The Escape of the Seven: War for Survival (2023) Episode 4

Episode 4 of The Escape of The Seven begins with Lee Hwi-soo arriving in prison. His inmates start to beat him up, asking where he put Da-mi’s body, but Kang Ki-tak defends him.

Next, Chairman Bang tortures Yong-joo, forcing him to reveal La-hui and Jin-mo’s involvement in Da-mi’s death. He has a voice recording of La-hui saying she will pay him for stopping Da-mi. He is, however, not the one who killed her. Chairman Bang sends his men to pick up Jin-mo, but he manages to escape. 

Chairman Bang directs his assistant to seize all of La-hui’s property. A mob gathers outside Da-mi’s adoptive parent’s house, burning a placard of Hwi-so. Do-hyeok’s mother, who lives upstairs, discards the crowd by spraying them with water. 

Chairman Bang asks a doctor to check up on Ju-ran, given that it is her first pregnancy. Somehow, Chairman Bang figures out that Ju-ran is lying about the pregnancy and chases her from the house.

Ju-ran, however, takes the chance to school Chairman Bang on his part in causing Da-mi’s death. He did not stand by her or believe her, and he was the first to chase her away. He should have protected her but was more worried about this money. 

La-hui receives the court order about the seizure of her properties and Taeyang Investment Industry Development taking back its investment. She gets a call from Chairman Bang. He says that since she used the money he gave her to kill his granddaughter, he will use the rest of his money to kill her. La-hui calls Ju-ran to tell her that the Chairman has started his revenge for Da-mi’s death. 

Nan-young visits Hwi-so in prison. They figure out Detective Nam’s involvement in planting the drugs in their house and drugging Hwi-so. Later, Nan-young goes to Myeongju Girls’ High School to ask for information on the girl Da-mi fought with at school before her death. Myung-ji gets her thrown out of the school.

The girls had been told not to reveal anything about the fight since the school was covering it up. One of the girls, Ji-a, waits for Nan-young outside and shows her the video of Da-mi saying Mo-ne gave birth. Ji-a hates Mo-ne. She had previously sent the tip about the pregnancy that led to Mo-ne framing Da-mi. 

Elsewhere, La-hui and Ju-ran plan to kill Chairman Bang, and Jin-mo discovers that Da-mi’s grandfather is one of the wealthiest people. They poked the beehive, and he was coming for them all. Nan-young goes to confront Mo-ne during a script reading for her upcoming movie. She tells everyone about Mo-ne giving birth and framing Da-mi for it. She vows to make sure everyone comes to know about the secret. The incident causes the script reading to be cancelled, and the director thinks of replacing Mo-ne. 

Nan-young tells Chairman Bang about Mo-ne and that her agent is La-hui. The Chairman instructs his assistant to call for a press conference. He will tell everyone that he is Da-mi grandfather. Jin-mo asks his men to make sure the Chairman does not address the press. Mo-ne calls Jin-mo to ask for help. He tells her about Da-mi’s grandfather and how she messed with someone she should not have. 

A lawyer comes for Hwi-so. He says Chairman Bang sent him. He knows about Detective Nam’s involvement and says that the Chairman has arranged to have him escape prison for two hours and take the chance to find evidence from Detective Nam. He gives Hwi-so a phone and tells him where to find Detective Nam.

Elsewhere, Mo-ne reveals the truth to La-hui and asks for her help. She vows to make sure she gets every commercial out there and makes La-hui much money if she helps her out. 

The Chairman leaves his house to go to the press conference. He says he will reveal the truth about Lee Hwi-so during the conference. Meanwhile, Hwi-so arrives at Detective Nam’s house and finds the drugs. They fight, but the detective does not reveal who is behind it all. The detective tells him he is in a swamp and could never escape and will never find Da-mi. 

Hwi-so calls Chairman Bang to tell him about the evidence he found at the detective’s house. However, Chairman Bang never sent a lawyer and never pulled strings to get Hwi-so released. He asks Hwi-so to meet him up at Deokseon Park. Back at the police station, the lawyer, now tied to a chair and beaten up, says that Hwi-so threatened him and took his phone. The police are notified of Hwi-so’s escape from prison. 

Chairman Bang arrives at the park and goes alone, looking for Hwi-so. Ju-ran and La-hui, who were following him, also arrive at the park. Hwi-so is also running to meet the Chairman, but Ju-ran and La-hui get to him first. A fight ensues, and they push Chairman Bang off the suspension bridge. As he crashes into the rocks below, Ju-ran and La-hui escape just as Hwi-soo and the police arrive. He sees some people running away from afar, but the police get to him. 

Deputy Chief Prosecutor Uhm Ji-man holds a press conference accompanied by Detective Nam, and they say that Hwi-so killed Chairman Bang to stop him from addressing the press. The next scene reveals a complicated conspiracy involving Detective Nam, Prosecutor Uhm, the rescue centre, and Lawyer Kim. 

The Chairman dies, and Ju-ran holds a press conference urging that Hwi-so be sentenced to death for killing the Chairman and Da-mi. Next, Chairman Bang’s will is read, and he left Ju-ran only ten million dollars. They are shocked to realize that the Chairman cashed out all his assets, and the money is not in the basement where he usually kept it. Ju-ran and La-hui are still glad that they got away with what they did.

Do-hyeok gets released from prison, and Jin-mo picks him up. Da-mi’s mother stands outside the court, asking that they find her daughter. Elsewhere, Jin-mo sends his men, including Yong-joo, to Da-mi’s house and asks them to set it on fire. They are also to kill Do-hyeok’s mother and brother, who live upstairs, to break Do-hyeok and make sure he will never go against them again. 

Do-hyeok arrives home later to find the house on fire. His brother and mother die in the fire, which is blamed on Nan-young. They say that she committed suicide and also killed Jung Mi-so and Min Jae-hyeok. At the end of the episode, someone puts a check for 100,000 dollars as condolence money for Do-hyeok, and Do-hyeok bumps into him on the way out. 

The Episode Review

Where did all of Chairman Bang’s fortune go? Did he know beforehand that he would die? Who is pulling the strings, and what about Da-mi? The man Do-hyeok bumps into at the funeral house was also at the police station when they tricked Hwi-so into escaping. The series feels frustratingly slow in revealing the mysteries, but it is understandably taking the time to build up the victims’ story. 

The bad guys are still winning big in this episode, and some unexpected deaths happen. If everyone is dead, who will avenge them? Four episodes in, and the mystery and the suspense are agonising; I just want to find out what is going on and hopefully soon in the next episode.