A Shop for Killers – K-Drama Episode 1 Recap & Review

Murthehelp

A Shop for Killers Episode 1 starts in a countryside locality, focusing on a house with broken walls and shattered windows. Nearby, a sniper adjusts his gun’s aim inside a van. He points at the house but his bullet just misses a young girl inside, who leaps back in surprise. An injured woman is crouched at the other end of the room while a man is unconscious on the floor. The girl, Ji-an, closes her eyes and tells herself to focus.

A flashback shows Ji-an and her uncle Jin-man watching an action movie. When Ji-an ridicules how the hero is conveniently missing all the bullets, Jin-man says he’s using the correct blind spots to navigate his way.

At present, Ji-an tells herself to look for blind spots around her. She straps a mirror to a broom and looks for the sniper’s position. He shoots at the mirror and inevitably gives away the blind spots. This allows Ji-an to jump behind a sofa, under which she finds a large gun. Now, it’s the sniper’s turn to run.

At some point in the past, Ji-an is at a police station where a man claims she beat him up. From the CCTV footage, the police find that the man entered a woman’s restroom on purpose and Ji-an beat him up for doing so. Ji-an calls her uncle to come get her but another policeman picks up the phone instead and informs her that her uncle is dead.   

Another flashback shows Jin-man installing metal bars on Ji-an’s window in her new apartment in Seoul. He’s also got her a metal closet which is bulletproof, although she scoffs at it. Ji-an then narrates how a shopkeeper who has cheated her of money was found in an accident, with broken bones. After that, he agreed to pay her and his other victims back.

Jin-man says he was the one who did that but Ji-an assumes he’s joking. Jin-man then takes a photo of Ji-an’s school number and tells her it is important for her to remember it. Turns out, that was the last thing he said to her. At present, in her uncle’s neighbourhood, the taxi driver driving Ji-an says he was a school friend of Jin-man. She informs him that her uncle is dead. He leaves his card with her when he drops her off.

Ji-an then goes to the morgue to verify the identity of her uncle’s body. He has a cut on his throat and since no one was seen around his house, the case was concluded as a suicide. When his body is being pushed back inside, Ji-an notices a tattoo on his leg that reads Murthehelp. She then follows through with the other formalities for the funeral.

When she reaches her uncle’s house, she meets a young boy named Bae Jeong-min. They used to know each other as kids. Jeong-min, who majored in computer engineering, helps Ji-an find a photo of her uncle for the funeral. He was working part-time for Jin-man and was also the last person to speak to him. He even offers to clean the bathroom, where Jin-man was found, and Ji-an is grateful.

At Jin-man’s funeral, the taxi driver arrives with more of Jin-man’s old friends. Of all the flower bouquets Ji-an received, one of them was from a person named Lee Yong-han. Ji-an then notices a pair of twin brothers arrive at the funeral.

They are eerily quiet and don’t speak a word to anyone. Outside, a mysterious figure smokes a cigarette and says his goodbyes to Jin-man. Meanwhile, Jeong-min cleans up Jin-man’s bathroom. He finds a mobile phone hidden in one of the cupboards.

At the funeral, Jin-man’s old friends talk about how his business of selling hoses may not have been doing well. They discuss several rumours about Jin-man being a gangster or a spy. The taxi driver, drunk by now, recalls that it was Jin-man who saved all of them when their fathers lost their money gambling. Jin-man was the one who dropped a bag full of money at their doorstep. The revelation shocks the others, who were not aware. Afterwards, everybody gets on a bus to the cemetery.

Back at Jin-man’s house, Ji-an admits to Jeong-min that she’s disgusted at the way her uncle died. She then enters the house and finds an old pair of clothes to wear. Haunted by memories of her uncle in the house, she finally breaks down. Jeong-min enters just as she’s crying and she asks him to stay a while.

A little while later, she’s asleep on his shoulder. When she wakes, he gives her the phone he found. It’s an old model, which surprises her. The phone then gets a text from someone who claims to have paid Jin-man 70 million won. Another text shows her a bank balance of 18.7 billion won. Jeong-min shows Ji-an the website used to sell hoses but they both know hoses couldn’t possibly make that much money.

Assuming the website of agricultural goods is a front for something else, Jeong-min is able to uncover a website called Murthehelp that sells weapons. It’s the dark web. Ji-an is shocked.

A message arrives on the website from the person who paid the money. When Ji-an replies that the shop is closed, the person realises that Jin-man is dead and says that he is coming for Ji-an instead. Jeong-min quickly shuts the webpage down. Just as he suggests calling the police, the bell rings. Ji-an picks up the intercom and speaks with a woman named So Min-hye who claims to be Jin-man’s Chinese tutor.

Although, we see that the woman has weapons in her bag. Ji-an gets a text on the phone that tells her not to die at the hands of another since that person wants to kill her herself. Meanwhile, Min-hye has made her way from the gate right to the front door. Ji-an is frozen in place.  

An epilogue shows Ji-an when she was 7 years old. She and her family are dining with Jin-man, who has shown up after 8 years. He introduces himself to Ji-an and the two share a smile at the end of A Shop for Killers Episode 1.

The Episode Review

Well, A Shop for Killer is definitely off to a brilliant start. This episode is gripping from beginning to end, starting off with literal bangs and then moving into a flashback to explain how we got there. The scene at the police station sets up Ji-an’s character nicely while Jin-man’s nature is deliciously cryptic.

The episode ends with the perfect cliffhanger as well, with Ji-an suddenly finding herself a target. At a little short of 50 minutes, the episode is just the right length and the writing is crisp, never lingering where it doesn’t need to.

Lee Dong-wook creates the perfect mysterious aura for a secretive person like Jin-man and his ruggedly handsome look is the cherry on top. Kim Hye-jun is also doing a great job as the stoic Ji-an who is dealing with her uncle’s abrupt departure.

I think we can expect powerhouse performances from both these actors as well as a thrilling ride from the show in general. Overall, A Shop for Killers Episode 1 sets up an exciting premise and if that first action sequence is anything to go by, the rest will be just as captivating.