Evilive (2023) Episode 1

Evilive Episode 1 opens up in an agitated situation. We realize the two people are running around in a house, trying to hide from a guy in black, but we are given no context about the situation. Thus, we are left hapless. They hide under a bed just as a woman gets caught by the man in black. She tries to run away but is shot.

As the woman is shot dead, she falls on the ground facing Dong-Soo, who is hiding under the bed. As he meets the woman’s dead eyes, he quite ominously informs the viewers that he knew it was wrong to go there.
The audience is left grappling for context as we are instantly pushed back. We see Dong Soo regularly visits the jail to meet a particular inmate.

On listening to his case, he informs the inmate that he could reduce the inmate’s sentence in return for some money. The inmate gets disappointed because he had thought the ma was a public defendant.
He complains about the guy to his other cellmate, who then informs him about the true identity of Dong Soo or as they call him “Sinnamsi”.

He was given that nickname because he would pick up any case except for cases involving children. The scene ends with the introduction of a certain someone who plays with a baseball in the corner of the room.
We get to know more about the background of Dong Soo.

He comes across his former colleagues on his way out of jail. They were a part of the renowned Moon Law Firm. One of the lawyers mocks him for his condition, calling him “Manager Ma”. He was the manager of the Moon Law firm but was suspended for 3 years. While the reason for the suspension is not revealed how it was treated, there was more than what was apparent.

We are then introduced to another main character, Han Beom-Jae. he is the younger brother of Dong Soo and works at an electronics shop. We are shown that compared to his brother, he is pretty thrifty, selling a computer at a higher price to pocket some.

As the episode unfolds, we are introduced to more of Dong Soo’s family. His younger brother has a daughter who is seemingly more attached to Dong Soo than his father. We also come across his mother, who has dementia and thus doesn’t remember her son but remembers Beom-Jae due to an illicit affair that Dong-Soo’s father had.

It also becomes apparent that Beon-jae works as an agent for Dong-Soo, getting him case information; the latest case was another of his finds.

After dropping his daughter off at the night classes, Beom-Jae talks to his brother regarding a new case he has found. He says that this would be an excellent catch. As it turns out, the catch was one of the students from their high school, Seo Do-young. He was a great baseball player but beat the referee to a pulp over a miss-called ball during a match.

The fight consequently led to the end of his career as an athlete. He has since then become a gang member and a member of one of the most significant gangs at that. As the second in line in the hierarchy, he was pretty powerful and had requested his help. Dong-Soo, aware of his reputation, is sceptical about why he would be called.

To further underline the power of Do-Young, Beom Jae takes his brother to a place with nightclubs. Several gangs initially owned the site jointly, all of which Do-young cleaned up in six months.
He also shows Dong-Soo the underground gambling house that he was running. It was an extremely covert operation that made them vast amounts of money.

Dong Soo returns home, still quite apprehensive about what he has just seen. But his worries get replaced when he sees his wife, who is nursing a sprained wrist. Dong Soo tries to help out his wife but gets shooed away.

On TV, his former college Lawyer, Moon, is standing for elections this year. With everything in his life happening together, it feels like he is going further into depression.
The next day, he shows up to meet Do-young. While he has the mindset to intimidate Do Young, his fantasies quickly crash on his first meeting as Do-young kills a fly with a perfect throw without acknowledging Dong Soo.

Do-Young quickly gets under the skin of Dong Soo. Do-Young wanted Dong Soo to follow his wife, who might be cheating. Dong Soo rejects the offer even though he would be paid 50 million won because it goes against his beliefs. Do Young instigates him by talking about his suspension, but Dong Soo remains unmoved.

He leaves Do Young but receives an open offer whenever he wants to pick it up.
On the other hand, we see how the state of Hye-young’s wrist, Dong Soo’s wife, gets worse. She can go home early, but her conversation with her manager indicates there was something more to it.

On his way home, Dong Soo is given a packet by the security guard of his apartment building. He visits his brother in his shop with the package, demanding that the friend who had set them up does something to reestablish their connection so that he can give something back to Do-Young.

In a scuffle between the two brothers over the packet, it is revealed that it was filled with money. Despite Beom Jae’s request, Dong Soo refuses to take up the job, saying it might lead to the woman getting hurt. He goes to the familiar friend but sees Lawyer Moon’s election poster at a traffic signal and decides to check out the woman.

He goes back home after visiting his future target. On seeing his wife with a cast, he inquires about it, but his wife brushes it off. The state of his wife makes him rethink his decision to be a lawyer, but his wife dissuades him from quitting.

Later, he finds a sexual harassment settlement case message on his wife’s phone. His wife finally admits that she was sexually harassed while she had gone to her manager’s house to work, but because Hye-young owed him money, she decided to do away with the case.

When he pushed her further, she admitted that it was as a settlement money because his mother had set fire to the retirement home again and because he was in such a pathetic state she didn’t want to bother him.
Angry at his incompetency, Dong Soo decides to visit the manager himself. The manager also taunts him for his incompetency in supporting his wife.

When Dong Soo says he will push forward with the audit team, the manager says he can do nothing. He goes as far as to call him a fake lawyer. He says that if Dong Soo wants to prove he is a lawyer, he better repay the money his wife borrowed.

Evilive Episode 1 Ending Explained: Will Dong Soo Join Do Young?

Dong Soo breaks the glass table at the super mark manager’s office

Back in the car, a still-smarting Dong Soo transforms akin to a mental breakdown. He kills a fly that he would typically just let go. He reacts extremely erratically; he returns to the manager and throws Do-young’s money at him.
Dong Soo finally cracks when he continues to taunt him, taking up one of the golf clubs and chasing the manager.

He doesn’t hit the manager; instead, he breaks the glass table, but the symbolic transformation of Dong Soo is complete. Dong Soo has already crossed “the line”. He later goes back and agrees to work with Do-Young.

While the episode was taunted with the building tension, there wasn’t any overt violence. The transformation of Dong Soo is very artfully represented through a fly.

The way the scenes are shot feels akin to a psychological drama than a thriller, but if the preview of episode 2 is anything to go by, then the series would soon take a much more severe turn.
In any case, transforming a sweet and often suppressed Dong Soo into a villain has us hooked already.