Narco-Saints – Season 1 Episode 4 Recap & Review

Even the best-laid plans

Episode 4 of Narco-Saints starts at the Brazilian border, where Yo-hwan’s men show up guns blazing. It is a bloodbath and things get messy quickly as everyone tries to run for their precious lives.

As it turns out, this was NIS’s plan all along and Kang is infuriated that once again they put his life directly in danger without consulting him first. Chang-ho says that the raid was still a win and that it was all for the greater good. Kang is getting frustrated with Chang-ho continuously lying to him and this strains their relationship further.

In the meantime, Yo-hwan’s bank accounts in Europe are frozen and this makes Yo-hwan suspicious and he is convinced there is a traitor among them. Kang is quick to deflect suspicion from himself to Preacher (who used to work for Chen Zhen before). Nevertheless, Yo-hwan is impressed with Kang’s quick thinking to save some of the merchandise during the gunfight at the border. He is convinced that they are both cut from the same cloth as they both are shrewd businessmen who love money.

The next day, Yo-hwan takes Kang to visit the President of Suriname (a long-time friend of Yo-hwan). They successfully bribe him to handle the Brazil border situation.

After that, they drive to a vast piece of land and Yo-hwan tells Kang about his plans to grow his cocaine. He offers to make Kang his partner by giving 10% and naming him the director of the operations. The only thing missing is the cash to bankroll this new endeavour, Yo-hwan asks Kang to help him convince Sangman to find a new route to Korea.

Agent Chang-ho was listening in throughout this conversation and thinks Kang is thinking of betraying them when they disagree on the best approach to move forward. Chang-ho is still working on getting Yo-hwan to use the US route. He visits a DEA official who says they can only help in an unofficial capacity and with full absolution.

To succeed with their plan they try to convince Yo-hwan to reroute the cocaine through Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory. Yo-hwan is not thrilled with doing any business in any American territory. He refuses to go through with the deal if America is involved. He asks Sangman to come up with a new route and they argue. It seems that they are at a standoff.

Kang is convinced that there could be another option to deal with Yo-hwan. Maybe, just maybe, they can just get Yo-hwan killed. Chang-ho is not happy to hear this, he wants to bring Yo-hwan to justice legally and is not willing to let all his hard work so far go down a six-foot hole.

In the meantime, Yo-hwan and David are brainstorming on how to pay the Columbians and also get a new route to South Korea. Yo-hwan decides to use a “dirty way” to solve the matter. Tipped off by Chang-ho, Kang decides to secretly follow Yo-hwan and he finds himself deep in Chinatown, Chen’s lair.

The Episode Review

I am not sure anymore which side Kang is on! The plot keeps thickening and the strife between Kang and Chang-ho deepens. I guess Kang missed the lesson about the curious cat. I don’t think it was a good idea to follow Yo-hwan. Still, I want to know what dirty ingenious trick Yo-hwan is thinking about and how it will affect Chang-ho’s plan.

It will also be good to know more about Preacher’s ties with Chen as this is the second time it has been brought up. Is he the NIS spy? Why would Chen let him live after he betrayed them? I mean, the man doesn’t come off as someone who just lets bygones be bygones. He kills for a living.

I am intrigued with David too. Is he as loyal as Yo-hwan claims or is it just a facade to get close and spy for the NIS?