With the arrival of the much-awaited season 2 of The Fiery Priest in Singapore, this is the best time to quickly recap all the important events that went down in season 1 of the crime-comedy drama.
A story by South Korean screenwriter Park Jae-bum, who has some of the highest-rated K-dramas in his portfolio, including Good Doctor, Vincenzo and Good Manager, The Fiery Priest season 1 is a perfect mix of crime, comedy and team-led plot.
The show follows hot-headed NIS agent-turned-priest Hae-il attempting to unravel the truth behind the mysterious death of his mentor, an elderly priest Lee Young-joon. However, with corrupt prosecutor Park refusing to cooperate, Hae-il’s journey to bring the culprits involved before the law seems difficult.
Directed by Lee Myung-woo, The Fiery Priest season 1 recorded a solid 22 per cent finale viewership ratings after the release of its last episode on 20 April 2019, according to Nielsen Korea. One of the most popular Korean dramas of all time, the second season of the crime-comedy premiered on 8 November 2024 on Disney Plus.
The Fiery Priest season 1 recap: The cast and the characters they play
Kim Nam-gil as Father Kim Hae-il
Jung Dong-hwan as Father Lee Young-joon
Kim Sung-kyun as Goo Dae-young
Lee Hanee as Park Kyung-sun
Ko Jun as Hwang Cheol-bum
Keum Sae-rok as Seo Seung-ah
Jeon Seong-woo as Father Han Sung-kyu
All of the above are expected to reprise their roles for season 2.
Spoilers ahead!
The Fiery Priest season 1 recap and major plot highlights
Who killed Father Lee Young-joon?
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In season 1 of The Fiery Priest, when Father Lee Young-joon, the head priest at Gudam Catholic Church, is found dead on a nearby mountain, panic strikes the city. Meanwhile, Hae-il, an NIS agent-turned-priest who had just moved to Gudam, is heartbroken after learning that his mentor, Father Lee, is no more and vows revenge. Soon, he requests an investigation but when the Gudam Police refuses it and reports the death as suicide, Hae-il takes things into his own hands.
Throughout the 40 episodes of the crime comedy K-drama The Fiery Priest, Hwang Cheol-bum, a former gangster boss and current representative of the corrupt Daebeom Trading company, becomes the prime suspect in Father Lee’s murder case. However, when Hae-il finally confronts Cheol-bum, he reveals that he didn’t kill Father Lee but is still guilty. A flashback then shows the chief prosecutor of Gudam, Kang, calling a meeting with Father Lee. He then threatened to set fire to the church and kill everyone if Father Lee didn’t hand over the welfare services to him so that he could use them to launder money. However, Father Lee stands strong, strikes prosecutor Kang and calls him Satan. Enraged, prosecutor Kang shoves Father Lee hard and he hits his head on a table and dies.
When the flashback ends, Cheol-bum adds that he did try to save the priest but failed. He chose to keep quiet and not report the incident because prosecutor Kang threatened to kill him.
Later, chief prosecutor Kang is arrested for Father Lee’s murder. But when he is taken for questioning, he refuses to say a word. Hae-il then barges in and puts Cheol-bum and prosecutor Kang together. He then shows them a video he retrieved from Agent Lee’s memory stick. For context, Agent Lee, who was involved in Father Lee’s murder and was later killed by prosecutor Kang, was wearing a hidden camera the night Father Lee died. When Hae-il plays the recording, it shows prosecutor Kang shoving Father Lee into the table which causes his death, and Cheol-bum agreeing to dispose of his body.
Towards the end of the series, Gudam’s violent crimes team happily watches television news informing that Father Lee has been cleared of the suspicions of embezzlement, sexual harassment, and suicide.
Does Han Sung-kyu wake up from the coma?
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Father Han Sung-kyu becomes the priest in charge of Gudam Catholic Church after Father Lee’s death.
Later in the series, Agent Lee and his mercenaries attack Father Han upon orders of prosecutor Kang. He is struck in the back of the head and when Hae-il rushes him to the hospital, Father Han undergoes a critical surgery and ends up in a coma.
In the last episode of The Fiery Priest season 1, Father Han finally opens his eyes. Hae-il rushes to the hospital and Father Han blinks to show him that he can understand him. He then goes on to whisper a tiny “Hae-il,” and the latter sighs in relief.
Does Kim Hae-il lay down his priesthood and leave?
It was only after meeting Father Lee that Hae-il decided to take the path as a priest. After the former’s death, Hae-il’s only goal was to put the culprits behind bars and prove Father Lee’s innocence. At the end of the Korean drama, Hae-il finally succeeds in his mission and is later seen confessing in front of Father Lee’s photo, “It’s all over now and you can rest in peace”.
He then informs Sister Kim that he will leave the Church once Father Han Sung-kyu wakes up from comatose and is ready to take over his duties. Hae-il further adds that he’s done a lot of evil things in the process of revenging Father Lee’s murderers and that makes him unworthy to be a priest. When Sister Kim argues that he was only fighting demons, Hae-il retorts saying that while fighting demons, he became one himself.
Once Father Han gets better and returns to the Church, Hae-il gets ready to leave. However, a car pulls up and the Pope steps out. The latter appreciates Hae-il for preserving the honour of Catholicism and says that he is a true priest and must remain in the church.
What to expect from The Fiery Priest season 2
The ending of The Fiery Priest season 1 showed Hae-il and his team in front of a warehouse, getting ready to fight off an army of thugs. Before the credits roll, Hae-il orders his troop to “go get ’em”, hinting at the fact that he intends to carry on his fight against injustice.
According to K-media sources, protagonist Hae-il will be seen serving his congregation by day and leading the Angel Gang, a group committed to fighting crime, by night. This time they are on a mission to dismantle the country’s top drug cartel.
Kim Nam-gil, who won Best Actor at the Busan International Film Festival for his character Hae-il in the series, shared a few details about season 2 in a 2024 press conference, “Kim Hae-il is still as angry as ever. In this season, he teams up with a group of equally wild individuals, creating even bigger synergy. During Season 1, there were times when I wondered if his anger was justified, but in Season 2, he has truly found his identity through solid teamwork.”
Watch The Fiery Priest season 1 on Netflix
(Hero image credit: 디즈니+ 코리아/@disneypluskr via Instagram; Feature image credit: IMDb)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Season 1 ended with Hae-il putting prosecutor Park and Cheol-bum behind bars for the murder of Father Lee.
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Written by
Sushmita Mahanta
Digital Writer (Growth) - Entertainment
Sushmita is a writer with a passion for crafting engaging and informative stories. An avid fan of K-pop and K-dramas, Sushmita mostly writes about Korean culture and entertainment. When not writing, you can find Sushmita dancing, reading, collecting books, learning about fashion, art, motion pictures, and appreciating BTS.
