First things first: thanks so much for all your great recaps and comments.

I'm not happy with this drama. I mean, I was expecting such a terrible ending that I actually found this one not that bad. For a moment I got high hopes that Hyun Soo remained true to his nature and never went back to JiWoo, but writer chose that path. After all writer-nin and I haven't been on the same path for the last 6 episodes.

We could see the real HyunSoo, and it was nice to watch that sibling bonding. No one understands HyunSoo better than HaeSoo. They don't need to talk. JiWoo thinks she knows HyuSoo, but she doesn't. She just knows his version in the form of HeeSung. I wish them luck.

I missed we got to see MiSook again, reunited with her dying husband so she knows he never gave up on her. Also MooJin asking for forgiveness. That would have been nice.

I didn't buy for a minute Dr. Baek's evasion of reality. Too easy. I didn't buy Mum's coldness, she had always been unstable and now that she's in jail she's cool and calmed? No. And above all, I didn't buy HyunSoo being so emotional: one minute he's saying he doesn't believe in repentance and the next minute he's crying like a baby? The tears were totally out of character.

Anyway: good performances by all actors, good directing, terrible writing form episodes 11 and I state that my favorite moment was HeeSung crying "Stop, it hurts!". He goes directly to my top 5 villains in dramaland.

The drama went downhill as soon as it reneged on its premise. It turns out Do Hyun-soo wasn't an antihero, but instead just a pitiable self-sacrificing, misunderstood, misdiagnosed character who discovered he actually had emotions. Episodes were wasted trying to establish Hyun-soo as a morally upright character by rescuing victims of trafficking at risk of his own safety, and even DMS got a pass as the "true" villain since he was killed by Hee-sung. But what the hell were the first 3 episodes about then? Locking up Moo-jin was purely deceptive to the audience and instead, we got what @missvictrix warned of: "what if this drama isn’t the wild game of cat and mouse that it promises to be?"

Flower of evil, despite its initial primer as a thriller, was a psychological drama about healing and love. It was a story of a misunderstood tortured and confused soul, who was abused (by his psychopath father, crazy village people, and Baek family, etc.) and misdiagnosed to think that he has no feeling... People who came in to watch a thriller might be sorely disappointing because this drama is truly about love and its wonderful healing power... a journey of rediscovering yourself, a mature portrayal of love and bonding between a married couple (very unique married relationship as kdrama married couples are usually dysfunctional) and how a strong the love and understanding can overcome several challenges in their life... I give it 9/10, because the baddies were written a bit makjang... however other characters and acting were all top notch (10/10 for sure)..I wish to see Lee Joon Gi and Kim Ji Hoon in another drama as bro their chemistry was so so strong... there was something so appealing about their complicated and intense relationship

I realized this a few episodes ago, It's not that Hyun-su can't feel emotions, it's just that his feeling of emotion and the expression of the said emotion is disjoint. He feels, but it doesn't automatically show in his face. Therefore, he has studied the connection of feeling and expression on others and mastered faking the expression. The problem is, even when he is sincere, he has to make his face show the emotion exactly the same way he fakes it, and hence assumes his emotion itself is fake.

I'm not satisfied with the last quarter of this drama, but I'm still glad I watched it. The first three quarters were great so I'm left with a net positive on this one. Honestly, if I deleted the final episode from my memory, it would fix a lot of the problems I have with the storyline.

LJK and MCW delivered incredible performances. And Eunha is the cutest little nugget. Those 3 make it worth the watch.

Also, I couldn't help but notice by the end, and I say this as someone who doesn't ever look for these things, that the men in this show basically got off unpunished.
What happened to our resident human trafficker Yeom Sang-Chul? He quickly and quietly dies after snorting some rat poison. His last memory is making off with half a million in cash. What about our resident serial-killer Baek Hee-sung? He wakes up after a deep slumber for one last hurrah and dies after conveniently inducing some amnesia into our hero and inflicting some serious psychotic harm to his forever nemesis, who now never has to live with the guilt of actually remembering a decade of deceiving his wife. Finally, what about our unscrupulous Dr. Baek? He's just insane in a hospital ward! Well, at least his private room isn't VIP!
It is kind of ridiculous to me that not one male had to stand trial to be punished for his crimes, including DHS, but instead we saw Hae-soo give up her life, get stabbed and be put to trial, Hee-sung's mom in prison, and worst of all Ji-won, who basically had to unconditionally accept this miserable circumstance (since laws of k-drama). Just ridiculous.

The chemistry between Lee Jun Ki and Moon Chae Won was out of the chart! I could feel all the their love, their sorrows and their conflicting feeling and tensions... LJK did an amazing job portraying a character with mental disturbs, and MCW did an excellent performance as a strong detective with so much love for her husband and family... Her trust in her husband was strictly tested and even though she had moments of doubt, she was determined to uncover the truth and I was in love with her character because of that... she was a pillar for tormented and confused DHS and an important part if his emotional development. Her trust and love for him was so incredible that made DHS finally developed his emotion (that was concealed for so long) and discover himself (despite all the torments and confusions that left him mentally disturbed).

"I wanted to share the message that even where evil has been buried, flowers can still bloom." — Yoo Jung Hee, Flower of Evil writer. This sentence fully explains the essence of this drama and the narrative. This drama is a melodrama (as most of of other works from this PD), so if you want to watch suspense or thriller I don't recommend it (those aspects were not fully developed). The drama focus is on healing and love which might sound very cliche at the first glance... but the love and bonding between DHS and CJW was not cliche at all, it was believably strong and amazing. I wish both actors achieve well deserved recognition for Flower of Evil... Their performance was something I haven't seen in kdrama for a long long while

I feel like a dishrag, every drop of emotion and energy wrung out of me. This pair is exhausting. And I adore the soul outta them.

Take away all the kiss/bed scenes and this couple would still convince you of their 14-year marriage. It's the way their eyes drink each other in, the intimacy in their voices, the readiness to fight the whole world for the other if necessary. The affection is right in your face or more subtle depending on the scene, but it's always present (even when they're not physically together). Something about the way MCW & LJG orbit around each other throughout this drama is so magnetic.

On the 'morning star' thing: while Hyunso and Hephaestus are both metalworkers/perceived as despicable figures/madly in love with their wives, Jiwon and Aphrodite's only similarity is that they're both beautiful. Like hot daaang aphrodite cheated multiple times, she had a whole harem or sumthin. But Jiwon only has eyes for her husband and would crawl to hell and back just to save him. Therefore, Jiwon beats out any goddess.

the cast and crew better SWEEP. ALL. THE. AWARDS.

Imma go rewatch now because I want to go through all of that again.

First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of the casts of FoE, they all did such a great job. However these three were exceptionally good:
Actor Lee Joon-gi: Wow just wow, he's another level, outstanding and captivating performance. Do Hyun-soo was a innocent flower with some trait of evilness inside him. Although he was the victim for the majority of his life, but he could be an evil once it came to protecting/revenging his family and keeping his identity hidden in order to keep his family. LJG decomposes into Do Hyun-soo so deep that I'm not sure if I can see him in any other role any time soon!!
Actor Moon Chae-won: This is by far her best acting performance and the best female detective character (and wife) in the history of kdrama (btw I watch Signal, Stranger1, etc. but so far I like CJW the best: strong, confident, smart, and a perfect wife).
Actor Kim Ji-hoon: He completely broke his typical image, acting as a psychopath killer (who was smart ruthless killer originally but lost so much of his perceptiveness as a result of being comatose for 15 years). I'm sure he'll get so many new offers after this drama!

As I mentioned in what we are watching the only saving grace for me was Eun Ha got to be with her favorite person, her father. The rest was nonsense. Meh.

"The Place Where the Morning Star Rests" I'm a huge fan of Greek mythology and this story Hyunsoo said made me see how even when he had no idea about his own emotions showcased it in his own way . The amnesia part I was a bit upset as it's common in dramas but how they still used but in a different way made the drama EXTREMELY UNIQUE, I did hope Haesoo and Moojin will be together but I this way is also better as it gives them both time to sort out their feelings. Hyunsoo not getting his memory back instantly and getting it gradually was a extraordinary it's even cuter when he pretended to not like/think about JiWon but when Moojin said "oh! Detective Cha" he looked around my heart just popped out of my chest . It's sad to see this MASTERPIECES end but then again we can all hope to see these AMAZING, AWARD WINNING ACTORS AND ACTRESSES again in even more AMAZING MASTERPIECES soon right ? Definitely "Flower of evil"showed drama fans a newer version of dramas with killer suspension, action , romance, family and friendship and personally this is definitely my top 3 BEST LEE JUN KI dramas of all time ... !!!
My forever applause for this amazing stars and crew for making this MASTERPIECES during a time of such huge crises time !! Thank you for sharing this MASTERPIECES with us fans and thank you for being safe while filming

Good Job, Flower of Evil! I never went away in loving and following this show, I just stopped reading the recaps (school started, so no time lol TT TT) But I just wanted to say I LOVED the journey these characters went through, and even though the final episode was a lot slower than the buildup, and even though it pulled the amnesia trope, I was really appreciative of the fact that it didn't just magically go away and they really showed how it might be to have only fragments of your memory left. He HAD fragments, and they scared him. That was well done.

Also, I can kind of understand why they pulled the trope--regardless of whether he remembered or not, Hyun-Soo and Ji-Won suddenly would have had a LOT to work on in their relationship as his more manipulative, darker sides come to the surface. The fact that she can blame it a little bit on his amnesia might be a blessing in disguise as they discover how to be more fully honest with each other about ALL of who Hyun-Soo is, and become a truer, stronger couple for it. And, as always, Eun-ha stole the show by being the PERFECT way to end this drama--not with just their romance, but with his absolute love and devotion for the little family he'd created for himself.

It was great to see Lee Jun-ki and Moon Chae-won in a much better project than their previous.
I can't help but hope to see them together in a sageuk where I loved them most.
Kim Ji-hoon also <3. It's good to see him play a baddie.

So the writer managed to force everyone into perhaps the only possible kdrama-suitable ending, thus highlighting the limitations of The Way Kdramas Have To Be.

In her bedroom, Ji-won takes out one of Hyun-soo’s shirts and breathes in his scent.

Noticeable scent makes me think she needs a better laundry detergent.

Well played, Show. I had my doubts when straight out the gate, we had the time jump and memory loss/amnesia introduced. With much relief, I didn't end up face palming myself throughout this final episode. The palpable anguish between the OTP was so well done and their conversations, especially in the car, were just so raw with heavy words and honest emotions. I relished every second of it.

Overall, I felt the loose ends were tied up in a satisfactory manner. That second-to-last scene between LJK and MCW in the workshop was a real heart-wrencher. I appreciate the open-ended feel to the ending for all our characters. I like that there wasn't any overt 'happy endings' neatly wrapped up in ribbons and bows. The message I got was that our future is what we make of it, no matter our pasts. We got to see that between Moo-Jin and Hae-Soo as their relationship is a work in progress, even as Hae-Soo is off exploring the world and who she is. And of course, this message applies to the OTP too. There were enough answers to give me hope that Hee Sung, Ji-Won and Eun-ha are heading to a brighter, happier future together. Thanks for the recaps, discussion and the company, Beanies!

P/s I enjoyed how the discussions around this show have been largely split between those who wanted to see it go in a darker direction/ending and those who were mostly in the camp of where this show has finally ended. I wonder if the show's ending was reversed and had darker twists overall, whether we would now be in the position of debating whether it should have had a happier ending, heh. To me, that's one of the signs of an engaging show because it created a situation where everyone has an opinion on how the story should turn out.

I found it satisfying that "Hyun-soo and Ji-won found each other not once but twice". For me, his journey in the last episode was about his integrity. He needed her to accept him as he truly was, just as he insisted on her calling him by his real name. His attraction to her and his centering on her was obvious, even when his memories were lost, but he was filled with guilt because of his deception throughout their married life. He could not live in the old shell of his marriage as it was. She had to see him for what he truly was, and they had to fall in love again, with him as his true self. Eun-ha played a wonderful character - all tributes to Jung Seo-yeon, the child actor. It broke my heart to see the egg tarts in the refrigerator. That was a brilliant touch.

It was clear to me from very early on that he wasn't the evil person he was reputed to be and that Ji-won's love kept him safe from his own self doubt and from the terrifying shadow of his father. At the same time, he was always capable of becoming his father, and LJK shows us this potential many times, keeping us confused about his true nature. Balanced against this, there were the many times when we saw that he was incapable of actually killing someone, but because he was so smart (and capable of manipulating people) he got into the minds of his adversaries and ended up making an alliance with them. The misdiagnosis of his personality just added to the combined weight of prejudice that was loaded onto him and that made him believe he was incapable of expressing emotion. Once those prejudices were exposed for what they were, the floodgates opened.

Who we are and who we become is deeply affected by what is reflected back to us by others. If people believe we are bad and they treat us constantly as if we are bad, then it must be very difficult to continually battle against that identification. If we are told that we don't feel and cannot express emotion, what sort of impact does that have on how we see ourselves, especially if we grow up in the sort of environment that HS grew up in? I can imagine myself looking at my facial expressions in a mirror and trying to look happy or loving if I've been told I am not showing my emotional responses in ways people can interpret them appropriately.

Not for one minute did I see Hyun-soo as evil or as an inconsistent character. He lived in a hostile world that any moment could turn on him and turn into a witch hunt.

The Baeks were horrible people - horrible enough to represent a real threat to HS and his family. To accept Baek Hee-sung's resurrection required a willing suspension of disbelief, one I was prepared to make because he then became a frightening counter to HS. Their showdown was gripping too.

I totally subscribe to everything @ persianrose has said already. Overall I enjoyed it, not least of all because of LJK. He's pretty good IMO.

I groaned when the amnesia trope reared its head, but they made it work. I said this in the WWW thread, but I felt it let ‘Hee Sung’ and Ji Won end things and Hyun Soo and Ji Won start anew. I really loved the conversation in the car and the fridge full of egg tarts. Lee Jun Ki and Moon Chae Won were amazing and really made me feel this story of a marriage.

The finale was subdued compared to the rest of the drama, which made sense with Hyun Soo getting a quiet restart to his life. I just wanted the ending to be stronger somehow.

There were a few tidbits that weren't explained further like Ji Won mentioning her possibly murky past. Was she just joking? And the late info about Hyun Soo not remembering anything before the age of 10. What was that about.

It was cool to see him and Moo Jin back to their awkward, not-always-friendly relationship. Getting on each other's nerves. (Omg, the fridge full of egg tarts was sad and funny at the same time!) Hyun Soo's quietly menacing remarks. Lol

The way Hyun Soo is acting now is like his true personality. He doesn't put up a facade like before, but he's also not innocent. He doesn't have the kind, happy, perfect husband image anymore, which is a good thing. I like that Ji Won and Hyun Soo can begin again and be real with each other. Go through the good and bad together because they are committed to their love.

The story of Hephaestus was a really lovely touch.

Lee Joon Gi impressing me is nothing new, but he was very incredible in this role. He maintained the ambiguous nature of Hyun Soo well. I have only seen Moon Chae Won in a couple of unlikable roles so I'm pleased to see her great acting chops here. Thanks for the recaps & comments, y'all! ♥

Thanks for a wonderful recap, @teriyaki!
I wholeheartedly agree that Hyun Soo and JiWon belong together. It was heart breaking seeing them apart. When watching this, I felt like the temporary amnesia is his body's way to cope from his extreme pressure and stress of everything that has happened. The constant apprehensions and desperation to cling to his family and fake identity took a toll on him.
Hae Soo was right, it is only him who will find the right path. I am very happy that he found his way back to the family that he cherishes above all.
I also think that their reunion was too short. But I will take what we can get. That ending scene of Jiwon and EunHa hilding HyunSoo close to them spoke volumes on how much this small family love each other. ❤❤❤

I rolled my eyes so much throughout this episode. Really really disappointing, as far as I'm concerned.

I think Eun-ha says, "Appa", not "oppa"!

Also -- and I apologize for the digression -- the story about Hephaestus from the end gave me flashbacks to the logic classes I took in undergrad. (Gottlob Frege, a logician who played an important role in revitalizing and re-conceptualizing the study of logic, wrote a paper called "On Sense and Reference" which tried to reason through the philosophical problems created by identity states. An example he used to illustrate the kind of sentences he was interested in studying is the phrase, "The morning star is the evening star", which later philosophers re-translated as, "Hesperus is Phosphorus".)

Thanks to TeriYaki for the finale recap.
I totally agree with you on both the standout scenes in this episode: "Hyun-soo couldn’t take his eyes off of Ji-won as she watched the rain and their breakdown in the car after Hyun-soo went all dark and twisty on her." These two scenes really evoke a sense of meloncholy for me.
Overall I liked Flower of Evil. The pros? Fast pace and the intensity of the plot serves it well. The cons? Probably too much unnecessary crying in some scenes hahaha
All the characters are well acted out (including Moo-jin...the one character that I don't like from the start. Yes, he's the comic relief, but his motive of doing things don't earn him plus points from me :P). Special kudos to LJK & MCW for their performance here. They're really good.

It's not common for a show (be it western or asian) to have the main leads or 2nd leads to start off as a couple and end the show still a couple so it's nice to see that this show started off with a kiss and literally ends with a kiss as well :)

I actually didnt cry until the end when he told the story about the Ugly God and how he loved his wife and we understood what the name of his shop meant. Ji Won was always Hyun Soo's happiness, Ji Won and Baek Eun Ha were his constants.

Also, one mystery we never found out is Did Do Min Seok kill Hyun Soo mother? Also, why was he wondering around the woods aimelessly and had no memories before a certain age? I always thought he witnessed his mother death and blocked it out. Did they explain this? Did I miss it?

Lol the comments of 'few' people being disappointed because Do Hyun Soo is not a monster they thought him to be. If you want to watch a hardcore thriller that steps and spits on morals, then do yourself a favor and put your time on other dramas.

I loved the finale, so much, especially the kiss scene shared by the leads! It was...wonderful. I can feel the pain, the longing, the sadness, the desperation and the happiness, like wow! I've never liked a kissing scene this much. In fact, I am not a fan of kissing scenes, but this one, the emotions are overflowing, the acting is amazing, the shot is beautiful, the music is incredible!

Plus, I also loved that hug scene at the end where he Hyun Soo smiled.

This whole finale is about Hyun Soo rediscovering that he wasn't a monster all by himself as he start over again. So yes, the memory lost was a big gift and a start of his healing journey. I know his brain was suppressing his painful memories and it's a sign he's extremely in pain, but I do believe that because of the support, love and opportunity that was given to him by his family and by other people, he'll be able to buy time to solidify his sense of self before the painful memories came back to him. He'll be extremely supported by his family and he would be able to do that to himself too, not unlike before when he was still in hiding. The memory lost paved way for him to love and broke down the prejudices he have against himself. Cheers for Hyun Soo's new start and healing journey with his family. I'm just glad that he was braved to admit and realized that he can't do it alone, he needs his family. I'm no fan of memory lost, but, this drama did it swiftly, realistically and perfectly. But I would agree by the one who wrote this review that his journey towards going back to Ji Won should have been longer. Nevertheless, I loved the drama. I gave it a 10/10 because I really appreciated it and was extremely stunned by the acting of the casts especially the leads and the villains, how well-written the script was, no scenes were a waste, the healing was delivered perfectly, and how the drama was not extremely dramatic but the subtle emotions are there and it hits you naturally and the cinematography and directing was beautiful.

Back on my thoughts with the ending, I've cried very ugly during the last episode and I've got an extreme headache and I thought I was going sick. It's not an exaggeration, tho.

THIS SHOW!!! Whatever the show had in the beginning took a turn in a diff/albeit predictable direction. However, LJG's performance is amazing and a memorable role in 2020 K-drama land. Wish this went the Dexter route, but alas I think having him murder would've caused more strain on his family unit. In the end, he got what he deserved which was a family/people who cherished him. One thing, why were all the women minus FL in this show in jail?! I think that the FL was overtly emotional at times, times I got, and other times I was like "OMG girl, pls time/place." But at the same time, if I was married to a crazy, maybe I would react the same lol? Sad that his sister wasn't able to have one last proper dinner with her brother and his wife and kid. Enjoyed it despite it turning into a makjang in Ep 11-15. Loved it overall, and def. MCW is the best wife/partner ever!

At first I didn't know how I felt about the amnesia in the last episode. However, now I think it's very fitting and makes sense. First of all, I realized that it's not like it came out of nowhere- the writers already showed us with Jung Mi Sook that a certain amount of trauma will break the mind, which is why she lost her memories if I recall. Hyun-soo was already damaged and fragile so I think his mind was pushed to its limit; the psychological damage also contributed to his amnesia along with the physical damage.

Also, like a lot have already said, it gives the characters a fresh start. They had already overcome some of the lies, but Hyun-soo had been using a façade for years and years. Even with his true identity known, he might not have been able to just suddenly stop putting on an act around his family. Now he can really be his true self, and mentally start over while his feelings guide him for the first time.

Thanks for the recaps and input as usual.

I enjoyed the beginning of this drama but did not like it starting with ep12+. Am I the only one who thinks HyunSoo is a super jerk? He just keeps on taking, lying and keep breaking JiWoo's heart over and over again. A healthy relationship is where two people shares everything and work together to overcome hardships. HyunSoo and JiWoo were doing just that midway into the drama, but HyunSoo decided to start lying again and hurting JiWoo. Seriously he just keeps taking taking taking away from their relationship, where JiWoo is the selfless one who keeps on giving HyunSoo chances to change. Youth trauma is an excuse, he would try to find ways to be sincere and stop lying for once if he really cherished JiWoo. Also, why did HyunSoo have to go ask his fake Baek parents what JiWoo meant to him? Why did he have to have *other* people tell him how he felt? seriously.....

Think about someone like HyunSoo in real life, someone who keeps lying and only admitting to it after you found out the truth. Then suddenly does an 180 degree and becomes someone else. After a while they come back apologizing only after going through some thinking. Rinse and repeat... I mean, wth? I for one, will be super pissed if I knew someone like that. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. This is where the character development falls completely flat here. I was hoping HyunSoo would develop into a more sincere honest person at the end of the series, but from the vibes he gives me shows that he may suddenly lie and turn into someone else again.

I would've wished to see MiSook have a reunion with her dying taxi driver husband who never gave up on her, and also HyunSoo re-proposing to JiWoo sincerely.

There is only one think i wanted to add. One is that even without his memories she still wanted to be with him.only reason why she left him was coz she wanted him to b happy

The penultimate episode felt like a finale (in terms of pacing and action), and the finale felt like an epilogue. It’s like the series came to a screeching halt during the finale. It was so anticlimactic that I watched it at 1.5 sped – just to get it over and done with. I’d give the first half of the series a 9/10 rating, but the rest felt like a 7/10.

as I have finished this drama 3 years late, I cannot say I liked it. I mean, it made me so friggin angry. My sense of justice was boiling. It was a good drama but to someone overemotional like me, it can be a bit tough. I felt so strongly how unfair everyone had been to Hyun Soo that I was pissed and cursing and taring paper with my teeth. But Lee Joon Gi and Moon Chae Won reassured me it is going to be ok.

I also have to say: damn, Lee Joon Gi and kids! Put him with a child, he tops everyone! He has a very good raport with children.