Black Knight – K-Drama Episode 1 Recap & Review

Episode 1

Episode 1 of Black Knight begins with us learning that a comet collided with the Earth, causing continents to sink into the sea. As a consequence, the Korean Peninsula has become a barren landscape with polluted air. The place, however, is survivable because of technological advances, especially a massive Air Core that was designed to convert oxyanium to oxygen.

The survivors, who account for less than 1% of the entire population, have been organized into a new social order based on QR codes. The population is divided into three districts: general, special, and core. The remaining members are left to adapt to life as refugees.

However, they eventually grow tired of it, reinventing themselves to be Deliverymen. The deliverymen end up stealing valuable goods, redistributing these goods to those in need.

Sa-wol is a courageous refugee. He aspires to be a Deliveryman much like the famous 5-8. Being a Deliveryman is a means for a refugee to escape an existence of oppression and 5-8 is especially respected by the immigrants. Additionally, a refugee has no other option for obtaining a QR code, and anybody found with one who is harboring a refugee is harshly punished.

Major Jung Seol-ah from the Defence Intelligence Command is looking after Sa-wol. Sa-wol has been living with Seol-ah and Seul-ah for over a decade. It becomes apparent that Seol-ah’s attempts to obtain a QR code for Sa-wol by means of official channels have been futile, indicating that some effort has undoubtedly been made to preserve the current state of affairs.

To make matters worse, Sa-wol is constantly sneaking out and getting himself into trouble whilst training to be a Deliveryman.

The Cheonmyeong Group is one of a handful of people that profit from the current situation. A father and son duo who founded the group are seen planning something which is kept a mystery for the time being.

There is a covert construction of a brand-new District A. The respected 5-8 is guided there, while Seol-ah also happens to be there along with a few other DIC members in search of information. Sa-wol returns home after another rash adventure in which he attempted to fight 5-8 while traveling to District A. Seul-ah then locks up Sa-wol in an empty room to stop him from escaping.

Sa-wol misses an appearance from 5-8 since he is forcefully locked inside the room. Following that, a team of assassins break in. In an apparent attempt to abduct Seul-ah, they pin her down while they attempt to inject her. Sa-wol manages to break out and he ends up killing a couple of them.

However, Seul-ah gets shot in the process and is presumably dead. Thereafter, Sa-wol is shot from behind as the episode comes to a close.

The Episode Review

The first episode of Netflix’s new dystopian drama is extremely action-packed and entertaining to watch. There’s also a really unexpected last-minute twist too. Despite this, the episode’s storytelling is rather disorganized, and the transitions between scenes aren’t seamless.

The foundation of the episode is a bit shaky because, despite being the premiere episode, the character introductions aren’t all that well done. Hopefully these weak elements improve in the upcoming episodes.