The first episode of The Judge from Hell opens with the introduction of Kang Bitna, our protagonist. Bitna has already died, with her death marked by a trail of red flowers leading to a crack in the earth. This crack reveals a cursed door, adorned with tormented souls and scrawled warnings in angry red writing, leading Bitna to Murderer’s Hell.
Presiding over this realm is Judge Kang Justitia, a relentless and merciless figure. Bitna pleads her case, but Justitia refuses to hear her out, sentencing Bitna to Hell without proper consideration. However, Director Bael of Hell arrives to confront Justitia, revealing that Bitna is not actually a murderer. Justitia’s failure to investigate leads Bael to punish her by forcing her to live as Bitna on Earth. Her task? Punish ten unrepentant murderers, take their lives, and send them to Hell. If she fails, Justitia will die for real this time.
Unhappy with her demotion, Bitna grudgingly adopts her human form and wastes no time returning to her old job as a judge, casually sipping coke as she heads to court. Her first case is straightforward—an officer named Daon is being sued for injuring a man during an arrest. Bitna dismisses the case as absurd, scoffing at Daon’s regret over not being more forceful.
After acquitting him, she leaves the courtroom, telling a group of children that justice is dead, humorously making them repeat her words. Daon is intrigued by Bitna and tries to speak with her afterward, but she brushes him off.
Bitna hurries to a church, where she meets Cha Minjeong, a woman mourning inside. Minjeong has been abused by her boyfriend, and Bitna offers to help. However, when Minjeong leaves, visibly shaken, Bitna chases after her, scaring her further. The police are called, and upon searching Bitna, they find a psych evaluation indicating she’s being treated for PTSD. She’s taken to the station, where she encounters Daon once again. Although Daon doesn’t care if Bitna claims to be a demon, he knows she’s a capable judge and urges her to do her best in court.
Bitna oversees Minjeong’s case, which involves her abusive boyfriend, Moon Jeongjun, who has assaulted her multiple times and confined her when she tried to leave. Jeongjun’s defense hinges on his troubled upbringing, with him even professing his love for Minjeong in court. However, Bitna has her own agenda—she lets Jeongjun off with a fine, hoping he will kill Minjeong, speeding up her mission.
Daon, suspecting foul play, visits Jeongjun, warning him to stay away from Minjeong. Minjeong, meanwhile, is trapped in her apartment, refusing to leave, with Daon keeping watch over her for weeks. Bitna grows impatient, using her magical mirror to spy on Jeongjun as he buys tools to beat Minjeong to death.
Jeongjun soon breaks into Minjeong’s apartment, brutally attacking her. After promising to return and kill her parents if she calls the police, he leaves her in a battered state. Feeling hopeless, Minjeong attempts to take her own life. At that moment, Bitna shows up, conjuring her purple knife, ready to end Jeongjun’s life.
In the epilogue, we see more of Bitna’s psych evaluation, where she explains that the real Hell is on Earth, though she admits actual Hell isn’t so bad—aside from the demons, fire, and eternal damnation. The real Kang Bitna, it seems, is still trapped in Hell, desperately trying to escape from the pursuing demons.
Episode 2 begins with Daon showing up in a truck, interrupting Bitna’s pursuit of Jeongjun. Although Daon doesn’t run anyone over, he confronts Jeongjun and warns him to stay away from Minjeong. Bitna stops Daon from beating Jeongjun, which is fortunate, as the police arrive soon after and arrest Jeongjun for stalking Minjeong.
Daon visits Minjeong’s wrecked apartment, where police tape covers the door, a clear sign of the injustice Judge Kang has caused. Bitna, of course, doesn’t care, mocking the cycle of life and death. Meanwhile, Daon decides to apply for an arrest warrant, determined to serve justice where Kang has failed.
Thankfully, Minjeong is still alive, and Daon was able to stop her suicide attempt. The detectives investigate Jeongjun, who continues his façade of being a loving boyfriend, but no one is fooled. Daon is tasked with keeping an eye on Jeongjun, while Bitna eagerly awaits the moment she can exact her own twisted form of justice.
As the case progresses, Bitna’s cynicism deepens. She interferes with the case, leading to the rejection of Jeongjun’s arrest warrant, laughing maniacally at the outcome. Daon visits Minjeong, who is in complete disarray, while Jeongjun’s fate takes a dark turn.
Minjeong arranges to meet Jeongjun at an abandoned lot, but instead, Bitna shows up. Using her assistant to imitate Minjeong’s voice, Bitna traps Jeongjun in her own twisted version of reality. She begins to torment him the same way he abused Minjeong, smashing his leg with a hammer and pushing him to the brink of death.
Jeongjun eventually confesses to his crimes and begs for death, prompting Bitna to send him to Hell with a swift stab of her knife. Back in the present, Daon and the detectives arrive at the crime scene, only to find it spotless, thanks to the clean-up crew from Hell, known for their efficiency in erasing all evidence of Bitna’s actions.
As the investigation continues, Daon starts piecing together the clues, realizing that Jeongjun’s murder may have ties to someone who claims to be a demon from Hell. Meanwhile, Bitna is summoned by the Chief Judge, who chastises her for her unorthodox rulings and lavish lifestyle. Bitna refuses to change, her memories as a human on Earth influencing her behavior.
At the police station, Minjeong shows up to thank Daon, now determined to move forward with her life. However, she also reveals how Bitna encouraged her to confess her true feelings in church, admitting that she wished Jeongjun dead. Later that night, Bitna visits Daon, intent on using him for information about upcoming cases. She proposes they date, much to Daon’s annoyance, though he agrees to dinner.
After getting him drunk, Bitna learns of Daon’s dark past—he has killed three people, and now, with this knowledge, Bitna sees an opportunity. Holding a knife, she decides that Daon, too, must go to Hell. When he wakes up after passing out, she assures that she will keep his secret but ends up stabbing him.
