Revenant (2023) K Drama Episode 4

Episode 4 of Revenant picks up where we left with  Hae-Sang and a possessed San-Yeong on the bridge.  San- Yeong questions if Hae-sang remembers the day his mom died and who is the real guilty party between them. She is obviously mocking him but Hae-Sang doesn’t take her bait. He tells her that he will find out the history of the red hair ribbon and  the truth about her existence. Before leaving San- Yeong’s body, the ghost tells him a series of numbers: 21 and 176.

San-Yeong returns back to normal but still remembers those numbers. She asks Hae-Sang what happened and he assures her that she didn’t hurt anyone. He gives her the red hair ribbon and asks her to keep it. Hae-Sang asks if she knows the meaning of the numbers but she doesn’t.

The next morning, they set out to continue investigating the history of Jangjin-Ri. On the ride home, San- Yeong confesses that she doesn’t remember what happened with the loan shark boss back at the aquarium. Hae-Sang advises her to be wary of the night and water bodies and be careful on rainy days. He makes a stop at the bank and lends some money to San-Yeong; he warns her that ghosts use people’s weakness against them.

He is worried her financial situation will be her liability. Initially, San-Yeong refuses the money but decides to only take the amount she needs and returns the rest. She promises to pay him back and drives off. San-Yeong tells Gyeong-Mun that she got money from Hae-Sang. Gyeong-Mun doesn’t approve and San-Yeong asks her what she has against Hae-Sang and why she won’t talk to her about her dad.

Hae-Sang returns home and meets with Woo-Jin. He tells Woo-Jin that he is getting rid of all the alcoholic drinks in his house because that is his weakness. Hae-Sang is preparing to go head-to-head with the ghost and wants to be ready.

At the police station, Mun-Chun is still thinking about Tae-Young’s case even though they handed it over to another team. Hong-Sae was under the impression that he will get to pick a new case but Mun-Chun insists the case is not over. He is curious about why San-Yeong was eerily smiling at the loan shark boss as he destroyed his store. He is also bothered about the bruises on the loan shark’s hands.

Hong-Sae starts having flashbacks of when he first met San-Yeong. It seems like he had a secret crush on her during their school days. He starts to wonder what happened to her and how she became involved in all these cases.

Mun-Chun meets with the detective in charge of Seok-ran’s case and learns that it was ruled as a suicide. The detective has many questions but there is no proof of foul play. The detective also gives Mun-Chun a copy of what remained after Gang-mo’s notebook was burnt. They only managed to recover what looks like a newspaper cutting of a girl who went missing in 1958. He and Hong-Sae decide to look into the case. They track the old detective in the 1958 case and he tells them the fate of the young girl.

Meanwhile, San-Yeong sneaks into her late grandmother’s house and starts looking for answers about the numbers. She is startled when Hae-Sang also shows up looking for answers as well. They work together and San-Yeong decides to take a copy of her father’s published books on ghosts to read later.

Unfortunately, their search is futile and the only thing they discover is San-Yeong’s old room. It looks like her dad kept it the same throughout the years and Hae-Sang believes that Gang-mo missed his family.  Throughout their search, Hae-Sang patiently explains some of the relics in the house and teaches San-Yeong a few things about ghosts. As they search the house for clues, Tae-Young’s great-uncle calls Hae-Sang and invites them over.

Tae-Young is finally in a position to talk and ready to answer questions. She is also grateful to Hae-Sang for saving her. She tells them about the conversations her dad had with Gang-mo. It seems like Gang-mo was interested in the case of Lee Mokdan, a young girl who went missing in the village in 1958.

According to rumours, Mokdan was kidnapped while playing hide and seek with her friends. In a flashback, we see a young Mokdan hiding during the game. A shaman calls her over. In the flashback, Mokdan is spotted wearing the red hair ribbon. Is she the evil spirit? What happened to her?

San-Yeong and Mun-Chun head to the library to look over the newspaper reports of the kidnapping.  San-Yeong comes across an article stating that Mokdan was found dead two weeks later. She was starved to death and one of her fingers was cut off.  Hae-Sang recognizes the ritual that was performed on Mookdan by the shaman. The shaman used Mookdan to create Yeonmae. Yeonmae is the ritual of killing a child to make a juvenile ghost (a vengeful spirit that died young). The creation of Yeonmaes was long forbidden but it seems the shaman didn’t care.

San- Yeong remembers reading something similar in her dad’s book and takes it out for reference. This is when they realize the numbers were page references in the book. Gang-Mo had talked about the Baekchagol, the straw doll ritual to get rid of wandering ghosts.

With the new clue, they head to the Baekchagol village where a lady is already being haunted by a ghost. She refuses to open the door even though it is raining heavily outside and her daughter keeps banging the door.

San-Yeong and Hae-Sang arrive to find the old villagers residing in the village preparing to hold the  Baekchagol ritual. It is something they do annually but as they are getting old, it is taking a toll on them.  The village head tries to rally everyone to cooperate as this is an important tradition they must hold. One of the villagers against the ritual is the old woman who refused to open the door to her daughter.

The villagers welcome San-Yeong and Hae-Sang, where they gladly discuss the Baekchagol ritual. San-Yeong seems at ease but Hae-Sang is scared, like he is seeing ghosts. The villages start answering questions about Gang-mo, while San-Yeong is surprised to hear her mom mentioned. She is shocked to learn that her mom was from Baekchagol. Apparently, something terrible happened to her maternal grandmother.  San- Yeong calls her mom to ask her about it but gets no answers. Her mom only begs her to urgently leave Baekchagol.

As they talk over the phone, one of the villagers dies. Hae-Sang senses that it was caused by a wandering ghost and San-Yeong is finally able to see the ghosts too. After the police arrive to clear the body, Hae-Sang warns the villagers to head back to their houses. He advises them to avoid turning back, lock their doors immediately after getting home and only open them in the morning.

He asks the village head to show him the straw dolls but they are unable to find them. The village head wonders if one of the villagers moved them while cleaning. They decide to separate and each go to the house of the cleaners who were on duty that morning. On the way, San- Yeong sees so many wandering ghosts but is able to rescue one of the villagers from death.

It seems the ghosts are out to get the villagers and are making their moves. Hae-Sang heads to Ms Park’s house, the woman who won’t open the door for her daughter. He is surprised to find her having supper with the ghost of her daughter. She tells him that she got rid of the straw dolls by burning them so that she can be free to be with her daughter. Her daughter committed suicide and she has been missing her ever since.

Meanwhile, Mun-Chun’s investigation into Mookdan leads them to the daughter of the newspaper reporter. She tells them that her dad committed suicide the day the article was published. Mun-Chun asks about the hand bruises and she confirms that her dad had them too when he died. She also tells them that Gang-mo visited her last year. Mun-Chun and Hong-Sae decide to look into the professor as his name keeps coming up in each case.

Back in the village, things get hectic as the ghosts run rampant across the streets. The episode ends with San-Yeong coming face to face with her father’s ghost.

The Episode Review

The ending scene had us at the edge of our seats. What will Gang-Mo’s ghost say or do to San-Yeong? What will the evil spirit in San-Yeong do? We have so many questions and have to wait until next week to find out more.

The biggest twist in this episode has been  Gyeong-Mun’s history. She  was born in Baekchagol but refuses to tell San-Yeong more. What other secrets is she hiding? She is like an enigma and we are starting to unravel her, one truth after the other. It is going to be intriguing and we can barely wait!