Netflix Mask Girl recap guide: All seven episodes explained (spoilers!)

Mask Girl on Netflix recap guide

Kim Mo-mi, the protagonist of Netflix’s latest Korean drama series Mask Girl, lives a double life. By day, she’s an average office employee, and at night she puts on a mask and becomes the popular online cam girl known as “Mask Girl.”

Based on the popular Naver webtoon by Mae-mi, Mask Girl follows Mo-mi through several distinct periods of her life, from her time as a corporate worker bee to becoming a showgirl and then a prisoner serving life behind bars. But it’s best to go into Mask Girl without knowing much else, as this dark comedy-thriller series will surprise you with its many twists and turns.

Mask Girl features a stellar cast including several popular Korean stars like the popular K-pop singer and actress Nana, The Glory’s Yeom Hye-ran, and Queen Seondeok star Go Hyun-jung. Each episode chronicles a different character, focusing on their story and occasionally depicting the same events from different characters’ perspectives.

Spoiler warning for Mask Girl on Netflix

We’re recapping every episode of Mask Girl’s seven-episode first season. If you’re confused about something or missed a crucial plot point, you can bookmark the following Mask Girl recap guide and follow along!

Netflix Mask Girl episode 1 recap: Kim Mo-mi

Mask Girl begins by introducing us to protagonist Kim Mo-mi (Lee Han Byul), a seemingly average office worker who spends her days at work mooning over her married boss and gossiping with her work friend about their co-worker, a young attractive woman named A-reum.

Since she was a girl, all Mo-mi has wanted is to be beloved. She aspires to be a singer or performer, but everyone from her mother to total strangers has always told her she’s ugly. The constant ridicule has made Mo-mi incredibly insecure, hence why someone like A-reum, who gets lots of male attention, intimidates her.

By night, Mo-mi lives out her fantasies of being an entertainer with tons of admirers via her online persona, “Mask Girl.” Mo-mi conducts nightly livestreams where she dances provocatively and chats to her streamers.

She also accepts requests from viewers who ask her to do things like pour milk on herself and squeeze chopsticks between her breasts. Over time, she’s procured a sizable following of men who send her “heart pangs,” the fictional website’s version of tipping and likes.

Mask Girl is one of the most popular cam girls on the site, and has attracted several loyal viewers who frequent her chatroom. Two specific men go by the usernames “Once Upon a Prince” and “Handsome Monk.”

One night, Mo-mi goes out for dinner and drinks with her co-workers, including her boss, the office team leader, Park (Choi Daniel). When the night comes to a close she asks to share his taxi. Park gets a call from his wife and he tells her he’s alone in the cab rather than admitting he’s sharing it with Mo-mi.

Given her penchant for fantasy, it doesn’t take long for Mo-mi to create a narrative in her head that Park secretly desires her. Later, she asks her followers for their opinion on her livestream, adding that since she once complimented Park’s cologne, he’s worn the same brand ever since. What could that mean? Does he secretly find her attractive? Mo-mi bans anyone in the chat who calls her delusional.

Later, Mo-mi gets a rude awakening at work when she doubles back one night after seeing Park return to his office after hours. She sees him and A-reum having sex in his office. Devastated, Mo-mi gets drunk and starts camming. She takes off all of her clothes in real-time, which is against the site’s rules, and gets suspended.

The next day, Mo-mi is horrified by her actions while intoxicated as screencaps and videos of Mask Girl’s nude show have already spread like rapid fire online. Mo-mi goes to breakfast with several co-workers and tells them about Park and A-reum’s affair.

News of the affair spreads quickly and HR soon gets involved. Park is fired and A-reum gets relocated to another office.

Now it’s Park’s turn to get drunk as he laments losing everything. Mo-mi sees this as an opportunity and takes advantage of his inebriated state. She lures him to a nearby motel and continues fueling her fantasy that he desires her. Mo-mi starts taking off Park’s clothes, hoping to initiate something with him, though her behavior is rather creepy and rape-y on her part.

The morning after shows them in bed together, sans most of their clothing. It doesn’t seem like Mo-mi did anything to Park beyond stripping him down to his undershirt and underwear, especially since he flat out passed out, but she obviously wants Park to think something happened between them. When he wakes up, he’s mortified and makes a quick exit.

Back at work, one of Mo-mi’s colleagues, Ju Oh-nam (Ahn Jae-hong), tries talking to her but then changes his mind. Not long after, she receives an email from someone claiming to know she’s Mask Girl with a screenshot from her nude show attached. Shocked, Mo-mi rushes out of the office.

On the subway ride home, she texts Park to see if they can meet to chat. He says if it’s about the night before, he’s sorry but doesn’t remember anything. A dejected Mo-mi takes out her anger on a random man who passes her, accusing him of touching her butt while walking down the crowded aisle.

They end up getting into a physical confrontation that leads them to being arrested. The guy acts offended at the possibility he would ever be attracted to her and she attacks him again in front of the cops. Ultimately, they don’t seem to believe Mo-mi’s claims, but even if he did do it, they now saw her physically assault him. They advise her to drop it.

At home, Mo-mi is still suspended from the camming website but is allowed chatting privileges. Seeking solace, she reaches out to Once Upon a Prince, who we then see is actually her co-worker Oh-nam, the guy who tried to talk to her at the elevator!