The first episode of 'Scholar Walks the Night' was promising! From Lee Jun Ki's stellar acting as a human-turned-vampire, Lee Soo Hyuk's convincing portrayal of a dastardly, blood-sucking creature of the night, to the already thick plot, the show has managed to capture my interest early on.

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The opening scene introduced us to the drama's main antagonist prematurely, though the viewers are left wondering if what is going on is actually happening as a voice narrates in the background. We witness Lee Soo Hyuk--playing the dastardly, heartless vampire Gwi--as he saunters across a moonlit courtyard, donned in a robe darker than the night, a sinister expression on his pallid face. Meanwhile, the king and his men cross a bridge and we get the feeling the vamp and the king's entourage are headed toward the same destination. In the inner chambers of the palace, a concubine gets all dolled up for a night with the king. She awaits the king with a ready heart by the door; yet when that door finally slides open, the one to enter is Gwi, much to the concubine's horror. She feebly thrusts out a knife but Gwi relentlessly marches on and sinks his teeth into her neck. The king, standing right outside the concubine's chambers, watches helplessly on at the shadows thrown across the door by the candlelight.

As all this is going on, the voice in the background is still narrating, telling the story of a vampire who steals the king's women and kills them. The scene then shifts to insides a musty-looking library occupied by scholar Kim Sung Yeol (Lee Jun Ki) and the Crown Prince (Lee Hyun Woo), and it turns out the Crown Prince was enthusiastically telling the scholar the plot of his new book. At the time, little does Kim Sung Yeol know that the Crown Prince's 'contrived' story is in fact, a reality.

Several scenes ahead, we meet Myung-hee (Kim So Eun), Sung-yeol's unrelated, adopted sister, whom he is deeply in love with (hey, it's not incest if they're not related! Wait, I'm not so sure…) Myung-hee (referred to as MH) is to marry her stepbrother Sung-yeol (here on referred to as SY), as is inferred from the mother who laments that now she'll be both a "mother and mother-in-law" to Myung-hee. 

In another pivotal scene, the Crown Prince (referred to as CP) tries to burn the corpse of the concubine but is confronted by SY. SY implores the CP to tell him what's going on to no avail. When the CP shows no signs of giving in, SY pulls the 'I've been your friend for 15-years' card on the CP. I guess in the end their 15 years of friendship did mean something to the crown prince after all as he spills everything about how the country is run by a power-hungry, bloodthirsty, evil vampire. 

Dude you really gonna pull that on me. 

Viewers learn more of the history behind Gwi's rise to power when he reminds the king once again how he built the nation of Joseon by suppressing any insurgence from Goryeo loyalists and killing them. In return for his aid, the vampire only asked that the king be his puppet and that they sacrifice the concubines to him. 

Gwi: Dunno, ever since the birth of Joseon.

King: ....so it's been 200 years?

Gwi: ................

CP and SY meet with another vampire named Ha-seo, who supposedly keeps the other vampires in check but failed to control Gwi. They scheme and plot and talk of a big 'secret' plan to get rid of Gwi, mentioning something about a lunar eclipse which will weaken Gwi's power. The CP also has a 'secret book' that contains the secretive secrets that will secretly see the Joseon Dynasty's permanent liberation from the evil Gwi. Alas, Gwi was magically at the same place that SY and CP were discussing all their secrets to permanently deracinate him from Joseon's rule, prompting him to go on a rampage and tear off his former teacher's arm and stab him in his heart (I'm not a vampire expert...but I'm sure they don't die so easily). Gwi then proceed to murder the Crown Prince, after failing to find out what the prince's grand plan to rid of him was. 

The viewers are all fooled however, as later on we find out that Hae-seo didn't die, more like he was just on the verge of death. SY gallops like the wind to Hae-seo's crib, unaware that the prince is dead, and intent on freeing him from Gwi's evil clutches. However, all SY finds once he reaches his destination is Gwi's emaciated, rotting body in the ruins of what used to be his abode. Hae-seo beckons SY to come closer, to which the scholar heedlessly obliges, resulting in him being bit by the ancient vampire. It turns out Hae-seo didn't have any sort of thirst; rather, he wanted the scholar to replace him, feebly muttering to SY that "he will be the only one that will be able to defeat Gwi using the powers that were transferred to him."

Noooooooooooo I never asked to turn into a sexy, beautiful, youthful vampire!!

The scholar wakes up three days later, having completely transformed into a vampire, but not fully aware of his powers. He stumbles to in front of the palace to discover the heads of everyone near and dear to him--including that of the king, crown prince, and his father--decorating the gates of the palace on spikes. SY goes into a fit of rage, and is only subdued when the guards knock him unconscious. SY wakes up in Gwi's cave, still out of sorts and probably not wanting to accept that he has become the very thing he loathes. Gwi confronts the scholar, trying to coax him to rule Joseon by joining his side. When SY vehemently refuses, the Gwi tries to force SY to drink MH's blood, forcing the scholar to give into his vampiric urges, telling him that he will perish if he doesn't do as he's told. MH then commits suicide 'seppuku' style thrusting Gwi's knife in her belly. We watch the two lovers share their last moments, and SY, realizing that if he doesn't drink MH's blood her death will have been for naught, reluctantly sucks the fluids from her lips.

My mind tells me no but my body tells me yes.

Fast forward 120 years later, and we meet the main protagonist Jo Yang Sun (Lee Yu Bi) (YS), who gets by as a hawker of rare books. The catch is, she has to cross-dress as man to hide her true identity. YS comes across SY finally near the end in a brothel (not what you are thinking) to sell him some books and she gets a glimpse of the vampire's face. And this is what happens. 

This is where the first episode concludes, as the vampire is overwhelmed by the YS's cloying scent of blood. Will he be able to resist his urge to sink his teeth into her neck? Guess I will have to wait until I get home to find out!

What do you guys think of the first episode?