Recap Korean Drama "Little Women (2022)" Episode 3

After witnessing Hyun-min’s death, episode 3 of Little Women sees In-joo shaken. In-kyung confronts In-hye about her connection with Park Jae-sang’s daughter, Hyo-rin. The younger of the two states that gave away her painting to Hyo-rin because her mother promised to fund In-hye’s education at the Boston Arts High School alongside Hyo-rin.

In-kyung tells her sister that she is committing a crime but In-hye states that her talent holds no value in comparison to Park Hyo-rin and her family name. The youngest sister wants to live a life of luxury even if it means committing a crime. In-joo drags Hyun-min’s body out of the crashed car herself and calls the cops.

In-kyung learns that In-hye had skipped her class before it ended. Her friends tell In-kyung that In-hye was at Hyo-rin’s house for a celebration. In-joo is trying to help Hyun-min by performing CPR on him when Do-il calls his phone. She tells him what happened just as the ambulance arrives.

A shaken In-joo notices the blue orchid that has fallen from Hyun-min’s car. In-kyung is at Park Jae-sang’s house where she is denied entry into the party. She lets Jae-sang and his security know that she is here to see In-hye. In-hye hides away as In-kyung barges into the party and creates a scene. She calls In-hye but the younger sister does not answer.

At the celebration, Hyo-rin’s father Jae-sang talks to In-hye about her paintings. They reassure In-hye saying they had big plans for her future and she is glad about it. Meanwhile, In-kyung purchases alcohol while In-joo is in a state of shock when Do-il arrives at the hospital. She tells him what happened and how she confronted Hyun-min before the accident.

Do-il reassures her, gives her an alibi to save her from being blamed for the accident and breaks the news about Shin Hyun-min’s death to her. In-joo begins doubting Do-il and asks if he was aware of the accident beforehand. In-kyung is drunk now and climbs up a pole outside Park Jae-sang’s house to make a scene and get In-hye out.

In-hye is made uncomfortable by the comments from the guests while In-kyung’s colleague who is at the party records the incident. Park Jae-sang smiles wickedly noticing In-kyung’s outburst while his wife and Hyo-rin try to reassure a disappointed In-hye. The cops arrive but Jae-sang asks her to be let go.

In-kyung confronts Jae-sang asking him his true intentions about helping In-hye and leaves him with a stern warning. At the hospital, Do-il informs In-joo about Hwa-young’s fraudulent activities and the fact that she withdrew 2 billion won in cash. In-joo is tense when Do-il mentions that Hwa-young may be working with an accomplice.

Now that Hyun-min is dead, they want to pin the blame onto him stating that he acquired the 70 billion won from Hwa-young. He asks In-joo to trust her as he has nothing to gain from her. Park Jae-sang and his wife are worried about Hyo-rin’s future is on the line now that In-hye has turned out to be Reporter In-kyung’s sister.

Jae-sang tells his wife that In-hye being In-kyung’s sister is their leverage against the loudmouthed reporter. That night, In-hye is really angry with In-kyung and In-joo worriedly washes the blood from her clothes. In-joo recalls her day at work as she read through the Hwa-young’s letters and postcards in her office.

She is able to find a link with CEO Won Sang-woo who is in the psychiatric hospital. She takes the bag with the 2 billion won with a bloomed flower to meet Sang-woo as per Hwa-young’s request. In-kyung is being reprimanded at work for her actions. Before In-kyung’s boss kicks her colleague, Ma-ri out, In-kyung asks her why she was at the party at Park Jae-sang’s house.

In-kyung confronts Ma-ri for filming the video and their boss asks her to leave. He talks to In-kyung who asks him to fire her over the incident. At the hospital, In-joo is taken to Sang-woo’s room where she finds similar sketches of flowers. She tells him about the 2 billion won and how she felt upon finding it.

In-joo wonders what she should do with the money and Sang-woo tells her that the slush funds are a part of the business. He explains that the reason why he was in the psychiatric hospital is that he ratted his father who was the former CEO out on the slush funds. Upon his advice, In-joo decides to keep and spend the money.

He advises her that if the money makes her anxious, she should turn it into things that do not make her feel worried. He hands her the ledgers to the slush funds, something that Do-il and his team were looking to find. Sung-woo tells her that he is being kind to her because of Hwa-young.

Just then, Choi Do-il and his men arrive to meet Sang-woo and a worried In-joo flees from the hospital room window. When Do-il and his men enter the room, he asks Sang-woo about the ledgers and asks to be allowed to search the hospital room. Meanwhile, In-joo uses the ropes to flee. Do-il finds In-joo’s phone and spots her running away at a distance.

Park Jae-sang is being interviewed on camera while he is having dinner with his family while In-hye is with them. In-hye speaks fondly of the family and is being treated to proper meals. As In-joo is sitting at the bus stop with her belongings when Do-il spots her. In his car, Do-il explains that Park Jae-sang is the brother-in-law of Won Sang-woo.

He adds that Sang-woo gave the ledgers to In-joo to have his revenge against Jae-sang without lifting a finger. In-joo confronts Do-il and tells him now that he is aware of her involvement with Hwa-young’s ledgers and about the 2 billion won, they should strike a deal. Do-il hints that 2 billion won is a very small settlement and asks her to wait before they strike a deal.

He tells her with the election approaching, the ledgers will hold more value which will enable her to negotiate a much bigger sum in the future. Do-il asks In-joo to team up with him and split the profit 50/50. In-joo tells him she is afraid of him and thinks Do-il was involved in the death of Hyun-min. He reassures her by bringing up Hwa-young, stating that he had been close to her and would not harm In-joo.

Do-il asks In-joo to rent a safety deposit box in a bank and store the ledgers there. He calls In-joo a game changer and asks her to go with the flow in this game they are now a part of. In-joo eventually asks the money to be split 60/40 and states that she will be keeping these 2 billion won anyway.

In-kyung discusses In-hye and her fight with Jong-ho. He tells her that he started video blogging his garden on social media to be inspired and reveals that it was one of her old videos as a reporter that motivated him to start his journey as a video blogger. Just then she gets a call from later Kim Cheol-seong’s brother and they meet up to chat.

Hui-seong tells In-kyung about his brother’s relationship with the victim and reveals a flash drive that was found on Cheol-seong’s body. In-kyung and Jong-ho study the video from the footage and find that the victim was sniffing something blue (possibly an orchid) before he was found dead in his hospital room minutes after his attorney, Park Jae-sang visited him.

In-joo is back home where she finds In-hye who tells the eldest sister of her plans to study in Boston. In-joo is shocked to learn that she is going to accompany Hyo-rin as her guardian to Boston. In-joo is pissed and tells her she will be sending In-hye to Boston on her own.  In-hye tells her sister that she would rather live as a maid to Hyo-rin in Boston than live with her sisters in the house that they lived in.

Jong-ho is worried about leaving In-kyung alone and asks to tag along with her when she goes to investigate the murder. He hints that after his grandfather passes, he will be left alone which is why he doesn’t want to leave In-kyung in danger. In-kyung notices the flower that Jong-ho picked from Cheol-seong’s accident and In-kyung realises it was the same flower that the victim sniffed in the video.

The next day, In-joo is chatting up with Park Jae-sang’s wife about them sending In-hye abroad with their daughter, Hyo-rin. She offers the money for the trip in cash but Jae-sang’s wife claims that In-hye received a scholarship that was funding her trip. Jae-sang’s wife, San-a shows her In-hye’s paintings which all had a dark subtext to them.

One of the paintings, according to In-hye featured her ‘dying sister’ which San-a states is how In-hye feels watching her sisters struggle to give her a better life. San-a calls to have In-joo investigated after she showed up in expensive heels and so much cash. In-kyung and Jong-ho start looking up about the flower while In-joo takes Yoga lessons when she recalls a traumatic past memory. 

Jong-ho finds out how the orchid could be connected to the victim’s death and he drops her back home. At the house, In-kyung finds the boxes full of money in their freezer and is shocked as she confronts In-joo about its connection with Hwa-young.

The sisters argue as In-kyung states keeping the money is too dangerous while In-joo states that keeping something that is already embezzled is not stealing. In-joo tells In-kyung about a fourth sister of theirs who had died because they did not have money to treat her. In-kyung is shocked but shares how she is okay with being poor but not stealing.

In-joo tells In-kyung that she does not mind being turned in and reveals that In-hye knows about the dead sister even though she was born after her death. In-joo leaves with the cash and starts spending the money on shopping for clothes.

She leaves the money in the locker at the Yoga class and meets their great aunt. She tells the old woman about the money and her desire to buy a three-bedroom apartment in Seoul. Hye-suk asks for some time and In-joo tells her to work as fast as she can to save herself from the guilt.

In-joo claims that the guilt of their third sister dying was why Hye-suk took in In-kyung. Hye-suk agrees to help her out and tells In-joo that she did not hate all children but only In-joo. In-joo is happy as she thanks her for the help.

Meanwhile, In-hye is at Park Jae-sang’s house where she picks a doll from a dollhouse. Jae-sang confronts her about it and narrates how he got into San-a’s rich family despite being a driver’s son. He asks her if she is willing to betray someone she loves the most in the world, leaving her shocked and in tears.

The Episode Review

Every single episode of Little Women seems to be a lot more intense than the last. From a 70 billion won slush fund that is the crux of this story, to a poor family that has chanced upon a huge sum of money. From In-kyung’s brash decisions to In-joo’s need to be dependent on money, we learn a lot about the sensibilities of the two older sisters.

In-hye’s need to save her sisters from suffering because of her is something that was the highlight of this episode. Do-il is seemingly a good guy at the moment but I am not sure why I can trust him enough yet.

He could be someone who is involved in the grand scheme of things and someone who could turn his back on In-joo in the episodes to come.

Sang-woo seems like a nice person who was wronged because of his unwillingness to be a bad person and make decisions politically. However, it is quite possible that he is the mastermind behind every single death so far, including the victims of the Bobae Savings Bank scam due to his obsession with the blue orchid.