The amazing and thrilling drama Lies Hidden In My Garden starring Kim Tae Hee (Hi Bye Mama 2020) and Lim Ji Yeon (The Glory 2023) came to an end as the finale was something some might call underwhelming and "weak". We break down why we think the ending could have had more potential!
** Spoilers!
Touted by drama critics and fans alike, Lies Hidden In My Garden had so much potential as one of the best performances of the year by co-female leads! Lim Ji Yeon captured an abusive desperate housewife trying to make ends meet to perfection and Kim Tae Hee portrayed a rich housewife that relied on her husband to protect her to perfection! So why the disappointment?
Although "justice was served": Moon Joo Ran (Kim Tae Hee) goes to prison for the murder of her husband and Chu Sang Eun (Lim Ji Yeon) gets her husband's life insurance money and gets away scot-free, we feel there was something missing during the finale. With such powerful performances by these two women, we were expecting something much more!
We see, in the end, that it was Joo Ran's plan to include Sang Eun in their vicious confrontation over whether Joon Ran's husband, Park Jae Ho (Kim Sung Oh Money Heist: Korea 2022), killed Sang Eun's husband, Kim Yoon Beom. Everything is put back "in order" as Joo Ran pushes her husband down the stairs killing him.
Joo Ran confronts her inner demons by thanking Sang Eun for "opening her eyes and seeing herself" for the first time since she has been numbed by having her husband take care of her due to her traumatic sister's murder. We felt that the theme of troubled pasts and fighting inner demons is overdone by many dramas and using self-pity as a way to justify an ending was not enough. We felt happy for Sang Eun that she was able to get the life insurance money and start a normal life with her newborn son, but it kind of felt "too normal" of an ending.
Let us know your thoughts on the ending as well! Did you enjoy the drama? How was Lim Ji Yeon's acting? Comment below!