Destined with You season 1 episode 1 recap & review

The first episode of Destined with You introduces Lee Hong-jo, a civil servant who meets a lawyer named Jang Sin-yu while trying to get a shrine demolished. The episode is now streaming on Netflix.

Recap

A diligent civil servant named Lee Hong-jo gets caught up in a fight between construction workers and the residents of a neighborhood, who want to get the construction stopped. The fight comes to an end when a worker falls to his death.

Six months later, Jang Sin-yu, a lawyer working at Law & High, is given the job of representing the construction company, Haum Construction, in court. Haum Construction is Law & High’s biggest client and major shareholder, but its owner often mistreats the lawyers at Law & High.

Sin-yu is not a regular man. He often feels the touch of a bloodied hand, known as the Red Hand. Sin-yu manages to win the case, against all odds. He proves that the construction worker did not fall but deliberately jumped to get settlement money for his son’s treatment.

Meanwhile, Hong-jo gets transferred to Onju City Hall. She is part of the Park Maintenance Team, and her team leader is Mr. Gong, a man who holds a grudge against her for reporting him to the Audit Team.

Mr. Gong has not been getting a promotion because of Hong-jo’s complaint, so he makes life difficult for Hong-jo by not including her in any of the team activities. Her new teammates are also not friendly.

In Onju, there is a shrine on a mountain, and it is considered to be haunted. A YouTuber goes there alone one night and ends up dying while live-streaming his adventure. The YouTuber’s parents come to the City Hall and demand that the shrine be demolished.

His parents refuse to listen to anyone and cause a commotion. It is Hong-jo who steps up and takes the responsibility to get the shrine demolished in order to get in Mr. Gong’s good books. She then goes to the shrine all by herself and hears a voice whispering to her.

Furthermore, she comes across Sin-yu, gets startled, slips, and falls. When she opens her eyes, she thinks that she has died and that Sin-yu is the Grim Reaper who has come to get her. Instead of helping her, Sin-yu just clicks a picture of her and leaves.

It turns out that Sin-yu is the oldest son of the Poongsan Jang family, which has seen many premature deaths. His family owns the Mount Onju Trail as well as the shrine that is on it. Sin-yu’s father had given him the responsibility of taking care of the shrine.

Sin-yu had entrusted the job to someone else, who scammed him and neglected the shrine. As the shrine is important to the family, Sin-yu’s father, the CEO of a construction company, reproaches him. His father and grandfather also notice Sin-yu’s hands tremble, but Sin-yu acts like it is deliberate. 

Sin-yu finds out that he is suffering from a vascular disease. Since it is a genetic disorder, it cannot be treated. The doctor asks him to reduce stress, as he has a ticking bomb in his head. He is told that his condition will only get worse with time, but he does not even tell his girlfriend about it.

On the other hand, Mr. Gong asks Hong-jo not to return to the office before finding a solution to the shrine’s problem. Hong-jo asks around and manages to get Sin-yu’s office address to get his permission for the demolition of the shrine.

When she meets Sin-yu, she realizes that he is a human being, not the Grim Reaper. Sin-yu not only refuses to let her demolish the shrine but also threatens to sue her if the City Hall demolishes it forcefully.

The same day, when a group of protestors throws water at a civil servant named Kwon Jae-gyeong, Hong-jo ends up shielding him. Jae-gyeong, also known as PV, is considered the most handsome man at the City Hall, and Hong-jo likes him.

Hong-jo needs the consent of the shrine’s shaman to get it demolished. She comes to know that the shaman is now in a nursing hospital. She then goes to ask for Sin-yu’s help once again to find out the name of the nursing hospital.

When she tells Sin-yu that she eats alone at home and now has to eat alone at work as well because her team leader dislikes her, Sin-yu decides to help her. He gives her the name of the nursing hospital as well as the number of the workplace bullying consultation center.

Hong-jo goes to meet Shaman Eun-wol and convinces her to let the City Hall demolish the shrine, much to Sin-yu’s surprise. Sin-yu also goes to meet Eun-wol to find out why she agreed to the shrine’s demolition. 

Eun-wol knows about the Red Hand and that Sin-yu killed the owner of that hand. She tells him that karma will get to him and that he will suffer. However, the pain and curses will end because the owner of some wooden box, Hong-jo, is here. 

Although Hong-jo gets the shrine demolished, her team still excludes her when they go to celebrate the success. Hong-jo cries when she sees her team having fun together. This is when Sin-yu, who has found the wooden box, comes to her and asks her to go with him.

Review

  • The plot of Destined with You seems intriguing, but the first episode fails to get the viewers invested in the story. The first meeting of the main characters is as fanciful as expected, but the episode is largely dull.
  • At the same time, the personalities of the two lead characters seem likable. The show avoids making Hong-jo a damsel in distress and Sin-yu an arrogant and successful man.
  • The introduction to the mystery of the Red Hand does not grab the audience’s attention, as it is not unsettling at all, and the bad CGI does not help either.

Also Read: Behind Your Touch season 1 episode 4 recap & review

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