After a short and precise run of eight episodes, the Shadow Detective Ending (형사록) has unfolded new mysteries while endangering the life of one of the major characters in the list. If you’ve already watched the show and are in search of some answers for the same due to overlapping events during the finale leaving you puzzled, then this is the right place for you.
However, if you’re yet to watch the series or the final episode, I suggest that you leave this page without ado. Here’s all that happened in the season 1 finale’s ending. Brace yourselves, it’s about to get emotional and heartbreaking.
-Shadow Detective Ending Explained Contains Major Spoilers-
Shadow Detective Ending Explained
The themes of regret and remorse are the primary driving forces of Shadow Detective Season 1, mostly manifested through Taek-rok’s character (Lee Sung-min). The veteran detective nearing retirement carries the burdens of some of his wrongdoings throughout his police career, and those scars traumatize him till the end. Believing that he’s unfit for the job due to the resulting inhibitions, he keeps blaming himself for almost everything bad that goes down around him.
He carries the load of his younger colleague, Hyun-seok’s death, his daughter’s early abduction, and the mental bruises that experience inflicted on her, not being able to solve a few cases in the past, thus incriminating the wrong person for the same and a lot more. On his guilt-ridden path, he barely has any comfort and support, but his team – Sung-a (Kyung Soo-jin) and Kyung-chan (Lee Hak-joo) – and the newcomer – Kook Jin-han (Jin Goo) – offer him some consoling relief, whether he accepts it or not.
His relationship with Jin-han is especially as complex as it can be. The last two episodes lend eye-opening revelations, digging deeper into the dynamics shared between them and further briefly probing their history. Hopefully, the following questions will clear most, if not all, of your doubts.
Who is the ‘Friend’?
Call it unfortunate or fortunate, but Jin-han was the ‘Friend’. However, since he was working under Chairman Jang to accomplish his motives against the corrupt ties between Geumo Police Force and the Development Committee, someone else may likely assume this identity next time around. In the first season, it was mainly Jin-han blackmailing Taek-rok, fueling the means to his ends, with his ultimate goal being to take down Chief Gwang-su.
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Who is Chairman Jang?
At his previous station, Jin-han was just as keen on exposing the corrupt ties of the higher-ups, but the subject of his investigation was Chairman Jang. He promised the public that he would bring his wrongdoings to the forefront, and to do so, he joined forces with an insider, an accountant working with Jang at the time.
However, his informer is murdered as per Chairman Jang’s orders, under the guise of it being a suicide. Jin-han then gets reeled in by the Chairman, who blames him for this loss and further lures him into his scheme, using his ill son as bait. Jang promises him resources for his son’s treatment. Threatening his family was enough for him to have a strong hold on Jin-han, who was left with no choice but to work for him.
Jang offers him a final mission to accomplish, surrounding the Geumo police squad. He even calls this case a “matter of life and death” and proposes his promotion to the post of commissioner in return. And this is how Jin-han was compelled to blackmail Taek-rok as a means to reach Chief Gwang-su.
Does Taek-rok Confront Jin-han?
Taek-rok resolves Jin-han’s case using older case files. Receiving Hyun-seok’s burner phone at the tavern further helps him piece the puzzle together. Once he unlocks it, he finds video proof of Jin-han killing Hyun-seok and uses the same to lure him out, while Jin-han arrests Sung-a for withholding information on Taek-rok’s whereabouts after a ‘witness’ comes back with her statement, claiming Taek-rok to be the murderer.
In the end, both detectives decide to meet and settle the case once and for all. Jin-han provokes Chairman Jang as well and asserts that he’ll deal with Taek-rok on his own and end the matter for good. Once they meet, Taek-rok empathizes with Jin-han’s scenario and reminds him that he can still turn things around and go back to his family.
Jin-han is overcome by strong emotions and acknowledges that being a detective was one of the “loneliest” missions of his life and that he even came to enjoy the time he spent with the older detective. While they enter the scene holding guns, Taek-rok eventually gives in and hands the burner phone to Jin-han, letting him off the hook as he discerns how torn apart Jin-han may have been while accepting this job, all to ensure his family’s safety.
Does Anyone Die At the End?
During the exchange between Jin-han and Taek-rok in the end, the former is shot from afar, but it’s too early to confirm if he’s dead. Taek-rok struggles to call the emergency contact to help Jin-han while the young detective avows that he wants to be the veteran’s friend in the next life instead.
As Taek-rok is trying to dial the number, he receives yet another call from an unknown source, which puts the mystery back into motion. We can only hope that Taek-rok gets his younger colleague to the hospital in time, but since he was shot quite brutally, his future seems dire at the moment.
Did Taek-rok and Jin-han Know Each Other Before Their Introduction Through Work?
Taek-rok had once visited Jin-han’s Police Academy as a guest lecturer to boost the aspirants’ morale. Both of them have a brief interaction with each other, during which Taek-rok encourages a younger Jin-han to push through with his hard work despite other obstacles in his path, like nepotistic connections getting his fellow mates ahead in their career even though he deserved it more than them.
Those words stuck with Jin-han till the end, but the hardships of his life twisted their meaning around, and he had no choice but to resort to ill means to get by and survive in the cut-throat environment controlled by corrupt higher-ups.
Does Chief Gwang-su Confess His Crimes?
Chief Gwang-su turned himself in after seeing Taek-rok at their old meeting point, where they and Hyun-seok and Detective Bae shared some sweet old memories in the past. The Chief realizes the impact of his actions after listening to Taek-rok’s words about how the other two members of their inner circle looked up to them, and in a way, they were responsible for both of their deaths.
At Geumo Police Station, he accepts all the charges of corruption listed against him and even releases Mr. Cheon’s ledger, exposing all big names involved in the case to the press.
Will there be a Shadow Detective Season 2?
Yes, indeed! The second season of the crime thriller Korean series was confirmed even before the first season had premiered. Moreover, a new cast addition is slotted for the next season already. Jung Jin-young is set to join Lee Sung-min’s Taek-rok as Ki Do-hyung in the next outing. An official even stated that as of October 21, the sequel series was already being filmed.
The official synopsis of Shadow Detective, directed by Han Dong-hwa, reads, ” When Taek-rok, a detective nearing retirement, gets a threatening call and is falsely charged with murder, he desperately attempts to recall the past.”
All 8 episodes of Shadow Detective Season 1 are now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.
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