Summary
This is not the best premiere episode, but the lead character is interesting, at least. Hopefully, the story will bed in and gain strength as the series progresses.
This recap of the Netflix K-Drama series Inspector Koo season 1, episode 1, contains spoilers.
Weekend Netflix K-Drama returns, and this time we are given a 12-episode weekly series rather than the 16. Noticeably, K-Drama on Netflix has stemmed slightly after quite an aggressive year, leaving a weekend gap after Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha, but we can expect 2022 to ramp the content up again.
For now, we have the weekend installment of Inspector Koo.
Inspector Koo season 1, episode 1 recap
Episode 1 opens with a young Koo Kyung-yi doing some science experiments at school. It then flits present, and she’s playing a video game, and she’s really into it, repeating “kill them!” before scrunching her finished beer can. We are in for an outrageous character.
Episode 1 then moves to NT Life Insurance company. Na Je-hui wants a big case to work on, but the one she receives is problematic that no one wants to touch. She tells her colleague that if they crack this case, he’ll get promoted quicker than his peers.
Na Je-hui visits Koo Kyung-yi, and she turns off her video game which makes her angry, but before she can attack her, she passes out from all the booze. She takes Koo Kyung-yi for some food so she can recover and talks to her about a client (Kim Min-gyu) that has gone missing. However, Koo Kyung-yi is more bothered about the food and draft beer. It’s clear she hasn’t been out in a long time — the simple things in life fascinate her.
After Koo Kyung-yi downs her beer, she snaps into action. She talks about the case of a happy couple, but she’s skeptical. They go over the case; Kim Min-gyu went for a hike and disappeared without a trace. The wife claims she looked for him diligently. The couple had hospital bills but no real money problems. Koo Kyung-yi senses that Na Je-hui wants to turn it into a suicide case and pushes her buttons over it. Na Je-hui only wants circumstantial evidence.
When Koo Kyung-yi returns home, she’s met with a clean place and a new gaming chair arranged by Na Je-hui’s colleague Gyeong-su, and she’s in awe. However, she cannot access the gaming setup as parts are locked away — Na Je-hui has given her an incentive. However, Koo Kyung-yi is not amused. Na Je-hui turns on the computer, and it glows multiple colors that amaze Koo Kyung-yi. Na Je-hui tells her if she doesn’t solve this case, she’ll take it off her.
And so, the premise of Inspector Koo begins: Koo Kyung-yi heads out and spies on the wife of the missing husband. She goes to their daughter’s school and checks out her drawings. Koo Kyung-yi is approached by the wife, and she also pretends to be the same name as her daughter (Kim Seon-mi). She engages with the wife and tells a story about how her husband died and how the insurance company didn’t believe her. She tells her not to give up. Surprisingly, the wife does not seem upset, and she reveals she doesn’t think her husband is dead, but she can’t afford the bills, so she needs the money to put her daughter first. The story is leaning towards an insurance scam.
In a flashback, a young Koo Kyung-yi and her friends find a murdered cat, and they are upset. Koo Kyung-yi investigates and finds that the tuna is sweet that was left nearby. They find cat Roy and Koo believes someone wanted to burn all the cats at once. She believes the sweetness in the tuna meant it was covered with antifreeze. She feels it would be someone who doesn’t look suspicious and knows the students’ routines — the janitor. Believing that her friend wants the janitor dead, she poisons the janitor’s milk and locks him in his home so he can’t get help once he drinks it — he dies. A police officer investigates the students and takes a keen interest in Koo Kyung-yi.
In the present, Koo Kyung-yi wants to connect a few deaths believing it may be linked to the missing man. The investigation leads to a motel, so Koo Kyung-yi wants to get a room. She enquires about the missing husband by pretending to be the wife and speaks to a sex worker. The worker talks about a man that wore a dog mask to the room, so she reported it to her manager, and nothing happened. The event occurred on October 21. Koo Kyung-yi looks at the app that arranged these meet-ups. The woman then talks about “party boat people” and how two girls went to see some men on a boat, and they fished a dead body out of the water. Two men died after this event, believing it to be a curse. It’s not entirely evident how all this is linked yet, but the story hints that this missing person inquiry is way more profound than it looks.
The ending
Koo Kyung-yi is convinced that Kim Min-gyu is alive and his wife is hiding him. She bursts the wife’s car tires and infiltrates the house with Santa (a gamer she recruited to help her out)and uses baby monitors to track Kim Min-gyu down. She finds him and runs after the man. Kim Min-gyu attacks her, claiming he isn’t him. She continues to chase him, but when she finally catches him again, he’s dead. The same police officer from when she was younger is watching her from a distance.
This is not the best premiere episode, but the lead character is interesting, at least. Hopefully, the story will bed in and gain strength as the series progresses.
What did you think of Inspector Koo season 1, episode 1? Comment below.
