Apartment 404 Episode 4 Recap and Review: The new variety show stars BLACKPINK’s Jennie, Yoo Jae-suk, Oh Na-ra, and Yang Se-chan as well as Moving stars Cha Tae-hyun and Lee Jung-ha. The 8-episode series follows these 6 members through various mysteries in a large apartment complex. They are given reenactments of real-life incidents and through games, they solve the mysteries. With 6 of them split into two teams, they use each other to carry out their mission and the result is only one of them can win!
– Apartment 404 Episode 4 Review Contains Spoilers –
Apartment 404 Episode 4 Recap
In the latest episode, the viewers and the cast are transported to 1970 – the time when South Korea was all about economic and infrastructural progress. Due to Jung-ha being absent from the cast, TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s Yeonjun became a member for one day.
This time, they did not dress for the era, rather their characters reflected the time it was set in. After being blindfolded and sent to different rooms in a building, all six members find themselves in rooms that have cryptic messages on them. Some are ‘traders’, ‘public officials’, ‘police’, etc. As soon as they get down to the ground floor, the recurring cast member transforms into a worker in a construction company.
The set is completely different from all of the other ones- there is a set along with a giant LED screen. They are then explained that the game aims to play bingo to find the secret of the apartment building. The teams are divided- the public officials and the traders. BLACKPINK’s Jennie is the police, Yoo Jae-suk becomes the mayor and Cha Tae-hyun is given the role of the customs officer. While Oh Na-ra, TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s Yeonjun and Yang Se-chan are the traders.
The four buildings in the set connect like a game of bingo. Each square has to be marked with an item that matches the criteria of the square – which is the job of the traders. All the items are hidden in different parts of the area. They get 100,000 KRW to use as a way to trade for items and they also get monetary prizes for each square marked. In the end, the winning team would get 10 times the money they managed to collect by the end of the game.
To make it tougher, the public officials have to stop them from completing the squares. If any places are not marked, the public officials win. Jennie and Jae-seok, as the police and mayor, are allowed to run around and stop any traders from delivering their items to the customs officer A.K.A Tae-hyun. The customs officer’s job is to check the validity of each item as well as to decide if it is worthy of being marked in the square. If anyone is caught by the mayor or the police, they must fork over 10,000 KRW as well as the item.
Also Read: Apartment 404 Episode 1 Recap and Review: Intriguing and Hilarious
But the first twist is that even in the losing team, the one with the highest points (money) gets to keep the cash in real life. In reality, the team game is really for individuals, leading each member to look out for themselves. The second twist is that the mayor is allowed two special abilities- to put a sandbag of 1kg on a trader as well as to change the bingo squares to stop a trader from creating a line. The winner gets money as well as the secret that hides in the apartment.
The first round brings chaos as Yeonjun quickly transforms into one of the cast members and goes on a running spree to find his items. The other two traders do the same but Se-chan, who is known as the deviant one, finds his way out of Jae-seok and Jennie’s arrest by bribing them. He even manages to escape Jae-seok’s sandbag trick by giving him some money.
The last ability is given to Jennie, who is allowed to be a seller. She can use the desired item to pocket some cash from the traders and Yeonjun ends up being her first customer. While she does sell it to him for 10,000 KRW, as soon as he gets the item, she also arrests him and gets an additional 10,000 from him – leaving Yeonjun flabbergasted at the interaction.
Tae-hyun runs a tight office as Se-chan bribes him to allow the otherwise invalid item to mark one of the bingo squares. Happily taking the money, the other traders also use this tactic to slowly take over the game. In the first round, the public officials and the traders continue to bribe their way to the top.
At the same time, the apartment building begins showing weird signs- loud sounds of wind and sounds of animals making anxious sounds. While the traders did not pay attention to it, the officials could not help but take it as one of the clues. Through a hilarious game during the break, the public officials managed to win the first clue – the videotape. In it, they see various construction projects that were conducted in 1968 and 1969, like highways, roads and buildings. Through this, they realise that the story is connected to construction.
The second round has another game that comes to an unexpected halt when water begins falling from the apartment and onto the cast. They keep the suspicious incident in their minds and continue the game. Eventually, the traders win and they get a clue as well through a videotape. The video shows the arrest of a few individuals over a shocking incident. After watching it, they remain clueless as they go on with their mission.
A surprising clue comes to Jae-seok as he mindlessly searches a room- a videotape. Remembering a TV and a video player in one of the corners of the set, he runs to watch the next clue. He realises that one of the major parts of the story is happening in real time, which is the bribery amongst the officials. In 1970, the government rained down on 21 officials who took large amounts of bribes – leading them to be arrested and sentenced to over 10 years. Jennie watched the same video later on and they both deduce that they are currently living out the same tale – leaving them scared of the consequences.
The last round continues to be chaotic as the traders start attacking each other to get a line on the board- to win another 100,000 KRW. Se-chan bribes Jae-seok with 70,000 KRW to change Na-ra’s square with his to get close to a win. The officials are now at the edge of their seats, thinking about the consequences of their greedy ways while the traders happily complete the squares – making them the winning team.
In the end, they are separated in their rooms and they are asked to return a lump sum of their winnings without explaining. As they think over their options, they find a shocking sight in front of them- the set with the four buildings and the completed bingo board crumbling to smithereens. Here is where they find out that the episode is based on the real story of the Wau Citizen Apartment Complex.
In 1970, a string of officials were bribed by unlicensed builders to build a big apartment complex as there was a tight budget and limited construction time, to empty the shanty town. From the mayor of Mapo to the various officials – everyone was tempted by the lust for money. This caused several activities – using cheap and unsafe materials, building the complex on a 60-degree hill slope, etc.
All these issues caused the building to collapse on April 8, 1970, costing many lives. Using the incident, the production crew planted the cast members as the perpetrators, who used money as a way to cut costs at every turn. Their greed for money caused the building to fall in the game, just as it did in 1970.
Jennie, Jae-seok and Nara had also previously decided to give up the lump sum amount asked by the crew, making them the real winners and Yeonjun, Tae-hyun as well as Se-chan the losers of the game. The goal of the unexpected request was to see if the members would give up the money they won by unjust means.
Apartment 404 Episode 4 Review
With the addition of Yeonjun, the cast had a lot more chaos added to the show. From his naive moves to his stellar run – Yeonjun showed his prowess as a variety personality. He also shared great chemistry with BLACKPINK’s Jennie as the two squabbled over prices and trading. It was an absolute riot.
On the other hand, the production team did a great job of bringing a heartbreaking incident to light once again through carefully planned traps and games. It gave us an understanding of how South Korea was in 1970 and their tunnel vision of economic progress caused many people blinded by greed, to cause an incident that cost the lives of innocent people. They also highlighted how it is still prevalent in Korean society today and how greed still ruins many lives, even after many decades of progress.
Apartment 404 is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Also Read: All Of Our Apartment 404 Reviews