Vampire Detective Episode 1 First Impression

Drama: Vampire Detective (???? ??)
Network: OCN
Airs: Sundays
Episodes: 12

Episode One Overview By Ninja

A cop with a bright future ahead of him, life seems great for our hero Yoon San (played by Lee Joon) as he accepts a new undercover assignment with his girlfriend (Yoo Jin) and trusted co-worker. 
We are not shown what transpired with the undercover assignment but the next thing we know Yoon San has rescued a tied up Yoo Jin from a factory and the three undercover cops are trying to get away in a car. Concerned when a strangely stoic Yoo Jin asks the other cop to stop the car, Yoon San fusses over his girlfriend as she insists on getting off the car. Worried that Yoo Jin might catch a cold, Yoon San heads back to the car to grab a blanket but stops when Yoo Jin calls his name. Stunned when he turns around to see Yoo Jin pointing a gun at him, Yoon San looks down in disbelief as Yoo Jin fires a shot at him after murmuring "I am sorry, Yoon San." 
Leaving Yoon San laying on the ground struggling for breath, Yoo Jin calmly gets into the waiting car and drives away. Staring at the car as it drives away, Yoon San screams in pain when the car suddenly stops then explodes right in front of him. 

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Time jump! Yoon San is not a cop anymore but works as a private eye with a friend (Yong Goo Hyung) who treats him more like an older brother. Still hunted by the memories of that fateful night, Yoon San eagerly accepts a case when he sees a picture of a mysterious woman with a very familiar looking necklace. 

The client is Han Gyeo Wool, a girl that will end up joining the private eye agency. 
Going by Gyeo Wool's words, Yoon San had assumed they were just out catching a cheating boyfriend doing some nefarious deeds but quickly realize they are in for some surprises when the guy leads them straight to a bunch of thugs. 

Chasing the guy to a dark ally, both Yoon San and Goo Hyung (partner) are beat soundly when the man proves to be unusually strong. Saved at the last moment when Gyeo Wool yells out "Oppa!" and stops the man, Yoon San finds out the guy was never Gyeo Wool's boyfriend but her brother instead. 
Dang, Jae Hee (playing Gyeo Wool's brother, Gyoo Min) looks awesome here! 

Convinced that her doctor brother had gotten into some serious trouble, Gyeo Wool had hoped Yoon San and Goo Hyung could figure out a way to save him. Going back to the same club where they found Gyoo Min before, Yoon San and Goo Hyung finally get the first hint that this case might be much bigger than they thought as they stare at a giant walk-in with shelves of blood bags. 

Fortunately for us viewer, the show doesn't make us guess for long of what trouble Gyoo Min is in. In a flash back we see that Gyoo Min's girlfriend was turned into a vampire when she was bitten by a patient while working in the hospital. Taking care of his sick girlfriend, Gyoo Min is soon turned into a vampire as well. Desperate to save his girlfriend who would rather die than feed on human blood, Gyoo Min works tirelessly to come up with a cure for their condition. 
Yoon San and his partner are able to successfully find Gyoo Min's hideout but unbeknownst to them a thug from the club were following them the whole way. Working for the "mysterious woman" (the one with the necklace), the thug grabs Gyeo Wool and threatens to kill her if Gyoo Min doesn't turn over the USB with the file he stole from the club. (This was actually a misunderstanding, since Yoon San was the one the used Gyoo Min's passcard to steal the file. The thug had assumed Gyoo Min had betrayed them but in reality Gyoo Min was alarmed once he finds out what Yoon San had done and warned him that the woman is dangerous.) 

Sick of living as a monster, Gyoo Min's girlfriend charges out into the sun and successfully frees Gyeo Woo while setting the thug on fire. Rushing out in time to see his girlfriend giving him one last smile, Gyoo Min screams in agony as she turns to ashes right in front of him.  
Howling as he was burning alive, the thug frantically fires the gun in his hand. Jumping to cover an unconscious Gyeo Wool with his own body, Yoon San takes a bullet to his chest. Calm now as he walks over to the dying Yoon San, Gyoo Min resolutely injects the only serum he had developed for his girlfriend into Yoon San instead. With one last apologetic look at his little sister, Gyoo Min whispers "I am sorry, Gyeo Wool" before he exposes himself to the sun and turns into ashes as well. 

Ninja's First Impression

I like it! Once you get over the rather confusing first 10 minutes of this show then the rest of the hour was quite good. I usually have mixed feelings towards vampire shows because as much I am interested in a good'o vampire story I am often disappointed by the shows I have tired in the past. 

It looks like our hero will be using his new found vampire status to help in his detective work from this point on. While I am certainly looking forward to our hero's discovery of his new powers I am a bit worried that this show will turned into yet another criminal drama that focuses on a weekly case with a tad bit of "big conspiracy" plot thrown in now and then.  However, I am intrigued enough by Vampire Detective's quirky vibe that I will give this one at least a couple more episodes. 

ps. I was kinda disappointed with how Jae Hee looked in his last drama (Save the Family) BUT he sure looks great here so maybe he just needed a better stylist for his next project. 

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