Nothing Uncovered (2024) K Drama Episode 1

Episode 1 of Nothing Uncovered begins with Seo Jung-won, an investigative journalist, spying on an assemblyman. She barges into a restaurant and confronts him — Assemblyman Mo — and the reporter he’s dining with. She accuses him of paying the reporter to write a specific article, while her cameraman records everything. Later, she broadcasts the same during her show — Nothing Uncovered.

Jung-won is called to see her boss. We find that the reporter from earlier, No Ji-ho, works for the same company as Jung-won and the two have butted heads for a while. Jung-won’s boss tells her that Nothing Uncovered’s host will be changed soon but she claims that the show is her own and not the company’s.

Meanwhile, Assembly Mo is furious about the broadcast and seems intent on getting back at Jung-won. Elsewhere, a police chase is taking place. A detective named Kim Tae-hoon captures the perp and even saves a hostage in the process. Back at their office, Tae-hoon sees a clip of Jung-won’s show and it’s clear that she means something to him.

Jung-won speaks to a mysterious person on the phone, who is sitting by a set of screens and has been feeding her information about Assemblyman Mo. Jung-won then meets her husband, Seol Woo-jae. They meet Woo-jae’s father, who is unhappy about Jung-won’s work because Assemblyman Mo was his friend.

Woo-jae stands up for Jung-won and we learn that his father only accepted the marriage because of Woo-jae’s insistence. Back home, Woo-jae presents Jung-won with a gift, a necklace, for the third anniversary of Nothing Uncovered. At this point, they seem like a perfect, lovey-dovey couple.

The next day at work, Jung-won digs into a man named Lee Yi-jin. They then watch a press conference by Assemblyman Mo, who seems to be repenting. Jung-won heads to the police station. In the washroom, she comes across an actress named Cha Eun-sae. She claims to be a fan of Jung-won and says her boyfriend is a writer, like Jung-won’s husband. She even takes a selfie with Jung-won.

Later, Jung-won receives the GPS location of Lee Yi-jin’s burner phone and heads over there. Her contact directs her but she reaches a dead end. Above her, a heavily injured person is hanging half outside a window. Jung-won is startled to see that and rushes up the building to find that the person, a woman, is dead. Jung-won has flashbacks of another dead body but manages to call the police.

Tae-hoon and his partner arrive and take Jung-won to the police station and she explains her situation. But the victim turns out to be Assemblyman Mo’s housekeeper, Jin Myung-sook. The politician himself arrives and accuses Jung-won of murder.

At home, Jung-won takes a laptop and mouse out from a safe and begins to type up the incident. When she spots blood on her hands, she takes a bath. Later that night, Woo-jae finds Jung-won standing on the balcony and comforts her. In the morning, Tae-hoon and his partner visit Jin Myung-sook’s house. They find a book with newspaper cuttings about Assemblyman Mo. But they don’t find her mobile phone.

Jung-won visits a therapist, who tries to get Jung-won to open up about her past. But Jung-won sees that No Ji-ho has written an article blaming Jung-won for contaminating the scene. She confronts him at work and then leaves. She gets a barrage of text messages, including one that says she should uncover her husband before uncovering others. Woo-jae later takes Jung-won to her late father’s resting place, saying it would offer some comfort.

Here, we skip one month into the future. Jung-won gets a similar text as the one before, accusing her husband. Later at her therapy appointment, Jung-won recalls how her father, who was also an investigative reporter, won an award for his work. Two months later he died. Jung-won then describes how she, as a young girl, found her father murdered in her house one night. The killer still hasn’t been caught.

At work, Jung-won and her team learn that the other reporter Hae-jun got arrested for taking bribes. Afterwards, Cha Eun-sae calls Jung-won and invites her to her house. Jung-won assumes it’s a huge scoop and goes.

At her apartment, Jung-won sees that Eun-sae is wearing the same necklace Woo-jae gifted her. She also has Woo-jae’s books on her shelves. Suddenly, Eun-sae says that she and Woo-jae are in a relationship. She insinuates that they’ve been together for a year. The mysterious texts were also from Eun-sae.

Jung-won argues with her and then storms out. Eun-sae follows and shows her a sonography and says she’s three months pregnant. Jung-won dismisses her and leaves but grows upset once she’s inside the lift.

Jung-won goes to the police station and meets Tae-hoon, who realises her mind is elsewhere. He drives her home and gets out of the car to get medicine. Jung-won gets a call from her husband and pretends everything is fine. He says he’ll be working late.

At home, Jung-won sees the decoration she had set up to celebrate her husband’s first novel’s anniversary and sighs, sleeping on the sofa. The next day, she follows Woo-jae, who goes to a marriage counselling clinic.

Jung-won meets with her team, intending to interview an informant. When they realise she doesn’t look well, Jung-won decides to leave. She goes to see her therapist and follows a text message that directs her to the clinic’s new location. Jung-won reaches the building and goes up to the mentioned location but there’s no clinic. Instead, she sees a woman lying in a pool of blood. It’s none other than Cha Eun-sae.

The Episode Review

Episode 1 of Nothing Uncovered kicks off to a great start. The episode is long but has a quick pace which keeps you intrigued. Right off the bat, we are dropped into the middle of the action and the rest unfolds from there. It’s a good example of showing and not telling. Instead of long expositions, we learn about the show’s premise through the core plot.  

Jung-won immediately makes for a compelling lead. She’s fierce, smart, and determined, but also feels fear and loss. This grounded, realistic portrayal makes her easy to root for. Woo-jae and her paint a picture of a couple utterly in love which makes the story all the more interesting.

Cha Eun-sae herself comes across as a formidable opponent to Jung-won. The tension during their conversation is palpable. Tae-hoo doesn’t make quite an impression as the others but there’s more than enough time for that. All in all, the characters are well-defined and together they create a nice web of mystery.