# 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. 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.

## 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.

## 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. 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. It was ranked first among TV dramas in the same time slot for 10 consecutive weeks since it started.

## Viewership

| Episodes | Episodes | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number |
| Episodes | Episodes | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| | 1–12 | 1.695 | 2.058 | 1.592 | 1.962 | 1.763 | 2.379 | 1.729 | 2.403 | 1.762 | 2.723 | 1.905 | 2.851 |
| | 13-24 | 1.999 | 2.793 | 2.651 | 3.246 | 2.558 | 3.250 | 2.856 | 3.513 | 3.207 | 4.013 | 3.079 | 4.085 |
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 | Average audience share | Average audience share | Average audience share |
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | TNmS | TNmS | AGB Nielsen | AGB Nielsen |
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Nationwide | Seoul | Nationwide | Seoul |
| 1 | November 11, 2017 | 10.4% (4th) | 10.4% (3rd) | 10.3% (4th) | 10.2% (4th) |
| 2 | November 11, 2017 | 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 | November 18, 2017 | 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 | November 25, 2017 | 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 | December 2, 2017 | 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 | December 9, 2017 | 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 | December 16, 2017 | 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 | December 23, 2017 | 14.1% (2nd) | 13.9% (2nd) | 16.5% (2nd) | 15.4% (2nd) |
| 15 | January 6, 2018 | 13.4% (4th) | 13.2% | 15.5% (3rd) | 15.7% (3rd) |
| 16 | January 6, 2018 | 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 | January 13, 2018 | 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 | January 20, 2018 | 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 | January 27, 2018 | 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 | February 3, 2018 | 21.1% (2nd) | 20.8% (2nd) | 23.9% (2nd) | 24.0% (2nd) |
| Average | Average | 13.4% | 12.7% | 15.5% | 15.5% |
| Special | November 22, 2017 | — | — | 3.7% | — |
| Special | November 23, 2017 | — | — | 3.4% | — |

## Awards and nominations

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

## 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.