4Minutes (Thai BL) – Season 1 Episode 4 Recap & Review

Episode 4

Episode 4 of 4Minutes begins with the Chief pushing Win to get the DNA tests on the second riverfront murder. Win calls the forensics and confirms that the blood on the rock is of the second victim and the fingerprint on it is of an Anuwat Warindej. Win looks shocked and at that moment, Tonkla calls.

At present, Tyme runs off and Great is shocked. He stops a bleeding Korn from going after Tyme and takes him to the hospital. The next day at the hospital, Den watches as Great searches for Tyme high and dry. He finally finds him in an OR and waits all day. Once Tyme comes out, Great confronts him.

But the tables turn as Tyme reveals that Great’s parents, the Sriwats are scammers which led to his parents’ death. He asks about Nan which confuses Great. Tyme believes Great is feigning ignorance and storms off. Great gets an attack and goes back in time to 4 minutes ago when Tyme comes out of the OR. This time, Great offers to find Nan. 

Meanwhile, Win helps Tonkla hold his brother’s funeral. Someone follows Win and he reveals that he hasn’t stopped looking into Tonkla’s brother’s case. The killer must be from a powerful family who wants to stop him. He also believes that the family must be out to get the victim’s brother and offers to move in with Tonkla till the case is resolved.

Tonkla is more than happy and once they are at his place, he hits on Win. However, they are interrupted by Korn’s arrival outside. Tonkla has Win hide and pretends everything is fine. Korn is initially apologetic for going MIA but tries to force himself on Tonkla when he is unresponsive.

He stops when Tonkla reveals his brother’s death and Korn tries to help with the investigation. Frustrated with his hot and cold behaviour, Tonkla kicks him out. Win looks shaken but Tonkla resumes their foreplay. After they hook up, Win pretends to sleep while Tonkla looks at a cat’s collar and reminisces about his time with Korn. 

In a flashback, we see that Korn was Tonkla’s high school senior. Tonkla’s abusive family killed his cat which had him burying it at the campus. Korn happens upon a beaten-up Tonkla and tells him to keep the cat’s collar as something to remember it by. He also gives Tonkla his senior ribbon so no one in school bullies him.

They start dating and their first time together is gentle as they profess their love for each other. Tonkla is also afraid of his drunk and abusive dad and Korn helps him and his brother move out. 

At present, Korn happens upon Samarn torturing Nan. He tells him to stop and tries to appeal to Nan. He promises to pay her and let her go as long as she tells him who she contacted. He also warns Samarn not to hurt her but the man instantly kicks her once Korn leaves. 

Meanwhile, Lukwa visits Den. She shares that when she went into cardiac arrest, she saw herself at an exhibition where the clock was 4:00. And along with her someone else was in the room and it happens to be Great. 

Elsewhere, Korn is heartbroken as he recalls Tonkla kicking him out. Great gives him company as Korn rants about being a failure. Great tries to ask about his job and Korn shares that one wrong move will ruin everything. He refuses to talk more and Great gets him drunk. Korn is super affectionate with his brother but once he passes out, Great goes through his phone and finds Nan’s location. He forwards it to Tyme and then heads there himself. 

Tyme is busy in the OR and sees the message too late. Great is already at the warehouse and sneaks in to find Samarn torturing Nan. She provokes him and he kills her. Great panics and goes back to 4 minutes ago. This time, he barges in instantly and claims that Korn has sent him to transfer Nan. Samarn is confused and while he tries to call Korn, Great tries to run off with Nan. 

Realising that he has been tricked, Samarn and a couple of guards surround Great and Nan. Tyme arrives in time and takes down 2 of the men. Great joins him and they grab guns from the fallen guards. Unable to shoot Great, an angry Samarn is forced to let them go.

After dropping Nan at the hospital, Great stops in the middle of nowhere and screams in delight at having pulled off such a risky escape. Tyme is amused and compares his visions to those of superheroes’ powers. They hide in a hotel and Great is still riding the high from the adrenaline rush. Tyme finds it funny as he tries to fix his messy hair. They kiss and end up having sex.

At the hospital, Dome is discharged and Nurse Bee hands him his prescription and meds. As he leaves, he sweetly informs someone that he is coming home. He stops in front of Tonkla’s house and calls him brother. On hearing his voice, a shocked Tonkla turns but doesn’t see anyone.

At the end of 4Minutes Episode 4, we see that the funeral Tonkla held was for Dome whose government name is Anawat Warindej. They are not only brothers but this means Anuwat Warindej is Tonkla, the prime suspect.

The Episode Review

Well, we are finally close to resolving the murder mystery, unlike a certain lovestruck detective. Ironic that his name is Win but he’s yet to win at his job or in his love life. So, what we have so far is that in Tonkla and Win’s timeline, Great never stopped Title from killing Dome. And with Title missing since that night when he accosted Great, we can hazard a guess that it is Tonkla who killed Title to avenge his brother.

Title comes from a powerful family and they probably want it under wraps that he killed Dome and then was killed. But why does Title mess with Dome if he knows that he has Great’s brother on his side? And why can Tonkla see his dead cat in Episode 1 and again hear Dome’s voice at the end of 4Minutes Episode 4? Questions, questions, questions.

And we are such clowns, no one guessed the parallel timeline plot twist despite the trailer including a shot of Tyme and Great’s reflection which is not only upside down but also flipped horizontally suggesting that there are 2 timelines.

But we do wonder how it works for Korn who is the point where the timeline overlaps. He is in Great’s timeline where Dome is alive and Great is busy making changes and saving lives. But with Korn meeting Tonkla and learning that Dome is dead, Korn is now also in the “real” timeline where Dome is dead along with the car crash victim and Nan.

This also gives us Dark deja vu (okay, we will try to keep it mostly spoiler-free for those who haven’t watched the Netflix show) with one of the timelines possibly disappearing depending on Great’s decision once his clock hits 11:04.

And while the show so far has been doing pretty well and assuaging all of our fears from previous episodes, one major issue that 4Minutes has from start to end is the miscast of 18-year-old Fuaiz as Tonkla which is even more blatant in this episode with that high school flashback. As a disclaimer, we don’t have anything against Fuaiz who is a pretty good actor and isn’t afraid to commit.

But barring the just legal age factor, he looks even younger which doesn’t fit his character who is a 27-year-old naive romantic turned scheming manipulator and possible killer. Not only that, he also has multiple explicit sex scenes which makes it uncomfortable to watch. With BOC having such a wide roster of talents, we wonder why they couldn’t have picked anyone else from Tong and Us to the already popular Perth for such an R-rated show.