Chief Detective 1958 episode 1 aired on Friday, April 19, 2024, on MBC and Disney Plus. Starring Lee Je-Hoon as Park Young-Han, the new K-drama revolves around the lead character and his team of unlikely detectives set to fight against a corrupted society.
The series is set in the 1950s as a prequel to a popular K-drama, Chief Inspector (1971-1989). Episode 1 begins with the guest appearance of actor Choi Bool-Am, who played Park Young-Han in the original series. It shows him as an elderly man heading to Jongnam Police Station and meeting his grandson (played by Je-Hoon). As he watches his grandson working as a cop, he looks proud and stares at an old photo.
The camera focuses on the photo, which reads “The legendary detectives of 1962,” featuring his younger self alongside his teammates. For context, Je-Hoon plays the younger version of Detective Park Young-Han, who learns the dark side of his profession after transferring to Seoul from a small town.
Chief Detective 1958 episode 1 spoilers: Why did Lee Je-Hoon fail in his first mission?
Chief Detective 1958 episode 1 focuses on Detective Park Young-Han (Lee Je-Hoon), who has the highest number of arrests of petty thieves in his town. Set in the 50s, the story begins with him disguised as a beggar entering a gambling club and confronting a cow thief. When the culprit recognizes him, he tries to flee, but Young-Han catches him, showing off his talent as a skilled detective.
The next day, he bids farewell to his town and gets transferred to Seoul’s Jongnam Police Station’s investigation department. As a naive detective, excited Young-Han takes up his first case of catching a gangster. Although he gets a confession from the gangster, Senior Superintendent Choi orders his release. This is how Detective Park learns the first lesson of the world of corruption and power. Due to a corrupted senior, he fails in his first mission.
Further, episode 1 introduces Lee Dong-Hwi as Detective Kim Sang-Soon, who beats up a couple of gangsters and brings them to the police station. Like Young-Han’s senior, Sang-Soon’s boss defends the culprits and asks him to apologize. But Sang-Soon uses violence and storms off the office, shocking everyone. Young-Han looks impressed and finds out that Sang-Soon is known as the “Mad Dog” who chews up criminals.
Later at night, Young-Han has a nightmare in which a young soldier is asked to shoot innocent people. It appears the incident is connected to his past trauma.
Chief Detective 1958 episode 1 ending: Lee Je-Hoon & Lee Dong-Hwi catch their corrupted colleagues red-handed
Towards the Chief Detective 1958 episode 1 ending, Young-Han’s chief encourages him to fight corruption and power. After receiving a tip, he seeks Sang-Soon’s help to follow their colleagues at a warehouse.
The two detectives catch their corrupted co-workers red-handed, making a deal with an American weapon dealer. During the funny yet heroic confrontation, Young-Han tries to create tension among the culprits and orders Sang-Soon to shoot at their colleagues. The episode ends with Sang-Soon hitting Young-Han’s head from behind. He falls to the ground unconscious.
Earlier, the K-drama’s episode also introduced Choi Woo-Sung as Cho Kyung-Hwan, a street vendor who is also a skilled fighter. Later in the series, he will likely join Young-Han and Sang-Soon in their mission to eradicate corruption from society.
Chief Detective 1958 airs on Fridays and Saturdays on MBC and Disney Plus.
