Mary Kills People – K-drama Episode 1 Recap & Review

The Review Geek

a day ago

Who is Mary?
Episode 1 of Mary Kills People begins with a man named Choi Kang-yoon speaking to a camera, saying he is going to end his life and he is content with this decision.
A doctor named Woo So-jeong gives him a glass of champagne mixed with a chemical. His eyes soon close and So-jeong's colleague, Choi Dae-hyun, confirms that he's passed.
At that moment, Kang-yoon's wife returns. So-jeong and Dae-hyun prepare for a hasty exit when Kang-yoon suddenly starts choking — he's still alive! So-jeong has to finish the job and approaches him with a pillow. He tells her to finish it and she suffocates him.
On the way back, Dae-hyun insists that the man didn't have a pulse. They wonder if there could be something wrong with the drug they used — benponarbital sodium, which the characters refer to as Bavron.
So-jeong goes to work at the hospital while Dae-hyun cooks dinner for So-jeong's niece and nephew, Jae-yeong and Jae-yoon, at home.
Later, Dae-hyun goes to a club and meets his supplier, Kim Si-hyun. He accuses Si-hyun of watering down the chemical and the latter agrees he did it. It was a test to make sure Dae-hyun wasn't selling the drug to someone else. However, he now agrees to give him a clean version of the drug.
At the hospital, So-jeong meets with Ye-na, a junior doctor who is also involved in her side business. Ye-na tells her about Jo Hyun-woo, a man who has a brain tumour and is a potential new client.
The team's next patient is Lee Eun-young, an old woman who lost her husband and then was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Dae-hyun meets her and realises her family had all their happy memories at the beach. He suggests she take her final breaths over there.
So-jeong is sceptical since the beach would have people. But Dae-hyun manages to find a blind spot. Eun-young says she's eager to meet all her loved ones and drinks the champagne. After Eun-young silently passes away, So-jeong rushes them away from the site.
We shift to a new location where a detective named An Tae-sung is investigating the death of a young boy named Baek Hyun-seung. The boy's father, a legislator named Baek, demands that Tae-sung conclude the investigation within a month's time. They all seem to know about the euthanasia practice and the news of footballer Choi Kang-yoon's death soon reaches Detective An Tae-sung.
So-jeong and Dae-hyun set up a meeting with their next client, a man named Jo Hyun-woo who works as a deliveryman. They discuss So-jeong's services and So-jeong says she will review his medical records before she makes a decision. Meanwhile, Kang-yoon's wife finds documents from a Swiss company that carries out euthanasia in his belongings.
Elsewhere, Jae-yeon gets a visit from a classmate named Woo-mi at her house. Romantic feelings seem to be stirring up between them and Jae-yeon gets a sleepover invite. Jae-yeon is searching for her brother's swimming flippers and Woo-mi helps her. In the process, she finds the Bavron and keeps one of the bottles with herself.
So-jeong attends a school event for parents. Also present in the auditorium is An Tae-sung! Apparently his daughter is Jae-yeon's competitor. Afterwards, a teacher tells her that Jae-yeon was found in possession of condoms. That night, So-jeong tries telling Jae-yeon that it's okay to have feelings for someone but Jae-yeong insists the condoms are not hers.
At Choi Kang-yoon's funeral, a detective approaches his wife and asks her to let them do an autopsy. She's not keen but agrees after he shows her Baek's involvement.
Sometime later, So-jeong goes home to find the kids at the neighbour's house. The neighbour's daughter is none other than Woo-mi! Woo-mi and Jae-yeon ask So-jeong to let Jae-yeon sleep over. So-jeong agrees. That night, Woo-mi laughs about her mother's innocence and makes a move on Jae-yeon.
The next day, Hyun-woo gets blinding pain while driving his motorcycle and ends up in an accident. So-jeong is assigned to be his doctor in the ER. He is still in pain but claims that all painkillers are useless. He even walks out of the hospital and into the traffic outside. So-jeong saves him and brings him back to the hospital, finally agreeing to perform euthanasia for him.
At school, during a ballet performance, Woo-mi suddenly passes out on stage. Elsewhere, Detective An and his team go over their list of suspects which includes So-jeong, Dae-hyun and Ye-na.
An epilogue takes us to a flashback from two years ago. In a church, So-jeong confesses how she made one of her patients go through treatment for two years, only for them to die. She laments how much more pain the person was in because of her. She then tells the priest she is leaving this religion and won't be calling herself Mary anymore.
The Episode Review
Mary Kills People kick off with a strong start! Episode 1 takes its time but in introducing all the different players, it ends up being quite gripping. From the get go, this drama serves up moral dilemmas on a platter for us.
The very first scene offers a harrowing choice for So-jeong, should she let Choi Kang-yoon suffer from the drug's inefficiency or do the deed herself? That she chooses the latter makes her position on the issue quite clear, although Lee Bo-young's portrayal shows that it's anything but easy for So-jeong.
The rest of the episode highlights the benefits of her practice. It's heartwarming to see that she and Dae-hyun let people choose where and how they want to go. What's also interesting is the focus on So-jeong's personal life.
Her family dynamic is a unique one and Jae-yeon's storyline is intriguing in its own way. I don't quite trust Woo-mi yet.
With a determined detective and a rich politician gunning for So-jeong, the drama adds a hefty splash of thrill here as well. I'm eager to see how it all plays out.
Next Episode
Expect A Full Season Write-Up When This Season Concludes!