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From Wikipedia: “Beyond Evil” (lit. “Monster”) is a 2021 South Korean television series starring Shin Ha-kyun and Yeo Jin-goo. It aired on JTBC from February 19 to April 10, 2021. It received seven nominations at the 57th Baeksang Arts Awards, winning three – Best Drama, Best Screenplay, and Best Actor for Shin Ha-kyun. It was also selected as one of the final candidates for the Baeksang Arts Award Grand Prize – Television.
For an incisive review of this drama, please read Killing time: The brilliant machinations of “Beyond Evil” by Brooks Riley (director, producer, film critic, editor and screenwriter; she’s a former Senior Editor of Film Comment magazine and former film critic for WNYC-TV).
How I wrote these episode summaries with no spoilers
1. I assumed that you will be reading these summaries and watching the videos chronologically.
2. I narrated some of the main actions in each episode without revealing the plot’s twists and turns.
3. At the beginning of each summary starting with Episode 2, I placed in a table a recap of the major twists and turns of the previous episode. But because you have already watched the video of the previous episode, they aren’t spoilers anymore.
4. I followed this structure all throughout, except for Ep. 16 (Finale) where I included spoilers. Reason — most people want to know if the drama has a happy ending or a sad ending before they invest the time in watching it.
Episode 1
Assistant Inspector Lee Dong-sik and another police officer stumble upon the skeletal remains of a murder victim in a field of reeds.
Flashback, October 14, 2000 ... A young woman wearing a red dress is murdered, with her body dumped in a field of reeds in Munju City. Meanwhile, a mother is shocked to find on her front yard ten severed fingers.
Present times, October 11, 2020 ... Inspector Han Joo-won is reassigned from Seoul to the Manyang Police Substation. As he drives to the substation, he notices the banners on the streets that ask for help in finding a missing young woman. A good looking guy, he has impeccable credentials; he graduated with honors from the police academy, and his father, Han Gi-hwan, is the Chief Superintendent of the National Police Agency.
Although Dong-sik’s fellow officers consider him a nut case, he knows the criminal code by heart and enforces it strictly but fairly; he’s also obsessed with the serial murders that happened 20 years ago.
When Chief Nam Sang-bae of the substation notices the tension between Joo-won and Dong-sik, he assigns them to work together.
Episode 2
| Ep. 1 recap:
Joo-won previously headed the task force that was investigating the serial murders; among the top suspects in the murders is Dong-sik. Because of something that he did, however, his father’s impending promotion as the Commissioner General of the National Police Agency could be jeopardized; his father thus tells him to lie low in Manyang and not to call attention to himself. Among the old newspaper clippings in Dong-sik’s board are an article about the aborted investigation of a murder and a picture of Joo-won’s father. Dong-sik thinks at first that the skeletal remains on the field could be that of his missing sister Yu-yeon. But then, he asks Joo-won who the victim is; Joo-won retorts, however, by asking him if he killed his own sister. |
Flashback, 15th October 2000 ... Dong-sik is arrested for the murder of Bang Ju-yeon.
Present times ... Detective Oh Ji-Hwa of the Violent Crimes Unit of the Munju Police Station questions Dong-sik and Joo-won about their reports of the incident.
Dong-sik visits his mother at the nursing home; there, he meets Jin-mook, who has been regularly visiting and taking care of his mother. He finds out that Jin-mook’s daughter, Min-jung, didn’t come home again.
Councilwoman Do Hae-won flares up after hearing from her aide that Dong-sik found the body of the murder victim. The mother of police officer Park Jung-je (the records custodian), she has built up Munju City’s reputation as a place without crimes.
Joo-won’s father orders him to stop digging into the serial murders. Later on, after finding that the archived files of the serial murders are missing, Joo-won confronts Chief Nam about Dong-sik. Meanwhile, Dong-sik investigates why Joo-won was reassigned to Manyang.
Using his connections, Dong-sik traces Min-jung to a club in Seoul; finding her drunk and passed out on a couch, he takes her to his substation.
Episode 3
| Ep. 2 recap:
Joo-won used the murder victim found in the field of reeds as a bait to entrap the serial murderer. Wearing a hoodie and dark clothes, Dong-sik places Min-jung’s severed fingers on a table. |
The tension between Joo-won and Dong-sik increases when Joo-won finds out that the missing files have been returned to the records room. He accuses Jung-je of being Dong-sik’s accomplice.
Joo-won finds himself in trouble, however, when Ji-hwa confronts him with a cellphone, which the police found in the woods as they were searching for Min-jung — it has records of text messages sent to him.
Councilwoman Do Hae-won visits the Violent Crimes Unit of the Munju Police Station and speaks to the police officers. As she leaves, Jung-je cautions her against cooperating with Lee Chang-jin, who’s the owner of JL Construction and Ji-hwa’s ex-husband.
Episode 4
| Ep. 3 recap:
The murdered woman found in the field of reeds is Lee Geum-hwa, an illegal immigrant who Joo-won used to track Dong-sik’s movements. To keep updated with what’s happening, Chief Superintendent Han Gi-hwan orders Prosecutor Kwon Hyeok to work for Munju’s Violent Crimes Unit. When Lee Geum-hwa’s DNA is found on the cellphone, he blames Joo-won for endangering his chance to become the next Commissioner General. Based on the dash cam footage that shows Dong-sik on the mountain where the cellphone was found, Joo-won sneaks into Dong-sik’s house; he finds blood in Dong-sik’s workbench. Later on, Ji-hwa arrests Dong-sik for Min-jung’s kidnapping. |
At the substation, Ji-hoon coldly tells Joo-won that since he came, he has brought only trouble to people in Munju.
When the DNA analysis is released, it shows that the human blood on a knife from the butcher shop doesn’t belong to Min-jung but to a missing woman named Han Jeong-im, Jae-hyi’s mother.
Min-jung’s father, Jin-mook, files an appeal asking for Dong-sik’s immediate release, and Ji-hwa admits that they hastily arrested Dong-sik. But Superintendent Jung of the Munju Police Station refuses to release him, fearing the backlash from the public if it turns out later on that he really killed Min-jung.
Chief Superintendent Han Gi-hwan meets with Councilwoman Do Hae-won and Lee Chang-jin in a Seoul restaurant. Councilwoman Do pleads with him to support Lee Chang-jin’s long-delayed plans for developing Munju (and thus her own political plans). Lee Chang-jin, on the other hand, says that he will help divert people’s attention from the serial murders.
Episode 5
| Ep. 4 recap:
Dong-sik is released from detention when Jung-je provides an alibi that he was with Dong-sik on the night Min-jung disappeared. Lee Chang-jin uses his media contacts to slander Min-jung as an escort who slept with her clients. Joo-won points his gun at Dong-sik, who brushes him off, saying that a coerced confession will not stand up in court. Dong-sik also questions Joo-won why he tried to entrap him knowing that the woman he used could get killed. Shaken by Dong-sik’s claim that he has a perfect alibi, Joo-won speaks to news reporters and announces that Munju is dealing with a serial murderer. Afterwards, he goes back to Dong-sik and asks him why he said that it doesn’t matter who the real killer is. Ji-hwa confronts her brother Ji-hoon with the CCTV footage at the Internet cafe and asks him why he tipped off the reporters about Dong-sik’s arrest. Min-jung met Ji-hoon on the night when she disappeared. |
Prosecutor Kwon Hyeok tells Joo-won to calm down, saying that he will take care of things; in turn, Joo-won asks him to investigate Jung-je’s background.
Dong-sik threatens a news reporter into revealing who tipped him off about his arrest for Min-jung’s disappearance.
Joo-won finds out that Jung-je could have killed a person whom he thought looked like a deer and that Dong-sik and others might have covered up what happened to Jung-je after Yu-yeon disappeared 20 years ago.
Episode 6
| Ep. 5 recap:
Councilwoman Do forced Jin-mook to speak favorably of Lee Chang-jin’s redevelopment plans for Munju. Jung-je spent four years in a mental institution after Yu-yeon disappeared. When Dong-sik confronts him about why he tipped off the news reporters, Ji-hoon recalls that on the night Min-jung disappeared, he saw her meeting Jung-je. When Min-jung met Jung-je the night she disappeared, her father Jin-mook was watching them from afar. |
Flashback, the night when Min-Jung disappeared ... Jin-mook runs after he sees Min-jung and Jung-je walking together.
Despite Dong-sik’s reservations, Joo-won says yes to Jin-mook’s plea for him to investigate Min-jung’s disappearance.
Jung-je continues to break down psychologically as he keeps hearing a woman’s voice. After he leaves his mother’s office with his request for a leave of absence granted, Lee Chang-jin appears and asks Coincilwoman Do if Jung-je is responsible for Min-jung’s disappearance. In reply, she orders him to turn over to her the dashcam footage of Min-jung’s disappearance. But Lee Chang-jin refuses, saying that it’s his insurance policy.
Joo-won’s investigation leads him back to Chief Nam, and he confronts Chief Nam about the deleted footage from the CCTV in the records room.
At the Munju Police Station, the Violent Crimes Unit receives a copy of the dashcam footage, even as the footage is leaked online.
Episode 7
| Ep. 6 recap:
Jin-mook has visions of tying down Min-jung and cutting off her fingers. Dong-sik overhears Joo-won’s conversation with Chief Nam; afterwards, he questions Chief Nam on why he would delete the CCTV footage at the records room for his sake. Because of the edited dashcam footage, Ji-hoon is arrested as the suspect in Min-jung’s disappearance. Dong-sik assures him, however, to tell the truth that he saw Jung-je with Min-jung that night. As Joo-won and another officer are in their patrol car, they find out that Min-jung’s cellphone has just been turned on. They rush to Jae-yi’s butcher shop where Dong-sik shows him Jin-mook’s cellphone with a text message from Min-jung. The text message says “Dad … please let me out.” |
Present times ... Dong-sik sends the text message to Jin-mook using Min-jung’s cellphone, which he has hidden near Jae-yi’s butcher shop.
Flashback, the night when Min-Jung disappeared ... Dong-sik finds Min-jung’s severed fingers in Jin-mook’s supermarket basement; he also finds the cellphone of Lee Geum-hwa, the woman sent by Joo-won to spy on him.
Present times ... After Jin-mook implicates Jae-yi in Min-jung’s disappearance, Joo-won and Dong-sik question her at the butcher shop; while they’re talking, Ji-hoon walks into the shop.
While at the Munju Police Station holding cell, Dong-sik is surprised to get a text message saying that Jin-mook got another text message from Min-jung’s cellphone. He rushes to Jin-mook’s house where he finds Chief Nam, Jo-woon, Ji-hwa, and other police officers. Ji-hwa orders the officers of the Violent Crimes Unit to search all the reed fields and houses in Manyang.
After Jin-mook gets another message from Min-jung’s cellphone, Joo-won gets a warrant and searches Jae-yi’s butcher shop.
Episode 8
| Ep. 7 recap:
Ji-hoon is released from jail after Jung-jae confesses that he was the last person Min-jung saw the night she disappeared. Jae-yi found Min-jung’s cellphone that was hidden by Dong-sik near her shop; she sent the 2nd text message to Jin-mook. In the woods, Dong-sik confirms to her that Jin-mook killed Min-jung and Yu-yeon. Joo-won finds out that Chief Nam deleted the footage from the CCTV camera on a utility post in front of Jin-mook’s supermarket. Jin-mook leaves a letter for Jae-yi, telling her where in the field of reeds she can find her mother’s body. As she goes there, she calls up Dong-sik, who’s about to be arrested by Joo-won. As Jae-hyi digs up a spot in the field of reeds, Joo-won arrests Jin-mook. |
Based on the autopsy report, Min-jung didn’t die of strangulation; her heart stopped due to multiple organ failure.
During his interrogation, Jin-mook becomes outraged when Joo-won asks him about Min-jung not being his biological daughter.
In the Busan docks, Joo-won tells Dong-sik about the connection between his spy Lee Geum-hwa and Min-jung’s mother. As he and Dong-sik question Jin-mook again, Jin-mook reveals that he didn’t kill Yu-yeon but that he knows where the bodies of the missing victims are buried.
Episode 9
| Ep. 8 recap:
After cutting off Min-Jung’s fingers, Jin-mook buried her alive. Min-jung had suspected all along that Jin-mook wasn’t her biological father and that his being dull was only an act. After looking for Min-jung’s mother for years, Jin-mook found out in Busan that she died in a car accident. But Joo-won and Dong-shik trick him by saying that Min-jung’s mother is still alive. Based on Jin-mook’s statement, the police find the bodies of the missing victims. Jae-yi’s mother is found buried in her backyard garden, but Yu-yeon’s body isn’t found in her family’s compound. Jin-mook commits suicide in his jail cell; on the wall, he wrote his message to Dong-sik that he didn’t kill Yu-yeon. |
Three months after Jin-mook’s death ...
Dong-sik watches old videos of Jin-mook; he also continues to tear Jin-mook’s house apart and smash the floor with a sledgehammer in search of a clue on what happened to Yu-yeon.
After disappearing from Manyang for several months, Jae-hyi returns and turns herself over to the Violent Crimes Unit; she admits that she went to the Munju Police Station on the night when Jin-mook died because she wanted to kill him. Later on, a dashcam footage of her near the station is posted online.
Prosecutor Kwon Hyeok tells Chief Superintendent Han Gi-hwan that Jae-hyi’s footage is problematic — although Jin-mook’s death was ruled a suicide, how he got the fishing line he used to hang himself has never been solved.
Based on the video where Dong-sik’s mother mentions “construction work” to Jin-mook, Dong-sik and his fellow officers begin digging at a farmland that belongs to Lee Chang-jin, even without a search warrant. When they find a body, Ji-hwa brings in Lee Chang-jin for questioning. While Lee Chang-jin is questioning the legality of the search and saying that the police are abusing their authority, Ji-hwa finds out that more bodies have been found on the farmland.
Episode 10
| Ep. 9 recap:
In his will, Jin-mook left all his properties to Dong-sik. On the night Jin-mook died, somebody turned off the CCTV cameras at the Violent Crimes Unit office; somebody then gave Jin-mook a copy of the death certificate of Min-jung’s mother and a fishing line. Dong-sik finds Yu-yeon’s body buried in his basement, near the boiler. Jae-hyi was blackmailed that the dashcam footage of her near the police station will be posted online. At the butcher shop, Jae-hyi asks Chief Nam if he killed Jin-mook. But officers from the Violent Crimes Unit arrive and arrest Chief Nam for aiding and abetting Jin-mook’s suicide. Joo-won planted the fishing line and a copy of the death certificate of Min-jung’s mother in Chief Nam’s safe. |
Present times ... The forensics investigators begin examining the crime scene in Dong-sik’s basement; meanwhile, at the station, Chief Nam tells Dong-sik that he didn’t kill Jin-mook.
With Jung-je’s condition getting worse, Councilwoman Do asks Lee Chang-jin for help.
When Chief Nam is released, Joo-won follows him. Later on, he meets his father Chief Superintendent Han Gi-hwan, who appeals to him to stop investigating Jin-mook’s suicide.
When the autopsy report is released, Dong-sik finds out that Yu-yeon didn’t die of strangulation but has numerous breaks and fractures in her body.
Episode 11
| Ep. 10 recap:
Dong-sik finds out that it was Joo-won who blackmailed Jae-hyi. Jung-je has visions of himself trying to stop Yu-yeon from leaving on the night she disappeared. The breaks and fractures in Yu-yeon’s body indicate that she could have been run over several times. Chief Nam is kidnapped by someone at the scrapyard. As Joo-won chases the SUV where Chief Nam was thrown into, he calls up Dong-sik. By the time they catch up, however, Chief Nam is dead. |
Through Jung-je, they find out that Gil-go called up Chief Superintendent Han Gi-hwan. Later, Chief Superintendent Han Gi-hwan tells Joo-won that Gil-go asked him about the Munju serial murder cases. After Gil-go left, Chief Nam arrived, asking him about the forensics report from 21 years ago.
After finding out that Gil-go visited Chief Nam in the holding cell, Dong-sik decides to confront him.
Episode 12
| Ep. 11 recap:
Gil-go confesses that Chief Nam asked him who faked the forensics report on the guitar pick that was used as the basis for arresting Dong-sik as the suspect in the murder case 21 years ago. He also says that Superintendent Jung of the Munju Police Station visited Chief Nam. Based on the CCTV footage, Lee Chang-jin gave Jin-mook the fishing line and the death certificate of Min-jung’s mother. Flashback, October 15, 2000 ... As Yu-yeon runs frantically with bloody hands, she sees a car in the distance and shouts for help. Later, she’s lying face down on the street, with Jung-je slumped on the ground near his car and his mother looking at her body. Moments later, Lee Chang-jin arrives and sees everything. |
As Jo-woon and Dong-sik leave the restaurant, Lee Chang-jin secretly watches them; he tries to call up Chief Superintendent Han Gi-hwan, but his call is rejected.
Prosecutor Kwon Hyeok tells Chief Superintendent Han Gi-hwan about the forensics report on the guitar pick. On the other hand, Dong-sik thinks that his guitar pick was planted near Bang Ju-yeon’s body.
Flashback, the night Chief Nam died ... Gil-go keeps on calling Councilwoman Do on her burner phone, wanting to tell her that Chief Nam suspects that the forensics report was faked.
Jung-je sneaks out of the hospital and wanders off into the street. But Joo-woon sees him and takes him to Dong-sik’s basement.
Episode 13
| Ep. 12 recap:
Councilwoman Do took the genuine forensics report and gave Gil-go the faked report. Since 2000, she has been bribing Lee Chang-jin, Superintendent Jung, and Gil-go with lands to keep them quiet about what happened to Yu-yeon and Jung-je’s part in it. Jung-je was holding the guitar pick as he was arguing with Yu-yeon about revealing their relationship to Dong-sik. Later, after taking some pills and drinking alchohol, he goes to find Yu-yeon. But she’s already on the ground after being hit by (Chief Superintendent) Han Gi-hwan’s car; he steps on the brakes but still runs over her. Yu-yeon saw Jin-mook with Lee Geum-hwa gagged and bound inside his van. She runs away as Jin-mook drags Lee Geum-hwa to the field of reeds. Chief Superintendent Han Gi-hwan is nominated as the Commissioner General, the highest position in Korea’s police agency. |
Present times ... After investigating Lee Chang-jin’s phone records, Ji-hwa finds out that he has been in frequent contact with Councilwoman Do and Chief Superintendent Han Gi-hwan.
Dong-sik orders Jung-je to create doubt in his mother’s mind by telling her that Chief Superintendent Han Gi-hwan and Lee Chang-jin have been meeting on their own. Meanwhile, Joo-won talks to his father and tells him that Superintendent Jung has been taking bribes from Councilwoman Do.
Superintendent Jung confesses to Chief Superintendent Han Gi-hwan that Jung-je struck Yu-yeon with his car and that the forensics report on the guitar pick was faked because Jung-je’s fingerprints were on the pick. To ensure that his nomination as Commissioner General won’t be imperiled, Chief Superintendent Han Gi-hwan orders Superintendent Jung to resign.
When Chief Superintendent Han Gi-hwan offers him a job with the General Investigation Unit that’s tasked with running after corrupt police officers, Dong-sik accepts it.
Episode 14
| Ep. 13 recap:
Superintendent Jung refuses to resign and threatens Chief Superintendent Han Gi-hwan that he will release the CCTV footage of Lee Chang-jin giving the fishing line to Jin-mook. Joo-won leaks to a reporter the story of Superintendent Jung’s corruption in the Munju Police Station. The story is published just when the confirmation hearings for Chief Superintendent Han Gi-hwan’s appointment as Commissioner General are starting, with Joo-won attending the hearing. Chief Superintendent Han Gi-hwan explains that Superintendent Jung’s real estate transaction was lawful. But then, Dong-sik arrives and arrests Joo-won for Lee Geum-Hwa’ death. |
Present times ... Despite his agreement with Dong-sik about keeping quiet during his investigation, Joo-won admits his guilt in abusing his authroity as a police officer.
Jung-je and his mother Councilwoman Do meet Lee Chang-jin; with his cellphone open and with Dong-sik on the other end, he tricks Lee Chang-jin into revealing what happened on the night Yu-yeon died.
Lee Chang-jin is brought in for questioning at the Violent Crimes Unit, based on his statements that Dong-shik heard over the phone. He’s also questioned about his construction business and his ties to Councilwoman Do and Chief Superintendent Han Gi-hwan.
Superintendent Jung forces Ji-hwa to release Lee Chang-jin; as he escorts Lee Chang-jin to his car, he says something ominous. After exchanging cars with his assistant, Lee Chang-jin speeds away, but Dong-sik and Ji-hwa chase after him. Meanwhile, Jae-yi follows Chief Superintendent Han Gi-hwan.
Episode 15
| Ep. 14 recap:
Lee Chang-jin was present when Chief Superintendent Han Gi-hwan struck Yu-yeon with his car; he came back when Councilwoman Do called him up for help. As he’s moving Jung-je’s car, Jin-mook came out of the bushes and took Yu-yeon’s body. In his car, Chief Superintendent Han Gi-hwan tells Lee Chang-jin that they should eliminate Superintendent Jung in the same way that they eliminated Chief Nam. On the other hand, Lee Chang-jin tells him that Jin-mook saw everything the night that Yu-yeon died. Unknown to them, Joo-won has bugged the car and recorded everything. |
Despite Jung-je’s pleas, Councilwoman Do decides to continue her bid to become Munju’s mayor.
Lee Chang-jin fails to kill Superintendent Jung at the reservoir, and he’s brought into the station for questioning by Joo-won. During the questioning, he tells Joo-won and Dong-sik about meeting (Councilwoman) Do and (Chief Superintendent) Han Gi-hwan on the night that Yu-yeon died; he also tells them that Councilwoman Do has locked up Jung-je in a mental institution.
After seeing Superintendent Jung leave the Munju Police Station, Joo-won borrows Dong-sik’s cellphone and calls up Prosecutor Kwon Hyeok; he finds out that Chief Superintendent Han Gi-hwan has been appointed as the Commissioner General. He also sees that Dong-sik got a text message from Superintendent Jung, asking for a one-on-one meeting. Fearing a repeat of what happened to Chief Nam, he keeps the cellphone with him and then goes to Superintendent Jung’s house.
Episode 16, Finale (with spoilers)
| Ep. 15 recap:
Joo-won strikes a deal with Chief Superintendent Han Gi-hwan — he will continue being a police officer, and Chief Superintendent Han Gi-hwan can become the Commissioner General. But he had no intentions of giving up his investigation. Joo-won comes out of Superintendent Jung’s house with his hands covered in blood; he tells Dong-sik that he killed Superintendent Jung. |
When Ji-hwa asks Dong-shik about why he placed Min-jung’s fingers in front of Jin-mook’s supermarket, he reveals that it was Chief Superintendent Han Gi-hwan who killed Yu-yeon 21 years ago.
After Councilwoman Do confesses that she kept quiet about Jin-mook committing the serial murders, Lee Chang-jin is arrested. Joo-won releases to the media his recording of Lee Chang-jin and Chief Superintendent Han Gi-hwan’s conversation about Yu-yeon’s death.
Severe sentences are handed down — 20 years for Chief Superintendent Han Gi-hwan; life imprisonment for Lee Chang-jin; nine years for Councilwoman Do; three years for Jung-je; and one year for Dong-sik, with two years of probation. Joo-won is acquitted due to his role in solving the serial murders.
February 2022 ... Joo-won is now assigned to the Women and Juvenile Affairs Division. After visiting Yu-yeon’s grave on Chief Nam’s death anniversary, he goes to the reunion meal with Dong-sik, Ji-hwa, and Jae-yi.
Historical backgrounders and other information
1. “Beyond Evil” depicts the serial murders in the fictional Munju City, but South Korea has had serial killings since 1975. These serial killers acted alone, except for the Jijon clique that had six members.
South Korea’s most notorious serial killers (Korea Herald)
‘Worst serial killer’ ID exposes shady South Korean police methods (Nikkei)
South Korea Police Solve 'Memories of Murder' Serial Killer Case, Apologize for Mistakes (Hollywood reporter)
2. Probably the most infamous serial murders in Korea are the “Hwaseong serial murders,” where 10 women were raped and murdered between 1986 and 1991.
(These murders became the subject of the 2003 film “Memories of Murder” directed by South Korean director Bong Joon-ho, who became the first Korean to win the Palme d’Or and Oscar Award for his 2019 film "Parasite.")“Man Confesses to Brutal Killings That Terrorized South Korea, Police Say” (New York Times):
For decades, the Hwaseong serial murders have spawned such fear among South Koreans that they became the best-known cold cases in the country. The victims, ranging in age from 14 to 71, were strangled to death after their mouths were stuffed with their stockings, bras or socks. Some of the bodies were mutilated with umbrellas, forks or razor blades.
Lessons in cinematography and photography from “Beyond Evil”
In-depth analysis of the cinematography of “Beyond Evil”
Although this drama was nominated in the Baeksang Awards for “Technical Award” (Cinematography), its cinematography is basic compared to, for example, Jin Hyuk’s dramas such as “Brilliant Legacy” aka “Shining Inheritance” and “Sisyphus: The Myth.” (The “Technical Award” went to “It’s Okay to Not Be Okay” for its “Costume Design.”) But the cinematography reinforces the compelling acting with its solid choices in camera movements, angles, and shot sizes.
A. Some of the excellent camera movements from this drama:
(1) Ep. 4, tracking shot: Joo-won threatens to shoot Dong-sik, but Dong-sik challenges him to shoot, saying that coerced confessions are not admissible as evidence. As Joo-won leaves Dong-sik’s house and goes to his car, he’s disoriented, gasping for breath, and pounding on his chest with his gun.
Note: Another term for tracking shot is “oner.”
(2) Ep. 4, arc shots with cross dissolve and shaky cam: Joo-won’s confusion after his confrontation with Dong-sik continues. There are three arc shots, with a cross dissolve in between the first two arc shots; the arc shots aren’t smooth, with the shaky cam quite noticeable.
Notes: An arc shot is when the camera moves partially or fully around the subject. A cross dissolve is when two images merge, with one image disappearing as the next image appears.)
(3) Ep. 4, camera roll: Joo-won hesitates in going back to confront Dong-sik, and the camera rolls reinforce in the viewer’s mind his hesitation.
The scene starts with a short sided closeup of Joo-won in a Dutch angle, followed by a counterclockwise camera roll of Joo-won standing in front of the door, followed next by a clockwise camera roll of Joo-won in a closeup, and ends with Joo-won (shiwn in reflection) walking away.
Note: Studio Binder defines camera roll as “a rotational camera movement that rotates the camera over its side on its long axis; rolls can be dizzying and unnatural.”)
(4) Ep. 1, pull out and panning: Dong-sik and Ji-hoon are on foot patrol and come upon a group of women who are gambling. The shot starts with the image of Dong-sik and Ji-hoon; as the camera pans down, we see that it’s a mirror image. The camera pulls out and pans to the left to show Dong-sik and Ji-hoon on the street.
(5) Ep. 5, arc shots, Dutch angles, and montage: Joo-won thinks that everyone in the butcher shop — police officers and even Jae-hyi — can be the serial killer.
The sequence starts with an arc shot of Joo-won standing in front of the substation and remembering the get-together in the butcher shop. He’s then shown in a medium shot with a Dutch angle in front of the butcher shop; this is followed by a quick montage of the people inside the butcher shop. As the action goes back to the present, the camera arcs around Joo-won as Dong-sik and another officer come out the door.
(6) Ep. 6, arc shot and rack focus: The camera arcs to the left around Dong-sik and then shows Joo-won out of focus in the background. As Dong-shik becomes out of focus, Joo-won becomes in focus.
(7) Ep. 6, panning shots and push in: In Jin-mook’s house, Joo-won stands up and moves to the right. The camera pans right to follow him. As he approaches the door, he’s shown in a wide shot, the camera pushes in slightly, and then quickly pans right to show him standing at the door, beside Dong-sik.
At first glance, this may look like one continous shot. But I think that these are actually three shots that were “stitched” together.
(8) Ep. 7, push in and trucking shot: Dong-sik finds Min-jung’s severed fingers on a table in Jin-mook’s basement. As he runs from one room to another, the camera trucks him.
Studio Binder defines a “trucking shot” as a tracking shot where the camera moves parallel to the subject. Just like with the scene of Joo-won described immediately above, at first glance, Dong-sik running from one room to another may look like one continous shot. But I think that these are actually three shots that were “stitched” together.
Also, as Dong-shik moves past the first post, I think that the cinematographer changed to a wider lens.
(9) Ep. 11, arc shot and pull out; Ji-hoon and Jae-yi see the National Police Agency headquarters for the first time. The camera, either on a crane or a jib, first shows Ji-hoon and Jae-yi from a high angle; it then cranes down in an arc around them and then pulls out to show the headquarters.
(10) Ep. 13, arc shots: As Joo-woon leaves Dong-sik’s house, he gets a call from his father. A closeup of his phone divides the two arc shots.
(11) Ep. 15, closeup, shaky cam, camera roll: Joo-won’s world collapses on him when he hears his father tell Lee Chang-jin that he’s pathetic like his mother and will be eliminated if he becomes a problem. He’s shot in a closeup with a shaky cam; the camera then rolls slightly counterclockwise and then rolls again slightly clockwise.
(12) Ep. 15, cross dissolve: Under the pouring rain, Joo-won goes down on his knees to beg for Dong-sik’s help; that shot then cross dissolves into the shot of Joo-won and Dong-sik (who are now on an equal level) at a restaurant.
B. Restrained or judicious use of Dutch angles or Dutch tilts
Unlike “Mr. Sunshine“ which is trigger happy in using Dutch angles (sometimes resulting in nonsensical shots), “Beyond Evil” uses Dutch angles judiciously. Posted below are some examples of Dutch angle shots from this drama:
The picture immediately above is a 90-degree Dutch angle shot.
C. Visual cues: The website “My Drama List” has an excellent series of articles written by someone with the username “3GGG.” These articles will teach you how to “read” a drama better:
Popular Visual Cues found in K-Dramas [Part 1]: visual ways to establish a conflict, division, or fight between two or more characters; visual ways to establish trust, understanding, or an alliance between two or more characters.
Popular Visual Cues in K-Dramas [Part 2]: boxing to establish a character’s vulnerability, solitude, or fear; comfort and respite; change; danger; showdown
Popular Visual Cues in K-Drama [Part 3]: Dutch angle
A Dutch angle is combined with framing to show the division between Joo-won and Dong-sik:
Dong-sik and Jo-won are enclosed by different frames to show the disunity between them; Joo-won suspects Jae-yi of being involved in Min-jung's disappearance, while Dong-sik believes in her innocence.
Enclosed by a frame, Ji-hwa confronts Jung-je after he provides Dong-sik an alibi for the night Min-jung disappeared.
Chief Superintendent Han Gi-hwan refuses to socialize with Councilwoman Do and Lee Chang-jin, who pressures him to drink. He’s framed to show the dilemma that he’s in.
Councilwoman refuses to listen to Jung-je, who pleads with her to give up her desire to become mayor of Munju. Notice the lines that divide them.
D. Great shots of reflections: Several scenes are set in the investigation room with a large one way mirror. Here are some great shots of reflections from that one way mirror.
E. Rants against eyeline mismatch and short siding
(1) “Eyeline match”: two characters are talking to each other. Character “A” who is frame right looks to the left where the Character “B” is (or vice versa). In a shot where Character “A” is shown alone but still in conversation with Character “B,” he/she must be facing left because that’s where Character “B” is. If Character “A” is shown facing right, then there’s “eyeline mismatch.”
I’ve ranted before against eyeline mismatches in K-dramas; see, for example, my discussion of eyeline mismatches in “Flower of Evil.” From this GIF of a scene from Ep. 13 of “Beyond Evil,” try to see if you can spot the eyeline mismatch.
(2) Ep. 14, from short siding to lead room/looking space: After being released from detention, Joo-won says that he’s now willing to do everything his father wants.
“Short siding” means that the subject is facing the edge of the frame he/she is nearest to. When the subject is separated from the end of the frame he/she is facing with a lot of space, we say that there’s “lead room” or “looking space.” Here’s are examples from Ep. 13 where both Chief Superintendent Han Gi-hwan and Superintendent Jung are short sided; the last two examples are of Dong-sik and Joo-won.
I have ranted before on how much I hate short siding. As a photographer, I believe in the guideline of “filling the frame,” that is, there mustn’t be any wasted space around the subject. But short siding violates this guideline.
(I first noticed how K-dramas used short siding in “My Love From The Star,” which was the first drama I watched in full.)
I was surprised therefore by this shot of Joo-won from Ep. 14 because at the start, he was short sided; the camera then moves (arcs?) to create lead room between him and the edge of the frame that he’s facing. Why did the cinematography move from short siding to lead room? I can only speculate on the reasons.
Inspired by the US drama series “Mr. Robot” and the movie “The King’s Speech,” short siding is supposed to show or increase the tension in a scene. But I doubt that short siding creates in the viewer’s mind the tension in the scene; I’m not aware of any academic study that proves this is true.
The study titled “Effect of Camera Angle on Perception of Trust and Attractiveness” (Empirical Studies of the Arts, 2018) discusses the effect of eye level, low angle, and high angle shots. The study concludes that “actors were rated as most trustworthy when filmed from eye-level, and less so when the camera was lowered or raised; camera elevation had no effect on attractiveness.”
Can a K-drama be highly successful even if it’s cinematography doesn’t use short siding? Yes. Proof: As far as I can remember, “Descendants of the Sun” and “Six Flying Dragons” used short siding only once. In Ep. 16 of “Six Flying Dragons,” there’s a short sided shot of Bang-won confronting the elders of the Haedong Gap clan for their hypocrisy.
Lessons in photography from “Beyond Evil”
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| Out of focus highlights |
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| Converging lines |
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| Diagonal lines |
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| Low angle shot, Dutch angle or Dutch tilt |
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| Foreground blur, compressed perspective |
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| Foreground blur, reflection |
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| High angle shot |
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| Lead room, looking space |
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| Lead room. looking space |
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| Lens flares |
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| Linear perspective |
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| Linear perspective |
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| Lines of direction |
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| Low angle shot, keystoning |
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| Low angle shot |
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| Low angle shot, Dutch angle or Dutch tilt |
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| Natural frame, shape, POV shot |
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| Natural frames |
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| Reflection |
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| Reflection |
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| Reflection |
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| Short siding |
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| Short siding |
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| Short siding |
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| Symmetry and balance, background blur |