Castaway Diva (2023) K Drama Episode 4

Episode 4 of Castaway Diva begins with an advert of Ran-joo doing the rounds. Mok-ha is super excited and focused, especially with a big performance on TV coming up. It’s for 3 or 4 minutes but Mok-ha is convinced this is enough time to win people over.

Bo-geom speaks to Mok-ha that night and encourages her to get a driving licence and also a phone in order to be more professional as Ran-joo’s manager. Bo-geol eventually calls her “very pathetic” before leaving with the other reporters back to the office. Mok-ha scoffs when he leaves, wound up over his words. However, the point remains and Mok-ha really needs some money in order to get by here.

Well, there’s a position going at Brothers Salon downstairs, so Mok-ha volunteers her services and wants a job. She’s accepted, and is ecstatic about her new role. Speaking of jobs, Woo-hak shows up at the broadcast station with lunch but his brother is eyeballs-deep in work and he barely registers Woo-hak’s presence. The latter bemoans Bo-geol’s attitude, including how his self-centred nature is partly the reason why people like Mok-ha have been left behind in the digital age.

When he heads home, Woo-hak is surprised to find Mok-ha working hard at the salon. He hands over the USB drive of Ran-joo’s performance from 2008, reinforcing that this is what she’s up against with her recent performance. He also has gimbap for them, given his brother rejected the offer of food earlier on.

As they sit and eat, the attention turns to Ki-ho and just why he hasn’t got in touch with Mok-ha. Mok-ha contemplates whether he may actually have passed away. Woo-hak has a different idea though. He shows off how he hit his head when he was a kid and has a big scar. When he woke up, he didn’t even recognize his own parents. Perhaps the same could be said for how he feels about Mok-ha?

Either way, Mok-ha contemplates the idea before discussing more regarding her time on the island. She used to hate eating alone so she’d do anything to try and distract her from being on her own. This includes enticing a gull to eat with her, and also pretending to be both people at a dinner table. Woo-hak is fascinated by the fact a seagull could eat a potato, which is what Mok-ha used to lure it over to her.

Meanwhile, President Lee looks over his schedule and notices Ran-joo is making an appearance on this week’s broadcast of Heyday. Lee is worried and decides to call the sales team and also those at Heyday. Now, the main producer over there is a woman called Hong Yeon-kyung. She and Ran-joo have a lot of history, namely because Yeon-kyung doesn’t like her and this stems from Ran-joo’s diva attitude and complaining about various things back at the height of her fame.

How is this going to go now? Will it be okay? Or is it likely to kick off again? Well, surprisingly President Lee has organized a whole bunch of gifts and snacks at the gig. Apparently it’s a gesture of good will, but Mok-ha believes there’s something fishy going on here. He likens Lee to a horse chestnut – pretty on the outside but poisonous. She explains to Ran-joo that these nuts look exactly like normal chestnuts that lure you in to eat… but in reality, they can cause you to vomit and get a fever.

Ran-joo takes this onboard and instead of gorging herself on chocolate and embracing the gifts, she decides to leave it be.

In the elevator, Bo-geol and Woo-hak cross paths once more. The former is about to produce the Ran-joo interview and singing part. When he sees her up on stage, she refuses to test out her singing and instead decides to do a simple mic test, deflecting the truth here. At this point, Bo-geol clocks on to what’s happening. He finds Mok-ha backstage about to sing while Ran-joo mimes. He outright confronts Mok-ha about this, with the latter claiming that Ran-joo’s voice is definitely back now and she’s not doing anything untoward.

Heyday Again goes ahead and once more, Mok-ha sings in Ran-joo’s place backstage. Ran-joo is shocked when she hears Mok-ha sing, realizing how talented she is. However, she needs to try and out-compete her own singing from 2008. So which one wins? It’s the 2022 one! As Ran-joo heads up onto stage, Mok-ha sings for her in the back and watches the monitor as her idol revels in the limelight. It’s wotth noting here that afterwards, Ran-joo makes a telling mistake by trying to speak through her own microphone, which is obviously turned off.

When Ran-joo speaks cryptically about Ki-ho through the presenter’s mic, Ki-ho’s father happens to be watching the broadcast and he perks up immediately, realizing what’s being said. Meanwhile, viewership for the broadcast is up 40% and it’s a smash hit with viewers. When she heads down to the crowd after the show, she looks back up at the stage and sees herself in Ran-joo’s place. Given it was actually her voice, this isn’t too much of a stretch to dream of this.

Bo-geol speaks to Mok-ha and questions why Ran-joo went off-script. He believes Ki-ho could be a criminal and is laying ow, but when Mok-ha claps back with fire, admitting exactly what sort of guy Ki-ho is. Bo-geol is taken aback and stays quiet.

Word of Ran-joo’s performance spreads all over the news, both online and in print. In the midst of this, Woo-hak receives a bouquet of flowers with a card inside. However, these are actually addressed to Mok-ha! It’s a letter from Ki-ho, who wants to wait for her at 8pm that day at the station. As he reads the words, it becomes clear that he’s not Ki-ho after all.

Mok-ha races over when she finds out and sees the note for herself. She immediately starts breaking down into tears. When Woo-hak speaks to Bo-geol about this, the latter is shocked and suddenly races out to catch up with Mok-ha, who is seemingly walking into a trap. That much is true with Woo-hak, who realizes that his injury and subsequent amnesia may have been caused by Ki-ho’s father. At least, that’s what the sudden flashes seem to indicate. He too rushes out to the station.

While this is going on, Ran-joo heads over to see President Lee. She wants to know why he’s being so kind to her but he shrugs it off, claiming that he feels bad and guilty for pushing her aside. Just before leaving, Ran-joo holds his wrist and decides to kiss him. Lee pulls away though and admits that he’s told the Sales Team to recall all of her albums, both online and offline. No one can buy her albums now, and that’s why he’s doing this. This is also why he feels bad. He’s determined to sabotage her and make sure she can’t win.

Mok-ha waits outside the station for Ki-ho. Instead, she finds his dad walking purposefully toward her. Mok-ha drops her bouquet and the umbrella and decides to run for it. She trips, naturally, but a hooded figure shows up and pulls her away. Ki-ho’s father watches this with interest before eventually bolting after them.

The pair hide from Ki-ho’s dad until he’s passed and leave the station in the opposite direction, heading back up above ground. “Ki-ho.” Mok-ha says, and as he lets go of her, he removes his hood and turns around to reveal that he’s… Bo-geol!