Black Out (Snow White Must Die) – K-drama Episode 1 Recap & Review

Episode 1

Episode 1 of Black Out (Snow White Must Die) starts in 2013 with a young girl named Bo-yeong being killed at an old warehouse. At the same time, another young girl named Da-eun talks to her mother on the phone when someone strikes her with a knife. That night, the cops show up at the warehouse to investigate the murders.

Section Chief Hyun Gu-tak learns that there were two or more victims and that Goh Chang-soo’s son – Jeong-woo was driving the car and had traces of the victim’s blood. The next morning, Jeong-woo is sleeping in his room. He is jolted awake from his sleep and is arrested from his bedroom for the murder of the two girls.

Jeong-woo is shocked to see his uncle – Chief Hyun and his team take him to the police station. A flashback from earlier that day shows Jeong-woo in high school after the CSAT Exam.

Since his house was empty with his parents on a trip to Hawaii, Jeong-woo tried to call his friends home to have some drinks together. However, when one of his friends – Da-eun rejects her call, he goes to her house to look for her. Jeong-woo finds expensive dresses in Da-eun’s bedroom and goes to his family’s warehouse looking for the keys to his father’s car.

He finds his other friend – Bo-young crying in the car and argues with her when she calls Da-eun a slut. Bo-young leaves the car and Jeong-woo purchases some alcohol. He goes back home and drinks all night until he passes out.

The next morning, Jeong-woo wakes up as he is dragged to the police station. Detective Kim Hee-do was charged with the murder of his friends as well as for abandoning their dead bodies.

At the same time, Jeong-woo’s friends are brought in for questioning who all state that they had seen Bo-young with Jeong-woo. They also share that Jeong-woo was mad that he could not get in touch with Da-eun. Jeong-woo’s parents rush to the police station.

Dae-eun’s mother also records her statement and tells the cops that Da-eun was at the warehouse with her boyfriend – Jeong-woo. She also recalls hearing a male voice on the phone before she was killed. Bo-yeong’s father – Dong-min’s statement is recorded as well while Jeong-woo undergoes a lie detector test to determine his guilt in the crime.

The investigation continues and Jeong-woo’s shoes are found with traces of blood. Chief Hyun tells Chang-soo that it is likely that Jeong-woo was suffering from a blackout after killing his friends which is why he could not remember committing the crimes.

Jeong-woo meets his mother from prison and tells her that he does not remember “not killing” his friends and breaks down. Jeong-woo is forced to re-enact the murder. Jeong-woo learns that the cops still were not able to find Bo-young’s dead body and Jeong-woo is sentenced to a 10-year sentence.

While in prison, Jeong-woo suffers bullying at the hands of his cellmates. Year after year, Deok-mi is the only one who visits Jeong-woo in prison and checks up on him. She breaks down when she sees the injury marks on Jeong-woo from the constant bullying he faces. Meanwhile, Jeong-woo spends 10 years trying to recall what had happened to his friends.

While in prison, Jeong-woo learns that his father has died. He also learns that his mother has refused to meet him. Jeong-woo starts getting more and more aggressive in prison and starts getting immune to the bullying.

He finally starts to fight back as his prison sentence comes to an end. Jeong-woo learns that Deok-mi has changed her name to Na-kyeom and works as an international model now.

On the day of Jeong-woo’s release, Na-kyeom rushes to the prison after the end of her shoot. She picks him up from prison and takes him to visit his father’s gravesite. Jeong-woo recalls fishing with his father from a decade ago and remembers his words when he had asked Jeong-woo to be patient.

As Jeong-woo spends some time in silence thinking about his late father, Na-kyeom finds criminal psychology books in his bag with notes on the blackout phenomenon.

Later that evening, Jeong-woo asks Na-kyeom to take him to see his mother. At the same time, Bo-young’s father keeps an eye on Jeong-woo’s mother – Geum-hee’s restaurant. A Seoul-based cop named Sang-cheol catches a criminal on the loose and beats the man up.

His colleagues ask him to calm down as he leaves to go somewhere in his car. Sang-cheol ends up dashing into Na-kyeom’s car due to being hit by a truck driver. Sang-cheol chases after the truck driver and tries to get him to own up to his mistake. However, Jeong-woo steps out of Na-kyeom’s car and asks Sang-cheol to pay for the damage he caused to their car.

At Mucheon Police Station, Hee-do welcomes Sang-cheol as the new transfer detective. Jeong-woo’s high school friend – Byeong-moo who was a witness in his case is now working at the station as a detective.

Hee-do learns that Chief Hyun is accompanying his son – Su-ho somewhere. Chief Hyun leaves Su-ho with his caretaker and asks the woman to give him his medication timely. Jeong-woo thanks Na-kyeom for dropping him home and tries to meet his mother who had not seen him in a decade.

On his way inside, Jeong-woo recalls a party where all his high school friends as well as Chief Hyun and Su-ho were present. Jeong-woo recalls meeting Da-eun for the first time at the party after she had moved into the rooftop house by his place.

Present-day Jeong-woo runs into Ha-seol who works at Geum-hee’s restaurant. Inside, Dong-min and his friend try to cause a commotion, accusing Geum-hee of serving them salty food on purpose. Geum-hee apologises but Dong-min causes her to trip.

Just then, Jeong-woo shows up and tries to help Geum-hee. Geum-hee pulls away from him while Dong-min grabs him by his collar, asking him about Bo-young. Geum-hee kicks Jeong-woo out of the restaurant and tells him that he is no longer her son.

Meanwhile, the detectives from Mucheon police station have some drinks to celebrate Sang-cheol’s transfer. Another one of Jeong-woo’s high school friends and a witness in his case – Min-soo meets Jeong-woo on the street.

The two catch up and Min-soo gets a call from Byeong-moo. Byeong-moo asks to meet Jeong-woo and Min-soo. On the bus ride, Min-soo explains how his father purchased Jeong-woo’s family home after his father had died. He also adds that Geum-hee asked to continue working as a chef.

Min-soo states that he was working as a nurse in the emergency room and explains how he got busy when Jeong-woo asks why he did not visit him in prison. On the way to meet Byeong-moo, Jeong-woo and Min-soo run into a group of thugs.

The thugs try to take advantage of a drunken Sang-cheol and are about to attack him. Jeong-woo stops them and saves the cops life. Min-soo panics and calls Byeong-moo who shows up with cops to arrest the thugs.

Byeong-moo introduces Jeong-woo to Sang-cheol as the high school friends catch up. Byeong-moo asks Jeong-woo to reach out to him if he needs help as Jeong-woo goes to the station to meet Chief Hyun.

Chief Hyun asks Jeong-woo to go to Seoul to restart his life now as an ex-convict. Jeong-woo checks up on Su-oh before leaving the police station. Jeong-woo recalls his interactions with his old friends as well as his mother and feels uneasy.

On the other hand, Sang-cheol is in his new apartment as he recalls the death of his wife and breaks down. That night, Jeong-woo goes back home to meet his mother. He asks Geum-hee to go to Seoul with him but she refuses.

The next morning, Jeong-woo decides he is going to go back to Seoul when Su-oh shows up at his house. Su-oh gives Jeong-woo one of his paintings and leaves. Inside the house, Jeong-woo opens the painting and finds a sketch of the warehouse from the night of the murder. The episode ends with Geum-hee dying after suddenly falling off the roof of a building onto a car.

The Episode Review

This show is so intriguing and well done that it makes me wish this was released as a one-off web drama instead of a weekly release. The way we start with the murder of two high schoolers while one of their friends is blamed for it.

Jeong-woo suffers from what we learn is a blackout due to intoxication but he is charged for a crime that he possibly did not commit. This episode sets the stage for Jeong-woo to go back in time and revisit the case that changed his life.

However, the way things end in this episode, we can see that he will have to through another hiccup due to the death/murder of his mother. While Su-oh appears to be mentally challenged, we cannot rule him out as a suspect because of the painting he hands over to Jeong-woo.

It is also possible that he was suspect of the incident but his disability makes him an unreliable witness. Na-kyeom is the only friend who deserves to be in Jeong-woo’s life because she stuck with him for the 10 years he was in prison. If Jeong-woo is innocent, I wish Geum-hee died knowing that her son did not commit the murders.