A Decider review recommends streaming Tempest, Hulu’s new South Korean spy thriller, citing a strong first episode, a well-known international cast and a potentially twisty political plot.
The series opens with Jun Ji-hyun as Seo Mun-ju, a former ambassador to the United Nations who has resigned and returned to South Korea to support her husband, Assemblyman Jang Junik (Park Hae-joon), a leading opposition presidential candidate. During a campaign appearance at a pro-reunification church, Jang is shot in the neck by an assailant and collapses — a scene that echoes a recurring nightmare Mun-ju has been having. A mysterious figure, Baek San-ho (Gang Dong-won), tackles the shooter as he swallows a cyanide pill. In the aftermath, Mun-ju is vilified by her late husband’s family when a lawyer reveals that Jang’s estate will be left entirely to her, and she reluctantly accepts San-ho’s offer of protection after learning he may have links to an American contact who warned him she was in danger.
The review, written by Joel Keller and published Sept. 11, 2025, notes that Tempest is written by Chung Seo-kyung and stands out for its unusually large roster of American actors in prominent roles for a non-English series. The American cast named in the review includes Spencer Garrett, John Cho, Brooke Smith, Christopher Gorham and Michael Gaston. Keller pointed out that, apart from Garrett, those U.S.-based actors do not appear in the series’ first episode, which focuses on establishing the relationship between Mun-ju and San-ho and the forces that appear to be converging on her.
Keller compared Tempest’s tone to that of The Diplomat, saying the show mixes political maneuvering with personal danger and leaves room for further revelations. The first episode introduces several strands that could produce twists: Jang’s opposition to reunification with North Korea; the family’s quick turn against Mun-ju after his death; San-ho’s Korean-American military and security background; and an ambiguous message from the dying Jang, who utters the word "Peaches" as he loses consciousness.
The review also remarked on what it described as an absence of explicit sex or nudity in the premiere. Keller concluded that the episode’s strengths — the central performances, the international cast and the potential for political intrigue — make Tempest worth watching, issuing a "STREAM IT" recommendation.
Tempest will likely draw attention from viewers who follow global productions that incorporate English-language actors into East Asian narratives, and from audiences interested in espionage stories that foreground contemporary Korean Peninsula tensions. The series’ pacing and the role of the American performers beyond the pilot remain to be seen, but the premiere establishes the stakes and sets up questions about who stood to gain from Jang’s assassination and who is orchestrating the threats surrounding Mun-ju.
The review is one of several early takes on the series; broader critical and audience responses will become clearer as more episodes are released on Hulu.