Newtopia episodes 1-2 recap: BLACKPINK's Jisoo and Park Jeong-min's breakup takes a dark turn as Zombie apocalypse unfolds

The highly anticipated series Newtopia debuted on February 7, 2025, delivering a thrilling blend of action, romance, and dark humor. Starring BLACKPINK’s Jisoo and Park Jeong-min in the lead roles, the drama follows engineer Kang Young-joo and her boyfriend, Lee Jae-yoon.

The couple navigates a sudden zombie outbreak. Amid the growing chaos, they must fight to survive while grappling with the uncertainties of their future together. Newtopia is available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video in select regions, with two new episodes being released every Friday.

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Newtopia episodes 1 & 2 recap: A city descends into chaos as Jae-yoon and Young-joo fight to survive

Newtopia begins with Lee Jae-yoon, a 26-year-old man struggling through mandatory military service, dreaming about the day he is discharged and reunited with his girlfriend, Kang Young-joo. He is abruptly awakened by his superior and sent to his post.

At 3 am, unable to shake his worries about a man answering her phone earlier, he calls Young-joo. When she finally answers the phone, exhausted and drunk, she tells him they can talk the next day before rushing off to vomit.

Jae-yoon, still unsettled, calls out her name through the phone, but his superior catches him using it on duty. To make matters worse, his partner, Ra In-ho, is asleep on watch. Jae-yoon and In-ho, aged 26 and 30, are the most senior members of their unit but often fall behind in their responsibilities.

The next day, distracted by thoughts of Young-joo, Jae-yoon repeatedly calls her. However, at work, surrounded by colleagues and seniors, she hesitates to answer. During a drill, Jae-yoon and In-ho lose focus, dropping a guided missile they are supposed to carry. The mistake results in their entire troop losing phone privileges and being punished by climbing the stairs of the 77-story building where their base is located.

Meanwhile, Young-joo texts Jae-yoon, explaining that the previous night, she got drunk at an office gathering and that her manager dropped her home. However, Jae-yoon sees the message just as he hands in his phone. Restless, he seizes an opportunity when a senior asks for help carrying groceries downstairs.

Their military base is a classified unit on the top three floors of a skyscraper in Gangnam, Seoul, responsible for monitoring the city's security. Below, on the 75th floor, a hotel provides meals for the base. While delivering supplies to the hotel's kitchen, Jae-yoon glances out the window and sees people convulsing on the street, behaving strangely. Dismissing it, he continues his errand and receives permission to use the phone of the head chef.

Young-joo, eating with her colleagues, picks up Jae-yoon’s call. Just as they begin discussing the previous night, Jae-yoon is abruptly summoned by his senior, cutting the call short. Returning to her colleagues through their conversation, Young-joo starts reflecting on her relationship and its uncertain future.

Later in this episode of Newtopia, In-ho sneaks Jae-yoon’s phone back from their superior so he can call Young-joo. That evening, Young-joo confesses her doubts, suggesting they take a break. She points out that they will be apart for over a year, and neither has seriously considered marriage. The separation becomes too difficult for her, and she no longer knows what she is waiting for.

However, their conversation is once again interrupted, leaving Jae-yoon troubled. Discussing it with In-ho later, Jae-yoon learns that Young-joo’s concerns are valid. In-ho shares that if not for their child, his own wife might have left him as well.

A still from Newtopia (Image via Prime Video)

Meanwhile in this episode of Newtopia, Young-joo finds herself reminiscing, scrolling through old photos and videos of happier times. Tears well up as she relives their memories. At that moment, Seo Jin-wook, her senior colleague, invites her to dinner. She agrees, reminding him of her promise to treat him as thanks for helping her secure her job.

During their meal, Jae-yoon calls again. Young-joo ignores it but rushes to the restroom upon receiving a voicemail. In his message, Jae-yoon apologizes for pressuring her and acknowledges that he cannot expect her to wait indefinitely. At 26, he still has a year left in the military, followed by university graduation and job-hunting. He admits that asking her to wait is unfair and suggests they break up.

Hearing this, Young-joo breaks down in tears and impulsively decides to go see Jae-yoon. Jin-wook offers her a ride. On the way, he confesses that he is willing to wait for her, making her uncomfortable. Just then, his car collides with a pedestrian. The impact sends the man crashing through the windshield. To Young-joo’s horror, one of his dislodged eyeballs lands on her neck, making her scream.

At the same time on Newtopia, Jae-yoon and In-ho are sent out to fetch gasoline for the base. Since the military elevator is out of order, they take the route through the hotel but are stopped by Oh Soo-jung, the hotel lobby manager. She warns them not to walk through the hotel as it might make the guests uncomfortable.

As they prepare to leave, a commotion erupts in the lobby. Jae-yoon and In-ho, along with the others, freezing in shock and horror, watch as a passenger jet hurtles toward the building, about to crash into it. Episode 1 of Newtopia ends here.

Episode 2 of Newtopia resumes with military guards on watch as Jae-yoon, In-ho, and others at the building brace for impact. The flight appears to be crashing into the military base, but at the last moment, it diverts and crashes onto the road instead.

Elsewhere in Newtopia, Young-joo struggles to catch her breath between screams, staring at the man who has crashed through their car's windshield. She removes an eyeball stuck to her neck, places it in a packet from the car, and urges Jin-wook to help pull the man out.

However, Jin-wook prioritizes calling the insurance company, frustrating Young-joo. She turns to a nearby onlooker for help, who turns out to be the celebrity Alex.

Recognized by the crowd, Alex is forced to assist. Together, they pull the man from the windshield, but something is off—despite his wounds, no blood is oozing out. Alex attempts CPR but ends up breaking the man's ribs, drawing accusations from onlookers before they move the injured man away.

Meanwhile in this episode of Newtopia, Jae-yoon and In-ho take the hotel elevator down, only to run into Aaron Park, the hotel's "legendary" chief manager. He again warns them against using the hotel elevator.

Mid-conversation, the elevator suddenly stops. When it resumes, it opens to a horrifying sight—a floor filled with bloodied, screaming people. A man, mauled as if by a wild animal, stumbles into the elevator, begging for help before collapsing and dying.

The three steps onto the floor and are met with sheer horror. Half the people are on the ground, wounded and dismembered convulsing, while the rest scream and run in panic, making them realize that they are not human anymore but zombies.

A still from Newtopia (Image via Prime Video)

Suddenly, Aaron is attacked by one of the zombies. Jae-yoon and In-ho manage to save him, setting the zombie ablaze using alcohol and Jae-yoon's lighter, a gift from Young-joo.

In this episode of Newtopia, Young-joo spots a truck speeding toward Jin-wook's car, its driver's head jammed in the window. She and Alex frantically urge Jin-wook to get out.

Hesitating and having wet himself in fear, he finally exits just before the truck slams into the car and crashes into a store. Following this, chaos erupts across the city as emergency alerts blare, and martial law is declared.

Back at the hotel, Jae-yoon and In-ho decide to return to their military base as the troops arm themselves for the emergency. Aaron, meanwhile, decides to stay behind and find the hotel's security team.

On the road, Young-joo, Jin-wook, and Alex flee from the zombies. Young-joo takes refuge in a nearby salon and assures her mother over the phone that she's safe. Young-joo warns her mother to stay indoors and informs her of her plan to reach the military base.

Meanwhile, in this episode of Newtopia, Jin-wook sneaks into a golf club to change clothes. A man hiding inside spots Jin-wook's Rolex and follows him outside, attacking him and attempting to rob him.

Young-joo and the shop owner arrive just in time to chase the thief away. Jin-wook decides to go to the police, and Young-joo agrees to accompany him before heading to the base.

At the military base, Jae-yoon and In-ho search a staff-only closet for sanitizers to use as makeshift flamethrowers. Inside, they encounter Oh Soo-jung, who mistakes In-ho for a zombie and strikes him in the head.

After identifying themselves and easing her fears, they fill a housekeeping cart with sanitizer bottles and a scraper before heading back upstairs. However, they soon run into a zombie.

Jae-yoon douses it with sanitizer and sets it on fire, but even with a scorched body and a popped eyeball, it keeps advancing. In-ho drives the scraper into its head, slicing through its brain. The zombie finally collapses—falling directly onto a frozen-in-shock Oh Soo-jung.

Meanwhile, at the military base, officers grow concerned about Jae-yoon and In-ho's prolonged absence. Two senior soldiers decide to head downstairs to assess the situation.

In the final scene of this episode of Newtopia, as Jae-yoon, In-ho, and Soo-jung make their way upstairs, they hear zombies nearby and prepare to flee. However, they spot the hotel's head chef—the man who lent Jae-yoon his phone—desperately holding a glass door shut as zombies push against it.

In-ho and Soo-jung rush to help, while Jae-yoon, clutching his hair in frustration, searches for a way out, watching the glass door start to crack. Episode 2 of Newtopia concludes on this cliffhanger.

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Episodes 3 and 4 of Newtopia are set to premiere on February 14, 2025.