Netflix’s Hellbound had mixed reviews when it first aired. The series, adapted from a popular webtoon of the same name, tells the story of a dystopian world where “God’s Will” is demonstrated through hellish creatures appearing on earth and brutally murdering sinners in daylight and then sending them to hell. The core idea of the series is fantastic, and it starts off on the right foot, giving us a solid story about why some people believe that these creatures are here to show us a righteous path as humans; however, as it keeps going, some rules start to change, and things start to fall apart, specifically with a time jump. There’s a character on the show who falls off the face of the earth, but I imagine this was done on purpose to pull people in for a second season. Still, it’s a bit random. The first season ends on loads of cliffhangers apart from the fact that we don’t really get closure for this character already, so let’s quickly dive into a recap of the show and try to predict what may come next.
Spoiler Alert
What is “The New Truth?”
In the first three episodes of Hellbound, we follow a sort of cult called “The New Truth” led by Jung Jin-Soo (Yoo Ah-In will not be coming back for this role because of his drug scandal and has been replaced by Kim Sung-Cheol). Jin-Soo lives a righteous life and spreads the word of God through low-key gatherings and meetings to get people to understand “God’s Will.” According to him, people who have sinned receive a decree from an angel-like supernatural creature; it’s a floating head, kind of like the sun in Teletubbies, but much bigger and not a cute baby, that shows up to a person telling them a time of death, which will send them packing to hell. The show begins with one of these demonstrations. At a cafe, a group of kids sit and watch a video of Jin-Soo explaining the phenomenon and the philosophy of “The New Truth,” but they’re somewhat skeptical of his words. However, they’re completely shocked when massive humanoid/apelike creatures appear in the same cafe and brutally drag out a man. Just a few seconds earlier, the man was looking at the time on his phone in a panic. This man had obviously received the decree. After brutalizing the man, the creatures send him to hell by placing their hands over him like they’re blessing him (ironic, I know), and a white light emits from their hands, which turns the man to ash, leaving nothing but charred bones.
On the other hand, there’s Detective Kyung-Hun, a simple policeman whose wife was murdered some years ago. He has an estranged relationship with his only daughter Hee-Jung, and he’s shocked to learn that she’s a follower of Jin-Soo when he’s sent to find out about “The New Truth.” Kyung-Hun is of course angry, but Jin-Soo explains to him how she’s there as a volunteer. When Kyung-Hun meets with Jin-Soo, he speaks about how humans have autonomy and can’t really live in fear of becoming sinners. However, Jin-Soo brings up Kyung-Hun’s murdered wife to make him see the other side of things. The man who murdered her had been imprisoned, but because he was under the influence of drugs when he committed the crime, he was allowed to leave 6 years into his imprisonment instead of 10 (isn’t 10 too short a sentence for murder anyway?).
Who is Park Jung-Ja?
A big case in the first half of Hellbound is that of Park Jung-Ja. She is a single mother of two who lives a quiet life. On the day of her children surprising her with a birthday cake, Jung-Ja receives a decree from the “angel.” This makes her freak out about her two young children. Jin-Soo asks her if they can showcase her death in a demonstration so that people understand how “real” this whole situation is. I suppose this is why they started calling them demonstrations. He promises to give her a lump sum of money as compensation. Thinking about her children, Jung-Ja goes to a lawyer named Hye-Jin, asking her to help her safely get the money.
What Is Arrowhead?
Arrowhead are a group of radicals who used to be followers of “The New Truth.” A man named Skullmask acts as their leader, but from what we see later, I don’t think they’re really led by a single person; he’s kind of like a mouthpiece for them. Anyway, Skullmask broadcasts a video encouraging people to go after these sinners as Arrowheads and make them repent. However, it’s not only the “sinners” themselves that get affected, but their families too. What’s unfortunate is that Kyung-Hun’s partner Eun-Pyo is an avid follower of the Arrowheads, and when Skullmask is upset that there’s no information about the woman who received her decree, Eun-Pyo gives it to him on a platter. Something to remember here is that at this point the Arrowheads and “The New Truth” are completely separate from each other, and Jin-Soo doesn’t associate himself with the violent group.
The lawyer Hye-Jin works at the Sodo law firm, a name to remember for later. Hye-Jin represents a man who gets roughed up by some Arrowhead members. The assaulters happen to be remorseless minors. This is how the Arrowheads are. Anyway, Hye-Jin agrees to take on the job for Jung-Ja, and she also promises to look after her kids. She’s just a good person, you know? Additionally, her mom’s been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and she just hopes for a simple death with Hye-Jin by her side, which she’s not going to get, but we’ll get to that horrifying death in a bit. At the same time, we learn that the remains of the dead that go to hell are something supernatural because they’re not of the person at all (huh).
What Happens to Hee-Jung?
Meanwhile, when Jung-Ja is signing the contract for the money, Jin-Soo purposely tries to question her past in order to figure out how she’s sinned. The whole point of the demonstration is to scare people, but if it doesn’t provide information about her sin, why will people start living righteously? But he doesn’t get any information out of her except for the fact that kids have different fathers and Jung-Ja’s always been a single mom. Parallelly, we learn that Hee-Jung has been living with Jin-Soo, and she blames herself for her mother’s death. When it happened, she was supposed to deliver a bag to her father, but because she saw a dog and got distracted, she forgot to give him the bag. So, her mother went out instead and never came back. Jin-Soo then takes her to the place where the murderer resides. This is the first time the girl is seeing the man. Jin-Soo then takes Hee-Jung to kill the man, and they burn him alive in a furnace for his crimes. While this whole ordeal in itself is crazy, Hee-Jung is seen smiling during the “sacrifice.” Jin-Soo then stages the body to make it look like the sinner had received a decree, so the whole thing can strengthen “The New Truth.” At the same time, there are protests everywhere by the members of “The New Truth” as well as the Arrowheads to get Jung-Ja to confess her sins.
What Happens to Jung-Ja?
Hye-Jin manages to send Jung-Ja’s kids away to Canada for their safety when their identities are leaked. The demonstration is a massive affair as VIP viewers arrive in masks, and it’s broadcast on big news outlets too. Jung-Ja never confesses to any sins, because she probably hasn’t sinned, or at least not with what is considered an actual sin, in “The New Truth’s” doctrine. Jung-Ja’s murder is a spectacle that people everywhere watch, despite the brutality of it all. After it’s over, the VIPs all bow down to the room she was killed in, and so does everybody present in the area, except for Hye-Jin and her colleague. This gives the Arrowheads the idea of teaching Hye-Jin a lesson. She realizes what is going to happen and starts to make a run for it with her dying mother. She tries to go to her office, but she notices it’s completely vandalized. This is when she realizes she shouldn’t have left her mom in the car in the basement, but by the time she gets there, it’s already too late. The Arrowheads have beaten up the old woman with no shame or remorse. They beat up Hye-Jin too and give her mom the final blow to the back of her head in front of her eyes. Hye-Jin’s mom dies in the hospital.
Later, Hye-Jin goes to the person who left her a message saying Jin-Soo received a decree 20 years earlier in 2004. This man, Jeong-Chil, has a recording of Jin-Soo telling him about the decree; however, after Hye-Jin listens to it and asks for a copy, he deletes it in front of her. In fact, he’s lured her in to kill her for knowing the truth—that anyone can receive the decree; it’s not specific to “sinners.” Hye-Jin’s beaten to death, or so the Arrowheads assume, but she’ll be back in just a bit with a makeover and a new mindset.
What Happens to Jin-Soo?
While this is happening, Kyung-Hun meets with Jin-Soo after seeing him on the news, where he purposely drops the hint that Hee-Jung is with him by showcasing her jacket in the background. Kyung-Hun is furious with the man and starts to beat him up, but Jin-Soo tells him the truth about his decree and how he’s going to die in 10 minutes; he wants to leave the world in the capable hands of a man like Kyung-Hun. He then tells him what Hee-Jung and he did with the murderer, leaving Kyung-Hun no choice but to hide the truth about Jin-Soo’s death. The whole point is that everybody must live in fear of something coming for them, just like Jin-Soo had to for 20 years. He lived a righteous life because he wanted his mom to come back for him though she abandoned him.
What Happens to Toughie?
Now the story skips to 4 years later. In 4 years, “The New Truth” has become a massive organization with uniforms and blind political support. It’s your typical massive cult formed by reaching the poor and then bribing people situation. They’re now led by an opulent-looking Jeong-Chil; he’s also grown out his hair to give off godly vibes, you know? Additionally, the Arrowheads now work for “The New Truth” in secret. Jung-Ja’s home has been converted into a museum, and there are statues of the beasts as well as recreated setups of the demonstrations. But most importantly, she remains in a glass box. On the other hand, there’s a man named Young-Jae who works at a broadcasting company, and his wife is just about to give birth. He doesn’t care for the message of “The New Truth” at all, but he’s working on advertising for them. This leads to a conflict between him and a deacon, Yu-Ji, an important guy at “The New Truth.”
Young-Jae’s wife has just given birth to a baby boy, whom they call “Toughie.” This is probably because the pregnancy wasn’t easy, and the kid is in the NICU currently. Young-Jae has to work late that night because of Yu-Ji, so he calls up his wife, saying he can’t make it to the hospital. She tells him she’ll secretly take a video for him in the NICU of their little baby. Shockingly, when she’s taking the video, the 2-3-day-old baby is given a decree to go to hell.
So-Hyun, Young-Jae’s wife, immediately freaks out and looks up “The New Truth’s” site. She doesn’t find anything about newborns there. At the same time, Young-Jae learns that his colleague has been given the decree after he follows him into the middle of nowhere, where he’s trying to die in silence. People are now hiding their decrees because it would bring shame to their families. Young-Jae’s colleague has contacted the Sodo group, who will clean up after him and make it look like he disappeared.
Now, Young-Jae knows of the Sodo group. We soon learn it’s run by Hye-Jin, and she’s trying to protect people from being exposed by “The New Truth.” Though Young-Jae witnessed the death of his colleague, he’s told by Professor Gong to keep quiet about it. Unlike the Arrowheads, the Sodo are morally sound. Professor Gong appears on TV debates about the will of God, so Young-Jae knows of him. After he learns about Toughie’s decree, he’s completely bewildered and decides to ask the professor for help. In the meantime, Yu-Ji finds out about Gong by torturing some members of the Sodo group. Gong then takes Young-Jae to meet with Hye-Jin, and she requests him to allow Sodo to broadcast their baby’s demonstration. This would help reveal the truth behind “The New Truth” (I know, ironic) and also help people see that it’s a random selection.
However, So-Hyun doesn’t trust Sodo’s intentions and instead goes to “The New Truth,” only to be separated from her baby. Fortunately, Young-Jae and Hye-Jin arrive at the right time and escape with Toughie and So-Hyun. They go into hiding at a man named Lee Dong-Wook’s home. What they don’t know is that this guy is actually Skullmask and has invited them into his home to give them up to “The New Truth.” However, he’s also received a decree, and he’s apparently going to die about 5 minutes after the baby, which is a bit strange to him. Jeong-Chil pretends that God’s plan is to use him to right his own mistake, i.e., sending a decree to a baby, and the stupid man believes him.
Dong-Wook tries to kill Hye-Jin and Young-Jae, but they manage to put him down while So-Hyun goes out into the center of the building so that there’s a public display of what’s about to happen to her baby. This is the only way people can see what’s really happening. A crowd gathers and the creatures arrive, but at the last moment, So-Hyun grabs her baby and starts to run. Hye-Jin and Young-Jae try to fight the creatures too, but at the last moment, So-Hyun and Young-Jae hug each other tightly over the baby. So, when the creatures try to send him to hell, it’s the two parents that get charred, and the baby survives! Dong-Wook, who has come back to his senses, now tries to kill the baby because he thinks it’s God’s will. But the creatures show up just in time to get him. Hye-Jin then takes the baby to leave, but Yu-Ji arrives there with police and “The New Truth” members. He tries to follow Hye-Jin, but the residents stop him. An old man calls him out for being a scam, and he starts to beat him up. Shame on the police for not doing anything at this point. But finally, they arrest Yu-Ji for assault.
At the end of Hellbound season 1, Hye-Jin gets into a cab. The man driving the cab seems to know who she is, and it feels like there’s something eerie about him. In the last 3 episodes, we have no word about Kyung-Hun, so I’m most certain he’s coming back in the next season, and this old man might be Kyung-Hun in disguise. On the other hand, Jung-Ja is resurrected in the museum. Huh? How is this even possible? I don’t really know, but that’s the answer we’ll be getting in season 2. In the trailer for season 2, Jin-Soo is also resurrected. Does this mean it’s people who haven’t actually sinned that come back? It looks like the second season will be a battle between the two people who have come back from hell. Are they even human anymore? What does it really mean to be “Hellbound?” Let’s find out in season 2.
