Lies Hidden in My Garden 2023 K Drama Episode 5

Episode 5 of Lies Hidden in My Garden starts with Sang-eun waking up after a nightmare of Jae-ho hiding in the backseat of Yoon-beom’s car. The following day, Sang-eun and Joo-ran go to the motel room looking for more information about Soo-min. There are two men and a woman in the room and Joo Tae-gyung, one of the two men, talks to them.

Joo-ran and Sang-eun ask Tae-gyung about Soo-min but he asks for her phone instead. Tae-gyung asks his subordinate to check the bags for Soo-min’s phone. However, Joo-ran calls Hae-soo and tells her to hand over the phone to the cops to book the men for underage prostitution. Joo-ran throws a wad of cash at Tae-gyung, forcing him to talk about Soo-min. He claims that she was the most popular prostitute in his racket.

Apparently, Jae-ho was their VIP client. Tae-gyung also reveals that the photo of Jae-ho threatening Soo-min was made up and that he wanted to use the photograph to threaten him.

A flashback shows Tae-gyung waiting for the right moment to capture Jae-ho talking to Soo-min when she jumped in front of his car. Jae-ho says something to Soo-min and leaves but Tae-gyung manages to snap photos of him. Soo-min is shell-shocked after hearing what Jae-ho said to her.

Present-day Tae-gyung reveals that this was the last day Soo-min was seen. Meanwhile, the cops are called in when a hiker discovers Soo-min’s dead body in the forest. Joo-ran and Sang-eun are in the car when Joo-ran claims that Jae-ho had no reason to kill Yoon-beom. She accuses Sang-eun of trying to trap them. Sang-eun and Joo-ran fight in the middle of the street and the former bites back that Joo-ran doesn’t trust her own mind which is why she’s doubting everyone around her.

Joo-ran is upset and slaps Sang-eun across the face. Sang-eun makes her way back home but has a breakdown on the side of the street. She clutches her stomach as she recalls the day of Yoon-beom’s death. A flashback shows Sang-eun drugging Yoon-beom’s drink and later driving the car sitting on Yoon-beom’s dead body in the driver seat. She somehow pushes the car with Yoon-beom’s body into a lake and walks to her mother’s house.

Back in the present day, Sang-eun wakes up in the hospital bed getting blood supplements due to her declining health. The doctor performs a sonogram telling her that her child is healthy but Sang-eun is nonchalant about it. She wonders if the baby shares her emotions and is surprised when the doctor says it does. Sang-eun waits at the hospital but has no money to pay for her medical expenses. She learns that Joo-ran had already paid her medical bills.

Meanwhile, Joo-ran calls Jae-ho on her way back home and chats with him. Jae-ho tells him that he will be late and asks her to have dinner with Seung-jae. Jae-ho is at his father’s house and the bag that Yoon-beom left behind at his house is now sitting at Jae-ho’s father’s house. The detectives show up at Sang-eun’s house and interrogate her about Yoon-beom’s death.

The cops tell her that he had sleeping pills in his system and wonders if his death will be concluded as suicide. The detective asks if Sang-eun believed that Yoon-beom was murdered since it did look like he had died by suicide. That night, Seung-jae spots Joo-ran talking to Hae-soo. At dinner, he asks why his mother was borrowing their neighbour’s car but the two are very distant during their conversation.

Joo-ran claims that since the month of her sister’s death, she was feeling a little stressed. Seung-jae is pissed at Joo-ran and claims that she always bottles up her instincts which makes her look weak. Sang-eun rushes to the hospital after learning that her mother has been admitted there. Her aunt tells Sang-eun that her mother has gotten worse since Yoon-beom’s funeral.

That night, Joo-ran visits Jae-ho in his office and shows him the CCTV footage from Hae-soo’s house that proves she had gone somewhere on the night Yoon-beom was killed. Jae-ho tells her that he had gone to his father’s house since his mother was not keeping well. Joo-ran asks why she was left in the dark about the information but Jae-ho blames it all on her health. He accuses her of throwing away the antidepressants and not taking care of her mental health.

Jae-ho tries to gaslight her into doubting her instincts yet again and suggests to move on from this incident since it happened in September – the month of her sister’s death. Seung-jae overhears the conversation from outside the door and tries to run away. Hae-soo spots him leaving and calls him inside. She offers to chat with him and Seung-jae startles her when he asks if children eventually turn out to be just like their parents. That night, Jae-ho burns the bag that Yoon-beom left in the house.

The next morning, everything is seemingly back to normal when Joo-ran starts working at the house. She takes the antidepressant but is shocked to see something on the floor. The charm from Soo-min’s phone case lies in her kitchen which leaves Joo-ran startled. Seung-jae though, is at a convenience store where he watches the news reporting Soo-min’s death.

At the hospital, Sang-eun also watches the news when her mother starts talking to herself. The old woman claims that Sang-eun had not come home until 12am on the night she was supposed to drop by at 9pm. (aka the night of Yoon-beom’s death). Sang-eun’s mother talks about her in the third person when she claims that she should have lived with her husband instead of raising a fatherless child now that she had killed him.

Joo-ran rushes to the backyard and starts digging away to look for the body. Jae-ho finds her there and tells her that he and their son were having a hard time because of her behaviour. Joo-ran demands answers but Jae-ho claims that she won’t be able to handle it. She still prods him to answer her questions when Jae-ho reveals that there really was a dead body in the backyard.

Jae-ho confirms that it was Soo-min’s body which leaves Joo-ran shocked. She tries to compose herself and asks Seung-jae to go inside the house. Before going in, Seung-jae claims that he had lied to her about the stench coming from their backyard. However, Joo-ran claims that she had misunderstood, trying to keep the child out of the mess.

Jae-ho tries to push Seung-ho back inside the house but he breaks down. He tells Jae-ho to stop pretending everything is okay since someone has died. Jae-ho tells Joo-ran that she’s to blame for all this, but suddenly Seung-jae confesses that he killed Soo-min.

The Episode Review

The show keeps getting more interesting with each passing episode. Now that we know Seung-jae was actually behind all this, it is understandable that Jae-ho was trying to save his son and get rid of the body for him. Since he was the chief doctor, it’s also likely that he drugged Joo-ran to save her from the trauma considering the fact that she already has trouble dealing with her sister’s death.

This one also has a really interesting way of showing flashbacks. The entire scene is in sepia with the exception of one element, like Soo-min’s blue highlighted hair or the meat Sang-eun purchased for her mother on the night of Yoon-beom’s death. I am in awe of this show’s cinematography because it adds to the sinister vibes, intensifying the fear aspect.

One complaint however is the fact that the episodes are very slow. There are many intentional pauses to dramatize the situation but that also tends to bore viewers. However, since the story has finally picked up pace with the secret out in the open, it is likely the final three episodes will pick up pace.

Then there’s the scene where a woman with scratches on her hand checks into a hotel. I wonder who she is and if she was the person who met Sang-eun’s mother before she was admitted to the hospital. I feel there is something interesting that is about to unfold as the show progresses.