Episode Summary
The episode opens in 2000 with Haiming City detectives Liu Ziming and Captain Wei Jie facing a series of mishaps, from a lost shoe and a car breakdown to eventually arriving at a murder scene. The victim, Lin Chunmiao, a sex worker in her fifties, was found dead in her rented room, apparently killed by a blunt object. Initial investigations point to a migrant worker. After a false start involving Liu Ziming's ex-girlfriend, the detectives focus on construction sites. They identify a missing worker, Li Gang, and find a bloody shirt under his bed. Forensics confirm the blood matches the victim's. They track down Li Gang's friend, Zhang Hao, who, after a confrontation, reveals Li Gang's hiding place. Li Gang is arrested and confesses to killing Lin Chunmiao with a fruit knife over a dispute about an extra 5 yuan after a pre-agreed price for her services. He claims he threw the knife in a trash can. Liu Ziming prepares a case report, but Wei Jie tears it up, demanding they find the murder weapon first.
Spoiler Alert
"Into the Heat" Episode 1 Recap: A Not-So-Smooth Start and a Grim Discovery
The year is 2000, the place is Haiming City, and our story kicks off before the crack of dawn with Detective Liu Ziming. He's tasked with a simple airport—uh, train station—pickup for his boss, Captain Wei Jie. But things immediately go sideways. Liu Ziming, bless his heart, nods off in the car while waiting and gets a rude awakening from a traffic cop for parking illegally. Meanwhile, Captain Wei Jie’s arrival is no smoother; he manages to lose a shoe in the crush of passengers on the train. Picture this: he spots Liu Ziming finally driving off and has to hoof it (one shoe and all!) to catch up. Off to a stellar start, team!
As if that wasn't enough, their trusty police cruiser decides it's had enough and breaks down mid-journey. Ever resourceful, Liu Ziming whips out a spare pair of shoes for Wei Jie from the trunk (because every good detective apparently carries extra footwear). They then flag down another vehicle to get to the urgent matter at hand: a homicide in the Dongfang Xiang urban village.
When they arrive, the local precinct officers and the medical examiner are already on site. The victim is Lin Chunmiao, a woman in her fifties, found brutally murdered in her bed in a rented room. The M.E. places her time of death between 1 AM and 3 AM that same night, noting multiple injuries consistent with a blunt object. Interestingly, there are no signs of forced entry; the doors and windows were all intact.
Liu Ziming gets the rundown from the local cops. The landlord was the one who called it in. The first person to discover the body was another tenant, a guy named Xiao Sichuan. He tells the police that Lin Chunmiao was a sex worker. Apparently, she had agreed to help him skewer meat for his food stall (a common side hustle, it seems). When he went to find her that morning, he found her dead. He also mentions she was "messing around with a man" before she died.
Wei Jie and Liu Ziming then question the couple living next door. They confirm Lin Chunmiao often had men, usually looking like migrant workers, over to her place. Unfortunately, they couldn't give a clear description of any potential suspect. Wei Jie, ever the pragmatist, tells Liu Ziming to stick close to the M.E. to get the autopsy results ASAP and sends other officers to start canvassing the neighborhood.
Just to add to their woes, Wei Jie reports to their superior, Captain Huang, that their police car is still out of commission. With vehicles being tight at the precinct, Wei Jie and Liu Ziming are forced to take a bus to continue their investigation, hitting up construction sites near the urban village. They work tirelessly until nightfall but come up empty.
Back at the station, Liu Ziming gets an unwelcome surprise: his ex-girlfriend shows up. Panicked, he literally jumps out of a window to avoid her, but she still manages to corner him. She’s looking for a reconciliation, but Liu Ziming is having none of it, even claiming he’s busy with blind dates (ouch). After much back and forth, he finally manages to send her packing. A detective's life, eh?
The next morning, Wei Jie, with Liu Ziming in tow, heads to the Leihe construction site. They learn that one of the workers, Li Gang, took leave and hasn't returned. Smelling something fishy, Wei Jie cleverly dismisses the other workers from the dorm and conducts a search. Bingo. Liu Ziming uncovers a bloodstained shirt hidden under Li Gang's bed. Wei Jie immediately has Liu Ziming send it off to the forensics team.
Digging deeper, Wei Jie learns from the other workers that Li Gang is good friends with a guy named Zhang Hao, who works at a nearby building materials market – they’re from the same hometown. Wei Jie dispatches Officer Liu Yang and others to find Zhang Hao. When questioned, Zhang Hao is all denials, claiming he barely knows Li Gang and has no idea where he is. Liu Yang is instructed to keep an eye on him and tails Zhang Hao to a local pool hall.
The forensics report comes back: the blood on Li Gang's shirt is a match for the blood found at Lin Chunmiao's place. This is it. Wei Jie and Liu Ziming make a beeline for the pool hall.
They find Zhang Hao in the middle of a brawl. Liu Ziming, in a classic cop move, deliberately provokes Zhang Hao, and a fight breaks out between them. Just as Zhang Hao is about to pull a knife, Wei Jie steps in, flashes his badge, and the fight fizzles out real quick. Zhang Hao, terrified, starts begging for mercy. Under pressure, he spills the beans: he knows where Li Gang is hiding. Zhang Hao admits he knew Li Gang had been in a fight but swears he had no idea it was murder. Zhang Hao is promptly arrested and taken back to the station.
Wei Jie and Liu Ziming immediately proceed to Li Gang's hideout. Li Gang attempts to resist, but Liu Ziming, not missing a beat, takes him down.
Under interrogation, Li Gang cracks and confesses. He says he’d had a rough day at the construction site; his foreman chewed him out for spending too long in the toilet (of all things!). Feeling aggrieved, he went to see Lin Chunmiao to blow off some steam. They’d agreed on a price of 25 yuan. However, Lin Chunmiao then asked for an extra 5 yuan. In a fit of rage, Li Gang claims he grabbed a fruit knife and killed her. Afterwards, he says he tossed the murder weapon into a trash can.
Liu Ziming diligently writes up the case report, thinking it's case closed. He hands it to Wei Jie, who promptly tears it into pieces. "Find the murder weapon first," he orders.
And there you have it! A seemingly open-and-shut case, but Captain Wei Jie isn't satisfied. The hunt for the murder weapon is on, and you just know it's not going to be that simple. Episode 1 of "Into the Heat" certainly sets a fast pace and leaves us wanting more! What will they find? Is Li Gang's confession the whole truth? We'll have to tune in to find out!
