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| Siren / Photo = tvN screenshot |
In episode 4 of tvN’s Monday–Tuesday drama Siren, which aired on the 10th, insurance investigator Cha Woo-seok (Wi Ha-joon) begins to shift from suspicion to curiosity about Han Seol-ah (Park Min-young), who has been named a suspect in an alleged insurance-related murder.
According to Nielsen Korea’s paid-platform ratings, episode 4 posted a nationwide household average of 4.3%, peaking at 5.7%. In the Seoul metropolitan area it also averaged 4.3% and peaked at 5.8%, ranking first among cable and general programming channels in its time slot. In the 20–49 demo, the series topped cable and general programming for both metro and nationwide figures.
That day, Cha Woo-seok found evidence in the late Kim Yoon-ji’s home suggesting Kim had been stalking Han Seol-ah, and he intended to confront Han Seol-ah with what he’d found. Their meeting never took place, however, when the police arrested Han Seol-ah on suspicion of Kim Yoon-ji’s murder after Royal Auction intern Do Eun-hye (Han Chae-rin) identified Han Seol-ah based on what she claimed to have seen the day of the incident.
Contrary to the detectives’ expectations, Han Seol-ah quickly established an alibi and was cleared; investigators ultimately ruled Kim Yoon-ji’s death a suicide. With the case closed and further probing impossible, a frustrated Cha Woo-seok retraced the chain of events to understand why Kim Yoon-ji might have been stalking Han Seol-ah in the first place.
Piecing together a block model found in Kim Yoon-ji’s home, a parking receipt discovered in a car, and testimony from acquaintances, Cha Woo-seok learned that Han Seol-ah’s ex-boyfriend Choi Young-ho (Yoon Jong-hoon) had once been involved with Kim Yoon-ji. He theorized that after Choi Young-ho abruptly ended his relationship with Han Seol-ah, Kim Yoon-ji—unable to accept the breakup—may have followed Han Seol-ah to exact revenge.
While the feud between Han Seol-ah and Kim Yoon-ji came to light, the question of why several of Han Seol-ah’s former partners ended up dead remains unresolved. Cha Woo-seok is especially perplexed by the fact that Han Seol-ah appears to have gained nothing from those deaths.
Reviewing a recorded conversation left by Kim Yoon-ji, Cha Woo-seok uncovered clues to Han Seol-ah’s troubled past. Witnessing how fragile Han Seol-ah had become—down to taking sedatives—stirred sympathy in Cha Woo-seok for a woman who seems to have survived a string of tragic, random events.
Determined to find the root of her misfortune, Cha Woo-seok begins to follow Han Seol-ah closely. He trails her to the enshrinement ceremony for the late Yoon Seung-jae (Ha Seok-jin) and watches, unsettled, as she silently endures the family’s anger.
But Cha Woo-seok’s offer to investigate the tragedies that have struck Han Seol-ah—affecting family, lovers, and coworkers—only pushes her further into isolation. Exhausted by people who refuse to accept her innocence, Han Seol-ah finally collapses under Cha Woo-seok’s questioning and attempts to take her own life.
Cha Woo-seok rushes to save her. A distraught Han Seol-ah screams, “What else do you want to know?” As he holds her, Cha Woo-seok cries out, “Han Seol-ah, I’m curious about you,” revealing the stir of emotion she has provoked in him. The episode leaves viewers wondering what truth lies behind the string of deaths around Han Seol-ah—and how Cha Woo-seok’s curiosity might change her life.
The story of Park Min-young on the brink and Wi Ha-joon trying to pull her back continues in episode 5 of Siren, airing on the 16th at 8:50 p.m.
[Sports Today reporter Jeong Ye-won ent@stoo.com]
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