RECAP: ‘The Crow Club’ Episode 1 Sets Up An Intriguing Premise

In the 1980s, if you had a problem, TV told us to call the Ghostbusters, the A-Team, or any number of other teams to fix it. In The Crow Club Episode 1, directed by Nopachai Chaiyanam, a group of outcasts and misfits serves the same basic function. Setting up a modern take on the “call a guy and get it fixed” premise, The Crow Club is intriguing, even if it has a ways to go before it determines whether it’s going to live up to its hook.

The Crow Club’s premise is pretty simple. On the surface, it seems like it’s just a bar. Talay (Sailub Hemmawich Kwanamphaiphan) stands behind the bar making the drinks. Phathee (Pop Pataraphol Wanlopsiri) plays guitar and sings for the patrons. Taengmo (Otto Phachara Thanakulwuttiporn) and Vann (Milk Natchanon Supravorawong) are servers. Linda (Sirin “Cris” Horwang) is in charge of both the bar and the true Crow Club.

The only way to get one of the crows to take a job is to find their extra services online. In secret online groups, people talk about needing something done for them, and they end up being referred to The Crow Club because they’ll take any job. While most of it feels fairly mundane — beating up bullies, having dinner with an elderly grandma, or making an ex-boyfriend jealous — the crows are willing to dip into the not-so-mundane territory, too.

The Crow Club Episode 1 sets up a modern take on the “call a guy and get it fixed” premise.

Each of the four main crows is set up to perform jobs in the premiere that range from typical to supernatural. Sun (Pon Thanapon Aiemkumchai) is a romance writer suffering from writer’s block. When he meets Talay in The Crow Club Episode 1, he’s taken with the handsome bartender and decides he needs him as a model to write his next big novel.

Ran (Title Tanatorn Saenangkanikorn) is part of a band that happens to be drinking at a bar one night, lamenting their need for a singer. When he spots the ultra-shy Phathee playing guitar and singing for guests, he knows he’s found what the band needs. Phathee is reluctant because he isn’t comfortable in front of crowds. He even sings with his back turned to the audience and refuses to talk to fans. When he turns Ran down, he contacts Linda to make it something more official.

Yoyeh (BJ Nattanon Wanichakul) is a beer distributor for the bar. When Taengmo goes to receive a delivery in The Crow Club Episode 1, he’s surprised to find Yoyeh, a man with whom he has a history. He angrily tells Yoyeh not to come back and even encourages Linda to find a different distributor. Instead, that night Taengmo receives a message that he potentially has a new job. Yoyeh needs help with a werewolf contest, though the job isn’t as clearly understood as the other contracts.

The four main crows are set up to perform jobs in The Crow Club Episode 1 that range from typical to supernatural.

Vann meets Rakkhun (Newyear Nawaphat Thannamongkhonsawat) in an elevator after completing a job in The Crow Club Episode 1. From what can be heard on his phone call, he’s on his way to the store to buy protection for his date. In the elevator, Vann, who’s wearing a facemask, presses the down button, and just as it starts moving, it gets stuck.

Rakkhun begins panicking and hyperventilating. Vann rips open his shirt to help him feel less restricted and then begins to move in mouth-to-mouth to give him more air. Rakkhun comes to and pushes Vann off of him.

Later on, when Rakkhun returns with the supplies, he and his date start becoming intimate, and the lights begin to flicker. His date sees a ghostly apparition and runs out screaming. After doing an online search, he finds The Crow Club and offers Vann a job to get rid of the ghost, unaware that they met the day before in the elevator.

Linda reminds her crows (and us) in The Crow Club Episode 1 that clients are just a mark and nothing more.

Linda reminds her crows (and us) in The Crow Club Episode 1 that clients are just a mark; a source of income and nothing more. Getting mixed up with a client for real will result in termination. Still, each crow takes their job, and the stage is set for a series that promises to be supernatural fantasy with four distinct stories of romance.

Obviously, the entire point of the series, despite Linda’s warning at the end of The Crow Club Episode 1, is to show four young men who fall for the person who hired them to complete a job. Sun is absolutely taken with Talay, even though Talay isn’t even slightly interested in love. Rakkhun is only asking for help with his ghost problem specifically because it’s keeping him single. Ran is interested in Phathee’s musical prowess but is certainly attracted to him for more than that. Taengmo is the most obvious of the bunch, being hired by his actual ex to complete a job.

Still, despite the somewhat predictable set-up, The Crow Club seems like it’s going to be a series that pushes the envelope in all the best ways. The Crow Club Episode 1 appears willing to lean into the attraction, feed into the taboo, and still tell a story that’s more interesting than simply “look at all these pretty people fall in love.”

The Crow Club has 16 episodes, so there’s plenty of room to develop these characters and their relationships. The series has done a fantastic job of giving the audience enough to chew on without being overwhelming, and an even better job of making sure these characters are reason enough to come back for the next episode. In the meantime, if you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire the A-Team…or The Crow Club.

The Crow Club Episode 1 is streaming now on Netflix with new episodes airing Fridays.