Ko Ju-won, the hotel manager who was caught sexually harassing and alienating an ex-employee, is now facing a lawsuit from the woman. Han-jun, a shaman who performed a dance complete with a rattle and fan, claims that the vengeful spirit of the ex-employee is attached to him. He proceeds to expose Ju-won for his wrongdoings until he committed suicide.
Nam Hye-jun is not feeling well and Han-jun tries to wake her up, but she is not responsive. He then goes to the living quarters of Café Minamdang and finds that Nam Hye-jun has already left for work.
Jo Na-dan, the café’s owner, opens the doors for the day. Customers stream in and admire the barista, Gong Su-cheol. However, Gong’s allure fades when they hear his heavy dialect as he ushers the newly arrived Kwon Gi-jun to the basement level where Han-jun conducts his business. ..
Han-jun tells the story of how he and his wife Gi-jun were married in a ceremony that was supposed to be a binding contract. However, after Gi-jun cheated on her with a woman he met while working as a security guard, she ran off with his money. Han-jun then accuses his wife of being an adulterous cheat and betrayal, and calls for her to be impeached from office.
Han-jun was able to deduce that the mistress had an accomplice based on her clothing choices and phone records. With those, he was able to obtain a license plate number.
Han-jun gives Su-cheol, who is at that moment chasing down a pervert’s car on foot, the task of tracking the plate. Su-cheol commandeers the pervert’s car and uses it to find the accomplice’s car. It’s in the car park of an apartment building, where Su-cheol sees the mistress and the accomplice getting ready to go overseas.
Han-jun and Gi-jun return to the present, where Han-jun tells Gi-jun that he needs a talisman to retrieve his money while making the signal for payment. Han-jun gives Gi-jun the talisman along with the address of the accomplice’s apartment building and an instruction to ‘guard the north exit’.
Jang and Kim are taken to Han-jun’s home to investigate his strange beliefs about the mistress. Jang is skeptical at first, but Kim is more convinced that there is something more going on with the man. They soon realize that Han-jun may be in danger, and they must take action to protect him.
Detective Han Jae-hui walks into the Daeun Police Station and is immediately treated as a rookie. When Hye-jun calls pretending to be from the Coast Guard with a tip that MK Nobel Hotel’s Ko Ju-won is attempting to flee to China, the detectives tell Jae-hui to stay behind and clean. ..
As they race through the port, Jae-hui and Detective Jang fall behind. Jae-hui is struggling to keep up with Detective Kim, who is clearly not feeling too good. Suddenly, Ju-won comes out of nowhere and overtakes them both. He takes down the goons effortlessly.
Han-jun, who has been watching through the CCTV with Hye-jun, is impressed. Apparently, his ideal type is a woman who can protect him. ..
The sister of the ex-employee that committed suicide thanks Han-jun for reminding her of her payment. He feigns humility and acts as though she were the late sister who brought everything together.
Detective Na introduces herself to the detectives and tells them about her experience as a rookie. Lieutenant Han Jae-hui, their new team leader, joins the conversation. ..
Detective Jang is known as the Ghost of Yongjin Police Station because she’s been able to take out the Southeast Asian drug cartel in one day while unarmed, flying through the air like a ghost. Another story behind the name goes that she latches onto a case like a ghost and sees it all the way through. Either way, the team is petrified by her skills.
Detective Jang is assigned to work with Detective Kim, who is investigating the case of Kang Eun-hye, who was declared a runaway one month ago.
Detective Jang is called in to investigate a case that has been making the rounds in the police department. The victim, a woman, was reported to have been raped by a high-ranking officer. The detective is given the task of watching the victim and finding out what happened. It turns out that the victim was only telling the truth when she said she was raped by the officer. The detective is able to oust the victim’s attacker from her life and return her to her rightful place in society.
Jae-hui is disturbed by the article she finds in her files. It seems that the judiciary may have helped Choi Yeong-seop get away with a crime. She decides to stick it to her wall and glared at the accompanying image of a cuffed prisoner.
Han-jun, a waitress at Café Minamdang, gets a call from a chaebol client. The client is worried that her husband, S&H Group’s Vice Chairman Shin Gyeong-ho, has made trouble again. Shin Gyeong-ho is covered in blood at his study desk and the client’s fears only increase when his secretary rushes in. ..
Han-jun hangs up to consult the spirits, which really means checking the dashcam and CCTV footage that Hye-jun has already hacked into. One of the dashcam feeds has been cut, so they review its saved footage and discover that Gyeong-ho crashed his car into a motorcyclist while on an illicit date. His bright idea was to then shove the body into his boot. ..
Han-jun, Hye-jun and Su-cheol retrace the path Gyeong-ho took before the footage was cut. Han-jun begins puzzling out Gyeong-ho’s next movements, wondering why he’d be in the area in the first place, when a group of cyclists ride by. Han-jun remembers Gyeong-ho posting pictures of himself cycling and begins scanning their map for a bike track with no foot traffic. He singles out Daeun Memorial Park, where Gyeong-ho’s late mother rests, as a quiet and familiar place with no CCTV.
Jae-hui is the detective in charge of the Major Crime Division. He is investigating the attempted murder of Gyeong-ho. When he learns that the motorcyclist is still alive, Jae-hui requests that the case be assigned to him. This assignment lands it in his hands.
Jae-hui is on her way to the scene of a crime when she notices a man she knows. She’s sure that he’s the one who called, and she stares at him in disbelief.
The woman in the footage who appears to be in love with Han-jun does not recognise him from anywhere. He also seems to be unaware of her staring up at him at first sight.
Jae-hui is taken aback by Su-cheol’s introduction of Han-jun as a shaman. In response, Su-cheol tries to hype Han-jun up, claiming that he is a legendary figure. ..
The missing person case seems to be just that. Jae-hui’s team is hesitant to consider Gyeong-ho’s case to be anything but a hit-and-run. Detective Jang reminds her of her precarious situation and advises her to lay low for the sake of her team.
Na-dan notices that a trash bag is missing from Café Minamdang. He alerts the others to the presence of someone called ‘Looney’. The real culprit is Jae-hui, who squats in a nearby alley, digging through their trash to figure out Han-jun’s identity. ..
Na-dan makes her way up to the rooftops, almost superhumanly. The Minamdang crew backs away in a stampede, leaving Han-jun on the floor.
Not one to back down, he calls up to Jae-hui and demands that she come down.
In the epilogue, we see Han-jun crying near a pile of charred items, his hand bloody. Somewhere else, Jae-hui rushes onto a crime scene, blood dripping down her face, and lifts the sheet covering a dead body.
The Episode Review
KBS2’s new drama, Minamdang Sagun Soochub, based on Jung Jae-han’s novel, is set in the small town of Minamdang in South Korea. The story follows the lives of a group of people who live in the small town and their interactions with each other.
This first episode of the Minamdang series has a lot going on. On both sides of the law, characters and cases are on display, but the comedic tone makes it all quite easy to digest. The Minamdang crew has great chemistry, making their unconventional antics even better. The Nam siblings are particularly good together, and their comfortable squabble-filled relationship is completely believable.
Seo In-guk has a great comedic timing, bringing charm to Nam Han-jun’s many peculiarities. I did find Kwak Si-yang’s portrayal of Gong Su-cheol a little excessive and cartoonish, so I’m hoping that he gets more comfortable in the role as we go along. ..
The action is a little over the top and the movements are exaggerated. This makes it easier to overlook than it would be elsewhere since Café Minamdang obviously isn’t aiming to get anywhere close to gritty realism.
The epilogue hints at a dark and mysterious backstory that will play out as the episodes progress. It will be interesting to see if the smaller cases mentioned here and there tie into it.
