Motel California – K-drama Episode 4 Recap & Review

Episode 4

Episode 4 of Motel California begins with Kang-hee trying to stop Yeon-soo’s wedding but Yeon-soo has moved on from her after Kang-hee’s curt rejection. Kang-hee gets in a fight with the bride and then wakes — it was a nightmare. She asks Ah-reum what would happen if she went back to Hana-eup. Since they’ve found their respective partners, Ah-reum says that Kang-hee and Yeon-soo will be fine if she goes back. Kang-hee insists that she won’t return.

But the next scene has her running to the office saying she’ll take the job. In fact, Jung-goo gets into a car accident which leaves Kang-hee and Seok-kyung to take up the job anyway. On the way, she tells Seok-kyung not to call her by her name while they are there. He settles on calling her Ms. Manager.

They go to the client’s place which — shockingly — turns out to be Motel California. She walks into the motel and pretends to meet her father for the first time. Chun-pil plays along, although he’s surprised when Seok-kyung reveals that Kang-hee told him her father passed away when she was ten.

They get on with the meeting and Seok-kyung describes how they plan on branding the motel as an “Otel”, eliminating the difference between a hotel and a motel. Chun-pil looks proud, watching his daughter work.

He excuses himself and recalls how he had told Kang-hee about buying the space across the motel and giving it a pool and a jazz bar — the same details Kang-hee just described to him. He then heads back to the designers and agrees with their plans.

Kang-hee leaves and remembers how her father had made the neon Motel California lights read “Otel” since he had always dreamt of owning a hotel. She and Seok-kyung visit the site of the new motel and then head for another hotel, where they will be staying. That’s when they bump into Yeon-soo and Nan-woo.

As Yeon-soo carries Nan-woo out, Kang-hee sees him and then walks away. Yeon-soo runs after her and asks her what she’s doing in town. She says she will finish work on the motel quietly and then leave. The motel will open by Christmas Day.

Later, Seok-kyung recognises that Yeon-soo was Kang-hee’s first love. She tells him that Yeon-soo was her saviour. A flashback shows Yeon-soo arriving at school as a transfer student. Little Kang-hee immediately recruits Yeon-soo on her team, a strong player in the face of bullies. Another flashback shows an older Yeon-soo telling her he has liked her since he met her in school.

At present, Yeon-soo realises that everyone in town already knows that Kang-hee is here to work on the new motel. He later overhears the construction workers talking about Kang-hee. Han-woo and Seung-eon have also heard rumours that Seok-kyung is into gambling or drugs. Yeon-soo looks worried.

He later sees Seok-kyung driving somewhere and follows in his own truck. Seok-kyung spots a dog chained up on the side of a road and stops to let it loose. Yeon-soo helps as well and agrees to take the dog to his clinic. At the last minute, he decides not to ask Seok-kyung about the gambling or the drugs. Instead, he asks him if Kang-hee is wearing sunglasses all the time to cover bruises. Seok-kyung laughs and assures Yeon-soo that she isn’t.

Meanwhile, Kang-hee goes to Yeon-soo’s clinic after she sees him leave. She speaks with Nan-woo and plays with Yeon-soo’s cat, Kkam-hee. Nan-woo takes a video of the cat with Kang-hee. After Yeon-soo returns and fixes up the dog, Nan-woo shows him the video which makes Yeon-soo run out and search for Kang-hee. He even asks Ah-reum, who tells him that people from the town have been going to the construction site every day to get a glimpse of her.

Elsewhere, Seok-kyung is shopping for new clothes with Esther. Knowing that he’s staying in Hana-eup even though he doesn’t need to, Esther surmises that Seok-kyung likes Kang-hee. Meanwhile, Kang-hee is at a restaurant, drinking soju and crying about how well Nan-woo suits Yeon-soo.

Yeon-see is watching the cat video again when he gets a call from his friend and rushes to the restaurant. Han-woo and Seung-eon are there, eating, while Kang-hee is asleep across the table. The restaurant’s owner called Han-woo earlier. Yeon-soo sits next to Kang-hee and she ends up sleeping on his lap, making him incredibly flustered.  

Unaware of where she’s staying, the three boys take Kang-hee back to the motel. Yeon-soo carries her there and tucks her into bed but she holds on to his hoodie. He sits by the bed and at one point, she wakes up and accuses him of breaking his promise and seeing other women.

Meanwhile, Seok-kyung realises Kang-hee hasn’t been around the construction site for a while. He goes to a police station and the policeman uses the town’s group chat to learn that Kang-hee was drunk at a restaurant. He also learns that she was taken away by “gangsters” — the local name for Kang-hee’s group of friends.

Of course, Seok-kyung isn’t aware. He storms up to the motel and makes a huge fuss till Yeon-soo arrives and tells him the truth about Chun-pil being her father.

In the morning, Kang-hee wakes up and is mortified to remember the events of the previous night. When she leaves her room, she finds Seok-kyung sleeping outside the door. They go for breakfast, where the construction workers are all eating as well. Yeon-soo has to rush out for a job in the middle, which is when the workers talk about Yeon-soo earning well and dating Nan-woo.

Later, at work, Seok-kyung says he knows why Kang-hee suddenly changed her mind about coming here. She was curious about Nan-woo. Since Seok-kyung has to go check on the dog he left with Yeon-soo, Kang-hee goes along to the vet clinic. Yeon-soo returns from a job and Kang-hee sees Nan-woo fussing over him.

They make some small talk and leave. Seok-kyung asks Kang-hee if she’s relieved now that she knows Nan-woo is a good person and Kang-hee says that he mustn’t have truly liked someone before.

Later, Kang-hee is having ice cream when Nan-woo and Yeon-soo enter the shop. She hides behind her table and sneaks out. She’s sitting on a bench crying and cursing him when Yeon-soo himself comes by. He asks her why she’s crying and she replies that he’s really changed at the end of Motel California Episode 4.

The Episode Review

Motel California Episode 4 brings Kang-hee back to Hana-eup whether she likes it or not. Having all the characters in one place does add a lot more potential to this story.

Episode 4 itself is evidence of this, considering how often the characters run into and interact with each other. Miscommunication and misunderstandings plague the relationship between Kang-hee and Yeon-soo. It’s an overused and predictable trope but our lead actors pull it off — Kang-hee’s angst and Yeon-soo’s yearning are enough to keep us watching.

It’s also incredibly refreshing to see Kang-hee’s rude, prickly exterior be punctured, even if simply because of jealousy. Seeing her be vulnerable and admit she’s upset about Yeon-soo being with someone else adds more dimension to her, making her slightly more likeable as well. Meanwhile, Soek-kyung’s character grows more endearing as well. Not going to lie here, his frantic search for Kang-hee when she was “missing” is enough to spark a few butterflies.