The Auditors – K-drama Episode 1 Recap & Review

Episode 1

Episode 1 of The Auditors begins with the protagonist, Shin Cha-il, an experienced and excellent auditor, preventing a company from going bankrupt due to an employee’s embezzlement attempt.

The story opens with the backdrop of a huge accident where a tower crane topples over at the construction site of the Inpo Apartment. We then shift to the audit team of JU Construction, a renowned construction company, where a position for team leader opens up after the previous team leader is fired by the new company president, Hwang Se-woong.

Assistant team leader Yum Kyung-suk hopes to fill the position. Goo Han-soo is another auditor, but he’s unlike any other auditor—he makes friends from different departments and easily trusts others. Meanwhile, Yoon Seo-jin is a professional with a blunt personality who critically judges every situation and doesn’t mingle with anyone. The audit team is a complete mess and doesn’t function efficiently.

The team expects Yum Kyung-suk to become the next team leader, so they are shocked to find that an external interview is being held for the position. They meet Shin Cha-il, who leaves no stone unturned in pointing out the team’s inefficiencies, especially when an employee complains about the low-quality food being served in the cafeteria.

He later appears for his interview and explains that he applied for the position to rid JU Construction of the corruption that has the company on the path to bankruptcy. His statements come in light of the company’s stock prices hitting an all-time low.

The next day, when Han-soo comes in for work, he finds the new team leader, Shin Cha-il, who’s already clocked in. Shin Cha-il is aware of the entire team’s names and displays his keen sense of observation by figuring out that Han-soo barely passed the requirements to get a job in the company and was helped by the previous team leader in getting a position on the audit team.

Han-soo plans to transfer to the Florida branch of the company after completing three years on the audit team, where he’s already completed six months of this requirement. Han-soo is clearly flabbergasted.

After the rest of the team clocks in, Shin Cha-il calls for a meeting where they reopen the investigation into the tower crane accident. Although the previous audit team had blamed strong winds and settled the case with compensation, Shin Cha-il points out inaccuracies and gaps in the team’s investigation. They begin by investigating foreman Bae Young-sik, with whom Han-soo shares a friendly relationship.

Naturally, Han-soo objects to the team leader’s decision, citing his trust in Bae Young-sik. However, Shin Cha-il’s decision is final, and he asks Han-soo to transfer to a different team, saying that he’s not capable of being an auditor while they visit Bae Young-sik.

They search the foreman’s desk and take his laptop, but Bae Young-sik somehow snatches it and dashes out. Han-soo chases after him, with Shin Cha-il close on his heels. During the cat-and-mouse chase, Bae Young-sik falls off a three-story building and has to be admitted to a hospital.

However, Shin Cha-il is adamant and gets the broken laptop repaired. He discovers that Bae Young-sik had promised his injured men permanent positions but was unable to fulfill this promise. The injured men all praise Bae Young-sik’s compassionate nature and reveal that it was thanks to him that the crane driver only broke a leg.

At this point, managing director Seo Gil-pyo calls in Shin Cha-il to deter him from further investigating the case, but to no avail. Shin Cha-il then begins investigating Seo Gil-pyo. The next day, Yum Kyung-suk asks Han-soo to retrieve Bae’s laptop after consulting his senior, Yang Jae-seong, in an attempt to foil Shin Cha-il’s investigation and get him fired.

Han-soo and Cha-il get the repaired laptop back and head over to meet the Myung Tower CEO, Park Ho-yeon, JU’s supplier of the tower crane. Shin Cha-il correctly assumes corruption in the crane, which was made up of low-quality equipment with different manufacturing dates and sold to the company at the latest prices. The difference in price was pocketed by Seo Gil-pyo.

While on their way, Cha-il and Han-soo are attacked by thugs, and Cha-il gets knocked out. Later, when he wakes up, the laptop is nowhere to be found. Later, Cha-il asks Han-soo to hand over the laptop to him and meets the vice president, Hwang Dae-woong.

The Episode Review

Episode 1 begins with a bang! Although set in a company background, it has an interesting mystery plot revolving around the audit department of JU Construction. The show has vibes similar to the K-drama “Law School,” with Cha-il resembling Yang Jong-hoon.

The characters, although quite stereotypical—heroes and villains in black and white—still make the show enjoyable as we follow the audit team’s investigations into the corrupt practices of the company employees.