Queen Mantis Episode 1 recap: Jung-ho turns to a questionable ally to catch a serial killer

SBS’s Queen Mantis starts with a horrifying crime scene, giving the viewers a glimpse of the storyline that will unfold in the crime thriller. Episode 1 begins with Chief Jung-ho investigating a crime scene.

The similarity of the MO of the murder takes him back to 2001 when he had arrested the mantis, a female serial killer. With another serial killer on his hands, he takes the risky decision to seek help from Yi-shin, the imprisoned serial killer, also known as mantis.

However, her condition to help becomes another hurdle for Jung-ho in solving the case of the serial killer who has been imitating her.

Here’s what happened in Queen Mantis Episode 1.

Disclaimer: The article contains spoilers. Reader discretion is advised.

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Queen Mantis Episode 1 recap: A copycat killer on the rise

Episode 1 of Queen Mantis sees Jung-ho and Na-hee inspecting a crime scene. They find a s*x offender killed near a stream with his tongue cut. Just like Jung-ho had thought, the tongue is found stuck in the backside of the victim, reminding Jung-ho of the Mantis, a female serial killer that he had arrested long ago.

Flashback takes us back to October 2001, when Yi-shin, the serial killer, was arrested. While the country thinks Yi-shin is dead, she has been living a quiet life in prison for 23 years.

With this new case where someone is imitating her killing methods, Jung-ho has no other choice but to meet her to seek help from her. However, she puts a difficult condition before helping him out with the killer.

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Queen Mantis Episode 1 recap: Soo-yeol meets Yi-shin

In Episode 1 of Queen Mantis, we are introduced to detective Cha Soo-yeol. After shooting at a mother who was trying to kill her child, Soo-yeol finds himself being scolded by his superior. He appears to have no guilt toward his actions.

In the premiere episode, Soo-yeol is revealed to be Yi-shin's estranged son. Yi-shin made a deal with Jung-ho that she would only talk to Soo-yeol about the case. Therefore, Jung-ho had to convince the detective to help him out and meet his mother so that they could catch the copycat killer.

Meanwhile, another murder takes place, which also follows teh method used by Yi-shin. In the first murder, the method was mutilation, the second, beheading, and the third, they knew would be drowning.

Soo-yeol initially refuses to meet his mother but then agrees. However, the meeting does not end well as Soo-yeol is frustrated seeing her carefree attitude toward murder. He is enraged seeing her enjoy talking about murders, and demands to be taken to the murder site to inspect it.

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Queen Mantis Episode 1 recap: Soo-yeol joins the homicide team

In the premiere episode of Queen Mantis, Soo-yeol finally joins the homicide team, but as a team leader, which makes the team unhappy, as they wanted Na-hee to lead the team. However, during the team briefing, Soo-yeol’s comprehensive questions about the crime scene slightly impressed the team.

Later, Yi-shin is taken to the second crime scene, where the victim was beheaded. Watching her enjoy the horrifying surroundings disgusts Soo-yeol, and he resorts to asking her about what she discovered. She remembers the process of beheading the victim and tells Soo-yeol and Jung-ho that only one newspaper published the crime scene photos.

She tells Soo-yeol to figure out the rest with the clue that she gave. He calls the team and asks them to find out about the paper that published the photos of the crime scene. Soo-yeol and Na-hee together figure out that the picture in the newspaper was flipped, but the killer copied Yi-shin’s method precisely.

This gives the team a much-needed clue that their perpetrator might have obtained Yi-shin’s file from the detectives, the court, or the doctors, narrowing their search.

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Also Read: Queen Mantis Episode 3: Release date news, time, streaming details, cast, and more