won and Ho-joon pull up and his rain coat is pulled off when Hee-sung chases after him. Catching the intruder, Hee-sung pulls off his mask, confused by the man’s greeting, “Do Hyun-soo…You may not know me, but you must know Jung Mi-sook well.”

Ji-won and Ho-joon see Min-joo’s car and wonder how he knew about their latest lead. Meanwhile, the intruder has a proposition for Hee-sung, “Let’s meet ourselves, without the cops… I’ll pick you up…in my cab…I’ve been waiting so long for this first date.” When Hee-sung is distracted by the sound of Ji-won’s voice, the taxi driver escapes.

Ji-won sees a black rain coat on the ground just as Hee-sung is about to jump over the back fence. When she shouts, “Do Hyun-soo,” he freezes and he has to force himself not to look at her before running away.

While Ho-joon tends to Moo-jin and Oh Bok-ja, Ji-won unknowingly chases after her husband. Keeping pace with Hee-sung as they run through the woods and onto a street, Ji-won follows him into a warehouse. From his hiding spot, Hee-sung watches as Ji-won reaches out to turn on an overhead light.

Picking up a hammer, Hee-sung sends it sailing through the air just as Ji-won flips the switch. When it hits the light, sparks fly and Hee-sung throws a blanket over Ji-won and pulls her to safety. In a struggle to free herself, Ji-won not only kicks Hee-sung between the legs, she tosses him across the aisle.

When Ji-won trips and falls into a set of shelves, Hee-sung shields her from the falling tools. Taking her handcuffs, Hee-sung secures Ji-won to another set of shelves and escapes before she can get the blanket off of her head.

Hee-sung calls Moo-jin, who announces the he almost died, to ask for information on Jung Mi-sook, a name that Moo-jin recognizes. After hanging up, Hee-sung realizes that he’s bleeding and steals a clean shirt from a nearby clothesline.

Ho-joon finds a humiliated Ji-won, amazed that she wasn’t hurt when he sees all of the tools on the ground. Ji-won learns that even the photo was taken, the killer isn’t Do Hyun-soo because the intruder needed the old woman to identify him in her photo.

After buying supplies in a convenience store, Hee-sung rents a room at the inn that the taxi driver mentioned. In his room, Hee-sung breaks the glass on a wall clock to create a makeshift weapon from a large shard and some tape.

In spite of the late hour, Ji-won meets with the local residents who have lots to say about Do Hyun-soo, “We should’ve continued the exorcism back then.” Ji-won has to explain that they’re not after Do Hyun-soo but someone who’s targeted him.

Ji-won asks if an outsider has asked about him but lots of people are interested in Do Hyun-soo — TV producers, journalists, writers, even police. When Ji-won asks about someone with a grudge, one woman mentions a a taxi driver.

Jae-sub is puzzled by dashcam footage that shows a taxi stopping and then driving off without anyone getting in or out, especially after the taxi driver said that he dropped someone off. Woo-chul gets a call from Ho-joon about the latest developments and Ji-won grabs the phone to ask him to confirm that the missing victim’s husband was a taxi driver.

Putting her on speaker, Woo-chul and Jae-sub learn that the husband visited the village often to search for his wife’s body. A flashback shows that the taxi driver was so obsessed with finding his wife’s body that when a local confronted him about his digging, he was beaten with the shovel.

It seems that the husband convinced himself that Do Hyun-soo was his father’s accomplice and knew where his wife was buried. What Ji-won can’t figure out is how the killer knew about Oh Bok-ja’s photo and when Jae-sub remembers the tumbler, he finds the listening device.

In a flashback to the night that Nam Soon-kil was killed, the raincoat clad driver climbed into the back seat of his waiting taxi and crawled into the driver’s seat, making look as if he’d been picked up. After returning to his hideout, he had a coughing fit in front of the wall plastered with the missing person flyers of his wife, Jung Mi-sook. When Jae-sub checks Jung Mi-sook’s file, her husband, Park Kyung-choon, is listed as a taxi driver.

On his way to pick up Hee-sung, Park Kyung-choon recalls telling Nam Soon-kil that he and his wife made the matching fish tiles. Jung Mi-sook’s phone was found in Mi-seok’s workshop but the tile was missing, and he realized, “…Do Hyun-su had it all along.” Park Kyung-choon thanked Nam Soon-kil, “The stuff you told me..It’s going to help me out a lot.”

While waiting for the taxi driver, Hee-sung gets a video call from his mother-in-law. When he answers it, Hee-sung is greeted by Eun-ha’s sobs, “I woke up, and you weren’t there.” Looking genuinely sad, Hee-sung explains to his daughter that something came up and when she wails, “I miss you,” he promises he’ll be there soon. Just as Hee-sung hangs up, Park Kyung-choon pulls up.

A patrol officer shows Ji-won a watch found in the warehouse, thinking that it’s hers. As Hee-sung walks towards Park Kyung-choon’s taxi, Ji-won finds H. S. Baek engraved on the watch‘s band, her gift to Hee-sung on his birthday.

COMMENTS

What a heart pounding episode as Ji-won came dangerously close to learning Hee-sung’s secret. Even though she discovers that Do Hyun-soo didn’t murder Nam Soon-kil, her interest in Do Min-seok’s case guarantees that it’s only a matter of time before she unearths the truth. Since Hee-sung is about to be caught in Park Kyung-choon’s web, I have a feeling that the truth is going to come out very soon. I have to admit that I’m surprised at how quickly Ji-won has been made aware of Do Hyun-soo’s life, which has me wondering, will the story about the real Baek Hee-sung eclipse the tragedy of the Do family? How else to explain the major freakout that Hee-sung’s “mother” experienced when she thought that her family’s secret was at risk?

Hee-sung may not be a math whiz, but he’s shrewdly intelligent, cool-headed and at times, ruthless. But he’s not without emotions, which is why he protected Ji-won during their tussle and wilted when he saw Eun-ha’s pitiful tears. He’s taken great pains to keep that haunting image of his father, Do Min-seok, at bay and we learned that’s why Hee-sung ended up with Ji-won, her smile banishes that ghost from his life. Ji-won is like the good angel who can only see the good in Hee-sung while Do Min-seok is the devil on his other shoulder, who stirs up bad feelings in him. Now that he’s been pulled back to the place where he grew up, the site of so much tragedy, how will that affect Hee-sung/Hyun-soo?

I’m loving the uneasy alliance between Moo-jin and Hee-sung, especially when Moo-jin is taken aback by how well Hee-sung knows him. Moo-jin isn’t as smart as he thinks he is, and neither for that matter is Jae-sub. He fell for the taxi driver’s flattery and took care of the “forgotten” tumbler, allowing Park Kyung-choon access to the team’s information in real time. So embarrassing, a feeling that Ji-won experiences when Hee-sung uses her handcuffs to keep her from running after him. But it’s that up close and personal encounter that sows the seeds of suspicion in Ji-won’s mind, especially when she claimed that she’d recognize Hee-sung from his shadow. After Ho-joon points out that it was a miracle that Ji-won wasn’t hurt, she has to wonder why and that watch band provides a huge clue, but will she pursue it or chose to stay in the dark?

Ji-won’s question about Do Min-seok’s suicide means that nothing that we think we know is sound. Was Min-seok really a serial killer and/or the victim of murder himself? I’m fascinated by Ji-won’s angles when she approaches a case because she asks the most interesting questions. There are so many loose threads that are part of a much bigger picture and I think that it’s going to take both Ji-won’s and Hee-sung’s skills to bring everything into focus. I can’t wait to see that, but first, their lives are about to be turned upside down.

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