Money Flower

Money Flower (Korean: 돈꽃; RR: Donkkot) is a South Korean television series starring Jang Hyuk, Park Se-young and Jang Seung-jo. It aired every Saturday from 11 November 2017 on MBC from 8:45 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. (KST), 2 episodes a day.^[2] It tells the story of people who are driven by the illusion that they can control money, but in fact they are the ones being dominated by greed.

Money Flower
Promotional poster
Hangul	돈꽃
Genre	Romance Business Drama
Created by	Kim Seung-mo (MBC)
Written by	Lee Myung-hee
Directed by	Kim Hee-won
Starring	Jang Hyuk Park Se-young Jang Seung-jo
Composer	Park Se-jun
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of episodes	24[a]
Production
Executive producer	Nam Gung-kyeon[1]
Running time	60 minutes[a]
Production company	UFO Production[1]
Original release
Network	MBC TV
Release	November 11, 2017 (2017-11-11) – February 3, 2018 (2018-02-03)

Synopsis

Kang Pil-joo (Jang Hyuk) is envied by many inside the Cheong-A Group, where he enjoys the esteem and respect of the Honorary chairman. Keeping his real identity a secret from the Cheong-A Group founding family, he has served as their loyal servant from his teens, part of a plot to avenge his family and a tragic childhood. He plots to have Na Mo-hyun (Park Se-young) fall in love with young Cheong-A Group scion Jang Boo-cheon (Jang Seung-jo), but he finds himself falling in love with her free-spirited personality. "Money Flower" portrays how the lives of Pil-joo, Mo-hyun, who seeks love, and Boo-cheon, Pil-joo's "master" and companion are intertwined by fate and design. Their fates are pulled into a vortex of greed, power, desire and love.^[3]

Cast

Main cast

• Jang Hyuk as Kang Pil-joo / Jang Eun-cheon / Jo In-ho (37) : managing director and attorney at Cheong-A Group
  • Nam Ki-won as young Kang Pil-joo
  • Jo Byeong-kyu as teen Kang Pil-joo
• Park Se-young as Na Mo-hyun (35) : Environmental activist and a substitute science teacher. Won gold in swimming in Korea National Games
  • Kim Ji-min as teen Na Mo-hyun
• Jang Seung-jo as Jang Boo-cheon (37) : Scion of Cheong-A Group fortune and son of Jung Mal-ran
  • Chae Sang-woo as teen Jang Boo-cheon
• Lee Mi-sook as Jung Mal-ran (59): eldest daughter-in-law of Jang Kook-hwan, Cheong-A Foundation director
• Lee Soon-jae as Jang Kook-hwan (89): founder of Cheong-A corporation
• Han So-hee as Yoon Seo-won (35): secret lover of Jang Boo-cheon, former information desk employee at Cheong-A group office headquarters

Supporting cast

Jang household

• Moon Yoo-bin as Jang Yeon-woo (32): younger sister of Jang Boo-cheon, second year resident surgeon
• Sunwoo Jae-duk as Jang Sung-man (60): second son of Jang Kook-hwan
• Shin Young-jin as Park Sun-kyung (56): wife of Jang Sung-man
• Im Kang-sung as Jang Yeo-cheon (36): son of Jang Sung-man
• Yoon Sun-young as Lee Hyun-joo (35): wife of Jang Yeo-cheon, daughter of Hanmin Daily's chairman
• Lee Hang-na as Han Eun Shim (49): live-in partner of Jang Kook-hwan
• Hong Dong-yeong as Jang Ha-jung (5): son of Jang Boo-cheon and Yoon Seo-won
• Jeon Hae-sol as Jang Ha-yoon (5): son of Jang Yeo-cheon and Lee Hyun-joo
• Han Dong-hwan as Jang Soo-man (deceased): eldest son of Jang Kook-hwan

Na household

• Park Ji-il as Na Gi-chul (60): father of Na Mo-hyun, presidential elect candidate
• Chu Kwi-jang as Bae Jum-sun (57): mother of Na Mo-hyun, restaurant owner
• Dan Woo as Na Doo-hyun (28): younger brother of Na Mo-hyun

Others

• Ryu Dam as Park Yong-goo (30): good friend of Kang Pil-joo
• Park Jung-hak as Oh Ki-pyung (62): chauffeur of Jung Mal-ran
• Hong Gyung-yun as Go Eun-A (58) : main cook of the Jang family
• Kwon Hyuk as Yang Sang-do (45) : aide of Na Gi-chul
• Kim Ji-sung as Ahn Hee-young (39) : secretary of Jung Mal-ran
• Jeon Jin-ki as Woo Chang-sun (60) : chief of planning department in Cheong-A group
• Hong Hee-won as Ha Yung-do (40) : prosecutor
• Park Sun-woo as Bae Kang-choon (45) : gangster
• Jung Seo-yeon as Ahn Ho-Kyung : mother of Kang Pil-joo

Reception

Viewership ratings for 'Money Flower' started with a modest 10.3% (based on AGB Nielson National) for its first episode. Despite the little promotion it got initially, the ratings rose steadily as it was aired due to the good reviews spread by word-of-mouth, setting high records for itself almost every week to cross the 20% mark by its 20th episode.^[4] The media labelled it as a 'masterpiece' and 'well-made drama' with its engaging plot, excellent directing, beautiful background music and the stellar performances of its cast.^[5][6][7][8] It was ranked first among TV dramas in the same time slot for 10 consecutive weeks since it started.^[9]

Original soundtrack

Part 1

Released on November 11, 2017 (2017-11-11)

No.	Title	Artist	Length
1.	"My Way"	Lee Soo (MC the Max)	4:38
2.	"My Way" (Inst.)		4:38

Part 2

Released on December 30, 2017 (2017-12-30)

No.	Title	Artist	Length
1.	"Flame"	Solji, Hani (EXID)	3:59
2.	"Flame" (Inst.)		3:59

Part 3

Released on January 6, 2018 (2018-01-06)

No.	Title	Artist	Length
1.	"Healing"	Lee Seok-hoon (SG Wannabe), Bubble Dia	4:10
2.	"Healing" (Inst.)		4:10

Part 4

Released on January 13, 2018 (2018-01-13)

No.	Title	Artist	Length
1.	"Dreamy love"	Hyolyn	4:10
2.	"Dreamy love" (Inst.)		4:10

Part 5

Released on January 20, 2018 (2018-01-20)

No.	Title	Artist	Length
1.	"Waiting here for you"	Min Kyung-hoon	4:40
2.	"Waiting here for you" (Inst.)		4:40

Ratings

• In the table below, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.
• N/A denotes that the rating is not known.

Ep.	Original broadcast date	Average audience share
		TNmS[10]		AGB Nielsen[11]
		Nationwide	Seoul	Nationwide	Seoul
1	November 11, 2017	10.4% (4th)	10.4% (3rd)	10.3% (4th)	10.2% (4th)
2		11.7% (2nd)	12.2% (2nd)	12.7% (2nd)	12.6% (2nd)
3	November 18, 2017	8.7% (6th)	8.4% (5th)	10.5% (5th)	10.5% (4th)
4		10.2% (3rd)	10.6% (3rd)	12.8% (3rd)	12.6% (3rd)
5	November 25, 2017	9.0% (8th)	8.7% (5th)	11.4% (3rd)	11.4% (3rd)
6		11.3% (2nd)	11.0% (2nd)	15.1% (2nd)	14.9% (2nd)
7	December 2, 2017	9.1% (6th)	9.1% (5th)	11.1% (4th)	11.4% (4th)
8		12.0% (3rd)	12.5% (2nd)	15.3% (2nd)	15.6% (2nd)
9	December 9, 2017	10.5% (6th)	9.9% (4th)	11.2% (5th)	10.7% (5th)
10		14.8% (2nd)	14.5% (2nd)	16.7% (2nd)	16.6% (2nd)
11	December 16, 2017	10.9% (4th)	10.8% (5th)	11.7% (4th)	11.6% (4th)
12		14.9% (2nd)	14.7% (2nd)	17.2% (2nd)	17.0% (2nd)
13	December 23, 2017	11.2% (4th)	11.0% (4th)	12.1% (3rd)	11.7% (3rd)
14		14.1% (2nd)	13.9% (2nd)	16.5% (2nd)	15.4% (2nd)
15	January 6, 2018[b]	13.4% (4th)	13.2%	15.5% (3rd)	15.7% (3rd)
16		15.9% (2nd)	15.8%	18.5% (2nd)	18.5% (2nd)
17	January 13, 2018	13.5% (3rd)	13.1%	14.9% (3rd)	14.5% (3rd)
18		16.5% (2nd)	16.1%	18.8% (2nd)	18.4% (2nd)
19	January 20, 2018	14.2% (3rd)	13.9%	17.0% (3rd)	17.1% (3rd)
20		16.4% (2nd)	16.3%	20.7% (2nd)	20.6% (2nd)
21	January 27, 2018	15.5% (3rd)	14.7%	18.3% (3rd)	19.1% (3rd)
22		19.1% (2nd)	18.9% (2nd)	22.8% (2nd)	23.0% (2nd)
23	February 3, 2018	16.0% (3rd)	15.8% (2nd)	18.0% (3rd)	18.2% (3rd)
24		21.1% (2nd)	20.8% (2nd)	23.9% (2nd)	24.0% (2nd)
Average		13.4%	12.7%	15.5%	15.5%
Special	November 22, 2017	—	—	3.7%	—
	November 23, 2017	—	—	3.4%	—

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Recipient	Result	Ref.
2017	MBC Drama Awards	Grand Prize, Daesang	Jang Hyuk	Nominated
		Drama of the Year	Money Flower	Nominated
		Top Excellence Award, Actor in Weekend Drama	Jang Hyuk	Won
		Top excellence award, Actress in weekend drama	Lee Mi-sook	Won
		Excellence award, Actor in weekend drama	Jang Seung-jo	Won
		Popularity award, actor	Jang Hyuk	Nominated
		Best New Actress	Han So-hee	Nominated
2018	54th Baeksang Arts Awards	Best Actor (Television)	Jang Hyuk	Nominated	[12]
	11th Korea Drama Awards	Grand Prize	Lee Mi-sook	Nominated	[13]
		Best Drama	Money Flower	Nominated
		Best Screenplay	Lee Myung-hee	Nominated
		Excellence Award, actress	Park Se-young	Nominated
	6th APAN Star Awards	Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Serial Drama	Jang Hyuk	Nominated	[14][15]
		Excellence Award, Actor in a Serial Drama	Jang Seung-jo	Won
		Excellence Award, Actress in a Serial Drama	Park Se-young	Nominated
	2nd The Seoul Awards	Best Drama	Money Flower	Nominated	[16]
	MBC Plus X Genie Music Awards	OST Award	"My Way"	Nominated	[17]

International Broadcast

• Money Flower airs in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Brunei on Oh!K beginning 30 Jan 2018.
• Money Flower airs in Japan on KNTV beginning 17 March 2018.
• Money Flower airs in Taiwan on EBC beginning 12 July 2018.
• Money Flower airs in Peru on Willax TV beginning 9 July 2018
• Money Flower airs on Netflix since 2018
• Money Flower airs in India on Amazon Mini TV beginning 25 January 2023.

Notes

1. To circumvent Korean laws that prevent commercial breaks in the middle of an episode, two 60-minute episodes are being shown each night with a commercial break between the two.
2. No episodes were aired on December 30, 2017 due to the 2017 MBC Drama Awards.

References

1. Money Flower staff credits. MBC.
2. "Park Se Young Confirmed In MBC Drama With Jang Hyuk".
3. "MBC Global Media official site". Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation.
4. ""Money Flower" Records An Impressive All-Time High In Viewership Ratings". Soompi.
5. "'Money Flower': why same old stories keep viewers turning in". The Korea Times. 28 December 2017.
6. "'돈꽃', 막장 드라마 아니다…명작이다". Mydaily.
7. "'돈꽃'에 쏟아지는 호평 세례…중심엔 장혁이 있다". popherald. 18 December 2017.
8. "'돈꽃', 매회 경신하는 역대급 엔딩…이 맛에 드라마 본다". osen.
9. "'돈꽃' 20% 찍었다…장혁 연기변신 '성공'". sportsworld.
10. "TNmS Daily Ratings: select the date from drop down menu".
11. "AGB Daily Ratings: select the date from drop down menu". AGB Nielsen Media Research.
12. "제54회 백상예술대상, TV·영화 각 부문별 수상 후보자 공개". JTBC (in Korean). April 6, 2018.
13. 2018코리아드라마어워즈 후보 공개. KDFO.org (in Korean). September 22, 2018.
14. "이병헌·손예진·아이유 APAN스타어워즈 노미네이트". Star News (in Korean). September 27, 2018.
15. Park, Pan-seok (October 13, 2018). 이병헌, '미스터 션샤인' 대상 수상..정해인 2관왕(종합)[2018 APAN] [Lee Byung-hun, 'Mr. Sunshine' Grand Prize .. Hae-in Jeong, 2nd Crown (General) [2018 APAN]]. Osen (in Korean) – via Naver.
16. ‘제2회 더 서울어워즈’ 10월27일 개최, 드라마-영화 각 부문별 후보공개. iMBC (in Korean). September 28, 2018.
17. "2018 MBC Plus X Genie Music Awards Announces Nominees + Voting Begins". Soompi. October 1, 2018.

External links

• Official website (in Korean)