Beyond Evil (괴물, Goemul, literally "Monster") is a 2021 South Korean thriller series starring Shin Ha-kyung and Yeo Jin-goo.
Twenty years ago, in the year 2000, Lee Dong-sik's sister Yu-yeon disappeared, as did Bang Ju-seon, another young woman who was an acquaintance of Dong-sik. Dong-sik is suspected of both crimes and briefly arrested, but when no evidence turns up (in fact, neither body is found), he is released.
Cut forward 20 years. Dong-sik is still in his hometown of Munju, working as a police detective. He is still haunted by his sister's disappearance. Enter Han Ju-won, a bright young cop some two decades younger than Dong-sik. Ju-won is the son of Han Gi-hwan, a senior police officer who may soon become chief of all police in Korea, but Ju-won wants to prove himself as his own man. He believes that a Serial Killer has been operating in Munju, that Yu-yeon was one of the victims, and that Dong-sik might actually be the killer.
Contains examples of:
- Accidental Murder: Jeong-je thinks he's guilty of this because he accidentally knocked down Yu-yeon. But although he injured her, she was actually killed by Gi-hwan.
- Bittersweet Ending: Yu-yeon, Min-jeong, and several other women are dead, but their killers have been brought to justice.
- Bound and Gagged: The killer ties up Min-jeong and gags her with duct tape before cutting off her fingers.
- Buried Alive: If Min-jeong's death weren't terrifying enough, the autopsy reveals that she was still alive when her father buried her in the backyard. Dong-sik is particularly upset, since he was on the scene very soon after the murder, and he realizes that Min-jeong was probably drawing her last breaths underground while he was frantically searching the courtyard no more than a foot above her.
- Comforting Comforter: Dong-sik, who regards Min-jeong as a surrogate daughter, puts a blanket over her in episode 2 when she's sleeping off a night of drinking at the police station.
- Couldn't Find a Pen: Before hanging himself in his cell, Jin-muk manages to tear off one of his own fingertips and write "Dong-sik, I did not kill Yu-yeon" on the walls in blood.
- Dirty Cop:
- Gi-hwan, Ju-won's father, is willing to close a murder case quickly, which would ensure the victim is never identified and the murderer never caught, to prevent the possibility of Ju-won becoming a suspect. He also killed Yu-yeon by driving recklessly and has kept quiet about it for years.
- Sang-yeob suggests planting evidence, to Dong-sik's disgust.
- Disappeared Dad: Dong-sik's dad died before the series starts.
- Distant Finale: The last scene skips forward a year as everyone meets for a memorial dinner to Chief Nam. Ju-won has been transferred, and he's also getting past his germaphobe ways. Dong-sik has recently been released from prison.
- Distant Prologue: Apart from a brief scene set in the present, the prologue takes place in 2000.
- Dramatic Drop: Jung-je drops his glass, which shatters, after his mother Councilwoman Do disowns him in episode 15.
- Gi-hwan dramatically drops his TV remote in the last episode as he watches the news report about how he's going to be arrested for murder. This is followed by a Glasses Pull as the news hits home.
- Drives Like Crazy:
- Ju-won speeds away as soon as the light turns green, barely giving Dong-sik time to get out of the way.
- Dong-sik reverses and turns very fast, to Ju-won's alarm.
- Jeong-je got drunk and accidentally ran over Yu-yeon.
- Gi-hwan's terrible driving killed Yu-yeon.
- Egging: Jae-yi pelts Ju-won with eggs in episode 4. She blames him for both persecuting an innocent man, Dong-sik, and bringing shame to her by ordering a search of the butcher shop.
- Finally Found the Body: Yu-yeon's body is missing for twenty years before it's found, walled up in the basement of Dong-sik's own house.
- Fingore: The killer cuts off his victims' fingers.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The dynamic shown in the flashback to 2000 between Dong-sik and his sister Yu-yeon. Yu-yeon is a devout Catholic, hard worker, makes good grades, plays the piano at her grandfather's memorial service. Dong-sik is a goof-off who plays guitar and does not even bother to go to the memorial service.
- Gratuitous English: Jung-je starts throwing English phrases at Dong-sik when Dong-sik comes to see him in episode 7. After Dong-sik lampshades this, Jung-je sighs and admits that pretending to know how to speak English was a strain.
- Handshake Refusal: Part of Ju-won's Hates Being Touched deal. Several times in the first episode he refuses handshakes, annoying the people he is meeting.
- Hates Being Touched / Terrified of Germs: Ju-won dislikes physical contact and insists on wiping the interior of Dong-sik's car.
- How We Got Here: The first episode opens with the cops finding a body in the marsh. This is followed by a flashback to 20 years ago filling in the backstory of the characters, then a jump to the present day that shows Dong-sik as a policeman, then a scene showing the cops trying to retrieve an old man with dementia who wandered off...which is when they went into the marsh and found a body.
- I Have No Son!: Councilwoman Do to Jung-je in episode 15. She basically tells him that she's sick of him, that she never wanted to be a mom in the first place and she's tired of it, and as of that point she's disowning him.
- Last-Second Word Swap: A police officer is about to say that people around Ju-won ask him for favours because his father is expected to be the next commissioner. Then he realises that's tactless to say in front of Ju-won, so he ends his sentence with "His father is still alive" instead.
- Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe: It turns out Jin-muk's wife Mi-hye was a prostitute and it's not at all certain that Min-jung is his daughter. When Min-jung throws this in his face, Jin-muk murders her. Afterwards Dong-sik taunts Jin-muk with a DNA report that proves that in fact, Jin-muk wasn't Min-jung's father.
- My Greatest Failure: Ju-won strong-armed a Chinese immigrant prostitute into being the bait in a sting operation, by threatening to have her deported. She is murdered. Ju-won is tortured by guilt.
- Nightmare Face: Lee Dong-sik gives a terrifying one to end the first episode, staring straight at the camera and smiling gruesomely.
- Not Me This Time: Jin-muk killed many women... but not Yu-yeon. It was actually Gi-hwan who killed Yu-yeon.
- Obfuscating Disability: Jin-muk affects a slow, shuffling walk as part of his supposed disability. Episode 6 reveals that he actually is perfectly mobile and in fact can run fast.
- There's a particularly chilling Call-Back to this in the last episode. Jin-muk, in a 2000 flashback, is blackmailing Councilwoman Do about the guitar pick. He then drops the stutter and the palsied arm and starts talking normally as he observes that everyone thinks a shy, meek person with a stutter must be honest. Then he goes back to using the stutter, as a horrified Do realizes that he is the killer.
- Offing the Offspring: Jin-muk killed his daughter Min-jeong.
- Old Cop, Young Cop: Dong-sik, a veteran of the police force, and Ju-won, a young cop who is looking to prove himself as something other than his father's son, investigate a serial murder case.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Dong-sik and Yu-yeon's mother outlives Yu-yeon.
- Please Wake Up: Dong-sik runs down a pier at the waterfront only to find that he and Ju-won were too late, and Inspector Nam is dead, having been murdered by the bad guy. Ju-won can't process this, yelling "Get up!" at the corpse.
- Sarcastic Clapping: Dong-sik does this in episode 12 when he and Ju-won see a TV news report announcing that Ju-won's father has been nominated to be chief of all Korean police.
- Serial Killer: Jin-muk abducts and murders at least seven women, including his own daughter.
- String Theory: Ju-won, investigating the serial murder case, has the typical wall display, with pictures of various people and notes and strings connecting them.
- We Can Rule Together: In episode 13, Gi-hwan has finally realized the threat that Dong-sik poses to him. He responds by summoning Dong-sik for a meeting and offering him a plum job in Seoul as a senior Internal Affairs guy rooting out corrupt cops. Dong-sik accepts—with every intention of using the job to take Gi-hwan down.
- Wham Line:
- "Lee Dong-sik was involved in the murder of Bang Ju-seon and the abduction of Lee Yu-yeon. He was the suspect."
- Ju-won, about the murder victim: "You think I did it? In some way, I did. I used her as bait."
- Wham Shot: The end of episode nine reveals Ju-won planted evidence in Inspector Nam's safe.
- "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: The epilogue shows Ju-won visiting Yu-yeon's grave and reveals he now works in a juvenile centre.
