Recap Korean Drama "Little Women (2022)" Episode 4

Episode 4 of Little Women starts with Park Jae-sang telling In-hye that she will have to make a sacrifice to live the life she dreams of. She asks him what was his big sacrifice that brought Jae-sang into the life of the rich. Jae-sang reveals it to be his father’s death.

The next day, In-joo and Hye-suk go looking for properties when the great aunt tells her granddaughter that when she moved back to Korea with her alimony settlement, she chose not to remarry and remain wealthy, inspiring In-joo.

Hyo-rin visits In-hye in her small house while Hye-suk and In-joo look at an apartment owned by Hye-suk herself. As In-joo inspects the new house with Hye-suk, Hyo-rin is shocked by the state of the Oh sisters’ present accommodation. Hye-suk teaches In-joo a lesson about capitalism and asks her to be prepared to lose something in order to make money.

She gives In-joo until the next morning to come to a decision. Hyo-rin is amazed by the way In-hye lives and asks her to appreciate the love her sisters give her but In-hye suggests that it is not something that she wants. In-hye leaves a note for her sisters that she will be staying at Hyo-rin’s that night.

In-joo tells In-kyung that she feels welcomed in the apartment and the middle child is unhappy about her sister buying the property with stolen money. In-joo states that the house makes her feel safe but In-kyung who is rushing to be somewhere still does not buy it.

In-joo wants to live a better life by starting anew but In-kyung disagrees, calling the 2 billion won measly. In-joo reprimands her by stating how they would still have their sister had they not been poor. In-kyung states she will stop drinking to help turn their lives around but In-joo contradicts that the only way to do so is by not being poor.

In-joo promises to bring their family together but In-kyung suggests they cut ties since she is a reporter who berates criminals by profession. Just like In-hye did to her, In-kyung blocks her older sister, In-joo asking her to not call her back. In-kyung meets the nurse who took care of the Bobae Savings Bank victim, Kim Dal-su.

The nurse states that Park Jae-sang’s words immediately calmed Dal-su, who had been erratic all day. She mentions that the former attorney had a stone-cold stare that scared her but he was able to help Dal-su come back to his senses before he killed himself. In-kyung asks her about the blue orchid in his hand and the nurse suggests that the lawyer gave it to him.

In-kyung is with Jong-ho when she studies the myth behind the blue orchid when he indirectly hits on her. Meanwhile, San-a invites In-hye to a meal and tasks her with a secret mission. Jong-ho reads up about the ghost orchid and reveals how it’s called the orchid of death.

San-a takes Hyo-rin to a hidden greenhouse which has a tree of blue ghost orchids – which is illegal to grow due to its poisonous nature. She plucks one flower and gives it to In-hye who sniffs it immediately. She then takes the flower back and places it on the tree confusing the girl. San-a asks In-hye to draw her portrait as part of the secret mission and In-hye starts doing so in the same room.

In-kyung reads up about the flower and wonders how it could act as a sedative. In-kyung reads more about the symptoms of sniffing an orchid whereas In-hye who has just sniffed it starts feeling light-headed. In-hye asks San-a why the portrait was a secret and the latter gives an absurd response stating she only likes things that are unbeknownst to the world.

She asks if In-hye was okay but she is having some hallucinations now. In-hye is hearing things now where the voice in her head asks her to run away while In-kyung reads up the lethal dangers of ingesting the flower in any form. In-hye becomes erratic while the voice in her head says, “if you don’t run faster you will die” as she collapses in the room.

In-joo rushes to the hospital where San-a tells her that In-joo is tired from the tests. At the hospital, In-joo discovers that In-hye is suffering from Luigi’s disease which requires immediate surgery. In-joo is overwhelmed and calls her mother who is crying on the phone.

In-joo tells In-kyung about In-hye’s condition and mentions that their deceased sister In-seon also died due to this disease. She wants to use the 2 billion won to save In-hye and In-kyung finally agrees to let In-joo use the money. Park Jae-sang learns that the public opinion about him is favourable and that the slush funds will take time to be found.

Ko Soo-im (from Wonryeong) group tells him that he needs a sad story to make it to the number 1 spot from number 2. Just then, San-a arrives from the hospital telling him about In-hye’s rare genetic medical condition giving him an idea. Do-il tries to warn In-joo about Soo-im but she doesn’t listen.

While she is at the Yoga centre, taking some cash out of the bag, Soo-im finds In-joo and takes the 2 billion won back. In-joo asks to be given 100 million won at least in order to treat her sister but Soo-im mocks her. Soo-im asks her how low In-joo was able to stoop for the money and In-joo tells the former to do her best.

She tells her that in order to get 100 million won In-joo will have to be hit 10 consecutive times by Soo-im and the former agrees. In-joo collapses after the fourth hit and Soo-im starts whacking her with a stick. Just as she is about to hit In-joo the sixth time, Do-il stops her.

She states that In-joo consented to their game and In-joo agrees despite being in pain. Soo-im asks In-joo is she can continue and the latter agrees when San-a arrives and reprimands Soo-im for putting a stop to In-joo’s assault. San-a takes In-joo to the same restaurant as p took her and offers In-joo her jacket just like the now-deceased accountant did. San-a surprisingly also wore the same rare heels shocking In-joo.

She asks San-a about her closeness with Hwa-young and the two chat up about how Hwa-young accepted gifts including the heels from San-a. She invites In-joo to work as her assistant and lures her in with the idea of being well-paid. In-joo claims that Hwa-young never may have considered San-a as her friend because someone as rich as her could never be close to someone as poor as In-joo and Hwa-young.  She accepts San-a’s job offer but states she will never be s friend.

Just as San-a is about to make another proposition for In-hye’s treatment, In-joo gets a call from In-kyung. In-hye has suffered another health scare that has them rush her into surgery. When In-hye is in surgery, In-joo tells In-kyung that the money won’t be a problem for them.

In-hye suffers a traumatic episode of the same memory in surgery but wakes up missing her mother the following day. As they call their mother, In-hye asks about In-seon stating that she thinks she had died once in the past. In-joo reprimands her mother for traumatising In-hye as her child with the memory of In-seon’s death.

Their mother states she cannot come to see In-hye at the hospital because she is busy but the two daughters call her out for lying about their father’s accident. In-joo blocks her mother’s phone number after ending the call. Park Jae-sang, San-a and Hyo-rin visit In-hye at the hospital where the meeting is being filmed for TV.

In-kyung creates a scene, shocked by their presence but In-joo asks the middle child to wait outside. In-kyung asks them to stop the chaos and let In-hye rest but she agrees to an interview. The two sisters are upset with In-hye, praising the Park family for saving her life.

In-kyung fights with In-joo about the family’s involvement in In-hye’s treatment while Jae-sang watches from afar. He joins them and tells In-kyung to continue investigating him as she was. As Soo-im is about to make a payment for In-hye’s treatment on Park Jae-sang’s behalf, Hye-suk arrives upon In-kyung’s request and pays for it instead.

Park Jae-sang and his team are disappointed by this and he tries to reason with her. However, Hye-suk brings him down by mentioning his father. Meanwhile, Do-il is on a call with someone in Singapore about the money who learns that the funds are saved under a different name than Hwa-young.

The sisters help nurse In-hye back to health but she is adamant about going to Boston with Hyo-rin. In-hye argues that living abroad is a different life and she wants to learn about it from San-a as both her sisters are inexperienced. In-hye mentions that In-seon; their dead sister warned her to flee away from the family before winding up dead.

In-joo tells In-kyung about the ledgers with the hope of sending In-hye abroad herself but In-kyung thinks of using them to expose Park Jae-sang. At Jongho’s house, In-kyung gets on a call with the author of the novel about the blue orchid. The author states that the flower was told to possess the power of making one hear the feelings of the dead.

He gives In-kyung the address where he was able to find an orchid from South Korea. The address turns out the be the same as Cheol-seong had given In-kyung before his death.

In-joo meets Do-il who tells her that for the past three years, Hwa-young has been living in Singapore with Oh In-joo’s identity. He also reveals that she split the 70 billion won into seven different accounts, all under In-joo’s name. In-joo recalls signing the papers for Hwa-young and is left confused. She asks Do-il for her to be sent to Singapore immediately. 

The Episode Review

Oh, what an episode this was! From the first minute to the end, Little Women was able to deliver one thrill after the other. Right from In-joo’s quarrel with In-kyung about why she believed that money is important to live a normal life, to In-hye suddenly collapsing, all the way across to Hwa-young’s grand fraud being exposed.

My biggest worry from this episode is why San-a took In-hye to a room full of deadly orchids and not stop her when was sniffing one. Was that all on purpose? At first, I was upset that In-joo was losing the money and then hated the fact that Soo-im was such a maniac who was willing to kill her. But then I loved Do-il’s entry and his protectiveness of In-joo too.

From San-a’s revelation, is anyone else feeling like Park Jae-sang had an affair with Hwa-young? This is something that the woman probably wants to hide so she is lying about her friendship with Hwa-young. She also harvests an entire greenhouse of blue orchids. San-a and Jae-sang are the most plausible suspects behind all these murders so far.

I have never seen a more selfish and pathetic parent like the sisters’ mother and father. Every time they come on screen my disgust is amplified beyond explanation. I loved it when Hye-suk came to save the day and ruined the Park family’s plans of gaining public sympathy over In-hye’s medical fees.

In-hye’s behaviour is probably a result of her conversation with Park Jae-sang at the beginning of this episode. The girl is possibly trying to show her loyalty to the family by berating her sisters on public television, but the next episode could possibly change her mind by showing her the reality of the rich.