Idol I Episode 1 Review: A Promising Series That Starts With A Mystery

Se-na is a talented and accomplished lawyer, but she is also a devoted fan of Ra-ik. Ra-ik, on the other hand, is an idol with many issues.

Idol I Episode 1 has a runtime of 1 hour and 2 minutes.

Idol I takes over ENA’s Monday-Tuesday 10 PM slot, previously occupied by Heroes Next Door. The series will consist of 12 episodes and air from December 22, 2025, to January 27, 2026.

Idol I Episode 1 Recap

The episode begins with Se-na waking up in her sleep and attending her duties as a lawyer. However, it becomes apparent that she’s not very well-liked because of her undefeated nature. Other attorneys hate her as well, because apart from being a very good lawyer, she became a partner at their law firm. Thus, she takes in all the heat that the world throws at her and wins every case more like a robot than a human. Se-na is famous for not having any emotions, family members, or even a lover.

Se-na is a model worker, but refuses to bond with anyone in her office and goes home right after her shift ends. However, she is not as emotionless as she shows in front of others because she’s actually a devoted fan of an idol, Ra-ik. When she’s not working, she is fangirling over him. We also see that she has an admirer, Chung-jae, who most likely likes her, but she is too dense to see that. He came to celebrate her win with her, but all she did was talk about Ra-ik.

Here, the hero, Ra-ik, is introduced, and he is an idol who is loved by everyone. However, he is not actually as sweet as he seems from the outside, as he absolutely hates his obsessive fans. There is also the fact that he does not like attending just any stage shows because he has a sense of accomplishment and an air of superiority within himself. We see him fighting with his manager and then going to the stage to perform his solo song reluctantly.

On the other hand, Se-na completes her court hearing and prepares to go to a fan sign event, where the Ra-ik will go. On his way, it becomes clear that Ra-ik suffers from some traumatic memories that involve his obsessive fans. Later, a stalker causes him to have a mental breakdown mid-autograph giving session. There is a high chance that an ex-girlfriend is also involved with Ra-ik, and maybe an experience with her caused him to have this deep fear of his stalkerish fans.

Things become especially bad for him when some of his fans actually break into his apartment. He obviously cusses them out, but they released this video online, and because of that, the rank of his new single song crashes. The idol image is crafted in such a way that it gets depicted as flawless humans who are not allowed to showcase negative emotions, and that aspect irks Ra-ik.

But a miraculous thing happens, and Se-na gets to meet Ra-ik when she goes to his concert. Not only that, but while Ra-ik is hiding from his other fans, he actually shares a light, intimate moment with Se-na. However, another bad event occurs, and Ra-ik’s image takes a massive hit. Not only that, the last twist completely shocked me to my core, and needless to say, Ra-ik gets dragged into something absolutely terrible.

Idol I Episode 1 Review

I really liked this episode because this show very truthfully depicts the massive burden that gets put on idols’ shoulders. It also honestly shows how an idol feels suffocated because they cannot live the life they want in their own way. And the last twist was something that came out of nowhere, which is why I think that this series will be a good one.

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