‘Inspector Koo’: A Cat and Mouse Chase Between a Female Killer and an Ex-Cop
Netflix debuted its newest Korean drama full of mystery, intrigue, and laugh-out-loud comedy. Inspector Koo is a K-drama starring recognized actors Lee Young-ae and Kim Hye-jun as its main characters. The streaming platform introduced K-drama fans to a unique type of investigator on Oct. 30.
Koo Kyung-yi’s life was turned upside down after her husband’s death. The once notable police detective would rather spend her days playing computer games and drinking beer. Now working as an insurance investigator, she finds a series of bizarre cases that might lead to a rare female killer.
[Spoiler alert: This article contains mild spoilers about Inspector Koo.]
Koo Kyung-yi can smell something fishy in ‘Inspector Koo’
Inspector Koo K-drama introduces Kyung-yi as she mercilessly tries to win a computer game from her garbage-filled apartment. To make matters worse, cockroaches are roaming around everywhere. Do not let Kyung-yi’s image fool you. Despite her appalling style and hygiene, the eccentric sleuth soon becomes one of the most impressive detectives around. She works as a freelance insurance investigator and is coerced by her partner, Na Je-hee (Kwak Sun-young), to look into an insurance claim.
Episode 1 of the K-drama begins with Kyung-yi looking into the supposed death of a father and husband. What seems like a simple case shows Kyung-yi’s bizarre yet effective tactics to uncover the truth. She pretends to be a rich housewife looking to move into town and pretends her husband is having an affair to gather information from locals. As Kyung-yi is on the case, she soon realizes there is a bigger picture at play.
A young female killer has a surprising connection to Koo Kyung-yi in ‘Inspector Yoo’ K-drama
When it comes to crime K-dramas, the main antagonist or serial killers are often men. For Inspector Koo K-drama, Song Yi-kyung (Kim), also known as Kei, is a young, unassuming female with a dark secret. Kyung-yi and Yi-kyung soon begin a cat and mouse chase. The episode uses flashbacks to introduce Yi-kyung during her days in high school.
The somewhat mundane teen has a sinister side when a group of kittens goes missing. When her friend angrily exclaims the person responsible should die, it awakens something within Yi-kyung. As the first episode comes to a close, it reveals Kyung-yi interrogated Yi-kyung about the death of a faculty member when she was still a detective.
Yi-kyung’s then professor was also Kyung-yi’s husband. According to Soompi, “Having already met Koo Kyung-yi at her school in the past, it remains to be seen how their dynamic will play out as investigator and suspect in the murder case.”
Kyung-yi is hot on the trail of a possible killer who stages murders to go undetected
Inspector Koo has Yi-kyung completely aware of Kyung-yi’s existence and what she is capable of in the K-drama. Episode 2 proves that Yi-kyung has escalated to become a full-fledged killer with a twist. Kyung-yi starts to realize the initial insurance case had someone else pulling the strings. The victim’s wife revealed she was contacted by an unknown person offering to get rid of her husband. As the episode progresses, Kyung-yi also theorizes that other supposed deaths from other insurance cases lead to one person.
On the other end, Episode 2 of Inspector Koo shows its audience that Yi-kyung works with someone else to stage murders to look like accidents. The K-drama depicts two sides of a coin as one killer is well aware of who is after her, while Yi-kyung knows the person she is looking for but is yet to realize it. Inspector Koo K-drama also teases Yi-kyung and Kyung-yi are somehow connected in her husband’s death.
Inspector Koo is available to stream on Netflix.
