Parole Examiner Lee episode 4 recap: Is Examiner Lee successful in stopping Bong-su’s parole?

tvN's Monday-Tuesday drama Parole Examiner Lee premiered on November 18, 2024, at 8:50 pm KST, delivering an intense legal narrative centered on parole hearings. Directed by Yoon Sang-ho and written by Park Chi-hyung, the series delves into the struggles of a parole judge navigating a justice system plagued by corruption and power dynamics.

Go Soo stars as Lee Han-shin, a steadfast parole judge grappling with ethical challenges and systemic flaws. Baek Ji-won plays Choi Hwa-ran, a powerful private loan mogul, while Girls' Generation's Yuri takes on the role of Ahn Seo-yun, a clever detective in the Violent Crime Investigation Unit. Completing the main cast of Parole Examiner Lee, Lee Hak-joo portrays Ji Myung-seob, a privileged chaebol heir and the drama’s primary antagonist.

In episode 4, which was released on November 26, Lee, with the help of Hwa-ran and Seo-yun was able to retrieve money from Bong-su and Hee-jun and send it back to the victims. He also stopped Bong-su's parole.

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Parole Examiner Lee episode 4 recap: Lee Han-sin helps the Jubong Holdings fraud victims

In episode 4 of Parole Examiner Lee, Lee and Seo-yun arrived at the restaurant for a check and they found Dong-myeong watching whale videos and laughing. Lee called Hwa-ran to the restaurant and asked her to buy the building since its value is expected to plummet. However, she was suspicious.

Lee spoke to Hee-jun once more and told him that the Correctional Services Director, Jeong-wook, offered him a better office if he approved Bong-su's parole.

Lee also asked Hwa-ran to buy and register the building within a week. She asked him to buy it instead and said that she would lend him the required amount, to which he agreed. In return, he asked her to create trouble for Hee-jun inside the prison. As promised, an inmate picked a fight with Hee-jun, causing him to attack him physically and then be detained by the guards.

Dong-hun visited Won-mi again and asked him to meet Chairman Ji unless she wanted a school bullying scandal. Chairman Ji asked her to drop the charges and told Lee to visit him, otherwise, he would brand her as a school bully. Won-mi went to Lee to discuss this and he advised to drop the charges. He also agreed to visit Chairman Ji.

Meeting with Chairman Ji, Lee told him that he did not seem remorseful. He left because he had to devise another plan to keep him in prison.

Seo-yun called Lee asking about the illegal proceeds, and he called her to the restaurant, where she met Hwa-ran. Though initially unwilling to work with each other, the two decided to keep aside their differences for a shared cause. Hwa-ran bought the building from Dong-myeong's mother by paying a huge amount of money.

Lee went to visit Hee-jun again, and this time, Hee-jun asked Lee to let him use his phone. As he called Dong-myeong, Lee eavesdropped on their conversation. Dong-myeong went to the restaurant to retrieve the money but found it locked. Hwa-ran showed up with her men and got Dong-myeong to leave. Finding out about this, Hee-jun asked Dong-myeong to round up all their men and somehow got the money out in Parole Examiner Lee.

Chairman Ji spoke to Jeong-wook to find a way to eliminate Lee. Dong-myeong's gang and Hwa-ran's men fight outside the restaurant. Dong-myeong found a way in only to see Hwa-ran waiting there for him with Seo-yun and Lee. After getting beaten by Hwa-ran, Seo-yun arrested the men.

In this episode of Parole Examiner Lee, Lee, Seo-yun, and Hwa-ran tried to figure out where the money was hidden. Using his hunch, Lee figured that the money might be hidden in the soybean paste jars. He found gold bricks inside them. Hwa-ran got to work and Lee received a call from Ji-soon. He asked Seo-yun to come along with him.

They visited a snack bar after loan sharks wrecked the place. Speaking to the owner, Seo-yun found out that her husband was scammed by Hee-jun and Bong-su and was jailed due to petty theft. Lee explained that the victims needed the money and that distributing it after returning it to the national treasury would be too late.

The next day, Seo-yun went to the restaurant and took care of the loan sharks. She beat them up and saved the mother and daughter. She then called Lee and told him that she had no interest in the recovery of illegal proceeds.

Bong-su presented himself for his parole review. While two officers spoke in his favor, three opposed him. Lee had previously spoken to Jeong-wook and made him doubtful of Bong-su's promises, portraying him as someone who does not have the finances to keep those promises. With the help of Hwa-ran, he returned the money to the victims.

While returning, Lee was attacked by a masked man who seemed to be put to the task by Chairman Ji. With this, episode 4 of Parole Examiner Lee ended.

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The next episode of Parole Examiner Lee is scheduled to be released on December 2, 2024.