運K-Fate

Home › K-dramas › K-drama news › 100 Days of Deception, Episodes 1-2: First Impressions

100 Days of Deception, Episodes 1-2: First Impressions

Published: 2026-10-14

A pickpocket, a polished interpreter and a resistance sniper walk into the same train station in 1932. That is roughly how 100 Days of Deception, tvN's big 20th-anniversary drama, opens its first weekend. Here is a spoiler-light look at episodes 1 and 2, based on published recaps, reviews and ratings reports from Korean and international outlets.

100 Days of Deception 100일의 거짓말

tvN (weekly on Netflix) · Premiere 2026-10-10 · 16 episodes

100 Days of Deception

Official clip by tvN DRAMA. It only loads if you press play.

Cast: Kim You Jung, Park Jinyoung, Kim Hyun Joo, Lee Moo Saeng, Jin Sun Kyu

Episode 1: one stolen bag changes everything

The story is set in Gyeongseong, the old name of Seoul, in 1932, during the Japanese colonial period. Lee Ga Kyung (Kim You Jung) is the city's most talented pickpocket, quietly saving money for a new life in America. At the station she lifts a wallet from Sato Hideo (Park Jinyoung), a sharp young interpreter whose Korean name is Kim Tae Woong, and grabs a bag from Yoo So Ran (Kim Hyun Joo). That bag turns out to be far more dangerous than she expected, and by the end of the hour Ga Kyung is caught in the middle of an assassination plot, taken hostage and warning Hideo in English that something is wrong.

Episode 2: gunfire, questions and a second meeting

Episode 2 picks up in the chaos. The plan against Sato Shinichi (Jin Sun Kyu), a powerful official in the colonial government and Hideo's adoptive father, does not go the way the resistance hoped, and a shootout follows. Ga Kyung is detained and questioned, talks her way through, and insists all she wants is enough money to leave the country. Hideo is not fully convinced and wants his money back. Meanwhile, So Ran's painful past comes into focus, the colonial police blame an underground independence group, and the two leads cross paths again at a pawnshop in a tense closing stretch that sets up their uneasy alliance.

The cast and the team behind it

Kim You Jung gets a role that lets her be quick, funny and a little ruthless, and reviewers singled out how believable she is as a con artist with her own agenda. Park Jinyoung (of GOT7) plays Hideo as a man who looks calm on the surface but clearly resents the father who raised him. Kim Hyun Joo brings weight as So Ran, a sniper for the resistance, while Lee Moo Saeng plays Philip Yoo, a Korean American correspondent who helps her missions. The drama is directed by Yoo In Sik, known for Extraordinary Attorney Woo, and written by Rhyu Bo Ri of Do You Like Brahms?.

What works (and what does not)

The opening weekend moves fast. Instead of spending an hour on background, the show throws its heroine into a crisis almost immediately, and the mix of heist comedy, period drama and spy thriller mostly holds together. The relationships are already layered: nobody fully trusts anybody, and every character seems to be hiding something, including a missing pawn ticket that hints at a bigger mystery. One English-language review gave the first two episodes a score of 4.5. The risk is tone. Light pickpocket banter sits right next to violence and grief, so viewers who prefer one clear mood may find the switches a bit sharp.

Ratings: a strong start that kept climbing

Episode 1 opened at 5.3% nationwide (Nielsen Korea, pay-TV households), which Soompi reported as the best premiere of any tvN weekend drama in 2026, with a peak of 7.2%. Episode 2 rose to 7.6% nationwide and 8.3% in the Seoul metropolitan area, with a minute-by-minute peak of 9.4% in the capital region, and topped its time slot across cable and general programming channels. For context, it airs in a busy weekend lineup that also includes SBS's Doctor X: Age of the White Mafia, which drew 14.9% the same Saturday.

Who will like it, and where to watch

Try this if you enjoy clever heroines, period settings, slow-burn romance built on mistrust, or dramas like Mr. Sunshine that mix love stories with Korea's independence movement. With 16 episodes of around 70 minutes, it is a bigger commitment than a short office comedy. In Korea it airs on tvN on Saturdays and Sundays at 9:10 p.m. KST. Internationally, What's on Netflix reports that new episodes arrive on Netflix every weekend after the broadcast, with the finale scheduled for late November. Availability can vary by country, so check your Netflix catalog.

Our take

A confident start. 100 Days of Deception wastes no time, gives Kim You Jung a role with real bite and builds a web of secrets that makes episode 3 easy to press. The tone swings can be sharp, but the jump to 7.6% suggests viewers are hooked.

FAQ

How many episodes does 100 Days of Deception have?

Sixteen episodes of roughly 70 minutes each. It airs two episodes per weekend on tvN, Saturdays and Sundays, and the finale is currently scheduled for late November 2026.

Is 100 Days of Deception on Netflix?

Yes. What's on Netflix reports that it streams globally on Netflix, with new episodes added each weekend after the Korean broadcast. Catalogs can differ by country, so check availability in your region.

When and where is 100 Days of Deception set?

In Gyeongseong, today's Seoul, in 1932, during the Japanese colonial era. The story mixes espionage, romance and the independence movement, following a pickpocket who ends up working inside the colonial government.

Sources

More news

Enter your birth date and get your Four Pillars chart in 10 seconds — free.