Recap Korean Drama "Shadow Detective (2022)" Episode 1

Shadow Detective (형사록) is a mystery-crime Korean drama series directed by Han Dong-hwa and stars Lee Sung-min, Jin Goo, Kyung Soo-jin and Lee Hak-joo, alongside other cast members.

Releasing at 12 PM IST, Shadow Detective Episode 1 premiered on Disney+ Hotstar on October 26, 2022, with a runtime of 57 minutes. The show picks up with the dysfunctional life led by veteran detective Taek-rok (Lee Sung-min) for whom the image of his nearing retirement is his sole inspiration. Pulling himself through his closing days at the police station, he’s soon dragged into receiving a series of prank calls that lead up to a dire mystery involving the murder of his younger colleague.

Will his team including the new and much younger leader than him, Kuk Jin-han (Jin Goo), Lee Sung-a (Kyung Soo-jin), and Song Kyung-chan (Lee Hak-joo) find the actual culprit before Taek-rok is wrongfully implicated for the murder?

Racing through the street, Detective Taek-rok is in pursuit of someone and the promise of his pension keeps him going as swears to never run in his life again after his retirement. The distorted vision wears off as he receives a prank call with a man singing a song on the other side, revealing it was all but a dream. He heads out for the day, showcasing his distinctly detached approach to catching criminals.

Later, as he relishes his quick meal of ramyeon for the day, the Chief of Police at Geumo Police Station, Seo Gwangsu, appears for a televised interview and introduces the new crime prevention system to ensure the safety of the city’s citizens in places that may otherwise not have any stable means of surveillance. Taek-rok, however, seems to express no affability to the Chief’s words and switches off the TV mid-broadcast. His room is marked with the presence of paraphernalia relating to the treatment of mental health – panic disorders and dementia and medicine for the same, which he takes.

At the police station, when handed over several case files for his opinion on the matter, Taek-rok knows just how to tackle each situation with a rushed poise. He doesn’t get a headache from looking over these cases as much as he does upon getting paired up with a novice homicide detective, Kyung-chan. Resuming his older case, he’s accompanied by the newcomer and detective Lee Sung-a to head out to track the drug dealer Ma Sang-gu, who’s been convicted five times previously.

On being sent inside the arcade alone, Kyung-chan is cornered by San-gu’s men and Detective Lee has to intervene. Once again, on the run Taek-rok has to chase Sang-gu and question him about Mr. Cheon’s (his supplier) whereabouts. Embroiled in the action, an amusing chase ensues but upon getting caught, Sang-gu confesses that he has nothing to do with Mr. Cheon’s business.

A meeting for announcing the new section chief is held and the supposed ‘brave citizen’ who helped Taek-rok catch Sang-gu earlier is welcomed as the new Chief Investigation Officer. Kook Jin-han, who was demoted to the Geumo Police Station for standing up to his seniors, is back at it with his cross-words against Taek-rok’s old age but finds a worthy and witty contender in him.

Team leader Hyun-seok finally meets up with Taek-rok but before he heads inside the tavern, he’s prank-called again, only this time the caller leaves a life-threatening message for him. Giving it some thought, the detective enters the restaurant, where Hyun-seok is already settled in. He starts questioning him about Mr. Cheon while reminiscing a past wherein the younger team leader became an accomplice to Mr. Cheon’s actions. Although both Taek-rok and Hyun-seok are hinted at being close to each other almost a lifetime ago, an awkward silence prevails between them now, with the former sticking to questions related to the case. A flashback reveals the drug dealer casually threatening Hyun-seok back in the day.

Hyun-seok is clearly holding back something and Taek-rok catches on. The two start to take it slow and Hyun-seok agrees to let him in on the information with the promise to meet again the next day. On coming back to his quarters, Taek-rok is taken aback by his next-door neighbor, who seems to keep things quiet to the extent that it stops feeling normal. Intrigued by this, he looks into his application and is shocked to read a familiar name – Yang Ki-tae – a man responsible for an arson attack. Pulling him out of his room, Taek-rok is stunned to find him there despite his sentence still remaining. Ki-tae reveals himself to be a model convict who once again takes up the stance that he was framed for the arson and that he moved in next to the detective for a reason.

Coming back to his room after confronting Ki-tae, Taek-rok gives his file another look and then decides to sleep. Some visions bar him from a peaceful night and the tone is kept up as he soon receives a call from the same number. This time, Taek-rok firmly establishes that he would track the number down and take the man in. In return, the man fires back with the revelation that Hyun-seok is dying. Claiming himself to be a ‘friend’, he asks the detective to take down a few things.

The address so revealed is one of the shared spots between the two when things had been sweeter for them. Reminded of Hyun-seok’s urge to revive their old bond, Taek-rok takes the trip to find out the truth. At the location, he finds Hyun-seok lying on the ground in an unlikely condition, with his head bleeding. As Taek-rok rushes to hold him up, Hyun-seok’s last words are that of an apology to him.

The next day, Taek-rok finds himself back in his room and is woken up by Sung-a’s calls. Present at Geumson Mountain, she asks the old detective if he’d met Hyun-seok earlier, which triggers his memory of the night, recalling that he was tasered by someone. With Hyun-seok dead, Taek-rok receives a message from the number again, calling him out as a “murderer”.

With only minor comic reliefs on the side, Shadow Detective is primarily a series that delves into the psychological thrust that keeps a veteran detective on the brink of retirement going despite the lack of any other inspiration holding him together. The first episode is a mere introduction of the roster that builds up its story with the murder of Chief Woo Hyun-seok, a younger colleague who learned the ropes alongside Taek-rok.

Keeping up with darker visuals onscreen, the episode attempts to lay down a narrative that not only captures the police in action but through Taek-rok’s presence also aims to peer into their lives off the field. The premiere only highlights certain factors in play and the dynamics shared between these new characters, that too briefly because there’s a bigger catch at large with the conspicuous calls.

Neither of these factors is paid grave attention to as the episode’s duration has its hands full. This episode has been jointly released with the second episode to keep our interest in check. Some episodes down the line will surely define the overall tone of the show with only a few hints (like the generational gap between Taek-rok and Jin-han and the conflict it’s pushing for) being left for us to reach out to with probable hints of a corrupt institution to arise as well.