Parole Examiner Lee – K-drama Episode 4 Recap & Review

No Honour Among Thieves

Episode 4 of Parole Officer Lee picks up where we left off, with Seo-yun and Attorney Lee at Jangju restaurant. They end up finding nothing worthy but discover Dong-myeong likes watching a marine documentary. However, they don’t give up on finding the illegal proceedings. 

The next day, Attorney Lee meets with Hwa-ran outside Jangju restaurant and asks her to buy the building. Hwa-ran looks into it but hesitates since it is a bad investment. She offers to give Attorney Lee a loan to buy the building if he is so confident about the building. Attorney Lee agrees to her conditions. He also asks her to have her men give Hee-jun a hard time in prison.

In the meantime, Dong-myeong visits Hee-jun and informs him that Bong-su is on the parole release list. The next time Attorney Lee visits, Hee-jun is more anxious than before.

Attorney Lee shares that another member of the parole review committee, Jung-wook, approached him on behalf of Bong-su. Apparently, Bong-su offered Jung-wook some money in return for a vote in favour of his release. Jung-wook promises to help Attorney Lee move to a better office if he joins them. Jung-wook is pleased when Attorney Lee seems open to the idea.

Meanwhile, Dong-hoon continues to pressure Won-mi to drop the charges. Chairman Ji threatens to start a school bullying accusation against her and ruin her for good. Won-mi runs to Attorney Lee for help and he asks her to drop the case.

He is aware that Chairman Ji won’t stop until he gets what he wants. The defamation suit won’t be enough to hold him back, and Won-mi will lose her career if she persists. Chairman Ji also asks Won-mi to get Attorney Lee to visit him.

Attorney Lee meets with the chairman and refuses to budge. This time, the old man threatens his life without a second thought. He even threatens to bring Seo-yun into his revenge plan. Still, Attorney Lee remains headstrong. 

Later, Attorney Lee and Seo-hyun meet outside Jangju restaurant. Hwa-ran joins them a few minutes later and the two ladies refuse to work together. However, Attorney Lee reminds them why they need to cooperate and they head in to talk to Dong-myeong’s mom. They offer her money and she agrees to sell the building to them.

The following day, Attorney Lee visits Hee-jun again and agrees to give him a chance to make a call. Hee-jun calls Dong-myeong and begs him to move the hidden money. Hee-jun is sure that Bong-su has betrayed him and all bets are off.

Later that night, Dong-myeong returns to the restaurant to find it locked. He calls his mom, and she informs him that she sold it. Hwa-ran interrupts him as he tries to sneak in and her men chase him away. Dong-myeong visits Hee-jun and is advised to get the funds at all costs.

At the same time, Jung-wook visits Bong-su and ensures their deal is still on. Bong-su is supposed to get the funds and share them with Jung-wook. Bong-su is unaware that Dong-myeong and Hee-jun are plotting behind his back to get to the funds first.

Dong-myeong hires goons to attack the restaurant, but they end up getting arrested. Given Dong-myeong’s efforts to get inside the restaurant, Attorney Lee is more convinced than ever that the illegal funds are there. They argue over how to search the place, and Attorney Lee uses his brains to figure out where the money is hidden. They follow his lead and find gold bars hidden in the pots supposed to contain soybean paste. 

Hwa-ran and her men start cleaning the gold bars. Attorney Lee gets a call from Ji-soon that some debtors are harassing a certain woman in her restaurant. Attorney Lee takes Seo-hyun with him but they arrive late and find the goons gone. It turns out the woman is the wife of one of the victims.

Her husband is the man who tried to attack Bong-su in prison. After they were conned, the family sunk into debt and her husband got arrested for stealing food items to feed their daughter. Attorney Lee talks to Seo-hyun and asks her if they can give the victims the money.

Technically, it belongs to them, but it will take years to get past the bureaucratic requirements necessary. See-hyun is uncertain, but changes her mind the next day after witnessing the thugs returning to harass the woman again. Hwa-ran and her men deliver the money to the victims’ union and everyone is happy. They can barely believe their luck.

At the parole hearing, the woman talks about her suffering caused by Bong-su. Still, two members of the parole committee vote in favour of Bong-su. Before voting, Attorney Lee informs Jung-wook that their deal is off since Bong-su lied about having the funds.

In the end, Jung-wook betrays Bong-su. As expected, the man doesn’t take it well. The votes end with 3 to 2 and Bong-su’s parole plea is denied. He loses his cool and attacks Attorney Lee when he informs him that he found the illegal funds.

Attorney Lee promises to add Bong-su’s sentence for attacking him and leaves.  Later, the woman writes to her husband to share the good news. Thanks to Attorney Lee, she was able to pay off their debt and their restaurant business is doing well.

On the other hand, Hwa-ran changes her mind after learning the value of the building has changed. She agrees to buy the building from Attorney Lee. The episode ends with Eung-joon attacking Attorney Lee on a rainy night and leaving him passed out after tumbling down the stairs.

The Episode Review

What does Chairman Ji mean when he says he finally understands why Attorney Lee betrayed him? Did he put the pieces together? Also,o is the goal to scare Attorney Lee or kill him? Eung-joon didn’t seem intent on killing the attorney.

Perhaps the chairman wants to give Lee a taste of what is to come. He is already looking into how to get Attorney Lee dismissed from the parole committee. If he finds out what Attorney Lee did with the illegal funds, he might have the cause he needs to get him off the board. 

This episode seemed a bit too slow and only gained momentum towards the end. Hopefully, the next case will be more exciting.