A Shop for Killers: Episode 1 (First Impressions) (2024)

9.2/10

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A Shop for Killers

A young woman is taken in and raised by her uncle. When he passes away, she inherits the top secret (and highly suspicious) shopping mall he once ran. While she tries to figure out her strange inheritance, she finds herself in the crosshairs of several dangerous killers.

Genre: action, drama, thriller

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26

A Shop for Killers: Episode 1 (First Impressions)

by missvictrix

A Shop for Killers: Episode 1 (First Impressions) (1)

A Shop for Killers out-performed my expectations with its first episode. Instead of just being high-powered and violent, the drama is actually equal parts introspection and quiet suspense, too, making it far more interesting and thoughtful than it might have given itself credit for.

Editor’s note: This is an Episode 1 review only. For a place to chat about the entire drama, visit the Drama Hangout.


EPISODE 1

A Shop for Killers: Episode 1 (First Impressions) (2)

Our drama opens in a rural setting where a random house is under a serious siege. In addition to armed men approaching in the nearby field, there’s a scaryass sniper (Seo Hyun-woo) in a scaryass minivan that’s got his sights right on the living room. Inside said living room is a college-aged girl in a tracksuit. We come to learn later that she’s JUNG JI-AHN (Kim Hye-joon). The sniper has Ji-ahn pinned so she can’t move from where she’s hiding behind the fridge.

As we get the lay of the land, we see that there are more people in the house, also bloodied and hiding, and we’ll get to know them later — and how the scene unfolded. For now, what we get is the first of many flashbacks of our heroine with a memory of her uncle, JUNG JIN-MAN (Lee Dong-wook). The two of them are sitting on the couch watching a movie with some fancy bullet-dodging and Jin-man gives her a little lesson in perception and blind spots. Back in the living room, she puts it to good use, finding a blind spot in the sniper’s view and leaping (literally) to the other side of the room. Ji-ahn flips the couch and underneath is a stealthily stored sniper rifle and fresh rounds of her own ready to go.

A Shop for Killers: Episode 1 (First Impressions) (3)

It’s quite the wild opening scene — made so much stronger with the in medias res approach — but it’s powerful because the tension is suspended so long, and the scene plays out so carefully. Indeed, this will be the drama’s entire directorial approach, it seems, and that’s what made me love it. A Shop for Killers could have gone either way, but the careful and artistic direction made the first episode a narrative treat. For all the suspenseful and thriller-y elements, it’s always about the story. And that story is rather a sad one.

After the opening scene, we jump back in time a few days and meet Ji-ahn in a police station. She’s just beat up a creepy dude after watching him follow a woman into the restroom, so we learn a few things about her from that alone. When she calls her uncle as her guardian to sign her out, another cop actually answers the phone and tells her: don’t be alarmed but your uncle is dead.

A Shop for Killers: Episode 1 (First Impressions) (4) A Shop for Killers: Episode 1 (First Impressions) (5)

The middle section of our episode follows Ji-ahn as she rides out to the rural place her uncle lived, identifies his body at the morgue, and then plans and attends the funeral. Ji-ahn does all this while totally looking dead inside, but we can’t tell at first whether she’s just in shock, or doesn’t care about his death at all. Each of these scenes is really well-crafted, giving us details we need to know (the “MURTHEHELP” tattoo on her uncle’s arm, the fact that his neck wound has been ruled a suicide), but also building tension from the little that’s said — and because of the characters she’s interacting with. Everyone around seems to be giving her a suspicious secret glance, and it’s unclear how much of a scheme Ji-ahn’s just found herself in the middle of, but boy does it make me suspicious of every character that breathes.

A few more of Ji-ahn’s flashbacks help us understand her story a bit more — one in particular that stands out is a year prior when Jin-man readied Ji-ahn’s dorm room for her, replete with a bulletproof cabinet she could hide in. You know, just in case. Among other strange things, he hammers into her head the importance of numbers, and rattles off her school ID to her (this will surely be important later, right?). We catch a glimpse of their rapport through these flashbacks, too, and it seems like there was a mostly unspoken and totally begrudging camaraderie between them. She tells him things like, “You have the face of a criminal,” but it seems like they might be two peas in a pod.

A Shop for Killers: Episode 1 (First Impressions) (6)

A few days pass with the funeral proceedings and cremation — and a host of highly suss ajusshis coming and going from both — and now Ji-ahn returns alone to her uncle’s house. Outside of a decent-seeming taxi driver/friend who’s been mourning Jin-man with her, the only person that’s been vaguely helpful is BAE JUNG-MIN (Park Ji-bin).

We see in a quick flashcut that the two were friends back in grade school when Ji-ahn moved in with her uncle, so Ji-ahn is quick to trust him. Jung-min tells her he knew Jin-man pretty well and was helping with his online shop for agricultural hoses (of all the things, this adds such a dose of dry humor!).

When Ji-ahn is alone in the house, though, her facade begins to crack. From telling Jung-min she’s disgusted with the thought that her uncle killed himself, to remembering him in another flashback moment and then bursting into tears in the living room — if we weren’t already rooting for Ji-ahn, this is the scene that puts us on her side.

A Shop for Killers: Episode 1 (First Impressions) (7)

By accident, Jung-min sees Ji-ahn crying and then sticks around to keep her company… and that’s when the craziness starts. The suspense has been building to this point, because we now recognize the house interior and Ji-ahn’s tracksuit from the drama’s opening scene. So when the plot kicks in, even though we know where we’re going, it’s more suspenseful than ever.

Jung-min found an old cell phone in the bathroom, and they joke that it was her uncle’s burner phone. But when a text comes in about the billions of won that have just been paid, the two go to investigate the “hose” website. Jung-min’s degree in computer engineering quickly pays off and he realizes the website is a front for a shop on the dark web called MURTHEHELP. It’s full of firearms and other weapons for sale.

Ji-ahn and Jung-min are still reeling from the discovery when a chat message pops up in the window, with a customer asking for their merchandise. When Ji-ahn responds that they’ll refund the money, things quickly escalate to: Jin-man is dead and you’re next. Just then the doorbell rings, and it’s a creepy lady in red lipstick that we also recognize from the opening scene, and she’s hellbent on getting inside. It’s here that we close the episode.

A Shop for Killers: Episode 1 (First Impressions) (8)

A Shop for Killers did so many things right with this premiere episode, but the adept directing is really what made it what it is. The narrative structure and careful pacing allow all the different elements to shine, and as you watch you can see how this screenplay was adapted from a novel. Happily, the script moves with the same articulation you would expect from a work that has a steady and intertwining narrative.

As for the performances so far, Kim Hye-joon always brings so much intensity to her roles, and I got what I expected from her. More of a fun surprise was a derelict, scarred, and unlikable-yet-likable Lee Dong-wook. The fact that he’s the top-billed actor and technically already dead before the drama begins makes the storytelling all the more crucial here. Ostensibly, all of his scenes will be in flashback, and if the scenes we got in Episode 1 are any indication, these flashbacks will be the lifeblood of the plot, and unlock the story as we go.

A Shop for Killers: Episode 1 (First Impressions) (9)


RELATED POSTS

  • Premiere Watch: A Shop for Killers
  • Sharpshooter Kim Hye-joon runs A Shop for Killers
  • Kim Hye-joon inherits A Shop for Killers from Lee Dong-wook
  • News bites: January 9, 2024
  • News bites: January 2, 2024
  • News bites: December 27, 2023
  • News bites: December 14, 2023

Tags: A Shop for Killers, First Impressions, Kim Hye-joon, Lee Dong-wook, Park Ji-bin, Seo Hyun-woo

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1 Kurama

January 18, 2024 at 11:56 PM

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I only watched the first episode. The chronology was kinda hard to follow. She can use a riffle but in the same time she needed so many time to unerstand what the website was for, like there are pictures of guns with a price under... So I will need the flashbacks to understand how he trained her without her knowing it? Or did she know and she's feigning? Is he really dead?

Park Ji-Bin still looks like a boy when he's 28 years old 😳

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Midnight

January 19, 2024 at 12:15 AM

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Park Ji Bin looks like a kid, and then he opens his mouth and it's like he has 20 years of acting experience. (which he does! More than 20 years)
He is truly special.

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Kurama

January 19, 2024 at 12:23 AM

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Yeah, he was a child actor too.

I miss Park Geon-Woo who was from the same era.

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💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜

January 19, 2024 at 1:25 PM

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*and nobody has earplugs... RIP* *why does nobody ever wear earplugs*

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2 cozybooks

January 19, 2024 at 12:03 AM

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What?! Wait but... noo!! Ahahaha I was poised to be uninterested I this drama since I can't watch it anyway (curse Dinsney's plan to release all dramas to Hulu instead if at all).. and now this looks so good!

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Mina00

January 19, 2024 at 12:48 AM

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I have seen it on Disney. May be different locations has a different realising schedule. I am in Europe.

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Britney

January 19, 2024 at 8:07 AM

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I'm in the U.S. and I watched it on Disney+ though it's listed as "Hulu original" and had ads like when watching it on Hulu (which irked me cause disney+ isn't even supposed to have ads!)

It's on Hulu as well

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cozybooks

January 19, 2024 at 6:37 PM

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Wait really? I have to take a look then - I legitimately have been waiting for SO LONG for Disney to expand their kdramas beyond Snowdrop. It'd be great if they've added more now.

Also I totally get you re: the ads. It really kind of bothers me that we're paying for a streaming service without ads and now it's like we've been downgraded or something without people telling us. Just make a second option for a cheaper subscription level with ads. Don't downgrade the people already on a subscription.

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Britney

January 19, 2024 at 9:46 PM

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They recently added more of the korean shows that were on Hulu on the Disney+ platform. Before I think they only had like 3 or 4 shows such Snowdrop and I think In the Soop(?)

About the ads: I know right! I was SOOO annoyed by that that I was almost tempted to not even watch it on the platform because what is the point if I STILL have to watch ads. I could just watch it somewhere else but alas I just chose convienience & watching it on tv vs my phone.

Also, I'm not 100% because I didn't finish it and I watched it somewhere else but I don't think The Worst of Evil or Moving had ads. Again, I'm not sure. If it's true, that means they're adding the ads after the fact.

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cozybooks

January 19, 2024 at 10:01 PM

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I'm still not seeing it @Britney TT TT hopefully it shows up for me sooon

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Britney

January 19, 2024 at 11:36 PM

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Did you put the show in the search? None of the korean shows showed up for until I specifically put it in the search.

But still, it's likely on Hulu and Hulu even has more episode descriptions if you're into that.

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cozybooks

January 20, 2024 at 3:37 PM

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I did, which is why I'm super confused now.. I'll try again later tonight

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Kathryn51

January 20, 2024 at 11:26 AM

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Thank you for this note. My family occasionally uses my son's Disney+ account (He uses our Netflix 😊😊) but it's been several months and I did not realize that it now includes Hulu.

I was able to locate this drama and it's now on my watchlist, but I'm more overjoyed to find that my very favorite kdrama of all - Crazy Love is now available to me on the large screen.

When it first aired, it wasn't available in the US and I had to use the Disney+ account plus VPN (Hong Kong because it was blocked in Korea while airing) to watch on my PC/laptop.

You've made my day! No - my week! 😍😍

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9TailedVixen (formerly 9TailedFox)

January 19, 2024 at 4:45 AM

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I watch it on Disney+ because in my region Disney+ comes bundled with Hulu.

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3 jillian

January 19, 2024 at 2:35 AM

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I have watched and like the first two episodes. It takes a bit of time for me to get a hang of the timelines and stitch the chronology coherently. I liked that we were dropped in the middle of the story to understand the stakes.
I like it but I feel this is much better binge watched than 2 episodes per week. So I will see if I will continue watching weekly or pick this up again once all the episodes are released.

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4 Mrs Buckwheat

January 19, 2024 at 3:03 AM

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Everything about this show is fabulous.

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5 emsel

January 19, 2024 at 4:53 AM

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@missvitrix Bummed we won't have recaps because the drama started out crazy good and is only 8 episode, but thank you for a recap that is as engaging as the story.

This is my first 2024 Kdrama and it seems to have started on a bang in literal and figurative sense. I am not a big fan of action, but I do enjoy well made action thrillers that slowly build up to the big rush and just when I thought the drama had nailed this part, Ep.2 went on to perfectly balance it off with the emotional bits. The child actor in Ep.2 knocks the socks off the viewers and so does Lee Dong Wook.

Beanies who like action should give this a try.

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6 redfox

January 19, 2024 at 9:50 AM

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should have just sold mint chocolate ice cream pints.

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🌸 Cera (@Seeker) 🌸

January 19, 2024 at 10:28 AM

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Is that what your boss was eating ... in preparation for watching a Gumiho in a suit drama?

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redfox

January 19, 2024 at 12:52 PM

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no, I think hers was regular vanilla with some chocolate glaze and almond crumbs, but no mint

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🌸 Cera (@Seeker) 🌸

January 20, 2024 at 3:40 AM

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Obviously she doesn't like toothpaste. 😜

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7 🌸 Cera (@Seeker) 🌸

January 19, 2024 at 10:33 AM

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Exceeds expectations. ✅
🤞 for next three weeks.
Would have worked perfectly as a single drop. Sigh.
Netflix this is how you do an action thriller.

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♡Peach_Mochi♡

January 19, 2024 at 12:11 PM

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💯 to everything you wrote. I’m not sure I’ll have the patience to wait and binge, though.
Would be great if Netflix realized that more gore and graphic violence does not automatically make a great thriller. Love the intentionality behind every violent scene in this show.

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8 Islander north

January 19, 2024 at 12:37 PM

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I did not expect to like this, but because it was Thursday and I needed a new drama, I tried it...totally not my genre. However, it was a smart and interesting episode and I'm invested now.

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9 💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜

January 19, 2024 at 1:23 PM

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The HYENA SLANDER 😭😭😭

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A Shop for Killers: Episode 1 (First Impressions) (35)

10 Zawmi

January 20, 2024 at 12:54 AM

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I want a watch this dram I think it’s interesting

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