Vigilante – K-Drama Episode 4 Recap & Review

The Ultimatum

Vigilante episode 4 starts with Cho-heon at the hospital, trying to figure out what happened to the ahjumma killer. Ji-yong and the impersonator drive to a secluded rooftop and park the ambulance. The impersonator is excited and says as much. 

He asks if Ji-yong is worried about the CCTV cameras and assures him he’s turned them off. He then explains that he has been cleaning up after Ji-yong, ensuring the Vigilante is not caught. Somehow, I wish Ji-yong had at least thought about wearing a mask before embarking on his vigilante activities! 

The impersonator believes his involvement is one of the reasons the police are yet to arrest Ji-yong. He suggests they work together and hunt even bigger prey. Ji-yong is offended by his suggestion and starts punching him.

The impersonator quickly explains himself, saying he is a fan and means no harm. However, Ji-yong feels the man has no rules and, as such, is undisciplined. 

To prove his point, he questions why the impersonator killed Jang Soon-do. He says the impersonator is tarnishing his intentions to help where the law failed. A fight ensues, and Ji-yong gets bruises on his face.

After a brief yet intense fight, Ji-yong warns his impersonator to stay away from him. He doesn’t even bother removing the man’s mask and leaves him hanging from the rooftop.

Back at the hospital, Cho-heon checks the records for the medical department and tries to identify the man he saw. His search proves futile. On the other hand, Mi-ryeo goes through the footage from the hospital and realises it caught the real Vigilante leaving the scene.

Meanwhile, Ji-yong heads home and nurses his wounds. He receives a message from the impersonator asking for them to work together. Ji-yong ignores the message. 

The next day, Mi-ryeo gets a visit from Cho Kang Ok, a chaebol and Vice Chairman of DK Group. We learn that Kang-ok is the impersonator and uses his influence to keep Ji-yong from the police. His company (DK Group) is their biggest shareholder. He is there to convince Mi-ryeo to work together. 

However, Mi-ryeo is adamant that she wants to work without outside influence. Kang-ok doesn’t give up but instead asks to speak to her privately. He confesses that he likes the Vigilante and is sponsoring the companies hiring the young people who were arrested copying the Vigilante. He doesn’t share his motives but says he wants to protect the Vigilante. He grabs the USB with her footage of the Vigilante and leaves.

On his way out, he says they will find out soon if they are on the same side. Mi-ryeo laughs as things have started getting interesting to her.

Elsewhere, Jang-soonil rounds up his men to try and hunt the man who killed his brother. However, Cho-heon visits him and warns him not to do anything. He assures Jang-soonil that he is working on finding the Vigilante. 

The police put their efforts into looking into what happened at the hospital. So far, they have been unable to find any CCTV footage and are starting to feel like the Vigilante is toying with them. Cho-heon starts looking into the prospect that the Vigilante is a cop.

Given the Vigilante’s MO, it’s like he knows the direction of the police investigation. The team decides to ask for Professor Yeob’s help to find out more. Cho-heon offers to visit the professor personally at the police academy and discuss the new theory with him. 

As fate would have it, he drives to the school and coincidentally runs into Ji-yong. Now, Cho-heon is a seasoned detective, and he immediately recognises him. However, he doesn’t act on his hunch. He meets with Professor Yeob and talks about the possibility of the Vigilante being a member of the police force. 

The detective asks if he can see the students’ information, and the professor refuses. He asks the professor what would happen if the Vigilante turns out to be a decent person. The professor poses the same question to Cho-heon and asks what he would do. After Cho-heon leaves, Professor Yeob looks disturbed by their conversation.

Conversely, Mi-ryeo starts investigating the pro-vigilante company and comes across a different subsidy, Sewool Future Resources, headed by  Kim Sam-doo. Sam-doo is problematic but has managed to avoid prison thanks to a lack of evidence in the cases against him. Mi-ryeo decides to contact the journalist doing a story on Sam-doo. 

At the police academy, Hwang-jun informs Ji-yong and Seon-wook that Cho-heon is the famous Vigilante case detective. Hwang-jun thinks the detective is closing in on the Vigilante and is excited. However, Ji-yong seems anxious. 

Speaking of Cho-heon, he continues investigating Soon-do’s case and discovers Soon-il has been asking around, too. He visits the gang leader and beats his minions. He reiterates that they should stop messing with the case and leave it to the police.

The following day, Professor Yeob asks Ji-yong how he hurt his face. Ji-yong lies he was hurt while sparring with a friend at his local gym. As the interrogation continues, another staff member interrupts. He announces that the police are downstairs looking for Ji-yong.

Professor Yeob accompanies Ji-yong to meet with the cops. The cops want to ask about an incident where a woman claims Ji-yong saved her.

According to the woman, a drunk man harassed her over the weekend, and Ji-yong stepped in to help her. She claims that Ji-yong was hurt during the incident, and the officer is there to take his statement and help them get the culprit. Ji-yong quickly realises this is the work of his fan (masked Vigilante) and plays along. He apologises for fighting with a civilian, and the matter is quickly settled. 

In the meantime, Kang Ok’s secretary reports that the timing for his intervention was perfect. He informs Kang Ok that Mi-ryeo is looking into their company and asks if they should take action. Kang Ok advises him to let the reporter be. It is then revealed that Ji-yong contacted Kang Ok and took him up on the offer to provide an alibi. After that, Ji-yong asks to meet with Kang Ok. Kang Ok agrees to meet him but on his terms.

Elsewhere, Mi-ryeo meets with Dae-seok, a fellow journalist, and gets more information on  Sewool Future Resources’s activities. The company operates in raw material imports, game development, sports goods imports and entertainment. However, this is just a front. They actually run the largest illegal gambling site in Korea. It is also rumoured that the boss is involved in drug distribution.

Sam-doo is known to kill anyone who messes with him ruthlessly. Dae-seok is happy to work with Mi-ryeo to expose the company. He shares that one actor who is close to Sam-doo is looking to give him some information. The actor, Yeon Jae-hak, reached out of the blue and asked to meet, saying he has dirt on Sewool.

The scene cuts to Sam-doo feeding two men who ratted on him to pigs. He is informed about Mi-ryeo’s investigation into him. We are not sure he does, but the next thing we know, Mi-ryeo and Dae-sook find Jae-hak dead in his house.

They were concerned because he was not picking up his phone and decided to visit him. They found him hanging from his roof, and the police insist the actor committed suicide. The police’s attitude angers Mi-ryeo, and she heads back to the office. 

The weekend comes along, and Ji-yong notices that Ch-heon is following him. Luckily,  Kang Ok sent the woman who gave Ji-yong an alibi to meet him at the bus station. Ji-yong excuses himself and brazenly introduces himself to the detective. At this point, Cho-heon is fairly sure that Ji-yong is the real Vigilante.

The detective asks what Ji-yong thinks the Vigilante would say about himself in a report. Ji-yong responds that the Vigilante would be objective without sounding antisocial since he wouldn’t think he is committing crimes.

Cho-heon then says he is set on eradicating the crimes instead of the Vigilante. He warns Ji-yong to stop his vigilantism and use his talents for good. Obviously, Ji-yong pretends not to know what Cho-heon is talking about.  

In a flashback, we learn that Cho-heon told Professor Yeob that if the Vigilante turns out to be a steady and righteous person, he will frame someone else to take the fall.

Cho-heon believes if the public were to find out that the Vigilante is a good person with a great job, handsome and young, they would love him more. He is not willing to risk that. He asks the professor to list possible suspects who fit the vigilante profile and frame the worst one. 

The episode ends with Kang Ok watching Cho-heon and Ji-yong talk from afar.

The Episode Review

What a twist! We thought Cho-heon would hunt the Vigilante to the ends of hell, but he is more focused on the optics and is willing to let the real Vigilante go. Well, that is only if Ji-yong stops his vigilantism.

However, Ji-yong is not likely to back down, so how will this play out? Ji-yong might need to work hard on his boxing skills because he is no match for Cho-heon. Did you see how he hit Soon-il’s minions into next week? 

On the other hand, we have Kang Ok. He is an interesting addition to the story. We still don’t know his motives and who he intends to hunt. It could be Sam-doo, but why not work on his own? He has the money and resources to be the fake Vigilante and is doing a better job of staying low-key.

For starters, he wears a mask and jams surveillance cameras. I know Ji-yong intentionally leaves his traces, but a little more cauction won’t hurt. I look forward to seeing the partnership between Kang Ok and Ji-yong. Given their different approaches, it will undoubtedly be intriguing to watch. 

Mi-ryeo and Dae-sook need to tread lightly while they investigate Sam-doo. He is ruthless and might just kill them, too. It will also be interesting to see if the professor is on to Ji-yong and if he will help Cho-heon frame another criminal as the Vigilante.