Narco-Saints

What to expect, before you press play.

CompletedUNDERCOVER CRIME PICK

Narco-Saints

수리남 (Suriname) · 2022 · South Korea

WriterYoon Jong-bin, Kwon Sung-hui

DirectorYoon Jong-bin

Episodes6 eps · ~62 min each

Where to Watch✅ Netflix

⏱️

Binge Time6h 12m

AiredSep 9, 2022

GenreCrime · Thriller · Drama

Content RatingTV-MA

Netflix

Drug TradeSurinameUndercoverNISBased on a True Story

The whole verdict, boiled down to one box.

The ordinary man, the pastor and the agents closing in on him.

Ha Jung-woo

Kang In-gu

Lead

Hwang Jung-min

Jeon Yo-hwan

Lead

Park Hae-soo

Choi Chang-ho

Supporting

Jo Woo-jin

Byun Ki-tae

Supporting

Yoo Yeon-seok

David Park

Supporting

Choo Ja-hyun

Hye-jin

Supporting

Hyun Bong-sik

Park Eung-soo

Supporting

Lee Bong-ryeon

Deaconess Jung

Supporting

Chang Chen

Chen Zhen

Supporting

Kim Kang-bin

Lee Sang-jun

Supporting

Park Sun-im

Si Hyeon

Supporting

Ko Gun-han

Dong Woo

Supporting

Episode-by-episode, kept spoiler-light on purpose.

EP 01

A Business Venture in Suriname

Sep 9, 2022

Kang In-gu, a garage and karaoke-bar owner who has spent his life scrambling to feed his family, lets an old school friend talk him into exporting skate from Suriname to Korea. The business barely starts before an army chief wants a bribe and a Chinese gang boss demands $5,000 for working on his turf. The Korean pastor, Jeon Yo-hwan, smooths that over, which looks like luck until a boat owner calls: the skate shipment was seized with cocaine inside, and In-gu ends the episode surrendering at gunpoint.

EP 02

The Deal in Prison

Sep 9, 2022

In prison on smuggling charges, In-gu bribes a guard to make a call, then gets a visit from NIS agent Choi Chang-ho: the helpful pastor is Suriname’s cocaine boss, the skate shipment was his test run into Korea, and In-gu’s partner Eung-soo is probably dead. In-gu agrees to help lure Yo-hwan out of Suriname for 500 million won, builds a name as a dealer inside to get close to Yo-hwan’s former bodyguard, then returns to Suriname, where the pastor asks one question: why come back?

EP 03

The Matchmaker

Sep 9, 2022

The sit-down with Yo-hwan becomes a negotiation over whether Chen Zhen can supply In-gu’s cocaine, and the pastor, bending scripture to suit the deal, takes the bait. In-gu introduces Chang-ho as Sang-man, his buyer in Korea, but a passport stamp from two years earlier makes Yo-hwan order a check, and for a while the order to kill both men stands. A two-ton deal is then set, In-gu moves into the pastor’s house, and the handover near the Brazilian border goes wrong.

EP 04

Trouble at the Border

Sep 9, 2022

The border handover turns into a gun battle, and In-gu learns the NIS planned it without telling him, which strains his trust in Chang-ho further. With Yo-hwan’s European accounts frozen and a traitor suspected, In-gu deflects blame onto Preacher, and the pastor, impressed by how he saved part of the cargo, offers him 10% and a directorship. Yo-hwan still refuses any route through an American territory and tells Sang-man to find another, and In-gu ends up tailing him into Chen’s Chinatown.

EP 05

In-gu Improvises

Sep 9, 2022

Yo-hwan, desperate to move his stock before the Cali cartel comes for him, asks Chen to run it through his networks, and Chen’s price is Preacher. When In-gu pushes the Puerto Rico route too hard, Yo-hwan’s men disarm him and show him out. Chen then ambushes Yo-hwan, who escapes without the cocaine, and the hunt for the rat ends with David shot dead. In-gu, stuck with no way to find the drugs, is helped by Preacher, who turns out to be the NIS agent on the ground.

EP 06

The Day of Reckoning

Sep 9, 2022

In-gu wakes from a nightmare of his family hanging from a tree and heads to the airport for the final run. He is meant to fly out with the cocaine, until Yo-hwan tells him to stay and the plane leaves with Lee Sang-jun instead. In Puerto Rico, Chang-ho plays Sang-man one more time and switches to a backup plan when Sang-jun asks to see the money first. In Suriname, Yo-hwan senses a trap just as the raid begins. For how the series closes, see the Ending Explained section below.

Full spoilers — breaking down the finale and what it means.

The plan, and the curveball TheReviewGeek’s recap of the finale (September 10, 2022) opens with In-gu in a nightmare in which his family hangs from a tree. The plan is for him to board a plane carrying the cocaine out of Suriname. Just as he is about to board, Yo-hwan suggests he stay behind, and the plane leaves with the cocaine and one of Yo-hwan’s men, Lee Sang-jun. DMTalkies’ series recap reads this as Yo-hwan keeping In-gu close as a possible hostage.

Puerto Rico: Sang-jun is arrested The plane lands in Puerto Rico, a US territory. NIS agent Choi Chang-ho plays the buyer, Goo Sang-man, once more. Sang-jun wants to see the money before he hands the goods over, which forces the team onto a backup plan. TheReviewGeek says Sang-jun is arrested and the drugs are confirmed in a US territory, which gives the DEA grounds to move on Yo-hwan. Leisurebyte calls Sang-jun Yo-hwan’s only loyal subordinate. DMTalkies adds that the cargo does contain the cocaine, which put to rest fears that Yo-hwan had sent an empty plane.

Suriname: Yo-hwan is alerted Back in Suriname, Yo-hwan senses something is wrong. TheReviewGeek says the Surinamese president phones to warn him that the DEA is entering the country’s airspace, and Leisurebyte says Sang-jun’s coded message from custody tips him off. Both can be true. TheReviewGeek says a man it calls the Preacher reveals himself as an NIS agent; DMTalkies names the NIS agent inside Yo-hwan’s circle as Byeon Ki. The DEA and NIS then hit Yo-hwan’s mansion together. According to TheReviewGeek, the president abandons him and refuses to send the army, because that would mean attacking the United States.

The chase through the forest Yo-hwan escapes the compound. Leisurebyte and DMTalkies say he tries to take In-gu hostage and that In-gu is saved by agents. In-gu then chases him on his own, which TheReviewGeek questions, since he is not a trained officer. There is a car chase and a helicopter pursuit. The DEA and NIS arrive in time to make the arrest, and Yo-hwan is taken to prison.

Home, two karaoke bars and a baseball In-gu goes home to his wife and children. Six months later he is back in his garage. Chang-ho visits to offer two karaoke bars in place of the cash the NIS cannot pay directly, and In-gu turns them down, saying he does not want to be away from his family again. TheReviewGeek adds that the NIS can never publicly acknowledge his part in the takedown. Leisurebyte and DMTalkies both say Chang-ho passes on Yo-hwan’s message from prison that the signed baseball he gave In-gu was genuine, which means it could be worth a fortune. Not reported in the sources we read: Yo-hwan’s sentence.