Episode Summary

The episode opens violently with Li Guokun attempting to dismember a woman's body before being interrupted by a masked attacker. Police arrive, the attacker escapes, and Li Guokun attacks the responding officer, Lu Zheng. Flashing back 14 hours, Lu Zheng investigates the murder of Ning Defu, suspecting his abused wife Li Fengzhen but doubting she acted alone. We see Li Guokun's unstable home life culminating in him grabbing a knife after his wife disrespects his mother's memory. Ning Defu's son spots the masked figure, leading Lu Zheng to the apartment from the opening scene just as the figure tries to kill Li Guokun. Lu Zheng is injured by Li Guokun during the confrontation, witnessed by his daughter Lu Fan and Ning Defu's son, Ning Zhen. Years later, in 2024, Lu Fan is a police officer, and her father's former apprentice Cao Jin is Captain. They witness Li Guokun's release from a psychiatric hospital, where he's met by a mysterious man despite having had no visitors inside. A week later, a suitcase containing another woman's body is found in a river.

Spoiler Alert

Mie Zui Episode 1: Things Get Messy, Fast

Alright, buckle up because Episode 1 throws us right into the deep end. We open with a seriously disturbing scene: a woman's dead body chilling in a bathtub. If that wasn't enough, some guy who seems completely unhinged pops up, muttering crazy stuff and grabbing tools like he's about to, well, dismember the body. Yikes.

Before he can get started, BAM! A masked figure dressed all in black bursts in, and it's fight night. Our unhinged guy is clearly outmatched but goes down swinging (verbally, at least), accusing the masked intruder of trying to silence him by murder. He gets stabbed for his trouble and slumps against the wall, still spitting threats that he'll kill the masked person if he survives. The masked figure isn't impressed and moves in for the kill.

BUT WAIT! Sirens wail, the cops arrive! The masked figure uses the injured (and unhinged) guy as a human shield/distraction and makes a clean getaway. The arriving officer initially thinks the stabbed guy is just another victim (big mistake!) and even helps him over to a sofa. Mr. Unhinged waits until the cop heads to the bathroom... where the officer finally spots the body in the tub. Just as the shock registers, Mr. Unhinged attacks the cop from behind. What an opening!

Rewind: 14 Hours Earlier

The show then jumps back 14 hours to set the stage. We meet Detective Lu Zheng, who's investigating the murder of a man named Ning Defu. Neighbors are quick to point fingers, saying Ning Defu was a nasty piece of work who constantly abused his wife, Li Fengzhen, suggesting she might have finally snapped.

The investigation confirms Ning Defu was unemployed, lived off his wife, and was indeed abusive. All the initial evidence seems to point straight at Li Fengzhen. However, Detective Lu Zheng isn't buying it entirely. Ning Defu was strangled with a wire, and Lu Zheng finds it hard to believe Li Fengzhen, a woman, could overpower and kill a man this way. He suspects a third person might have been involved.

Meanwhile, Meet Li Guokun...

We cut to another character, Li Guokun (remember the unhinged guy from the opening? Ding ding ding!). He comes home to an earful from his wife, who constantly belittles him for not earning enough money. The constant pressure seems to have taken a toll on his mental state. He pulls out a handkerchief his mother left him, seeking some comfort, but this just enrages his wife more. She snatches it, throws it on the ground, and stomps on it. That's the last straw for Li Guokun. He snaps and grabs a knife. Uh oh.

Back at the Ning Defu investigation, the police uncover a new lead: a mysterious figure in black was spotted at the crime scene.

Worlds Collide

Things start connecting when Ning Defu's son, Ning Zhen, spots someone suspicious lurking around – likely the figure in black. He quickly calls Detective Lu Zheng. Lu Zheng tells his team and rushes over.

Plot twist: It's also Lu Zheng's daughter Fanfan's birthday. Duty calls, so Lu Zheng has to bail on birthday plans, asking his apprentice, Cao Jin, to pick Fanfan up and grab the cake.

Lu Zheng arrives at the location Ning Zhen reported (which, surprise, is the apartment from the opening scene!). Worried about the kid's safety, he tells Ning Zhen to stay put and call for backup if he's not back out in 10 minutes. Lu Zheng walks in right at the moment the masked figure is about to finish off Li Guokun (our unhinged guy). In the ensuing chaos, Lu Zheng gets seriously injured when Li Guokun attacks him (confirming Li Guokun was the attacker from the opening scene). Just then, Fanfan arrives (presumably brought by Cao Jin or finding her own way?) and sees her father hurt. This intense moment is also the first time Ning Zhen and Fanfan meet.

Flash Forward: 2024

The episode then jumps years ahead to 2024. Time has passed: Cao Jin, the former apprentice, is now Captain. And Lu Fan (Lu Zheng's daughter, Fanfan, all grown up) has followed in her father's footsteps and become a police officer – a brave one who despises injustice.

Captain Cao Jin and Officer Lu Fan are waiting outside a psychiatric hospital. Why? Because today's the day Li Guokun is being released. As they watch, another man walks up directly to Li Guokun. Lu Fan finds this odd, mentioning that apparently, Li Guokun never had a single visitor during his entire stay in the hospital. Who is this guy?

One Week Later...

Just when you think things might settle down, we get our closing scene. A week after Li Guokun's release, two guys fishing by the river hook something heavy. They drag a suitcase ashore, pry it open, and... yep, it's another woman's body. They freak out and run.

And that's where Episode 1 leaves us! We've got multiple murders, a released potential killer with a mysterious connection, a cold case possibly heating up, and our new generation of cops stepping into a very tangled web. Who was the masked figure? Who is Li Guokun's mysterious visitor? And who's the poor woman in the suitcase? Looks like "Mie Zui" has plenty of dark secrets to unravel. Can't wait to see what happens next!