The Trunk – K-drama Episode 1 Recap & Review

Episode 1

Episode 1 of The Trunk begins with Noh In-ji, a woman who works at a contract marriage company. She gets into contract marriages and we see her latest husband. She takes care of him with clinical efficiency and after he dies, she cuts all ties. She is considered the best in her field and her boss wants her to take a break but she refuses. Her newest contract is a little different and is with Han Jeong-won. 

Rumour has it that Han Jeong-won, a rich and successful music composer has become a drug addict because of his divorce. But his friends know that he overdoses on sleeping pills since he has insomnia. He hates the family chandelier that lies in his home but his ex-wife, Lee Seo-yeon refuses to remove it. That day, he leaves for work just as In-ji shows up. She makes herself at home and wears a wedding ring he has picked out for her.

As for Jeong-won, he is caught by cops who have him tested for drugs. One of his co-workers has snitched on him for being a pill-popper without revealing the whole truth and he lashes out at him. His boss, Hyeon-cheol calms him down. As they talk, Hyeon-cheol finds it strange that he is the boss since the label in actuality, belongs to Jeong-won.

As for the drug addict rumours, it has made its way to Seo-yeon via Hyeon-cheol’s wife Yun-a since they work together. Seo-yeon covers for Jeong-won by claiming he is completely fine and is in fact, getting married.

For dinner, she meets Jeong-won and is quite cold to him. He is still in love with her and she is the one who has forced him to get into a contract marriage for a year. They are high school sweethearts but a life-threatening incident involving Seo-yeon has her leaving Jeong-won. He gifts her a pair of earrings and she leaves with her much younger husband before the food is served.

Jeong-won follows them and sees that she has left the earrings in the car. Upset, he keeps calling her and it cuts to Seo-yeon having sex with her husband. Finally, Jeong-won breaks her car window but is arrested. However, Seo-yeon covers for him yet again. In-ji arrives to take him home and he tries to keep his distance. He wonders if she enjoys her work and recalls how cynical he was when he first met her boss.

At home, In-ji makes dinner for him and picks a different room to sleep in. He is awkward as he doesn’t know the protocol and she simply tells him to read the manual.

That night he has a nightmare of his mother murdering his father and he begs her to stop as he finally understands her. In-ji continues to make meals for him even though he doesn’t eat.

Elsewhere, the cops find a rafter like the one In-ji uses. It was stolen and there was a gunshot at 1 am. An expensive trunk similar to In-ji’s is found along with a Prada wallet.

Meanwhile, In-ji goes home to a small apartment. She pays her nosy neighbour to take care of her fish. Through their conversation, we learn that the flat’s owner is In-ji’s fiance who has disappeared. The neighbour tells her to move on and she jokes she has killed him. Alone, her friend, Si-jeong calls her with shocking news. An Eom Tae-song has been discharged from the mental hospital and a worried In-ji ensures that she has a taser in her trunk.

Jeong-won has a mild panic attack before he meets with Seo-yeon to clear the car misunderstanding. She is wearing his earrings and claims she had forgotten to take the case he saw in the car. She asks about In-ji and is glad to hear the fake marriage is going smoothly. She assures him that they are fine and he kisses her. He doesn’t want the weird arrangement but she wishes he was dead already.

Jeong-won sulks in his garage and In-ji brings him in. This time he eats and is surprised she went to lengths to make something he may like. He tries to scare her by wondering if sex is on the table. She agrees if both parties consent and he backs down, claiming he is shy.

However, he can’t sleep because she is watching TV loudly. They bicker as he calls her insensitive and she goads him. He wants her to move out and she tells him to be himself. He throws a beer can at the chandelier and pieces of it break. He sees that he is uninjured as In-ji has shielded him. However, her arm has been sliced by the glass.

At the end of The Trunk Episode 1, Jeong-won is interrogated by the cops. He is asked if he knows the owner of the trunk and he states that it is his wife’s.

The Episode Review

Well, colour us intrigued because our jaw kept dropping every few minutes. First, there is that whole awkward arrangement courtesy of the ex-wife. What is up with Seo-yeon and why is she toying with Jeong-won? Does he truly believe she will go back to him after a year is up? And why did she leave him if she still cares for him to cover for him multiple times? Questions, questions, questions…

Next, we have to talk about the whole mystery surrounding the trunk in The Trunk Episode 1. It was pretty clever for the K-drama to sneak in the trunk’s discovery as part of the present timeline when in truth it is of a future timeline. This had us wondering if In-ji abandons her trunks after doing something sinister to her fake husbands.

But with that final scene, guess she is the one who has gone missing. And we are pretty sure that Eom Tae-song is involved. We do wonder if this show is anything like Orginal Sin with Gong Yoo playing the role of Antonio Banderas.

The Netflix K-drama also has a super chic aesthetic, almost like a facade like the fake marriage that is Jeong-won’s. By the way, shoutout to the background music with the rock music which works great to create a haunting and nefarious atmosphere. It also meshes well with Jeong-won’s professional life as his work scenes add to the ambience without acting like fillers. So far, so good.