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The Judge from Hell was released on September 21, 2024, starring Park Shin-hye and Kim Jae-young in lead roles. Directed by Park Jin-pyo, known for Love Forecast and Closer to Heaven, and written by debut screenwriter Cho I-su, The Judge from Hell promises a unique blend of fantasy and suspense.
The story follows Kang Bit-na, an elite judge who is secretly a demon on a mission to deliver justice by punishing the wicked and sending them to hell. Her path crosses with Detective Han Da-on, a sharp but emotionally scarred investigator. Anticipation is high for Park Shin-hye’s return to the screen in this role.
The series also features a strong supporting cast, including Kim In-kwon, Kim Hye-hwa, and Lee Joong-ok. The first and second episodes set the base for The Judge from Hell as Justitia, the demon, enters the human world and starts her mission. Han Da-on a righteous detective gets entangled in the process.
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The Judge from Hell Episode 1-2 Recap: Kang Bit-na's unique trial
In the first episode of The Judge from Hell, Kang Bit-na, a judge, is sent to the murderer's hell after her murder, though she was supposed to go to fake hell for her trial. Justitia presides as the judge there, and to finish her tasks for the day, she decides to brand her and send her to Gehenna for punishment.
Since this ruling was incorrect, Bael, the director of hell, decides to punish her for the incorrect ruling. In The Judge from Hell, she has to kill and send ten murderers from Earth in a year while in the body of Kang Bit-na. Joining her will be Valak, her assistant.
However, due to claims of her being a monster, Kang Bit-na is diagnosed with PTSD and delusional disorder. After resuming her duties as a judge, she is presented with the case of Han Da-on, a detective wrongly accused of assault.
She decides to acquit him and rushes to meet the victim of her new case, Cha Min-jeong. While she is trying to uncover the truth about the non-punishment letter, she is taken to the police station to follow Min-jeong. Detective Da-on lets her go since he is impressed by her determination to make the right ruling.
Moon Jeong-jun, the accused, accepts that he assaulted her but refuses the allegations of having threatened her. He claims that he loves her and promises to never go near her again. Bit-na, however, does not buy into it. As a way of finding murderers, she decides to let Jeong-jun go with a fine, expecting him to kill Min-jeong once released.
While Min-jeong's parents and Detective Da-on try their best to protect her, Jeong-jun enters her house by force, assaults her again, and threatens to kill her parents if she disobeys. Unable to find a way out, Min-jeong decides to hand herself. With her powers, Bit-na is aware of the proceedings and decides to give Jeong-jun a visit.
In a glimpse of the hell that the dead Kang Bit-na is in, she is shown struggling to get to fake hell. She is attacked by another creature but is saved by the cross, concluding the first episode of The Judge from Hell.
In the second episode of The Judge from Hell, Detective Da-on and the police force come to take Jeong-jun to the station since Min-jeong tried to hang herself. After interrogation, they had to let him go since they did not have an arrest warrant. Da-on tries to keep an eye on both Jeong-jun and Min-jeong's families to ensure that the episode does not repeat.
As the officers fail to secure an arrest warrant, Min-jeong's family gets more and more paranoid each day. In fact, when Da-on comes to pay them a visit, her father, unable to recognize him, attacks him. As Da-on tries to comfort them, he receives a call informing him that Jeong-jun is dead.
Twelve hours earlier, Bit-na got Valak to imitate Min-jeong’s voice and call Jeong-jun to an abandoned building, where she conducted his trial. Although Jeong-jun refused to cooperate, she made him experience what he had done to Min-jeong through a hallucination.
Using her powers, she reversed the roles and became the perpetrator. Jeong-jun struggled to survive an abusive relationship with her in the hallucination and returned to reality after attempting to kill himself within it. She gave him a taste of his own medicine. His attempts to retaliate failed, as he was no match for her.
He asked for forgiveness, admitting that he had incited Min-jeong’s suicide and deserved to die. In response, she killed him with her dagger, branding him to be sent to Gehenna and adjourning her court.
When the police reach there, nothing is found other than the dead and severely fractured body of Jeong-jun. Justitia's cleaning team removed all traces and fixed anything broken at the site. She had decided to leave the body out front to confuse the police and have some fun.
As a way of finding more murderers, Valak (now Man-do) suggests getting information from a detective. Just then, Bit-na is called to the Chief Judge's office, who gives her an earful. Later, she finds out that before dying, Bit-na had been engaged to Assemblyman Jeong's eldest son, which she later broke off.
Min-jeong visits Da-on to thank him and tells him that Bit-na met her and asked her not to feel guilty about being relieved that Jeong-jun was dead. She was immensely comforted by the words.
In this episode of The Judge from Hell, Bit-na tries to lure Da-on to spill some murderers' information by flirting with him and getting him drunk. In his drunk state, Da-on confessed that he had murdered someone by stabbing them. The next morning, Bit-na asks him if what he told her was true, and Da-on responds by asking her to keep it a secret.
Finding her second murderer, Bit-na stabs him with her knife. With this, the second episode of The Judge from Hell ends.
The third episode of The Judge from Hell is scheduled to air on September 27 on Disney+ in selected regions.
