Chief Detective 1958 Episode 1 Recap and Review: Park Young-han moves from a small town to Seoul where he faces the truth of the corruption that is deeply rooted in the system. Directed by Kim Sung-hoon, the drama stars Lee Je-hoon, Lee Dong-hwi, Choi Woo-sung, Yoon Hyun-soo, Seon Eun-soo, and Choi Deok-moon, alongside other cast members.
Chief Detective 1958 (수사반장 1958) is a new Korean action thriller bringing the events in the life of detective Park Young-han, who teams up with his colleagues at a new Police Station to fight corruption. The drama is a prequel to the legendary Korean drama Chief Inspector which entertained the audience for 18 years.
-Chief Detective 1958 Episode 1 Recap Contains Spoilers-
Chief Detective 1958 Episode 1 Recap
The retired Park Young-han opens the show as he makes his way through the markets he once protected and to the police station that speaks of his legend. As he is greeted by the young cops, he makes his way to his grandson who is now following his footsteps to become a detective as legendary as his grandfather.
Young-han looks at his grandson who rushes out of the police station to get on with his next case, Young-han looks at the young blood and remembers the time when he first came to this city. Looking at the picture of the legendary detectives of 1962 that is still hung inside the police station, the scene changes and we are taken to the year 1958 when it all began.
The young Young-han is seen walking around the cattle market in Hwangchun, Gyeonggi-do province. As he walks through the market undercover, searching for yet another cattle thief, he finds his target in no time and surrounds the thieves with his team’s help. As he skillfully solves his 96th cow thief case, setting his record.
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However, it is now time for him to begin a new journey as he prepares to move to Seoul after getting an opportunity to work in the big city. Being the son of a brewery owner, his father wishes for him to clear the dirt in the world and make it as clear as fine alcohol. With this, he soon wraps up his bags and makes his way from this small town to the big city.
Young-han is in awe looking at his surroundings and the big world that he has entered. He finally makes his way inside the Jongnam police station where he is to begin a new chapter. Young-han is excited and enthusiastic to join this new team and make a name for himself once again.
He makes his way to the chief of investigation team 1 and shows his enthusiastic self once again, however, he soon understands that he was called here as this chief is not easy to deal with. He asks Chief Yoo Dae-cheon what he did to the recruits and he tells Young-han that he made them capture gangsters which resulted in them leaving.
Young-han isn’t able to understand why this would make them leave but Chief Yoo tells him that he will soon understand. The two then return to the police station and Young-han begins his work with a scuffle with another detective in the next team- Hwang Soo-man. Suddenly, a couple rushes inside and complains about a gangster who beat up the husband when they refused to pay them money.
Young-han is shocked looking at this and is ready to go catch the gangster. Looking at this, Chief Yoo sends him to find the one behind this incident and tells him to capture the gangster. Young-han makes his way to the place where the group is celebrating taking over the market, but not before picking up some snakes from a nearby snake soup restaurant.
He then barges into the group’s celebration and threatens to release the “poisonous” snakes if the one leading them refuses to go to the police station with him. The group’s leader lets Young-han handcuff him and follows behind, however, the bag holding the snakes is accidentally torn and Young-han is blamed for having released the snakes on them.
Later, Young-han starts taking a statement from the gangster on how he attacked the old man, but right then the senior superintendent arrives. He blames Young-han for releasing snakes on normal citizens and asks him to let go of the gangster. This surprises Young-han as he is frustrated by the way the investigators are working in this city.
Seeing Young-han on the verge of losing his temper, Chief Yoo takes him out helps him cool down and tells him that this is the reason why many have left after being asked to capture gangsters. However, Young-han is not convinced with this system which does not let him be a cop for good.
Chief Yoo sighs at this and takes him to a tailor to get a suit made for him. Elsewhere, in the streets of Seoul, there is another mad cop who is out looking for gangsters. This is the Jongnam Police Station’s mad dog, Kim Sang-soon who is out fighting the gangsters on the streets while defying orders from his superiors.
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Sang-soon is not ready to bow his head no matter how many times he needs to let go of these gangsters. Young-han arrives at the police station to see one such chaos Sang-soon has created and is happy to see another cop like himself. Later that night, Young-han arrives at his lodging and bonds with the landlady along with the others living there.
The day went by smoothly, however, the nightmare of his past self as a soldier keeps Young-han awake at night. The next day, Young-han finds out that his actions have led to the snake soup restaurant being vandalised, forcing the owner to move to another place in a hurry. This has caused dissatisfaction among the people who think of him as just another corrupt cop.
Young-han wonders what made the people here think so lowly of the police when he comes across a boy who invites him to his shop. There, he is given some rice cakes while the boy and his grandmother praise him for releasing those snakes on the gangsters. They show him their support and hope that he continues the good work.
On another side of the market, a young man is trying to woo a lady when gangsters make their way there to collect money. The young man silently observes them until the gangster eyes the woman he has been trying to speak to. This breaks his patience and he steps up to fight the goons.
Chief Detective 1958 Episode 1 Ending
Young-han comes across this scene and is amazed by the strength shown by this young man who is none other than Jo Kyeong-hwan. As he throws the goons left and right, Young-han sees a potential in him that he has not seen in anyone else. Later, he comes across another man who seems to be trying to touch a woman inappropriately and drags him to the police station.
However, while he is interrogating the man, the others are discussing whether to take him on their secret mission. They soon decide against it and give Young-han a random task to finish while they go along with their plans. Chief Yoo also gets a task that would keep him away from the real trouble that is soon to take place but he understands the intentions of the superintendent.
He later warns Young-han about the same and tells him to keep an eye out. Young-han contemplates his words and does as told, but goes one step ahead and gets information about the place the others are going to through an easy target. As he gets the address out of his mouth, he takes Sang-soon, who had been sleeping inside a cupboard, to the location.
The two successfully sneak inside and try to trap the people in front of them, but at the right moment, Sang-soon attacks Young-han at the back and makes him faint.
Chief Detective 1958 Episode 1 Review
Being one of South Korea’s longest-running shows in the 1970s-80s, Chief Inspector had garnered fans and support from every household back then. Now, the story of the beloved character Park Young-han is here to show us how the young man from a small town became part of the legendary detective team.
I have loved how the show begins with Choi Bool-am, who played the character Park Young-han in the original show. The opening scene itself has been powerful in its way and I’m sure that many who remember watching this show in their childhood would be able to resonate with him and the character he once played.
Coming to the new viewers of this show who have no idea about the original work this is based on, it is an interesting thriller with just the right amount of comedy. Lee Je-hoon is displaying his skills right from episode 1 and I’m looking forward to what he has in store for us in the upcoming episodes.
However, I also hope that he can bring new elements to this role so that a separation can be seen between Park Young-han of Chief Detective 1958 and Kim Do-ki of Taxi Driver. Altogether, this historical drama has caught our attention as it takes us to Seoul in the late 1950s which by itself is enough to keep us hooked.
What did you think about this episode? Let us know in the comments below!
Watch Chief Detective 1958 on Disney+.
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