Light The Night – Season 1 Episode 1 Recap & Review

The Murder

Episode 1 of Light the Night begins on 6th October 1988. Three hikers head into the jungle off the back of a typhoon striking. As they press on, the trio find a hand sticking out the dirt. Someone has been murdered and the typhoon has uncovered their body.

At the police station, detective Wen-Cheng learns about the body up on Mount Jinan. The woman has no ID on her but she appears to be in her 30’s. As Wen-Cheng joins other detectives up on the scene, they await Mr Ko (the coroner) to show in order to get a better understanding of what they’re dealing with. Interestingly, the woman also happens to have a business card on her for a club called Light.

We then cut back three months before the incident, at club Light. Different madams entertain men as they show up, laughing along to their jokes and smattering compliments their way. One of the women, Ah-Chi, is a bit of a liability and she’s eventually reprimanded for smoking out front. She’s struggling with money and has made friends with the wrong crowd.

Rose, the woman in charge of the other madams, takes Ah-Chi aside and questions whether she should stop working. Unfortunately, Rose is followed home by three gangsters who were lurking about outside the club earlier in the episode. Thankfully a police car shows up and saves her from a sticky fate.

Rose constantly rings Chiang-Han too, her lover who happens to be a great writer. He’s intentionally ignoring her calls. At the office, he meets Hsiao Wan-Jou, talking joyously and listening as she gushes over his story. She happens to be playing the main character in this adaptation. Rose watches from the waiting room and sees them together.

Rose eventually follows him to his apartment. Unfortunately Chiang-Han reveals the crushing truth he’s been holding, “I don’t love you anymore,” He says nonchalantly. It’s a heartbreaking revelation and one that sends Rose into a bit of a tailspin.

At the club, things continue to escalate with Ah-Chi. She skips out on pleasing Mr Nakamura to check her lottery numbers (she doesn’t win) and her absence forces Aiko to step in to entertain him. When the 80,000 commission is revealed to be split between the pair, Ah-Chi is not happy but Aiko refuses to argue and leaves.

Chiang-Han shows up at the club drunk, speaking to Sue. He tries it on with her but receives a slap to the face for his troubles. However, someone happens to be watching from afar, shrouded in darkness.

The Episode Review

Who could the mystery person be hiding in the wings? Something tells me the shape is misleading and it could well be someone we’re not expecting like Ah-Chi or Rose. Either way, there’s certainly enough intriguing parts to this drama to keep things watchable.

It seems we’re going to spend most of our time in 1988 across this season but with 8 episodes to chew through, we’ll have to wait and see if this one actually doubles down on its mystery elements or turns into a bit of a soapy drama.