Copycat Killer (2023) is a Chinese-language thriller about a serial killer in Taipei in the late 90s and how one prosecutor follows the case right to its conclusion. The series is streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
Kuo Hsiao-Chi is a criminal prosecutor who is very meticulous when working on a case which doesn’t make him very popular among the other prosecutors and police officers.
He takes on a case where a severed hand is found in the park, along with inspectors Lin Shang-Yong and Jhang Da-Chao. On the other end, a woman named Lu Yan-Jhen is researching the increasing number of missing women that have come up lately.
Yan-Jhen works at TNB news station where her boss is the primetime anchor and producer Yao Ya-Cih. Her other colleagues are the late-night anchor Chen He-Ping and his awkward cameraman, Hu Jian-ho.
More girls go missing and Hsiao-Chi concludes that this is the work of a serial killer, connecting it to a murder that happened 2 years ago where the killer confessed and was sent to prison. Hsiao-Chi questions the prisoner and is convinced that he must have had an accomplice.
Hsiao-Chi also gets help from his ex-girlfriend, Hu Yun-Huei, who is a clinical psychologist, and Jian-ho’s older sister.
As the case moves along, the killer begins calling into the media and torturing the family members of the missing girls. Yan-Jhen is determined to preserve the names of the victims but most media outlets tarnish their character for ratings.
Jian-ho appears to be somehow connected to the different victims but he strongly denies having anything to do with the murders. However, he begins to doubt his school friend, Shen Jia-Wun.
When Shang-Yong’s daughter Lin Yu-Tong is taken, he becomes even more frustrated with the pace of the investigation and is eventually suspended after being unable to hold his composure.
Hsiao-Chi continues to analyze the evidence and find some links that would help him learn who the killer is. Jian-ho was bullied in school and it was Jia-Wun who saved him from those bullies but he also had a violent streak about him.
When Hsiao-Chi finally decides to look into Jia-Wun, he finds out that Jia-Wun had a traumatic childhood and everything points to him being the killer. Shang-Yong follows Jia-Wun one day and attacks him but is injured in the scuffle and is hospitalized.
Hsiao-Chi and the police head towards Jia-Wun’s location as he’s getting ready to leave with Jian-Ho and Yu-Tong in his car. He loses his mind and drives the car off the road, leading to his and Jian-Ho’s deaths.
Yu-Tong survives and is taken to the hospital as everyone assumes the killers are dead. Hsiao-Chi doesn’t want to close the case until he clears Jian-Ho’s name.
Meanwhile, Chen He-Ping begins to push the theory that there is yet another accomplice involved in the murders. When Ya-Cih investigates an old feature that He-Ping worked on, he reveals himself as the true mastermind and kills her.
Hsiao-Chi is eventually convinced that He-Ping must be the killer and tries to find out how he met the others and orchestrated this entire thing. According to Yun-Huei’s opinion, the killer was a narcissistic person who craved attention.
He-Ping does this by releasing a book about the serial murder case and taking over as the host of Ya-Cih’s show after he kills her. He pushes his agenda that the police are incompetent and makes a big show of it on television.
At the same time, he sends video tapes to all the news stations dressed up in a suit and a mask and calling out Hsiao-Chi, christening himself as Noh.
Hsiao-Chi is pushed to the brink when Yun-Huei is killed and he goes to see He-Ping face to face. They get into a fistfight before Hsiao-Chi pulls out a gun and pulls the trigger but deliberately misses.
Copycat Killer (2023) ending explained in detail:
What happens to Hsiao-Chi and He-Ping?
Hsiao-Chi is sent to prison for possessing a gun and firing it at He-Ping. He-Ping spends some time in the hospital recovering while continuing to spread his rhetoric that the authorities are useless.
Shang-Yong wakes up and recovers with his daughter in the hospital. As soon as he’s feeling better, he goes back to the work trying to convict He-Ping.
Hsaio-Chi is visited by the father of one of the victims, who tells him that He-Ping is getting more and more reckless so he’s bound to slip at any moment.
What is Hsiao-Chi’s plan?
Hsiao-Chi wants to use He-Ping’s hubris against him and goad him into admitting everything. He is first attacked in prison and sent to the hospital.
While he’s over there, he requests to appear on He-Ping’s show so that he may clear the air. He-Ping agrees and Hsiao-Chi heads to the news station.
During the call-in section, a man calls in pretending to be the serial killer and Hsiao-Chi dismisses him and his efforts to be relevant until He-Ping finally snaps and admits to everything on live television.
He is immediately arrested as Hsiao-Chi finally gets his man.
What lies in everyone’s future?
Hsiao-Chi goes back to prison to see out his sentence. He builds a friendship with Yan-Jhen and after he is released, he becomes a public defender to ensure everyone gets suitable representation.
Yan-Jhen gets her own show on television where she tries to uphold the names of all the women that lost their lives and teach people that women deserve to be treated better and not looked down upon.
Shang-Yong’s relationship with his daughter improves as she opens up the clothing boutique that she always wanted. He spends his retirement with her.
He-Ping goes through a trial and is sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty but outside the courthouse, a masked individual walks up to him and stabs him in the gut. He bleeds out right there as he gets one final moment in the limelight.
Also Read: Kill Boksoon ending explained: Does Gil Bok-soon kill Cha Min-kyu?