Crash revolves around the members of the TCI and the team’s investigations into crimes occurring on the road. All episodes are now streaming on Disney+.
Plot summary
The Traffic Crime Investigation (TCI) is a team comprising four police officers who investigate vehicular crimes. Jung Chae-man, the captain of the team, formed it.
The Criminal Division looks down on the TCI for being the traffic police, while the Traffic Division dislikes them for stealing manpower. The TCI does not fit in with either of the two divisions.
Despite being looked down upon by the other divisions, Chae-man works diligently with his subordinates, Min So-hee, Eo Hyun-kyung, and Woo Dong-ki, to investigate crimes.
One day, the TCI accidentally arrests an insurance investigator named Cha Yeon-ho, who tells So-hee about a serial murder case linked to an insurance fraud.
Initially, So-hee does not take him seriously, but when an acquaintance is killed by the same perpetrator in what seems to be a car accident, she starts investigating.
Yeon-ho also continues his investigation and manages to get incriminating evidence against the perpetrator, allowing the TCI to make arrests.
Following the resolution of the case, Yeon-ho quits his job and becomes a police officer. A year later, he joins the TCI and proves to be a valuable addition to the team.
Yeon-ho is intelligent and capable. He cannot fight, but with So-hee’s help, he learns that as well. The only thing he still cannot do is drive a car due to a past accident.
When Yeon-ho was a college student, he took his eyes off the road for a second while driving and ended up hitting a couple.
While the husband survived, the wife, Lee Hyun-soo, did not. The case was investigated by Chae-man, who is close friends with Hyun-soo’s father, Jung-sub.
Jung-sub has forgiven Yeon-ho, but Yeon-ho still carries the burden of guilt. There is one more person who has not moved on from the past.
This person sends Yeon-ho and all those involved in the accident, including the three high school students who witnessed it, a copy of a news article about the accident.
Soon after, one of the three witnesses, Jae-young, is killed. Jae-young’s father is a wealthy and powerful man, Chairman Yang, who is a friend of Pyo Myung-hak, the Deputy Commissioner General.
Myung-hak’s son, Jung-wook, is one of the three witnesses. It is revealed that on the night of the accident, Jung-wook was driving his father’s car without a license.
It was because of his reckless driving that Yeon-ho hit the couple. The accident left Yeon-ho and Hyun-soo’s husband unconscious, but Hyun-soo was conscious.
She had seen Jung-wook and his friends, so Jung-wook brutally ran Hyun-soo over, who was pregnant at the time. His father then used his influence to put the entire blame on Yeon-ho.
He turned Jung-wook and his friends into witnesses and took disciplinary action against Chae-man to prevent him from investigating the case further.
He also made Jung-wook’s friend, Kyung-soo, take the blame for driving the car without a license. Kyung-soo, now a truck driver, regrets concealing the truth.
When Yeon-ho meets Kyung-soo while investigating a case with the TCI, he suspects that Kyung-soo is hiding something about Hyun-soo’s accident.
Myung-hak is then promoted to the position of Commissioner General and assigns Jae-young’s murder case to the TCI.
His son, Jung-wook, continues breaking the law and deliberately hurting people on the road. This time, his victim is So-hee’s father, who is a taxi driver.
Meanwhile, Kyung-soo, in desperate need of money, starts blackmailing Jung-wook for money. Kyung-soo is then kidnapped by the person who killed Jae-young.
As the TCI tries to find the person responsible for So-hee’s father’s accident, they discover that the perpetrator was driving an unlicensed taxi.
In the past, So-hee’s ex-boyfriend, Director General Lee Tae-ju, took over a case that the TCI was investigating; the case was connected to unlicensed taxis.
Tae-ju covered up the involvement of the children of high-ranking officials and received a promotion in exchange, leading to So-hee breaking up with him.
Tae-ju is still a corrupt officer and works as Myung-hak’s right-hand man. Myung-hak takes disciplinary action against Chae-man to make Tae-ju the head of the TCI.
Tae-ju is asked to find Kyung-soo and ensure that his son’s crimes stay hidden, while Chae-man sends Yeon-ho and So-hee to meet a journalist to get to the bottom of Hyun-soo’s case.
After meeting the journalist, Yeon-ho and So-hee learn that Yeon-ho did not kill Hyun-soo; it was Jung-wook who did it, and his father helped him get away with it.
They also figure out that the person seeking revenge for Hyun-soo’s death is her husband, Kim Hyun-min, who has now discovered the truth about the accident.
Hyun-min tortured Kyung-soo and got him to confess the truth. He sent the confession to Jung-wook, leading Chairman Yang to send his goons to kill him.
The TCI takes Hyun-min into custody before Chairman Yang’s goons can harm him or Tae-ju can arrest him. They also rescue Kyung-soo and convince him to testify against Jung-wook.
Jung-wook is arrested because of Kyung-soo’s testimony. Myung-hak publicly condemns him but still intends to prove him innocent.
Ending explained:
Justice is served
Jung-sub knows that as long as Myung-hak is in power, Jung-wook will not receive the punishment he deserves, so he kidnaps Myung-hak.
Chae-man prevents Jung-sub from harming Myung-hak, but he and the TCI are determined to find evidence against Jung-wook and Myung-hak.
When Myung-hak finds out that the TCI is flying to Korea the forensic expert whose report proved that Jung-wook’s car killed Hyun-soo, he himself presents the report in court.
On Tae-ju’s advice, he testifies against Jung-wook to save his own skin. Enraged, Jung-wook testifies that it was Myung-hak who covered up his crimes.
The forensic expert’s testimony further proves Myung-hak’s involvement, leading to the process of Myung-hak’s indictment.
Additionally, Tae-ju takes advantage of the situation. He sends proof of Myung-hak’s corruption to the Senior Superintendent General, Shin So-jung.
While Myung-hak, along with Jung-wook and Chairman Yang, is sentenced to prison, Tae-ju is promoted to the position of Chief Superintendent.
The team reunites
So-hee receives the good news that her father has finally gained consciousness, but not everything reverts to how it used to be.
Tae-ju, fearing that So-hee and the TCI will try to expose him, dissolves the TCI. The members of the TCI are transferred to different divisions.
Yeon-ho gets the short end of the stick and is sent to work on a peaceful island called Hwapyeong Island.
A year later, Yeon-ho prepares to travel to Seoul to meet his friends, the former members of the TCI team.
However, he decides not to leave the island when Seung-a, the daughter of his landlord, goes missing. His friends then come to the island to help him investigate the case.
Their investigation leads them to suspect that Seung-a was hit by a car, but the villagers insist that Seung-a took her own life.
Suspecting that the perpetrator is someone from the village, Yeon-ho and the team plan to lure them into revealing themselves, and it works.
The perpetrators are none other than a group of locals, including the village chief and a police officer. They had killed Seung-a’s friend in an accident.
Currently, the island has the opportunity to win ten billion won for its development. To avoid jeopardizing their chances, they decided not to report the accident.
They had hidden Seung-a’s friend’s body and kidnapped Seung-a, who witnessed the accident. Seung-a is rescued by Yeon-ho and the team.
For solving this case during their vacation, Yeon-ho and the team are promoted, except Chae-man, who had already quit his job before coming to the island.
So-hee’s challenge to Tae-ju
Later, Chae-man, now working as a traffic guide, is approached by Shin So-jung, who has been promoted to Director of the National Office of Investigation.
She asks him about his reasons for forming the TCI. Realizing his sincere commitment to preventing deaths in road accidents, she decides to reinstate his team.
The TCI will now operate under the National Office of Investigation. Once again, Chae-man will serve as their captain.
When So-hee runs into Tae-ju, she warns him that as a member of the National Office of Investigation, she can reopen old cases, including the unlicensed taxi case.
Tae-ju has no intention of holding back. He will do everything in his power to prevent So-hee from exposing his corruption, but So-hee assures him that she will be prepared.
At the same time, Jung-sub meets Yeon-ho and advises him to move on from the past now that he has brought Hyun-soo’s murderers to justice.
Yeon-ho, who has overcome his fear of driving, buys a car and accompanies So-hee to pick up her father, who is getting discharged from the hospital.
Also Read: Lee Tae-ju: Crash (2024) character explained