A Killer Paradox episode 1 throws viewers right in the deep end, as a convenience store worker kills a man out of self-defense.
Lee Tang is just an average man. Many would consider him to be a "failure" as he has no career or life ambitions, he goes to work to pay the bills, and that's about it. He lives at home with his family, who are often critical of his behavior.
But his life changes one fateful day when he kills a man. At first, he is riddled with guilt, not knowing what to do, but he learns the dark truth about the man he just killed; he was a cold-blooded murderer.
Realizing he could rid the world of bad people, he starts hunting new victims, giving him a renewed sense of purpose as he becomes a vigilante.
But a detective named Jang soon has his watchful eye on Lee, following on his tail while he carries out murders in the name of justice.
Here's what went down in the first episode of the Netflix series...
Lee Tang vs Evil
The first episode of A Killer Paradox introduces us to Lee (Choi Woo-shik) and his family, during what seems to be a flashback sequence. He lives with his parents and sister, the latter of whom seems to be doing much better than she is. She is planning a wedding celebration, while Lee is criticized for staying up late playing video games.
Lee tells his family he wants to try out a working holiday away in Canada, where he can travel and get some experience, but they aren't too happy about the idea wishing he would just focus on life in South Korea instead.
In his college lecture, he is ridiculed by a friend who calls him a "broke ass" and Lee admits that there's "nothing spectacular" about their lives, so it's clear he's not in a great place even before the fateful attack.
In the present day, Lee lives in a rundown apartment where his neighbors are always disturbing him, and he leaves the place in a mess. He now works at a convenience store, where his colleague tells him off for being late, as she had to deal with a rude customer by herself.
He wastes time on his shift watching videos on his phone. A customer comes in wanting cigarettes and is rude, demanding he get him a box with a "different picture" on it. The man is clearly drunk and doesn't have enough money to pay.
The customer goes outside with the cigarettes and Lee follows him, saying he needs to stop messing around and pay him. The man's friend apologizes and goes into the store with Lee, saying he's not normally like this and he's acting stupid because he's been drinking. He pays for the cigarettes and some additional products before leaving.
Lee's boss arrives and tells him he can go home, and he asks if he can borrow the hammer. His boss is busy on his phone and ignores him, so he takes it anyway. On the way home, he runs into the same customer from the convenience store, who ambushes him.
He gets flashbacks to being beaten up at school, before we return to the present day and we see that Lee has hit the aggressive customer with the hammer he borrowed.
We realize Lee killed the man, and he watches in horror as his body falls to the ground. He freezes as a woman walks by with a dog, but as he spots a high-viz vest on the animal, he realizes she is blind and does not see the body next to him. Panicked, he runs home and washes the blood off himself.
He sees visions of the man he just killed telling him he has a family, and he sobs in the shower, wracked with guilt. He becomes obsessed with what just happened; having further visions of him being taken away in handcuffs in front of the press and flashing cameras, and Googles questions such as "Does your sentence get reduced if you killed someone by accident?"
Lee reflects on past misdemeanors such as cheating on his then-girlfriend and not being found out, and getting away with stealing a tablet from a classmate, wondering if his luck has finally run out and this is the world's way of punishing him.
The alleyway has now become a crime scene, with Detective Jang (Son Suk-ku) in charge of the investigation. He goes to the convenience store and asks the boss about security cameras, and after reviewing the footage, asks about Lee.
The boss confirms Lee works the 4 pm - 10 pm shift, and goes to fetch Lee's contact details, but the man himself shows up for work and Jang leads him outside for a conversation.
After some small talk, Jang gets to the point and asks if Lee remembers the men from the previous night, as he spotted them both on the security camera footage. He notes they treated Lee poorly, having witnessed the situation with the money, and Lee admits he did see them and that they were "pretty drunk".
Jang asks if Lee killed them, and then laughs, saying he's "screwing around" because he seems nervous. He asks him if he can recall any of their conversation, as they sat outside the convenience store drinking for "at least two hours".
Lee says it was mostly about family, they discussed that things had been hard and that one of them made reference to their mother having dementia. Another officer interrupts the conversation and claims that the two men murdered each other, with Lee now learning the other man had died too, although not as a direct result of his actions.
At the station, they question a witness and we learn the deceased's name is Kim Myeong-jin. The witness explains she'd known him for a few years, he was a "kind man" and remembered her birthday "even when her husband forgot".
She was planning on divorcing her husband, having quickly begun an affair with Kim due to how well he treated her. The husband becomes a suspect, though his record is clean.
Jang visits the convenience store again, attempting to connect with Lee. He apologizes for being too hard on him earlier, admitting that people who have witnessed things can often suffer trauma. He notes that he looks like he's "had it rough", and claims he can sympathize. As he leaves, he tells Lee that he won't be seeing him again, and he breathes a sigh of relief.
His classmate visits the store and admits a detective spoke to him and some other students, asking about Lee, which worries him. Meanwhile, the detectives learn a shocking truth about Kim Myeong-jin.
Another detective tells Jang that Kim lied about his age, history and name, having ran a background check which revealed him to be Yeo Bu-il, who was the suspect in a serial murder case that took place years ago. They conducted a further DNA test having grown suspicious, and their fears were confirmed.
Lee simultaneously learns this news while watching a news report, and he realizes not only is he a free man, but he killed someone responsible for doing bad things. As he walks among a crowd of people, he seems to look at them, as if he's wondering who he can pick off next.
All episodes of A Killer Paradox are available to stream on Netflix (check out our best shows on Netflix article for more shows to enjoy).
