Lies Hidden in My Garden Episode 1 introduces the lives of two women, who lives completely opposite lives but seem to suffering in a similar way. The suspense thriller K-Drama is based on the novel of the same name (마당이 있는 집) by Kim Jin-young. It is directed by Jung Ji-Hyun and the screenplay is written by Ji-young & Ji A-ni. The first episode premiered on ENA on June 19, 2023 with a runtime of about 60 minutes.
The ensemble cast of the series includes Kim Tae-hee as Moon Joo-ran, Lim Ji-yeon as Chu Sang-eun, Kim Sung-oh as Park Jae-ho, Choi Jae-rim as Kim Yun-beom, Jung Hee-tae as Do-kyun, Cha Mi-kyung as Sang-eun’s mother, Woo Hyun, Yoon Ga-i, Cha Sung-je as Park Seung-jae, Jung Woon-sun as Oh Hae-soo, and several others.
Lies Hidden in My Garden Episode 1 Recap
The first episode starts with Moon Joo-ran walking in the woods when she spots someone else with a rabbit mask. Chasing after him, she finds herself at her home and walks up the stairs to a door, where banging noise can be heard. On opening the door, we see an apartment corridor and a seemingly young Joo-ran is entering her sister’s apartment. She gets a whiff of a foul smell from inside & as soon as she steps into the room, she falls to the ground in shock. Just then someone rings her doorbell & we realise that it was a dream or a past memory of Joo-ran.
However, she doesn’t bother to open the gate and increases the volume of the music, while lying on the sofa. It’s September 18 and her neighbours leave a note on her door saying, it’s been 3 months since you moved and we haven’t met yet, so we are inviting you for a chat. Before leaving, they smell something foul and wonder what smell that is. At the same time, a new neighbour moves into the house in front & she spots Joo-ran peeking from her window. But when she waves at her, Joo-ran anxiously put the blinds up & goes away. It’s evident that something is wrong with her & even takes some medicine for it. One of the strange things is the foul smell which she can’t figure out.
Meanwhile, her husband Park Jae-ho is a paediatrician and is visiting his son’s homeroom teacher. She shows Sung-jae’s answer sheets on which he has scribbled anything other than answers. She asks if something is wrong at home or with his mother. He tells her that his wife is sick but when she further investigates about the incident that happened at Sung-jae’s previous school, Jae-ho gets furious. Apparently, Joo-ran is also connected with it. When Jae-ho tries to slide it past as a momentary thing when the teacher says that Sung-jae wants to die.
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On the way back, Jae-ho tries to make his son understand that they moved due to his mother’s condition & if he keeps on acting like that then it will affect her too. Also, they should be cautious as her sister’s death anniversary is around, which makes Joo-ran more sensitive. In a flashback, we see a dishevelled Joo-ran hitting someone at a party & his son is wearing the same rabbit mask. The other guests wore different animal masks. At home, they find Joo-ran in the garden with a digging tool. When asked what she is doing, she replies that there’s a foul smell & wants to dig and see if a cat buried a mouse or something. But they reply that there’s no smell.
Even though Jae-ho acts like everything’s normal, Joo-ran is fixated on the smell. He tries to give her mind a rest by saying that it’s the natural fertiliser smell that she had asked for. However, she doesn’t remember it but goes along with it. The new neighbour rings their bell after dinner to say hello, but Jae-ho turns her back. Even she smells some foul odour & asks herself what it is. Meanwhile, Jae-ho appears on a health TV show and while watching, he gets a call from someone whom he doesn’t particularly like but is invited for night fishing.
The next day, Joo-ran seems to be feeling good about herself & decides to confront the new neighbour for saying there was a smell at their door. However, when coming face to face, Joo-ran is a bit hesitant & tells her that it’s the fertiliser smell. But the neighbour doesn’t agree with her & says that it’s kind of a rotten smell coming from her garden. This leads Joo-ran to dig in the garden where she suspects the smell is coming from.
The scene transitions to Chu Sang-eun’s place on September 18, where her neighbours can hear her getting beaten up by her husband. Even when the watchman tells her to call the police, she tells him to go away since she is still alive. She is a victim of domestic violence & is 5 months pregnant as well. Her husband then asks her what she wants to eat, since a pregnant lady needs to eat well, she hesitantly tells him strawberry. Instead of bringing them for her, he gives her the money to go buy them, while he calls up Park Jae-ho & asks him to go night fishing at Banyeo Reservoir.
When Sang-eun comes back from the store, she gets beaten up again for creating noise while he was on call. It also turns out that she might be recording everything secretly as evidence of domestic violence. She also sends her bruised body pics to her colleague, asking if that’s enough evidence to get a divorce. The next day, when he picks her up from her job at a shop, he behaves in the same way & even mentions how she is a bad mother for trying to get an abortion. She was supposed to go to her mother’s house but the navigation was taking them somewhere far. On asking about it, he points at the bag in the back which was full of money.
Late at night, she gets back to her mother’s house completely soaked in rain. In the morning, it is revealed that her mother actually has dementia and rudely tells her to go back to her own house. Disappointed by it, she gathers her stuff to go back when she gets a call about her husband’s death. While in the garden, Joo-ran keeps on digging & seems to find a human hand but it’s not certain if it’s real or her imagination.
Lies Hidden in My Garden Episode 1 Review
Right from the start, the show captivates us with lingering suspense which goes on till the end. Joo-ran’s eccentric behaviour indicates that something really wrong happened with her & Jae-ho might be a culprit in that as well. It’s like he is keeping her captive from everyone else to hide a sinister truth.
On the other hand, Sang-eun was trying to get out of her situation slowly but miraculously got absolute freedom after her husband’s death. Considering that her husband & Jae-ho are acquaintances, she will come across Joo-ran soon and that could be the tipping point for her to lose all control or realise the truth that she might be avoiding. In recent dramas, this has to be one of the most intriguing ones at makes you curious & urges you to get to the bottom of it.
Lies Hidden in My Garden is available for Streaming on Viki and Prime Video in selective regions.
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