The Whirlwind – K-drama Episode 4 Recap & Review

The Primaries 

The Whirlwind episode 4 starts with the race to the Blue Horse in full swing. The Presidential candidates for the Korean Liberal Party debate are currently ongoing, and everyone is tuned in to see how it will go. All candidates except Dong-ho are hoping to use their connections to President Jang II Jun to sway the votes.

As for Su-jin, she comes for Dong-ho’s jugular by asking double-edged questions, such as his alleged harassment of the former President’s family, but Dang-ho sees through her and answers them with ease. Su-jin’s popularity continues to increase while Dong-ho’s withers.

Later, Su-jin advises  Sang-woon to be patient. She is sure that she will be the next President and give him a special pardon with his father. She argues that winning the election will solve all their problems, and Sang-woon can get back to secure his inheritance. She assumes she will win and send Dong-ho to prison. Seems easy, right?

She also orders Pil-gyu to resume the investigation into Dong-ho and secretly feeds the media information. However, Dong-ho has a plan to deal with the lies Su-jin is creating. According to him, only a bigger lie can beat another lie. 

The media announces that Chairman Choi, currently being interrogated by Pil-gyu, has given a handwritten statement citing that he paid one billion won to Dong-ho when he was the Prime Minister in exchange for tax audit immunity. Surprisingly, the media even manages to get their hands on the handwritten statement. In turn, Dong-ho decides to retaliate because “Go big or go home” is his motto.

He calls Jang-seok and asks him to accept the call to move the case to the CIO. The current CIO director, Lee Jung-gwon, is Chairman Park’s supporter and there is a possibility they are planning to trap Dong-ho. However, Dong-ho plans to take himself to the CIO’s office for interrogation and beat Su-jin at her own game.

Jung-gwon interrogates Dong-ho while Yeon-suk invites Chairman Park to tea and assures him that Dong-ho will keep his promise to get him into the Blue House. According to Yeon-suk, Dong-ho is using a three-part strategy to win votes from Su-jin and hand them over to Chairman Park at the last moment.

Of course, Chairman Park is sceptical, given that the CIO is currently interrogating Dong-ho, and Su-jin’s popularity is skyrocketing. However, Dong-ho outsmarts Su-jin by sneakily having Chairman Choi alter the date in his statement. Chairman Choi betrays Su-jin and sues the date Dong-ho gave him.

The date in question is November 12th, and Dong-ho has evidence that he had dinner with Su-jin and worked until late. As such, Dong-ho couldn’t be at two places at once, and Su-jin has no choice but to be his alibi. If she denies it, she will be lying publicly, as it is a given fact she was with Dong-ho. If she turns against Chairman Choi, she kills the credibility of his statement and proves Dong-ho’s innocence.

It also subtly shows that the CIO were on an ill-advised witch hunt against Dong-ho. In the end, she defends Dong-ho and simultaneously clears his name. Chairman Park calls off Jung-gwon and gets into a deal with Dong-ho.

After a tough day, Su-jin gets a call from her husband, and they fight over Min-ho reluctance to step down as the CEO of Namsan. Min-ho is feeling jealous of his wife’s success and wants to make something of himself.

Through a flashback to their university days, we see how the two fell in love when protesting the injustices of the government at the time. Min-ho was the student council President, and Su-jin fell madly in love with his passion for justice. Now, Min-ho is barely a shell of his young self. Corrupt to the core and bringing Su-jin down with him.

If it were not for his greed, Sang-woon would have nothing to use against Su-jin and turn her into his puppet. Su-jin hates Min-ho for turning her into the same monster they loathed. However, se also made her bed and must lie in it. 

As the final round of preliminaries gets closer, the three Presidential candidates get ready to win over electoral votes. To win, Dong-ho joins hands with Sang-cheon, the opposition party. Sang-cheon has a problematic past after his father was lost at sea and ended up in North Korea. He was declared dead a few years later, but Dong-ho leaks to the press that Sang-cheon’s dad is alive and thriving in North Korea.

Sang-cheon doesn’t take this kindly and asks for a meeting. Dong-ho uses his charm to threaten Sang-cheon and get him on his side. Sang-cheon is surprised that Dong-ho didn’t come cowering to him but took the ballsy option. He agrees to discreetly collect electoral votes to support Dong-ho in the primaries even though it is illegal. 

In the last debate for the Korean Liberal Party, all three candidates, Su-jin, Chairman Park and Dong-ho, campaign for votes and Dong-ho’s speech moves Sang-cheon further. In the meantime, Su-jin is sure of a win as  President Jang II Jun’s former supporters take her side.

On the other hand, Chairman Park is discouraged after seeing the ongoing voting, and it becomes clear he is losing. He visits Dong-ho, but the latter refuses to uphold their deal. It turns out that Dong-ho found out that Chairman Park had some ulterior motives he hid. Out of options, Chairman Park withdraws from the race for a third time.

Meanwhile, on the last day of electoral college registration, Su-jin aligns herself with  President Jang II Jun’s wife and goes on a full press tour at  President Jang II Jun’s grave. Shedding tears while embracing each other, the two women make quite a moving statement, touching the hearts of many and causing Su-jin’s popularity to grow further. 

That night, Dong-ho and Jang-seok meet at their old favourite restaurant and reminisce about the good times with Gi-tae. Dong-ho promises to create the world Gi-tae wished for but makes Jang-seok promise he will carry on with the fight if Dong-ho is compromised. Dong-ho then meets with Chairman Park and tells him that it is not over yet.

He asks Chairman Park to join him and reveals his deal with Sang-cheon. He reminds Chairman Park that he refused to help Gi-tae when he needed it the most. Even though Chairman Park is against Sang-cheon, his morality is not high enough for him to question Dong-ho’s tricks.

The next morning, Su-jin wakes up in high spirits, confident she will win. Even the media deems her the likely winner, and her supporters show up in huge numbers. However, they all get the shock of their lives when Dong-ho is announced as the winner. Su-jin is so stunned she drops her acceptance speech and appears to be in a trance as Dong-ho reaches for her hands to celebrate his victory. I bet she didn’t see this twist coming!

The Episode Review

Lol ! Su-jin lowered her guards for a few days, and Dong-ho pulled a quick one right in front of her eyes. The shock and disbelief on Su-jin’s face says it all, but once she gathers herself, what will she do? Will she humbly accept defeat or try to unmask what Dong-ho did? Ironically, both Su-jin and Dong-ho are becoming the very evil they didn’t want to be. Looking back, the young Su-jin must be embarrassed by how she ended up here. She is now the evil that people will soon protest against in the government. 

As for Dong-ho, does the end justify the means? He is also making illegal deals and committing crimes left, right, and centre. What gives him the moral ground to judge others? When will he get off the high horse and take a good look in the mirror?

It seems he knows he is losing his way, too. This is why he makes Jang-seok promise to finish the fight after he is compromised. The problem is he is already compromised. He is compromised twice and the road is getting slipperier with every dirty deal he is making! What happens next? Off we hop into episode 5!