Detective Kim Taek Rok has been a dynamic, courageous, and passionate police officer for a long time, and criminals fear him. Taek Rok never followed the rules, and because of his reckless behavior, he never got promoted. In Shadow Detective Season 1, Taek Rok was shown to have developed panic disorder and was in the early stages of dementia. Taek Rok had been blaming himself for all the colleagues who’d lost their lives. He believed that whoever worked with him always ended up in danger, while he survived any casualties. He started getting severe panic attacks for the same reason, but given his work experience, he was still allowed to work in the force. The previous season ended with the death of Officer Kook Jin Han, aka “The Friend,” who tricked Taek Rok. All of this happened to catch Chairman Jang, who not only killed Jin Han but also took his own life later. Geumo city police were blamed for their poor work, and as a result, Taek Rok was suspended.
Spoilers Ahead
What Is Mr. Woo Searching For?
During his long break from the police force, Taek Rok has been trying to get other physically demanding jobs, like operating heavy machinery, but he has failed in all of them. The passionate detective is forced to do jobs he isn’t suitable for. However, he doesn’t have to wait much longer because his suspension period is going to end soon. Back at the Geumo police station, Detective Han has been promoted to team leader, and Kyung Chan, who was a rookie, now works as Seonga’s partner. Kyung Chan and Seonga are working on a case of recent serial theft in the Geumo redevelopment area but have no leads. They are waiting for their favorite senior, Taek Rok, to return so that work can be fun again. Taek Rok is also ready to return to the field, but to his disappointment, he gets posted in the Women and Juvenile Affairs department. He is not excited about working a desk job, but he is at least working for the police, and that’s enough for him. He is going to retire soon, and as everyone says, he hopes his remaining few years in the force are not hectic. However, Taek Rok’s life has never been calm, especially when working in the military. When looking for a new home in a neighborhood, he sees Seonga chasing a teenager, and he has to meddle to catch her. Kyung Chan and Seonga saw some teenagers hanging out in a dark and abandoned building, and they suspected they could be engaged in criminal activities. All the other teenagers managed to escape, but Hana got caught because of Taek Rok.
Since Seonga caught Hana, the case goes under the homicide department, but their team leader tells Seonga to just send Hana home or hand over her case to the Women and Juvenile Affairs department. Hana and her friends are runaway teenagers, and Seonga thinks that they need proper support, but she has to send her back home since her missing report was filed by her father. Seonga was also a rebellious teenager who had a troublesome family, but thanks to Taek Rok’s support, she grew up living a decent life. She feels that she needs to help Hana in the same way and asks her to call her for help anytime she needs it. Hana is not happy that Seonga sent her back home and runs away again after she leaves. Her friends are waiting for her at their usual spot, and they have found a new target for robbery. They are all runaways and steal petty things for fun. This time, however, their fun expedition turns into a disaster. The office they break into belongs to a businessman, Mr. Woo, and he catches Hana and her friend, Do Yoon. They haven’t stolen anything, but Woo demands they return the flash drive.
Hana’s friends had also attempted robbery at an office in the same building, and Seonga received a report of it. She finds Hana’s keychain on the staircase and tries to locate her, thinking she and her friends could be the culprits. She reaches an abandoned warehouse and sees Do Yoon getting beaten up by some thugs. As Seonga rescues them, Hana and Do Yoon are safe now, but Woo is in trouble. He denies all the allegations and says that he was just teaching the kids a lesson instead of reporting them to the police. He is trying to find a way out, but Seonga finds his behavior odd. According to Yeon Ju Hyun, the team leader of the Women And Juvenile Affair Department, and Hana, Woo is desperately looking for a flash drive, and Hana mentions that she saw someone else coming out of the building before they went in to rob the place. It makes Seonga wonder what Woo could be hiding so desperately.
How Does Seonga Get Injured?
Seonga needs answers from Woo and goes to his office alone after informing Kyung Chan over the phone. Woo’s activities have been suspicious, so Kyung Chan gets worried and asks Taek Rok to call and stop Seonga. However, Taek Rok’s reaction is more intense as he gets up from his desk to leave the office. He calls Seonga, but as soon as she picks up the call, Taek Rok hears the sound of an explosion. Woo has died in his office after the explosion, and Seonga has been severely injured. Team leader Han questions why Seonga went there alone and asks an officer to check her call records. Taek Rok was the last person she talked with, and Han suspects that Taek Rok has something going on behind his back.
Han is not the only one suspecting Taek Rok, Kyung Chan, who sees Taek Rok as his role model, also suspects Taek Rok. Taek Rok’s reaction makes him wonder if he had a hand in the explosion. Taek Rok has always been secretive, and no one can predict his next move. Kyung Chan asks Taek Rok’s friend, Dong Bum, to find out the reason for the explosion but requests that he keep it a secret from Taek Rok. On the other hand, Yeon Ju Hyun has been doing a background check on Taek Rok, and her focus is specifically on the case of Chairman Jang, who killed himself after Taek Rok exposed him. While she is going through Taek Rok’s records, she gets a call on her burner phone and reports that she is still looking into Taek Rok, which clearly indicates that she is in league with someone and has some secret mission going on, which Taek Rok could be a threat.
The Geumo City police division is being criticized again, and as a result, the chief has ordered the homicide team and the juvenile team to work together on the ongoing case to solve it more quickly. Ju Hyun sends Taek Rok to interrogate the teenagers, who are already declared innocent, when his investigation skills can be more useful in finding the culprit with the available evidence instead. She is acting as if she is purposely trying to keep him away from the important matters of the case. Taek Rok is not someone who will obey orders when he doesn’t want to do something, and now he has found a reason not to obey Ju Hyun. He heard from an officer that Ju Hyun personally requested the chief send Taek Rok to her team. Ju Hyun and Taek Rok didn’t know each other before, and Taek Rok can’t help but find it odd. Instead of doing his assigned task, he meets Hana at the social welfare center and asks her if she noticed anything different when they tried to rob Woo. Hana had seen a person in a black hoodie, and she specifically remembered the person’s strange way of opening the car door with only two fingers. It immediately reminds Taek Rok of Yu Hyun because he has also run a background check on her.
Taek Rok is quick to notice small details, and the gesture that Hana explains is similar to Yu Hyun’s usual gesture. While he was busy talking with Hana, Yu Hyun and Han dubiously arrested Yang Ki Tae as a suspect. Ki Tae is Taek Rok’s neighbor and is known for running tasks for Taek Rok. Shadow Detective Episode 2 ends with Kyung Chan clearing a crucial doubt about Taek Rok. He knows Ki Tae, so Ki Tae reveals to him off the record that he only put a spy cam in Woo’s office and didn’t do anything else. Kyung Chan understands that Taek Rok knows something about Woo and that he could be getting framed. However, Taek Rok won’t tell him anything, so he breaks into his house and finds a room full of old records. Taek Rok doesn’t let anyone into his personal space, and if he catches Kyung Chan, Kyung Chan has to come up with a good excuse if he wants to prove that he didn’t suspect Taek Rok or that he isn’t working for his enemies.
