If the wild thought of merging the gritty, brutal world of Se7en and the goofy set-up of Brooklyn Nine-Nine ever crossed your mind, then you need to look no further than Netflix’s recent Taiwanese crime thriller/comedy series, GG Precinct. A spin-off of the hit mystery comedy movie Marry My Dead Body, this series combines the violent, eerie elements of traditional crime dramas with an absolutely goofy, hilarious tone, which surprisingly pairs up pretty well. The series liberally draws from classic crime thriller media like Hannibal and The Silence of the Lambs, but at the same time pokes fun at the genre’s stringent conventions.Â
The fact that, despite combining two diametrically opposite tones and approaches, GG Precinct never feels too heavy or too casual for its own good is something that imparts a novel experience. Right from characterization to screenplay, visual clues, and narrative progression, the series simultaneously employs a traditional and genre-bending approach, and will hook seasoned crime media aficionados into it quite easily. The only major drawback appears to be the fumbling in the final act, but we can assure you that’s not a major deal breaker as a whole.
Spoilers Ahead
Why Did GG Precinct Seek Shui-yuan’s Help?
Set in New Taipei, GG Precinct starts off with a bloody opening, as a night watchman is brutally murdered during his shift, and his corpse gets grotesquely decorated with feathers, fish scales, and horns. The next morning, the news of the ghastly crime reaches the New Taipei Gia Gun Precinct, and viewers get introduced to the scatter-brained, eccentric crew of the department. Deciphering the intended visual message of the crime scene, Chief Chang Yung-kang is quick to establish a connection with the MO of a notorious serial killer, Shui-yuan, a Chinese language teacher who was known as the Idiom killer. Shui-yuan was known as a strict teacher who took his job a little too seriously and didn’t tolerate silly mistakes committed by his students, two of whom he had brutally murdered. Chief Chang had handled the case two decades ago, and had brought the psychopathic killer to justice, so he feels like the present case might be connected with it.Â
After another grisly murder is discovered on a school’s premises, as a PE teacher is found mutilated and tied in front of an altar of Confucius, Chief Chang’s initial assumption seems truer than ever as the GG Precinct suspects the emergence of a copycat idiom killer. Captain Lin Tzu-ching wonders about getting an insight from the original idiom killer himself, and she, along with hotheaded officer Wu Ming-han, are sent to seek suggestions from Shui-yuan. The cunning, manipulative serial killer tries to get under the skin of both officers by targeting their insecurities and explains the idioms hinted at by the murder. However, instead of providing any more clues, Shui-yuan asks them to return if more such incidents occur, and he seems to be positive that they inevitably will. Just as predicted by the original idiom killer, a Japanese underground idol, Mogi Yumi, is horrendously murdered in her own apartment, and the idiom hinted at at the crime scene has already been predicted by Shui-yuan, who writes it on the walls of his cell.
The Row of Suspects
As the GG Precinct team interrogates possible witnesses, they fail to find major leads, and the police commissioner, who had assisted Chief Chang in arresting the idiom killer years ago, decides to step in. Appreciating Tzu-ching’s decision to consult with the idiom killer, she decides to take a daring gamble by setting up the idiom killer’s cell inside the police precinct for better communication. Parallel to the main storyline, flashback sequences dive deeper into the mind of the psychopathic killer as Shui-yuan’s past is explored, detailing his idealist, morally stringent mindset, which couldn’t match up with the shallow demands of the changing times. In his mind, he was a righteous, disciplined teacher who valued basic virtues in students and soon found himself to be out of time.
The investigation suddenly picks pace when Mogi Yumi’s manager, Lin Pai-sheng, calls the precinct to inform them he belives the president of her fanclub, Hsieh Cheng-ta, to be the killer of the idol. His assumption stems from the fact that Yumi had a spat with this crazily devoted fan of hers on the night she was murdered, and although the authorities find evidence of Cheng-ta’s morbid obsession with Yumi, it seems less likely that he himself orchestrated the murder. Hsieh Cheng-ta, a food delivery agent by profession, on the other hand, reports Yumi’s manager as a possible suspect, and it is revealed that he was stealing from the idol, with her knowing the details of the situation—and the duo had an argument about that as well. But once again, nothing substantial is found against him either.
However, a clue from Yumi’s ongoing Chinese language course in a cram school connects Huang Hsian, a showboat teacher, as another probable culprit, and Ming-han goes undercover to get intel regarding him. Ming-han learns that Huang Hsian used to be Shui-yuan’s favorite student back in the day, and seemingly shares the same disdain for people who do not respect the language. Shui-yuan reveals to Tzu-ching that he had written an idiom guide back in the day, and the murders have followed his question pattern to a t, which is why he was able to predict the idiom of the third murder. As Huang Hsian takes one of his students on a date, Ming-han tails them and sees Huang’s sister, who works as a food delivery agent, beating him in public. As Ming-han’s cover gets blown, Huang starts fleeing from the scene in fear of getting exposed for his lecherous tendencies, taking his student, Mu-ting, along with him. Ming-han manages to capture Huang at the end, but by then he has dropped Mu-ting off near a subway station.
Huang’s interrogation turns out to be pointless, and as he is reunited with his teacher, their interaction implies that he is indeed innocent in this context. Meanwhile, Mu-ting is found to have been brutally murdered at her home, and the surveillance footage outside reveals a delivery agent to be the perp, which once again places Hsieh Cheng-ta as the prime suspect. However, the mismatch in timeframe of crime frees him from suspicion, and as all three suspects turn out to be red herrings, the investigation is once again back to square one.
Did The Idiom Killers Get Captured?
Desperate to bring the perp to justice as soon as possible, the commissioner decides to take another wild gamble as she uses Chief Chang as the bait—who publicly provokes the unknown killer’s ego by making a deliberate language mistake—and sends an open challenge. With Chief Chang holed up in a safehouse and the rest of the precinct and SWAT team guarding him, Ming-han and Tzu-ching make a rash move by taking Shui-yuan to Mu-ting’s apartment to look for clues. The idiom killer manages to overpower Mu-ting and escape, and even while grievously injuring himself in an attempt to stop him, Ming-han fails to capture him. On the other hand, Chief Chang gets abducted by the killer from right under the nose of the authorities, much to the dismay of the commissioner and the rest of the team. With the original idiom killer and new copycat version of him running amok, the precinct is kept on its toes.
An injured Ming-han returns to the precinct and, learning from an undercover agent, Shao-nien’s intelligence, that in the first case, a female delivery agent was present at the scene, he is finally able to connect the dots. Ming-han learns about Huang’s sister, Hsiao-yin, the female food delivery agent/final suspect, who is revealed to be Shui-yuan’s student, and to have followed her teacher’s guidance with absolute adherence. Hsiao-yin is revealed to have been motivated by Shui-yuan’s ideals, and in her mind, his vicious actions were justified. Each of the victims she has murdered so far had committed the crime of disrespecting the language, and following in the footsteps of her master, she decided to teach them a lesson. The team learns about the possible locations Hsiao-yin might have taken Chief Chang to and rushes in before she commits her fifth murder.
Shui-yuan is able to track down his former student with her newest victim as Chief Chang regains consciousness. The idiom killer shares his disappointment with Hsiao-yin’s attempt to follow the wrong ideals and laments her decision to throw her life away in the process. Shui-yuan tries to coerce Hsiao-yin into releasing Chief Chang, asking her to escape while she still has the chance. However, the disappointment of her master seems too hard to handle for Hsiao-yin’s fragile, broken mind, and she ends up taking her own life before the cops arrive. Shui-yuan escapes just in time as well, as Chief Chang is rescued by the SWAT team and reunited with the precinct.
The commissioner takes credit for the entire operation and puts the blame for Shui-yuan’s escape on the officers who actually put their necks on the line to crack the case—Tzu-ching and Ming-han. However, shrugging off the minor setback, the GG precinct is back on their feet in no time as they wait for new challenges. As the season ends, Shui-yuan is revealed to be roaming scot-free still, as he gets tricked by a Turkish ice-cream seller. Has the idiom killer decided to put his past behind and start a journey anew? Or will he return to his old ways to terrorize the city once again? Possible continuation in the future might reveal the answer.
