S1.E1 ∙ Release Me

Chinese security forces battle a Nationalist spy ring including Italian priests during the Korean War.

Jo Sasaki's 2007 novel is the first in the so-called "The Hokkaido Trilogy" and was inspired by corruption in the police force governing Japan's northern island. Set in the capital, Sapporo, the pic begins with the discovery of a strangled policewoman's body in an apartment used by the force's big brass. Senior officials keep the investigation under wraps and, in short order, the dead cop's ex-lover, Sgt. Suguru Tsukui (Hiroyuki Miyasako) - due to give damning evidence in a corruption hearing in 18 hours' time - is declared the perp. Police are ordered to shoot him on sight. Disturbed by the hasty manner in which his squad was pushed off the case, Tsukui's former police partner, smooth saxophonist Sgt. Koichi Saeki (Nao Omori), summons his team to discuss an alternative plan to the sanctioned witch hunt.

Ram Kapoor comes from a poor family, while Kiran comes from a middle-class family. Ram and his brother, Shyam, commit petty thievery to sustain themselves. Ram meets Kiran and both fall in love and would like to get married. Kiran's dad is Police Inspector, Vijay Kumar, and does not approve of either Ram nor this marriage. Despite of this opposition, Kiran and Ram get married. After sometime, Kiran gets pregnant, and her mother, Madhu, comes to look after her. A gangster, Shakti, abducts both mother and daughter, and holds them for ransom. Vijay thinks that Ram and Shyam are behind this abduction so to get money from him, and launches a manhunt for them. Shyam is apprehended, while Ram is on the run. Ram must decide to hand himself over to the police, and let his wife and her mother be at the mercy of Shakti or continue to evade the police and search for Kiran and Madhu.