A Killer Paradox explained: Breaking down the K-dramas storyline & characters

Netflix’s K-drama A Killer Paradox will sweep you into unexpected storylines as Lee Tanng becomes intertwined with a detective, a sidekick, and a powerful adversary. Let’s delve into the explanation of this K-drama.

It’s not every day Lee Tang murders someone and gets away with it. The convenience store worker has nothing going on in his life to be proud of, and one night finds himself killing a man trying to protect himself. While full of guilt over what he’s done, he soon learns the man is actually a serial killer.

To make matters even more bizarre, there’s no evidence of Lee Tang as the perp, and the police have no leads. A Killer Paradox begins a reawakening for Lee Tang as he uncovers the dynamics of his abilities with the help of a sidekick named Roh-bin.

Hot on his trail is Detective Nan-gam, who perceives more than other detectives – but a lack of evidence piques his interest in Lee Tang and makes things difficult. The K-drama also introduces a foe that’s entangled in the bloody web.

Everything is working in Lee Tang’s favor

Netflix

A Killer Paradox begins with Lee Tang living a less-than-extraordinary life working at a convenience store. He’s a good employee – but one night, a disgruntled customer walks in. When the night is over, Lee Tang finds the man asleep on the floor and tries to tell his friend.

The friend could care less, but the man attacks Lee Tang when he makes an obscene gesture. This leads to Lee Tang using the man’s hammer to strike him over the head, ultimately killing him. At the same time, a local blind woman and her dog walk by and supposedly see nothing. In the following days, detective Nan-gam is put on the case and questions Lee Tang. But security footage has a fly covering the view of Lee Tang holding the man’s hammer inside the store.

As the investigation gets underway, a woman reveals the victim’s identity, and a DNA match confirms he’s actually a serial killer who was never caught. Despite seeing the truth on the news, Lee Tang is still guilt-ridden over his actions. The K-drama also reveals more of Nan-gam’s story, of his father being in a coma, and being told to let go of the convenience store murder.

Lee Tang continues working at the convenience store until the local blind woman appears again. She reveals that did see everything that night, as she only fakes being blind. She begins to blackmail him for money. When he visits her home to pay her, he learns she has the hammer and wants to get paid regularly. He becomes angered and kills her. Police soon learn she’s dead, but can’t find any evidence of who did it.

As it so happens, the woman’s dog has licked away all fingerprints at the scene. Police uncovered she had murdered her parents years ago and buried them in the backyard. Soon, Lee Tang is still unsure of what’s happening when he runs into two delinquents. One of them had just stabbed a police officer, and Lee Tang saw the blood on one of their hands. Something on his neck tingles.

The following morning, Nan-gam is called to a crime scene where the two delinquents are found dead. Lee Tang wakes up in his home bloody, with a hammer, a brick, and a text.

Lee Tang gets a sidekick in A Killer Paradox

Netflix

More truth is revealed when Nan-gam learns that the blind woman has a shady past of violence against others. At the funeral of one of the delinquents, Nan-gam is less than kind to their mother. It’s revealed that he knew the two boys, as they had sexually assaulted a girl in high school. They got away with it, but the girl died by suicide.

Instead of implicating Lee Tang in their murders, the girl’s father admits to the crime. A Killer Paradox takes a turn when revealing the man had been following the boys to kill them, but Lee Tang got to them first. Having done the deed for him, he turned himself into the police to save Lee Tang. The cases are shut, but Nan-gam thinks differently.

Lee Tang seemingly disappears after some time passes and the K-drama reveals he’s gone under the radar. With Nan-gam convinced all the murders are connected, he goes to see Roh-bin. A local crime enthusiast who meddles with police cases and knows too much about the murders. After a failed interrogation with Roh-bin, Nan-gam stakes out his apartment. One of his partners questions a local delivery driver who always drops off food for Roh-bin. Nan-gam finds it odd he always wears his helmet. Nan-min soon realizes the delivery man is Lee Tang.

A Killer Paradox reveals everything: Ron-bin was behind Lee Tang staying out of trouble in the last murder and nudged the girl’s father to take the blame. He’s been searching for Lee Tang to start vigilante work and knows about his special powers. He also reveals everyone Lee Tang has killed has been a ‘bad guy.’ The two soon join forces to find criminals and kill them… But someone is hot on their trail.

Nan-gam closes in on Lee Tang, but so does Song Chon. It’s revealed Song Chon was Roh-bin’s vigilante before Lee Tang. But Chone started to relish in murder. Fearing for his life, Roh-bin tells Nan-gam the whole truth to get him put away. But it doesn’t work, as there was no evidence in the first place of the crime. Chon is after Lee Tang. Roh-bin arranges a meeting between Lee Tang and Chon, where Ron-bin hires local thugs to take care of Chon, but it doesn’t work.

Lee Tang gets away with it all

Netflix

Fighting off the thugs, Chon learns they were also sent by a corrupt CEO. Whose the grandfather of a girl he had scared straight and injured her friends who were delinquents. As a result, Chon decides to go after the CEO as he’s dirty too. He succeeds in kidnapping and killing him before being arrested by police. Roh-bin and Lee Tang decide to go into hiding under new identities. Roh-bin’s story is also revealed with his parents having been murdered as a child and no justice was given.

While in police custody, Chon manages to escape after he causes the police car to crash. As Roh-bin and Lee Tang are made public as suspects on the run, they continue to set up details to flee Korea. Chon is on the run as well, but Roh-bin has a plan. He sends Lee Tang to continue to the rendevous point with Lee Tang not knowing Roh-bin is going back to help Nan-gam stop Chon. A surprising twist reveals Chon in Nan-gam’s father’s hospital room. Nan-gam soon learns his father has passed away. He realizes Chon is responsible.

In A Killer Paradox finale, Roh-bin and Nan-gam go to the meeting location to see Chon. Lee Tang was on his way to leave Korea when he realized Roh-bin’s real plan. At the factory, Chon is wounded and Roh-bin dies by gunshot. Chon reveals the whole truth about Nan-gam’s father’s dirty dealings with drugs, what led to his coma, and his mother’s affair.

Overcome with rage, Nan-gam ends it by killing him and vows that one day Lee Tang will get caught. Roh-bin and Chon’s bodies burn in a fire. Roh-bin had gone out of his way to make sure the police implicated him as the killer and not Lee Tang. The K-drama ends with Lee Tang returning to Korea after laying low in Thailand and learning he’s a free man from all crimes.

Nan-gam hears a news report of a suspect’s death and his proving to be a killer from years ago. A Killer Paradox closes with Nan-gam smiling as his senses pick up another criminal.

A Killer Paradox is available to stream on Netflix, and you can catch other series releasing on streaming platforms.