Idol I Episodes 7-8 dealt with the fallout of Ra-ik discovering that Se-na is a Gold Boys fan, and the case of Woo-seong’s murder took many more twists and turns. You’ll no doubt be wanting to find out what happens next, so here’s the Netflix release details for Episodes 9 and 10.
January 2026 is packed with new TV shows to watch, but for K-drama fans, Idol I is top of the list. An all-in-one rom-com and murder mystery, the series follows Maeng Se-na, a ruthless criminal attorney by day and a K-pop fan by night.
When a member of her favorite group Gold Boys is murdered, Se-na finds herself having to defend her number one idol, Do Ra-ik. As their relationship grows more complex, so too does the criminal case.
Although it’s not a Netflix series, the streaming service has the international rights to air Idol I, meaning it follows the release pattern of Korean network, ENA. Below, you’ll find details on when to expect the next batch of episodes, as well as a recap for Part 4.
Idol I Episode 9 will release on Netflix on January 19, 2026, while Episode 10 drops on January 20. Although the show releases on these dates at 10pm KST in Korea, reports suggest that it lands on Netflix at approximately 10am ET / 7am PT.
New episodes follow the Korean broadcast schedule rather than Netflix’s usual global release pattern, meaning viewers should expect staggered drop times each week.
We’ve listed several other time zones below so you know roughly when to tune in:
- 12pm Brazil
- 3pm UK
- 4pm Central European Time
- 8:30pm India Standard Time
- 2am Australia (January 20 & 21)
- 4am New Zealand (January 20 & 21)
How many episodes are there?
Idol I has 12 episodes in total, with each instalment approximately an hour long. No titles have been released, but the descriptions for the first eight episodes have dropped, which you can check out below:
- Episode 1
- “By day, Maeng Se-na is a top lawyer – but by night, she’s a secret K-pop mega fan. Do Ra-ik’s world unravels when he faces a deadly crisis.”
- Episode 2
- “Facing dividing loyalties and backlash from all corners, Se-na questions Ra-ik as he insists on his innocence while his fandom erupts.”
- Episode 3
- “Ra-ik falls into despair as detective Park Chung-jae investigates the case. Meanwhile, Se-na relies on her intuition rather than evidence.”
- Episode 4
- “Ra-ik begs Se-na to keep a figure from his past away from the case – but she soon notices a connection between the two.”
- Episode 5
- “Unexpected feelings begin to grow as Ra-ik tends to Se-na after her injury. Meanwhile, Se-na learns crucial information about the accident.”
- Episode 6
- “Se-na makes a breakthrough, finding motives tied to the music industry. Ra-ik makes an unsettling discovery about Se-na.”
- Episode 7
- “Ra-ik distances himself from Se-na after discovering her secret. Se-na receives startling news about one of the band members.”
- Episode 7
- “Se-na finds new evidence – and a new suspect – that could exonerate Ra-ik completely. But their investigation soon leads to a dark truth.”
Full release schedule
Rather than Netflix’s usual all-at-once release schedule, Idol I is dropping two episodes per week across two nights. You can check out the full upcoming release schedule below:
- Episode 9 – January 19, 2026
- Episode 10 – January 20, 2026
- Episode 11 – January 26, 2026
- Episode 12 – January 27, 2026
Who’s in the cast?
Choi Soo-young plays the female lead Maeng Se-na in the Idol I cast, while Kim Jae-young plays male lead Do Ra-ik. You can check out the rest of the cast below:
- Jung Jae-kwang as Kwak Byung-gyun, a cold-blooded prosecutor
- Kim Hyun-jin as Park Chung-jae, Se-na’s private investigator
- Choi Hee-jin as Hong Hye-joo, Ra-ik’s ex-lover
- Park Jeong-woo as Choi Jae-hee, the drummer of the Gold Boys
- Choi Geon as Lee Young-bin, the youngest Gold Boys member
- Ahn Woo-yeon as Kang Woo-seong, a Gold Boys member who dies mysteriously
Even though Choi, aka Sooyoung, is playing a high flying attorney in the new TV show, in real life she’s a singer, having joined the group Girls’ Generation in 2007.
Since then, she’s found success in acting, with notable roles in Dating Agency: Cyrano, My Spring Days, Squad 38, Run On, So I Married the Anti-Fan, If You Wish Upon Me, and Not Others.
As for Jae-young, he’s a model and actor, known for roles in 100 Days My Prince, The Judge from Hell, and Love in Contract.
In a press conference for the show, he said (via MK), “The story goes back ten years. I thought of band idols like CNBLUE, F.T. Island, and Day6 while acting…
“I’ll be 40 next year. I don’t think I’ll be able to play an idol in dramas anymore. I really hope this project does well. Please support us.”
Episodes 7 & 8 recap
In Idol I Episodes 7–8, Se-na’s secret briefly drives a wedge between her and Ra-ik, costing her the case. But as they reconnect, Jae-hee’s apparent suicide raises new doubts, and mounting evidence suggests he was framed, with CEO Geum emerging as a key figure.
Episode 7 picks up directly after Ra-ik’s devastating discovery of Se-na’s hidden fandom. Confronting her, he admits that something had felt “off” from the very beginning – not just that she believed in his innocence, but why she did.
Se-na tells him it’s true she’s his fan, but insists it was never the reason she took his case. Ra-ik counters that he could have accepted it if she’d been honest from the start. What hurts most, he says, is that for the first time in his life, he thought someone was defending him simply because they saw him, not because of who he was.
When he asks whether she would have believed him if he weren’t Do Ra-ik, Se-na is left speechless. He walks away, and the rift between them becomes final.
Alone, Se-na struggles to let go. She considers throwing away her Gold Boys merchandise but hesitates, realizing that parting with it feels like erasing the happiest version of herself.
Meanwhile, news breaks that Jae-hee has disappeared. Prosecutor Byung-gyun calls Ra-ik in for questioning, now openly implying that he could be involved in Jae-hee’s disappearance.
During Ra-ik’s interrogation, Se-na storms in, objecting to the questioning and trying to protect him, but Ra-ik shuts her down. Although she tries to explain that she chose his case because the evidence didn’t add up and his statements were credible, Ra-ik tells her that he can no longer trust her and he fires her as his lawyer.
The prosecutor later confronts Se-na directly, cruelly mocking her ideals and comparing her to her late father, whose wrongful conviction destroyed her family. Se-na retorts that his investigation is a mess and accuses him of forcing evidence to fit his narrative.
But Byung-gyun insists the prosecution’s job is to secure a verdict, not seek truth, and coldly predicts that Ra-ik will be found guilty just as her father was.
Later, Se-na meets with Ra-ik’s ex-girlfriend, Hye-joo, and ensures that a powerful new legal team is assembled for him. At home, she finally throws away all her fan memorabilia, ready to let go.
As for Jae-hee, he calls CEO Geum and accuses him of knowing of Woo-seong’s “tampering” after ruling out the other band members, asking why he told him to withhold this information from the police. Geum then asks to meet him in person.
Throughout the rest of the episode, we learn more about how Chung-jae came to work for Se-na. We also see Ra-ik following a drunk Se-na home, suggesting he’s seemingly unable to get her off his mind.
A shocking revelation unfolds in the final scene, as police are seen recovering a car that was driven off the road. News announcements reveal that Jae-hee was inside the car, and that a document believed to be a will was found beside him.
Episode 8 opens with chaos at the hospital. Jae-hee is alive but in critical condition, and police claim they’ve found a suicide note in his car confessing to Woo-seong’s murder. However, Ra-ik immediately refuses to believe it.
Detective Nam-sik questions Se-na after learning she was one of the last people Jae-hee contacted. She plays the voicemail he left her, in which he explains that on the night of Woo-seong’s murder, he called Woo-seong and heard his phone ringing from the garden.
But before he can finish explaining to Se-na what happened, someone is heard knocking on his car window and the message is cut off, suggesting Jae-hee’s accident may not have been self-inflicted.
Despite the confession note, both Se-na and Ra-ik sense something is wrong. That night, Ra-ik breaks down and ends up at Se-na’s house, standing in the rain. She lets him in and he stays the night, emotionally shattered.
The next morning, they talk honestly for the first time since their split. Though Se-na explains that the note will likely clear him legally, Ra-ik insists Jae-hee has been set up.
Determined to find the truth, they begin investigating together. They revisit the crash site, noting inconsistencies in where the car landed, and trace Jae-hee’s movements to a nearby hotel.
A receptionist tells them Jae-hee seemed anxious and received no visitors, but a later tip reveals he’d argued on the phone with someone he addressed as “CEO.”
Their search takes them to the site of Gold Boys’ debut performance, where Ra-ik reflects on their early dreams. At a hidden wishing tree, he discovers Jae-hee had recently added a new wish: to reunite with all the members.
During their talk, Se-na is finally able to reveal why she’s been a fan of Ra-ik’s for so many years. She explains that after being bullied and her father’s death, she no longer wanted to go on living.
She went to the river and considered ending it all, but then Ra-ik showed up with his guitar and sang to her, which gave her the strength to keep going. Ra-ik reveals that he remembers their encounter, and that he’d wanted to comfort her, sensing that she was struggling like he was.
As for Byung-gyun, he’s still facing pressure from all sides: on the one hand to close the case with Jae-hee as the killer, and the other to convict Ra-ik for the crime and secure his reputation as a strong prosecutor.
Later, Byung-gyun uncovers a toxicology report showing Jae-hee had a drug that induced drowsiness in his system – and it also showed up in Ra-ik when he was arrested.
A doctor tells him that there was a lot of it in Jae-hee’s system, but it takes around half an hour to take effect, indicating that he could have been drugged and then gotten behind the wheel.
The doctor notes that Ra-ik said he had been taking medication for a panic disorder, which adds to Byung-gyun’s belief that Ra-ik is the culprit.
But as Se-na and Ra-ik piece together clues, all signs begin pointing toward CEO Geum – the last person both Woo-seong and Jae-hee contacted before their incidents.
They go to see Geum and Ra-ik asks why he was on the phone to Woo-seong, but Geum’s reply throws yet another curveball. “If I had told you, too many people would’ve gotten hurt,” the CEO says. “Especially you, Ra-ik.”
Geum suggests that there’s something Ra-ik doesn’t know about Woo-seong, and he asks him if he’s ready to face the truth. The episode ends there, meaning we’ll have to wait for Episode 9 to find out what this “truth” is.
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