Recap Korean Drama "Why Her (2022)" Episode 5

Why Her (Why Oh Soo-jae/왜 오수재인가) is a Korean drama series directed by Kim Ji-eun and stars Seo Hyun-jin, Hwang In-youp, Huh Joon-ho and Bae In-hyuk, alongside other cast members. The series takes up SBS’ 10 PM KST slot previously occupied by Again My Life. Why Her episode 5 has a runtime of around 66 minutes.

After that shocking ending from last week, Why Her episode 5 shows us what happened after Soo-jae gets attacked by an unknown assailant. Gong Chan gets there just in time to see the assailant and a fight breaks out in which he gets smacked right to the ground.

The guy runs off with the highly sensitive pendrive while Gong Chan finds Soo-jae bloodied on the rooftop. As they rush to the hospital, Soo-jae chooses to not report the incident and asks the police to not investigate anything and thanks Gong Chan by telling him to stop crossing lines when he shows her that he has moved the remaining files from her open home.

Anyway, Gong Chan ends up not listening to her and taking her to his place because her house is a mess. They discuss who the assailant could’ve been and after discussing theories, Soo-jae tells him that she’s uncomfortable that he knows so much about her and the situation at hand.

Still From Why Her Episode 5

 

That night, Gong Chan sits beside Soo-jae as she sleeps which puts her mind to ease when it seems like she’s having nightmares. I would think this to be a tender moment, but it just seems a tad bit creepy. Anyway, the next morning, Gong Chan wakes up on the couch with Soo-jae gone but finds a note thanking him for his help and letting him know that because of him, she stayed warm.

 

Later, she discusses whom to keep an eye on with Mi-rim and then goes back to work because it’s always best to face your assailants head-on. She gets to know from Ki-taek that Seok-pal could be someone who knew a lot about So-young since he does all his dirty work and Soo-jae wonders if he could be the one who stole from her.

Anyway, the Hansu Bio deal that she’s been looking at for so long will be decided on that night and Soo-jae seems wistful and excited at the prospect – she definitely has something up her sleeve. Meanwhile, Tae-guk gets to know that Soo-jae was robbed last night but shockingly, it wasn’t him.

Surprisingly, though, it turns out that in the scuffle, Gong Chan got hold of the pen drive but makes the mistake of asking his friends who are just as nosy as him. They ask a ton of questions but agree to help him because they figure out that it belongs to someone he likes.

Still From Why Her Episode 5

 

However, this makes Yoon-sang reach out to Gong Chan and ask him whether there’s something going on with Soo-jae. The latter is confused as to why he’s calling her ‘noona’ and they continue the discussion as class starts. Obviously, Soo-jae catches them talking in the back and straight-up throws them out.

 

Anyway, both groups figure out that Ju-wan ordered Seok-pal to do something that didn’t work out and eventually Tae-guk caught him in the act. They had even broken all of the CCTV cameras so that nothing got caught. As his friends make fun of Gong Chan for his unrequited love for this mystery woman, they try to crack the pen drive.

Soo-jae then calls him to ask whether he saw the license plate of the attacker but he simply asks her to not get herself into this mess anymore – it’s not safe for her. When she goes home, Yoon-sang meets her and tells her to call him if anything happens and not Gong Chan. So, does it seem like Yoon-sang, too, likes his noona? I sure hope not!

As Soo-jae figures out that Ki-taek too went to her place in order to steal the pen drive (but after Seok-pal), the boys in college crack the pen drive open and get to know that it belongs to their professor. They are even able to find out that Ju-wan was behind the attack, which sends Yoon-sang raging at his father who just tells him to mind his own business.

At Gong Chan’s place, he tells her everything and gives her the pen drive but she gets angry that he’s putting the entire team in harm’s way. Gong Chan tells her that he’s just worried about her but she’s too annoyed to say anything about his confession.

Still From Why Her Episode 5

As Soo-jae gets an invitation to meet Tae-guk, Se-pil meets up with Baek Jin-ki. When she gets there for the meal, however, she meets Ki-taek who tells her to hand the pen drive over but she drags him right through the mud. The way in which Soo-jae rubs salt on Ki-taek’s wound is absolutely hilarious to watch and just so well-deserved.

However, she gets her wound salted as well when he brings up the fact that she had gone to the US to have her baby, which she had with Ju-wan. Unfortunately, Tae-guk sent her there based on the pretext of sending his son after her but ended up going against his word, of course. She had a stillbirth and Ju-wan’s wedding news sent her self-harming.

 

However, the threat of exposure doesn’t really phase her and she asks him to bring Tae-guk to her. In a flashback, we see Tae-guk telling her that she should know her place and that her only options are coming back and working for him or staying in the US and ruining her life. That day, bleeding out from her wrist, Soo-jae chose violence.

In the present, Tae-guk lets her know that he knew what her intentions were all along but he let it slide because he knew her weakness that he helped cover up and used to control her. She shows him the paper company with her name on it which he used to launder money and in return for not exposing him, she asks for 70 billion won.

Why Her Episode 5 Review

Still From Why Her Episode 5

 

What an explosive episode! Soo-jae’s tragic backstory is something that the audience needed to understand her cold attitude toward everything and everyone. The creators made her face the worst of the worst in order for us to sympathise with her and honestly, it’s working. She is definitely a woman on a mission to get revenge by hook or by crook.

But the question remains, will she be able to come out of its with minimum damage? Considering her name to be on the Bahama account papers, it sure doesn’t look good right now. However, I have faith that she will surely find a way out of the quicksand.

On the other hand, I wonder how long Gong Chan can go on without Soo-jae finding out about his past. I also wonder why he doesn’t just tell her because I am pretty sure someone will use this knowledge to get back at him later. I have a sinking feeling it’s going to be Yoon-sang because it seems like he like Soo-jae as well.

I really don’t want to watch two college kids fight over their professor either. It just seems a bit much, in my opinion. That’s also one of the things that I am a little apprehensive about – the relationship between Gong Chan and Soo-jae. Although I want to ship them, he’s is quite immature and she’s too wrapped up in her revenge plot.

Although both are not bad people, the situation can’t get worse than this and I wonder how they will find their happily ever after. Everyone is going to need tons of therapy after this shitshow gets over.

Overall, Why Her episode 5 is gripping like its predecessors. There are several moments of note that will keep you on edge throughout its runtime including the various intricacies of Soo-jae and Tae-guk’s relationship. However, I don’t see it ending well for anyone here!