Doubt Episode 4 Recap: Connections Between Jang Ha-bin’s Mother and Lee Su-hyeon’s Murder Explained

The fourth installment of the MBC psychological thriller series, Doubt, premiered on October 19, 2024. This gripping drama stars Han Seok-kyu, Han Ye-ri, Oh Yeon-soo, and Chae Won-bin. The inaugural season consists of 10 episodes in total.

The preceding episode unfolded revelations as the police identified connections between two cases: an unidentified skeleton and the mysterious disappearance of Song Min-a. Tae-su’s suspicions about his daughter’s innocence continued to mount as the investigation moved forward.

The latest episode of Doubt introduced a shocking turn of events when Jang Ha-bin unearthed a horrifying secret regarding her mother, revealing a potential link to the murder of her close friend, Lee Su-hyeon.

Recap of Episode 4: Investigating Lee Su-hyeon’s Murder

Episode 3 commenced with the exploration of Song Min-a’s relationship with Choi Yeong-min, her employer, to whom she was entrusted with the task of delivering cash bags. Unbeknownst to her, the source of this money was a mystery.

On one occasion, when she arrived to collect the money, there was no bag waiting for her. This prompted an angry response from Yeong-min, who accused her of theft, resulting in a brutal confrontation that led Min-a to sever ties with the group. In her bid for freedom, she pilfered money from Yeong-min’s stash and stored it in her locker.

During this turmoil, Jang Ha-bin was observed covertly trailing Min-a and taking photographs, aware of Min-a’s secret locker.

The episode further depicted a staged altercation involving Ha-bin, Park Ji-hyeon, and Song Min-a, orchestrated by Ha-bin herself. She followed Min-a into the metro, disguised her intentions, and instigated a fight for refusal to share contact information, resulting in Min-a losing her phone to Ha-bin, who had planted a tracker on it.

In an eerie parallel, Ha-bin was showcased at the location where the skeleton was unveiled in the series premiere, hinting at her prior acquaintance with Min-a.

Still from Doubt (Image via Instagram/@mbcdrama_now)

Picking up where the last episode left off, Ha-bin’s keychain, submitted by Tae-su as evidence, linked the skeleton’s DNA to both the Song Min-a case and the unidentified remains found on Mount Daehwa.

When confronted about the keychain’s origin, Tae-su obscured the details, claiming it was sent to him and belonged to Lee Su-hyeon.

The investigation soon led the police to discover that Lee Su-hyeon had been absent from school for a year. Cross-referencing her domicile with her father’s DNA revealed that the skeleton was indeed Lee Su-hyeon.

Meanwhile, Ha-bin, having taken money from Min-a’s locker, attempted to set up a meeting with Choi Yeong-min, only to backtrack upon realizing that police were tailing him.

As Choi Yeong-min conferred with members of his runaway crew, he expressed frustration over someone tipping off the police about his absence on the day of Min-a’s disappearance. Consequences followed as Eun-jin, the informant, faced his wrath and was incarcerated.

Amid this chaos, Tae-su once again scrutinized his daughter’s involvement, insisting that she surrender to authorities to lighten Ha-bin’s potential charges.

Refusing to comply, Ha-bin challenged Tae-su’s certainty about her guilt. This confrontation led her to report domestic mental abuse to the police, eventually resulting in her being taken away, while Tae-su attempted to reason with her but was met with anger over his conclusions.

The police, investigating Lee Su-hyeon’s phone records, unearthed another link: both Lee Su-hyeon and Song Min-a were part of the same runaway cohort. This discovery prompted a fresh round of questioning for Yeong-min and his associates.

Simultaneously, Tae-su’s search for answers led him to Yeong-min’s residence, where he noted the absence of gang member Eun-jin. Conversations with the landlady, Kim Sung-hee, who exhibited signs of distress, hinted at her awareness of Lee Su-hyeon’s captivity.

As Tae-su interacted with her, he noticed bruising on her neck, which triggered a memory for her regarding Lee Su-hyeon being confined in the basement.

Once again, Ha-bin attempted to reach out to Yeong-min without success. Her struggle for answers unfolded as she found herself in a child welfare facility, unbeknownst to her, being observed by an unknown individual.

The following day, after being exonerated from bribery allegations, Tae-su’s thoughts lingered on who might have set him up. He privately confronted Yeong-min, questioning his involvement in Lee Su-hyeon’s murder, only to face threats about implicating Tae-su’s daughter in Min-a’s death instead.

During the subsequent interrogation, Yeong-min admitted to Su-hyeon being a former member of his runaway group, inadvertently acknowledging involvement in her death while still lacking enough evidence for his arrest.

In a twist of fate, following a nervous breakdown from the pressure, Yeong-min attempted to commit suicide but fled the hospital shortly thereafter.

Meanwhile, scrutiny of Lee Su-hyeon’s instructor, Park Joon-tae, revealed that he was reluctant to discuss the nuances of Ha-bin’s friendship with Su-hyeon. Concurrently, Officer Gu and Eo-jin discovered a keychain resembling Jang Ha-bin’s at Lee Su-hyeon’s home alongside a fragmented photograph of Su-hyeon with an unidentified girl, whose identity remained concealed.

The tension escalated when it became known that Yeong-min had escaped the medical facility, prompting the police to investigate potential leads concerning an individual who had been searching for Lee Su-hyeon for months. This led them to Joon-tae’s residence, albeit with him absent, since he was meeting Kim Sung-hee, hinting at a mysterious connection between the two.

Tae-su, at the station, scrutinized a photo from Lee Su-hyeon’s abode dated prior to her involvement with the runaway group. Intrigued, he enlisted a colleague to explore Ha-bin’s contacts, leading to the discovery of two registered phone numbers, both linked to his wife, Yoon Ji-su.

Checking the second, previously unknown number, he was shocked to hear the ringing from Ha-bin’s room. Investigating further revealed her possession of a phone featuring the same photograph, solidifying connections in a web of deceit.

As episode 4 of Doubt draws to a close, Ha-bin set a meeting with Yeong-min at the clandestine location used by Song Min-a for money pickups—a fact that piqued Yeong-min’s curiosity about her familiarity with the site.

At their confrontation, Yeong-min accused Ha-bin of seeking revenge for Lee Su-hyeon’s murder, a claim Ha-bin met with shock as she had yet to learn of her friend’s demise.

Noticing a resemblance between Ha-bin and her mother, Yeong-min eventually yielded to her demands and played a video. The footage depicted Ha-bin’s mother, Yoon Ji-su, burying a body beside Lee Su-hyeon’s remains, suggesting an insidious connection to her friend’s death. This pivotal moment concluded episode 4 of Doubt.

Viewers can tune in for the next episodes of Doubt airing Friday and Saturday at 21:50 KST on MBC. For those interested, episodes will also be available for streaming on Wavve, Coupang Play, and Netflix.

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