WHAT HAPPENED
TO
THE MISSING RHINOCEROS HORN
IN
THE GLOBAL MASTERPIECE
FLOWER OF EVIL?
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One is compelled to ask the question: ‘What happened to the missing horn
of the rhinoceros in the global masterpiece, Flower of Evil?’ One just
wonders if the international award-winning
director, Kim Cheol Kyu, who has an eye for detail, has
a wicked sense of humour.
There is a rhinoceros in the
Flower of Evil.
Episode 8  Now, can you see the image of the rhinoceros in the broken window pane? Of
course, it’s a rhinoceros!
A rhinoceros without its (longer) horn. Do Hyun Soo and Do Hae Soo are reunited at the Alps Ski Resort in Goseong near the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in Episode 8. The meaningful image is one of the fine details that abound in the drama. The siblings, who have been cruelly separated because of their father’s sins, finally find each other again. The warm and loving older sister hugs the cold and detached Do Hyun Soo.  Episode 8
 Episode 6  Episode 6
Lee Joon Gi plays the aloof and passive man with repressed impulses to perfection. Do Hae Soo, soulfully portrayed by Jang Hee Jing, bursts into tears when he holds her close to him.
When Do Hae Soo cries, the audience cry with her. The audience must have tried to smile through their tears at this happy, yet heart-wrenching scene. This scene at the abandoned swimming pool is one of their most unforgettable scenes.
Cha Ji Won, portrayed by Moon Chae Won, through the real-time tracking device that she had installed in Do Hyun Soo's watch, has followed her husband to the site. She eavesdrops on their conversation. When Do Hae Soo asks Do Hyun Soo whether he loves his wife, Cha Ji Won must have the shock of her life when he confesses that he has never loved her. The answer burns a hole in her heart and leaves her utterly distraught. It is a devastating moment not just for her but the audience as well who empathize with her. Tears must have rolled down the faces of the viewers. Moon Chae Won is fantastic in such emotional scenes. This scene at the Alps Ski Resort at Goseong is one of the best and most meaningful scenes in the drama.   The symbol of a rhinoceros is:
‘Things are not always what they seem.’
 Many people are aware of the trade in rhinoceros horn. The horn is a symbol of success and status. Some people cash in on the Asian appetite for rhinoceros horn as it is also used as medicine. So, what happened to the rhinoceros horn? It appears as a trophy on top of a cabinet in the Baek family
home in Episode 12.
Episode 12 After Gong Mija, played by Nam Ki Ae, discovers that her son, Baek
Hee Sung portrayed by Kim Ji Hoon, has in his possession some photos of
kidnapped people, a blood-smeared murder weapon and a box containing the
thumb nails of murdered people under his bed, the shocked woman walks around
the house in a stupor.
As she passes by the rhinoceros horn, it seems to have pierced her soul. Nam Ki Ae superbly portrays the overwought and fear-stricken mother while Kim
Ji Hoon is in his element in his role as a psychopath in this scene. This scene is their
most memorable scene in Flower of Evil.
Baek Hee Sung is, at that time, trying to bury Do Hyun Soo whom he had
accidentally hit with his car.
The circular grave scene in Episode 12 speaks of ‘The Circle of Life’. Life is represented as a circle. The psychopathic Baek Hee Sung has dug out a circular grave to bury Do Hyun Soo. He has no qualms about burying a person who is still alive and breathing. The life of human beings from the beginning to the end, from the cradle to the grave, resembles a complete full circle, which has no beginning and no end. To some, life, which is full of ups and downs, love, happiness, misfortunes and heartbreaks, starts at ‘the beginning and ends at the beginning’. But, for others, everything comes to a full circle at death. In the scene, the circular grave represents the womb and whoever in centre is the embryo. Do Hyun Soo is dragged into the burial plot and laid in a more or less, foetal position. But as luck would have it, Gong Mija knifed her evil son and saved Do Hyun Soo’s life. Hyun Soo is given a second chance in life. Another meaning of ‘The Circle of Life’ refers to the interconnectedness of all living things. Humans can exist together with animals in peaceful and beautiful harmony. The cruel poaching of rhinoceros may lead to the death of the endangered species.  Episode 12 Meanwhile, Do Hae Soo has done some internet research on ‘the green wristband’. She does not know but it must have dawned on the viewers that Baek Hee Sung, the mysterious person with ‘the green wristband’, was involved in the medical volunteer programme to Kenya which was organised by the Ilsin University Hospital in 2001.  Probably, he had illegally obtained the rhinoceros horn from Kenya. Kenya is one of the African countries affected by the poaching of rhinoceros horns. The rhinoceros remains critically endangered.  The two scenes in Episode 8 and Episode 12 seem like a tacit call for the support of the conservation of the environment and the endangered rhinoceros. Well, let’s look at the playful director’s use of pareidolia. One isn’t sure if he wants to induce pareidolia in the minds of the viewers or make them imagine things. Pareidolia is one’s innate desire to find patterns in one’s surroundings. Depending on which researcher you prefer to listen to, a person who demonstrates pareidolia can be ordinary, unstable or creative. Which one are you? In Episode 6, the audience is told that seeing ‘a face’ or ‘an image’ in our surroundings is quite normal for children and adults as exemplified by Do Hyun Soo and Eun Ha. If one’s imagination is powerful, the brain might construct illusions. Eun Ha, while looking at the clouds, sees her favourite egg tart and Do Hyun Soo sees the person he loves, that is, Cha Ji Won, his wife. Probably, you see neither. Are they ordinary, mad or creative? In this scene, Lee Joon Gi portrays the perfect father to the hilt. The way he talks to his daughter and his tone demonstrate that he is loving, understanding and tolerant. He accepts his young daughter's wild imagination and even 'talks to her in her own language'. He agrees that he sees illusions too. It is astonishing that the unmarried 38 year old Lee Joon Gi is able to play a father so convincingly despite having no experience of fatherhood. This is one of the many successes that Lee pulls off in the drama. His powerful yet touching performance as a father throughout the tale is beyond perfect. Everyone is charmed but every single lady wants to marry Lee Joon Gi or someone who has Do Hyun Soo's fine paternal qualities after watching Flower of Evil. Eun Ha, played by Jung Seo Yeon, loves her father; he is 'the one she likes the most in the world'. One must say that the young lady is a child prodigy in the world of acting.    The director’s message is they are certainly not unusual people; they just have very imaginative minds. Many other stunning features make Flower of Evil unique. One is astounded that the tale about Do Hyun Soo, a hapless and helpless man who is unwittingly trapped by the cruel whims of fate, is presented like an exciting metaphorical puzzle. Wrongly diagnosed as suffering from ASPD when young and accused
of many crimes, including murder because of his psychopath father’s sins, Do
Hyun Soo is subjected to painful humiliation. With his life being mired in
injustice and social prejudice, Do Hyun Soo tries to make sense of his life.
Lee Joon Gi’s mesmerising portrayal of the angst-ridden Do Hyun
Soo, a metal craftsman, steals the show in all his scenes, many of which are crucial
to the tale.  Do Hyun Soo radiates surface calm but reveals a seething underbelly of anger and violence. By the end of the first episode, he has already demonstrated his aggressive tendencies. The expression of clenched, vengeful fury of the metal craftworker speaks volumes. Flower of Evil also shines a light on his older sibling, Do Hae Soo, played by Jang Hee Jin, who laments, ‘You and I somehow got lost during our journey in life. We’ll end up wandering around a lot. That’s why we need to have a starting point so that we won’t get lost again.’ The narrative of the unique and richly emotional 16-episode TVN
drama is fractured into flashbacks. The flashbacks, presented as prologues of
each episode, form a metaphorical puzzle. The drama takes the idea of flashbacks a step further by scrambling the chronological order. Though the flashbacks are jumbled up, the audience understand the narrative as the main story takes a temporal order. Every episode with the exception of the first episode, begins with a prologue with a flashback, a backstory that explains the present events in the tale. The lives of the hero and the villain unfold in the brief snapshots in each flashback. Episode 1 stands out because it is the only episode with a flash-forward about the drowning incident in the future, which occurs in Episode 5. Spurred by what happens in the
prologue, the story drives forward with a gusto. The puzzle is pieced
together at a rapid pace. The last piece of the tale falls into place as the
story reaches its show-stopping climax with a showdown between the hero and
the villain in Episode 15. THE PROLOGUE BACKSTORIES EPISODE 1
EPISODE 2
 EPISODE 3
 EPISODE 4
 EPISODE 5
 EPISODE 6
 EPISODE 7
EPISODE 8
EPISODE 9
EPISODE 10
EPISODE 11
 EPISODE 12
 EPISODE 13
EPISODE 14
  EPISODE 15     EPISODE 16      One has to write a book to discuss the various numerous details that Kim Cheol Kyu has showcased in the amazing drama, Flower of Evil. It is precisely the genius of the international award-winning
director Kim Cheol Kyu that the poignant grief-filled suspense-melodrama
Flower of Evil is an astonishing masterpiece, a landmark drama and a global
success which has attracted international acclaim.  The breathtaking direction of Flower of Evil by Director Kim
Cheol Kyu is matched by the stunning performance of Lee Joon Gi, the leading
man and Moon Chae Won, the leading lady. Both actors show an effortless,
effervescent chemistry. Without the talents of Yoo Yung Hee, the scriptwriter
of Flower of Evil, who offers the audience a window into the world of those
who are falsely accused or mentally unstable, there would not have been a
masterpiece.
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