Sisyphus: The Myth · Season 1 · Episode 1 · 17 February 2021
S1E1 Episode 1
THE MOMENT Kang Seo-hae materialises in the present - a woman who has clearly survived things the present-day world has not yet suffered.
The series opens with action-movie confidence: a plane in crisis, a mysterious woman from the future, and a tech genius who instinctively knows more than he is supposed to. The premise is delivered at speed without exposition dumps, and the JTBC production values make the near-future Seoul feel grounded rather than generic. This is the episode that justified the high...
Full episode analysis below. Spoiler-light verdict above.
Updated
Sisyphus: The Myth Season 1 Episode 1 aired February 17, 2021 on JTBC as the premiere of the 16-episode series. JTBC cable ratings averaged 4.963 percent nationwide with a peak of 6.677 percent in episode two. IMDb audience scored the series 7.0; Rotten Tomatoes aggregated 69 percent from two critics. The premiere delivers on its promise: action-movie pacing, a compelling near-future Seoul, and a time-travel premise introduced with enough confidence that the questions it generates feel intentional rather than unresolved. Cho Seung-woo's Han Tae-sul is established as brilliant, impatient, and already half-aware that something is catastrophically wrong. Park Shin-hye's Kang Seo-hae arrives from an implied future with clear urgency and no exposition. The episode works because the writers trust the premise to generate interest without over-explaining it - a trust the back half of the season would not entirely justify.