RIP Anthony Stewart Head, an incredible actor, musician, singer, LGBTQ+ ally and activist, devoted girl dad, and father figure to many of us as we grew up.
Writer Kim Sujin's Q&A for the 5th anniversary Beyond Evil event
Q1: After the ending, will Dongsik and the others accept Park Jeongje again? Or will they treat him as if he is barely there? (I have strong feelings that I couldn’t forgive him, but I also wonder whether, after a long time has passed, those feelings might perhaps change…)
A: When I was writing it, I thought that they probably wouldn’t be able to accept him easily. But I thought that Dongsik might be the first to reach out. And if that happened, then perhaps the other friends would accept Jeongje as well, as if they had been waiting for it.
Admitting one’s own crime requires a great deal of courage, and I think Dongsik is someone who understands better than anyone how difficult that is. If he properly pays the price for his crime, then perhaps he could be forgiven… Of course, forgiveness should never be forced on the victim.
Q2: There are many characters whose boundary between good and evil is not clear. When designing the characters, what was the most important principle for you?
A: I don’t think of it as writing characters whose boundary between good and evil is unclear. I think human beings are originally like that. Whether there really are people who are entirely good, or characters who are completely evil. Depending on the person they are dealing with, a good person can become a bad person, and a bad person can become a good person.
If I had to name the most important principle when designing characters, it would be that any character must have their feet on the ground. And perhaps also something like this: that because of the characters I create, no real living person should be hurt.
Q3: Was there a particular incident or episode that led you to write the drama Beyond Evil?
A: I don’t recall any single particular incident or episode; rather, it feels as though it was made from many small things piling up. To begin with, for a very long time I had wanted to tell a story about an old unsolved serial case in an isolated village, where a newcomer enters the village and, together with a veteran who lives there, solves the case.
After writing Mad Dog in 2017, a caper drama with somewhat comic-book-like character play, I found myself wanting to write, by contrast, a weightier story in the style of the more traditional dramas I watched a lot of when I was young. I was also influenced by American series such as True Detective.
After beginning my research, I learned about the absence of a legal framework for missing persons, and about the Sinjeong-dong serial murder case, which was unsolved at the time but whose perpetrator has since been identified. I was introduced to a detective who had investigated the Sinjeong-dong case, and as we developed a personal acquaintance, I came to strongly agree that concealed murders and disappearances are closely connected, and I think the process developed in such a way that I decided this was a story worth telling.
Q4: This is closer to a wish than a question, but if you were to write a second season of Beyond Evil, what kind of story would you want to tell?
A: I think there is no possibility of that. After Beyond Evil finished airing, I even received a suggestion from a film investment company asking whether I might try writing it as a film. But I think of it this way: what I write as a drama is the single chapter that someone who may truly exist might recall just before they die, the most important chapter of their life. Because I made the most important chapters of Lee Dongsik, Han Juwon, and many of our other characters into Beyond Evil, I think there are no more important chapters left.
That is why, with any drama, I do not keep a next season in mind. I pour everything I can into it, write it, and finish it. If I were to do a multi-season drama in the future, it would be because it had been planned from the beginning as several seasons.
And I think Beyond Evil already consists of Seasons 1 and 2. At the time, broadcasts were not split with a gap in the way they often are now, so all 16 episodes had to be aired consecutively and it was not possible to divide it openly into seasons. But I wrote it thinking of it as Season 1 and Season 2, divided into eight episodes plus eight episodes.
Q5: While watching Beyond Evil, I was deeply moved by the process through which the truth finds its proper place. At the same time, as the story progressed and the characters’ suffering was revealed, I sometimes found it painful even as an ordinary viewer.
Looking at the writer’s notes you published separately as well as the drama itself, it seems that you devoted great care to each and every one of those many characters. While working, were there times when it was difficult for you to endure their suffering? I’m curious about what you thought or how you refreshed yourself at those times. If there were other works that comforted you, I would also like to know.
A: I don’t really feel that kind of pain. When I’m writing, that is when I feel happiest. Because it’s the moment when, with no one else around, the work and I face each other completely.
I don’t put much stock in MBTI, but I sometimes bring it up because it’s convenient for explaining things. For a long time I was an F-type person, but as I came to write genre works I changed into a T-type.
While writing, when I thought that Dongsik or Juwon, Jaei, Sangbae - our characters - must be having a hard time or were pitiful, tears would come to my eyes. Now that I’ve completely become a T-type, I find it fascinating even while I’m crying - wow, tears are coming out of my eyes, I’m crying right now - I must be mad. Even so, I just keep writing.
I like visual media, especially dramas, very much, so aside from long-running serials I watch almost all the dramas that are broadcast. In doing so I study and clear my head. When I have been writing gloomy or serious scenes for a long time, I rewatch well-made romance films that I have liked since childhood. I like Notting Hill.
Q6: How did you feel when you first heard the news that Beyond Evil would be remade in Japan? I understand that when Beyond Evil was broadcast in Japan it left a deep impression on viewers — did you expect that through a remake it would reach even more viewers and receive such strong sympathy?
I’m curious about your overall thoughts on this.
A: To be honest, I had negative thoughts about a remake. Because each country has different laws and a different language, I thought it might be difficult for it to be understood in the same way, so I kept declining. But WOWOW made a very active proposal. I had long liked the genre works produced by WOWOW, so it was an honour and I accepted it with gratitude. The producers came to Korea to meet me, shared the adapted script right away, and even invited me to the filming location.
I began Beyond Evil in March 2018, and I first started working with the director in November 2019. For about one year and eight months only a few people quietly knew about Dongsik and Juwon, and there was even a risk that production might fall through.
For a long time Beyond Evil was something that almost no one knew about, so when I found myself standing on the filming set in Japan in November 2024, it felt unreal and rather overwhelming. After the remake was released, WOWOW contacted me to say that the response was good. To the Japanese viewers who showed it love, thank you.
It is thanks to all of you who have continued to hold screenings and come to them even five years later. I am sincerely grateful.
I would like to answer your question more fully, but I am currently very busy, so I apologise.
Although I cannot officially reveal details yet, I think every day that I hope those of you who loved Beyond Evil will also like the characters in Paradise, which I am writing now. I am working on it enjoyably with many wonderful people. I will do my best.
Wishing you a warm 2026, and above all a healthy 2026. Thank you.
You can watch The Importance of Being Earnest for FREE on YouTube until March 18! Ncuti Gatwa is delightfully flamboyant, as could be expected, and Sharon D. Clarke (Lady Bracknell) is properly terrifying :)
Also! I just learned it's sustainably sewed by a cooperative of disabled people. They used to run a restaurant, but in the pandemic they pivoted to sewing food mascots. You can get their stuff here except of course it's all sold out just now.
#justice for surya bonaly who did this 30 years ago and got penalties for it#but ofc if a white man comes around that everyone fawns over it suddenly is super fine (via @sunshine304)
Hey fun fact this skill was unbanned in 2025 after Adam Siao Him Fa of France completed the skill through the 2023-24 season (he called it “the French touch” crediting Surya)
After he spent a majority of the season proving that the skill could be completed safely, (taking penalties for it and still winning anyway like a boss) the rules panel for once in their life listened to reason and unbanned the skill
So don’t give credit to Ilia for bringing this skill back, or claim it’s only fine now bc a white man is doing it.
Adam Siao Him Fa and Surya Bonaly are the only reason we get to see backflips in figure skating and they both deserve their flowers.
areudirty
gamechangershow
tangentwithtanner
turnnoffyourmind
2087
titsay
izzy806
