JTBC’s 10th anniversary special drama has arrived, and the first episode of Sisyphus plows out the gate at lightning speed. Chases, crashes, and life-threatening events all happen within the hour as our cheeky genius engineer and mysterious woman on a mission face dangers and survive against all odds. Something nefarious is happening underfoot in this world, but the more our hero learns, the less he seems to truly understand.
EPISODE 1 RECAP
A blue light pulses in the back as a man wakes his daughter, KANG SEO-HAE (Park Shin-hye). Inside what looks like a futuristic bunker, people line up on either side of the pair, grabbing suitcases and waiting for their turn to be marked. A guard comes around to give Seo-hae her number, but only for her since Dad isn’t going.
Before she leaves, Dad orders Seo-hae to repeat the advice he drilled into her: first, run as soon as she arrives and don’t get caught; second, trust no one; and third, never meet Han Tae-sool. She asks what will happen to Mom if she follows the third rule, but Dad doesn’t budge: “Everyone dies.”
With tears streaming down her face, Seo-hae refuses to go without him, but Dad tells her that the new place will have lots of food and even fresh fruit. Ignoring the guard badgering them to hurry, Dad makes her promise to be happy, and Seo-hae nods.
The blue light flashes a bright white, and Seo-hae wakes up on a pile of garbage next to a train track. After stealing some nearby laundry, she grabs her suitcase and walks along the rocky road until she arrives at an empty train station.
A buzzing noise catches her attention, and Seo-hae looks up in shock as a drone aims a spotlight on her. Suddenly, the lights turn on, and a crowd of suited people aim their weapons at her. She dashes underneath a train, but as she makes her escape, her pursuers spot her and give chase.
Lugging her suitcase, Seo-hae weaves through the trains, but the pursuers use their machines to find her. Locating the area with the highest reading, they approach the underside of a train with their guns raised, but Seo-hae is above them, not below. She slinks on top with her suitcase in tow, and despite her pursuers circling in on her, Seo-hae sits for a moment to feel the breeze.
After taking his pills, Tae-sool looks over at the now-empty seat, lost in thought, when the plane lurches forward. The captain makes an announcement about turbulence, but right then, an object hits the plane, sending the captain hurling towards the glass. A second object flies by—looking eerily like a body—and the plane makes its dangerous descent.
Tae-sool realizes that something is wrong and gets up from his seat to check it out. In the mayhem, a suitcase falls on top of him, and he falls to the ground. Memories of his past flash by in a blur as he loses consciousness, but Tae-sool hears his brother call his name and fights to stay awake.
Seung-bok scolds him for missing the board meeting, but Tae-sool has a bigger problem on his hand: a plane is about to crash into Seoul. Seung-bok tells him to stop joking, but a quick online search verifies his claim.
Switching the call to video, Tae-sool orders his friend to record their conversation and recites his will. He is donating half his wealth to charity while the other half will go to the company’s research funds. As for his penthouse, he’ll leave that to Seung-bok, and his bodyguard Yeo Bong-sun gets his cars.
Tae-sool also has a private task for Seung-bok, telling him about the safe in his closet that needs to be destroyed. Since he might die, Tae-sool makes one last confession to his friend: he was the one who went on that trip with his ex-girlfriend. Pfft.
Scenes of Tae-sool and Tae-san from their childhood to their young adult years flash on screen as people wheel Tae-sool away. Gasping, he wakes up in a hospital bed… one month after the accident. The news covers the story of the CEO’s miraculous recovery, and the public hails him as a hero.
Resting at home, Tae-sool reads one of the many fan letters sent to him, but Seung-bok is unamused by his lax attitude. He tosses him an envelope containing the board’s decision to axe Tae-sool if he continues to harm the company and begs him to attend future meetings.
Tae-sool asks what troubles he caused, so Seung-bok pulls out a drawer containing all of his pills. He calls him a drug addict who needs therapy and tells him to pull himself together. Seung-bok knows his friend is a good person who would risk his life for others, but Tae-sool says that he never intended to save all those people.
Tae-sool attends a counseling session with Dr. KIM SEO-JIN (Jung Hye-in), expecting nothing more than a quick chat and prescription. However, the board requested reports on his progress, and Seo-jin tells Tae-sool that he will need to stay the full amount.
He decides to humor her, pointing out that she was the one who dumped him, but Seo-jin reminds him that he was the one who went on a vacation with an idol. He admits defeat, and Seo-jin continues their session.
She asks about his older brother, and immediately, the carefree attitude disappears as Tae-sool puts a stop to her questions. Seo-jin pushes forward, asking if he regrets his last moments with Tae-san, and Tae-sool thinks back to that evening.
Bong-sun notices Tae-sool’s foul mood after his counseling session, but since the latter doesn’t want to talk about it, he drives in silence until they reach the house. As Bong-sun pulls up, a man jumps in front of the car, nearly causing an accident.
Tae-sool recognizes the beat-up man as the copilot and wonders what happened to him. The copilot asks if he is part of the Control Bureau and looks around nervously. When Tae-sool looks confused by the question, the copilot hands him a USB and runs away.
While tidying up the restaurant, Sun talks with someone over the phone and promises to send them money. As he laments his fate, he overhears something rustling around the garbage and charges toward the sound expecting stray cats.
He freezes when he spots Seo-hae digging through the trash and asks what she is doing. Brandishing his kitchen knife, he wonders if she is a foreigner, but Seo-hae quickly turns the tables as she disarms him and threatens him with his own weapon.
Demanding food, Seo-hae gains entry into the restaurant where she scarfs down noodles and eats bananas whole—peel and all. Sun calls the police to report the strange woman, but one glare from Seo-hae sends shivers down his spine, forcing him to hang up.
Resigned to his odd predicament, Sun continues his work and watches the lottery drawing on tv. When his first two numbers don’t match, he crumples up his ticket, but his ears perk up when Seo-hae correctly guesses the rest of the numbers.