As far as crime dramas go, none have quite been able to re-capture the sheer impact that the first season ofTrue Detectivemade on the genre, earning itself an impressive level of prestige in its field. Fans were amazed by the HBO show’s capacity for gritty, dark themes and a genuinely gripping mystery, turning everyone into amateur sleuths alongside the professionals played dynamically byWoody HarrelsonandMatthew McConaughey.
While the next few seasons never quite lived up to the first, the show still maintained a loyal fan base that awaited each season with fervor. While we’re in the in-between-seasons limbo,True Detectivefans need to shift their attentionto another twisty crime drama. Becoming themost-watched title on Asian-Pacific Disney+in 2025,Nine Puzzlesoffers a contentious, compelling duo at the forefront and a gritty, complex mystery that will satiate any crime drama fan, while also slightly subverting the genre in its own quirky, whimsical fashion.
What Is ‘Nine Puzzles’ About?
Ten years before the main events of the show, Yoon E-na (Kim Da-mi) is a high school student and the sole witness to her uncle’s grisly death. Detective Kim Han-saem (Son Suk-ku) was in charge of her case and was convinced that she was the culprit, but could never prove this theory. The case went cold, with the only clue being the killer’s calling card: a jigsaw puzzle piece.Nine Puzzlesthen shifts intothe present timeline, when E-na is now a criminal profiler at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. She starts working on a new case, one that brings her in contact with Han-saem after all these years. What’s even more disturbing is that the new crime scene has a jigsaw puzzle piece, linking back to her uncle’s death andre-opening the serial killer case.
Throughout the show, the two former “enemies” are forced to work together, and given their history, it is difficult to trust one another. On top of this, the case keeps twisting in on itself, as new dead bodies litter the streets of Seoul,each with a puzzle piece that joins with the last, creating a bigger, more sinister picture. The two detectives need to work together before the killer can achieve their grand plan,leading to a high-stakes huntwhere the haunting past and bloody present collide.
‘Nine Puzzles’ Features Another Dynamic ‘True Detective’ Duo
One of the major reasonsTrue Detectivecaught everyone’s attention initiallyis the complicated, engaging relationship between Harrelson’s Martin Hart and McConaughey’s Rustin Cohle. They share compelling on-screen chemistry, where Rustin is constantly pushing the no-nonsense Martin’s buttons, while their discussions lean into the applauded darker themes of the show, including notions of existentialism and pessimism in the light of the fight for illusory justice. If you love the rubbing-each-other-the-wrong-way dynamics, thenNine Puzzle’s E-na and Han-saem will be a delight to watch, especially as their relationships turn into a mouthpiece forpsychologically darker themesrather than philosophical ones.
Distrust already pervades their relationship due to their shared history, but E-na, as the lead for a crime drama, departs from the traditional hard-boiled detective we are used to in both Western and South Korean stories. Considering her trauma, she is still emotionally reserved, yet has an almost cartoonish eccentricity that may be a shock to the system at first. But it is Disney’s Asian Pacific executive VP, Carol Choi, who describes E-na best inan interview withThe Hollywood Reporter: “it feels like she’s slightly removed from reality… a bit like a cartoon character that’s been dropped into reality.” Next to the more stoic, yet a tad unconventional Han-saem, they have a give and take sort of dynamic that slowly evolves into wary trust over eleven earned episodes. It is riveting to watch, and even sometimes hilarious in the beginning.
Their distinct personalities also lead to the show’s grittier material, specifically with regard tohow reality and perception can be twistedand wrought, calling into question the ideas of true justice and power systems within a society. It is most pronounced in E-na, as her surreal characterization reflects how the fact she is unable to remember who killed her uncle despite witnessing it torments her, making her withdraw from reality. Meanwhile, Han-saem deals with indisputable, raw facts and gut instinct, perhaps holding too much stake in constructed realities and arbitrary skepticism without questioning them. If you miss dissecting all the layers beneath Rustin and Martin’s conversations, thenNine Puzzleshas a perfect replacement for you.
‘True Detective’ Fans Will Love ‘Nine Puzzles’ Twisty Mystery
As iconic as the first season ofTrue Detectivewas, what pulled viewers into the rest of their seasons is the HBO show’s ability to craft cohesive, suspenseful, and gripping mysteries, and that is exactly whatNine Puzzlesachieves, too. The series was created byYoon Jong-bin, a filmmaker famous for his realistic, gritty thrillers, includingThe Spy Gone NorthandNameless Gangster: Rules of the Time. If you are familiar with his work, you can already guess that this show delivers tenacious storytelling and provocative scenes, and it does. Like many ofTrue Detective’s seasons,Nine Puzzlesdoesn’t miss a beat,inviting audiences to investigate alongside the detectives while creating a demanding pacethat is as tense as it is immersive. All these elements create an atmosphere that commands your full attention, just like a good murder mystery should.
The 10 Best ‘True Detective’ Episodes, Ranked
Peak crime drama!
The mystery itself is phenomenal, with plenty of red herrings and unexpected twists that force you to keep your mental gears churning.Nine Puzzleshas some more unrealistic brushstrokes, andsometimes feels as disconnected to reality as E-na is. But these moments have underlying principles that are grounded in poignant, uncomfortable realism; the specific scenario may not be likely to happen, but the motivations underneath are more relevant than ever. It’s a smart way to integrate the show’s reality-bending themes of justice, memory, and identity all being an illusion in some way.Fans ofTrue Detectivewill not be disappointed by this show, as it shares the resounding beats that made the former series so popular but distinguishes itself with a quirky, mind-bending flair.
Nine Puzzles
