Law and the City Episodes 3-4 Review: Layers of Emotion Unfolding as Frictions between the Law Mount - K-waves and Beyond
Director: Park Seung-woo
Date Created: 2025-07-14 14:17
3.5
Law and the City Episodes 3-4 Review: Having set a calm, character-oriented tone in its opening two episodes, Seocho-dong (서초동) delves deeper into the troubled personal lives of its lawyers with more emotional moments and more serious moral dilemmas in episodes 3 and 4. Lee Jong-suk’s Ahn Ju-hyeong also anchors the show with low-key seriousness, while Mun Ka-young’s Kang Hee-ji shines even more brightly as she is forced to face emotional and moral dilemmas. Directed by Park Seung-woo, the cast also includes Ryu Hye-young, Kang You-seok, and Im Sung-jae, who also begin to get their turn in the spotlight with personal storylines that round out the office politics.
Law and the City Episodes 3 Recap
Episode 3 of Law and the City continues where Hee-ji and Ju-hyeong are confronted at last with the tension between them. A walk at night brings long-unspoken feelings out onto the surface. Hee-ji confronts Ju-hyeong on why he played dumb, and he confesses his anger over a non-meeting years earlier that never took place. Though she explains her part—that she had lost her phone and had not intentionally avoided him—Ju-hyeong is not quick to forgive. But their mutual openness is a turning point, a soft step toward restoring what was lost.
In the meantime, a sudden transformation occurs at the firm. The five smaller law firms are merged into one, now to be referred to as Hyungmin Law Group. Ms. Kim, the mastermind in the merger, greets them as their new advisor. Though she appears stern, it is revealed that she gave up her title for the creation of an employee recreation room—showing her higher regard for employee welfare.
The team adjusts to this new arrangement, and everyone is drawn into tough cases. Hee-ji is assigned to deal with a delicate case of a family whose son died following surgery. The parents feel a medical error was committed, but the chief doctor says he only wants to offer sympathy, but no blame. Hee-ji thinks apology and closure can coexist, but office politics jeopardize that aim.
Mun-jeong, though, wins a case successfully but is attacked nonetheless by an ungrateful client who had expected more compensation. Her anger grows, and feeling invisible to others in the team, she spends the day glum and sulky. But these small signs of affection on the part of the team—like Ju-hyeong inviting her for a drink and encouraging her to speak up—go a long way in mending those emotional cracks.
Hee-ji’s narrative is turned on its head by new courtroom evidence rejecting her presumptions. The doctor appears to use his right hand in the operating room, rejecting her client’s identity and integrity. The tension builds, and Ju-hyeong enters with diplomatic tact. They discover a medical fact with Mun-jeong’s husband, a nurse: left-handed surgeons can be right-handed. Empowered by this new fact, Hee-ji is back on track.
Around the same time, Ju-hyeong is pulled into a divorce case he doesn’t want to take on. The client is passive-aggressive and evasive and turns out to be the kind of client who manipulates rather than settles by law. During the hearing, the opposing party—the wife—is also there, sans lawyer, determined to go through the motions. The Law and the City kdrama ep 3 ends on a dark, heavy note, leaving Ju-hyeong good and shaken by the woman’s unobtrusive strength.
Law and the City Episode 4 Recap
Law and the City Kdrama Ep 4 returns to court for the hearing on the divorce. Park Su-jeong, the wife, is questioned on why she testified. Her testimony is one of abuse by her husband, which he refutes. Ju-hyeong is torn between the emotional draw of the case and memories on his part—because Su-jeong is not some other client’s history; she is someone with whom he had been involved.
At the same time, Mun-jeong fights off a cold when she steps outside to run some errands, and a visit to the pharmacy is highly symbolic when she buys a pregnancy test. She keeps it to herself, which adds another layer of tension to her character.
Sang-gi deals with a case where a widower client wishes to sue the family of his late wife’s boyfriend. His wife was killed in a drunk-driving automobile accident with another man. There are problems of law as to who is at fault, particularly since there are children involved. Sang-gi, as always, remains cool and is able to explain the legal system to the client—even though the feelings are still mixed.
Chang-won makes a courtesy visit to a young detainee on behalf of another attorney. The client jokingly teases him for being the female attorney he had anticipated. The brief encounter is excruciating and Chang-won’s ego takes a visible slide. Later, a low-key dinner date with Hee-ji restores his spirits and reminds him that small gestures of encouragement go a long way in this emotionally draining profession.
In court once more, Sang-gi’s case turns adversarial and hostile. The widow of the deceased lover is not about to allow the reputation of her late husband to be sullied, especially when her own children are being drawn into the case. Her indignant reply is openly evident that this is not a question of mere legal culpability—it’s one of honor and reputation.
At the climactic point of the episode, Ju-hyeong’s greedy divorce client tries to bribe him with even more money—giving the excuse that he hired Ju-hyeong because the latter had known Su-jeong previously. Ju-hyeong tears up the money and warns the man not to test him. Unaware, Hee-ji sees this happen and misinterprets it. Later on, she quietly stands in Su-jeong’s way of reconciling with Ju-hyeong, only to be remorseful later.
Law and the City episode 4 wraps up with all five lawyers questioning their professional lines, emotional weights, and choices. The drama never declares its themes in booming voices, but every look and every pause speaks its weight.
Law and the City Episodes 3-4 Review
Law and the City episodes 3 and 4 get into a pleasant, subdued groove that’s less about plot and more about emotional resonance. The show still hangs on — and is frustrating to some, I’m sure — but there’s something lovable about the way it latches onto the dirty particulars of lawyerly work at the mundane level. These aren’t showdowns in court with high stakes; these are sordid divorce actions, moral complications, and cringeworthy lunch appointments.
Law and the City Kdrama Episode 3 explores more of Ju-hyeong and Hee-ji’s history, and their reconciliation in the park eventually dispels some of the tension that’s been built. It’s a slow, naturalistic scene—not the sort of emotional excess you’d find in most K-dramas—and that makes it all the more effective. Their history doesn’t seem like it’s being manipulated for the audience, and although their meeting is still quite restrained, it makes us appreciate what’s at stake for them emotionally from now on.
What pays off here is the tension between personal and professional stress in the drama. Hee-ji’s medical lawsuit story shows her idealism, but refrains from sugarcoating the subtleties of ethics and public perception. Mun-jeong’s horrible day, Chang-won’s unspoken struggle with expectation, and Sang-gi’s heavy case all make for characters that easily could have been two-dimensional. These storylines don’t scream in your ear, but they’re realistic, and that’s what makes them stick.
Law and the City Kdrama Episode 4 is similarly pitched in the same keys. A touch of personalisation via Ju-hyeong’s ex in the divorce case is clever, but never crosses the line into melodrama. Instead, it quietly illustrates just how thin that line between personal history and professional duty can become. There aren’t a whole lot of emotional payoffs—like Ju-hyeong shredding the paycheck or the hushed exchange between Hee-ji and Mun-jeong—that leave you feeling as though you’re seeing real people grow, rather than characters being cobbled together.
So far, Law and the City kdrama isn’t trying for melodrama, and that’s fine. It’s about people attempting to do their job amidst regret, boundaries, and unexpected emotional sidetracks. If you’re in the mood for something realistic, character-driven, and slow-burning, this one’s worth sticking with. Let’s just say, the emotional foundation is being established—now we’re set for things to begin landing with more weight.
Also Read: Law and the City Episodes 1-2 Review: Lee Jong-suk’s Comeback Kdrama Is a Slow-Burn Legal Gem
