When the Camellia Blooms

 

When the Camellia Blooms  is a 2019 South Korean television series starring Gong Hyo-jin, Kang Ha-neul, Kim Ji-seok, Son Dam-bi, Kim Kang-hoon. It aired on KBS2's Wednesdays and Thursdays at 22:00 (KST) time slot from September 18 to November 21, 2019.^[4][5] Each episode was released on Netflix in South Korea and most Asia-Pacific and English speaking countries after their television broadcast.

When the Camellia Blooms became the highest rated mini-series drama airing in 2019 with a single episode rating of 23.8%. The series was met with praise by critics and audiences for its production and solid actors' performances. It also received favourable reviews for its realistic plot and unique genre combinations of romantic-comedy and thriller According to Nielsen Korea, the drama also became the second highest rated drama of 2019 with all episodes' average ratings of 14.83% behind SBS's The Fiery Priest. It won multiple awards, including the prestigious Grand Prize for Television at the 56th Baeksang Arts Awards.

 

Plot

When the Camellia Blooms is the story of Oh Dong-baek, a single mother who moves to the fictional town of Ongsan and opens a bar named Camellia. Six years later, Dong-baek meets playful Yong-sik, who declares his love for her. Dong-baek does not reciprocate his love, but Yong-sik persists in wooing her. When Yong-sik's mother finds out about this, she strongly opposes it, as Dong-baek is a single mother with a son, as well as the fact that Dong-baek's past lover and father of her child is trying to win her back. Yong-sik eventually gets Dong-Baek to fall for him. Meanwhile, a notorious killer sets out to claim Dong-baek as his next victim, and Yong-sik protects her fiercely, doing his job as a policeman and figuring out who the killer is.

 

Cast

Main

·         Gong Hyo-jin as Oh Dong-baek

A single mother who runs a bar called "Camellia" in Ongsan. She is the mother of Pil-gu and ex-girlfriend to Jong-ryul. Although initially she does not reciprocate Yong-sik's feelings, she eventually grows to like him the more he spends time with her and her son.

·        Kang Ha-neul as Hwang Yong-sik

A police officer with a strong instinct for finding and beating up criminals. He moves back to his hometown Ongsan after being demoted and there he meets and falls for Dong-baek. He vows to always be on her side and protect both her and her son, even at his mother's disapproval. He becomes focused on catching the serial killer known as "Joker" after Dong-baek becomes his next target.

·         Kim Ji-seok as Kang Jong-ryul

A famous baseball player and ex-boyfriend to Dong-baek. He is shown to be continuous jealous of Yong-sik's relationship with Dong-baek and Pil-gu.

·         Ji Yi-soo as Jessica / Park Sang-mi

Wife to Jong-ryul who is self centered and mainly focuses on being a social media icon. She is mostly neglectful of her daughter and takes advantage of her relationship with Jong-ryul for fame.

·         Oh Jung-se as No Gyu-tae

Dong-baek's landlord, who repeatedly hits on her. He is unhappily married to Ja-young.

·         Yeom Hye-ran as Hong Ja-young

A very intelligent lawyer and wife to Guy-tae. She often talks down to her husband because of his incompetency.

·         Son Dam-bi as Choi Hyang-mi / Choi Go-eun

A part time employee at Camellia and Dong-baek's friend. She is a kleptomaniac. She often talks about moving to Copenhagen and is always looking for ways to gain enough money, leading her to blackmail others.

·         Kim Kang-hoon as Kang Pil-gu

Dong-baek's 8-year-old son, who plays baseball and is very protective of his mother.

·         Go Doo-shim as Kwak Deok-soon

Yong-sik's widowed mother who runs a marinated crab restaurant in Ongsan.

·         Lee Jung-eun as Jo Jung-sook

Dong Baek's mother who abandoned her as a child.

·         Jun Bae-soo as Byun Bae-soo

The chief police in Ongsan and Yong-sik's superior.