Summary
Episode 4 brings a moment of clarity for one of the characters, which tortures the audience. Heartbreaks and frustrations continue, but it feels like there’s nearly a resolution.
This recap of the Netflix k-drama series Love Alarm season 2, episode 4 contains spoilers.
The shield has made Sun-oh go crazy, resulting in that kiss in episode 3. This chapter begins with Sun-oh feeling that he’s proven that Jojo still likes him because the eyes do not lie. He knows the shield was because of him. Sun-oh vows not to let her go anymore without understanding why she installed that shield. It rains, and Jojo leaves him outside to wallow in his own pain. Jojo cries to herself alone. The character has become trapped in this love triangle; she’s not ready to face what she already knows. She fears getting hurt and hurting someone else in the process, but with that shield on, there’s no clarity for anyone. Episode 4 puts Jojo in the predicament that we could all see coming — she needs to have a fully functioning Love Alarm.
Unspoken truths
After that emotionally exhausting moment for Jojo, she meets Hye-yeong outside his workplace in the pouring rain. He gives him a hug and cries. Although she told herself that she would, Jojo doesn’t tell Hye-yeong what happened earlier. She can’t bring herself to it. As she feels guilty, Hye-yeong keeps walking in and out of her radius to set off her Love Alarm — this makes the situation worse. As Hye-yeong walks away, his face says everything we need to know — he knows something is not right as well. It’s a sad situation in episode 4. The characters are compromising themselves.
The need for the truth tortures Sun-oh
Sun-oh keeps following Jojo, and eventually, she turns to talk to him. He asks what happened the day she came to speak to him before breaking up. Sun-oh still wants to understand why. The need for the truth keeps torturing him, and the audience knows he will not stop until he gets it. Flashbacks show Jojo trying to ring Sun-oh, and it kept going to voicemail, but then she thought if she stopped, he’d keep smiling.
The potential to lose everything
No-one has heard from Yuk-jo for a few days, so Sun-oh tries to find her. Eventually, he finds her, but she’s okay. Yuk-jo expresses how no-one knows they have broken up yet. Outside, a man is waiting for her — Yuk-jo says it’s someone who rings her Love Alarm. While Sun-oh cannot be bothered that Yuk-jo has moved on, there’s clearly a fear that he will have lost everything, including Jojo. Love Alarm season 2, episode 4 sees Sun-oh living in his own fear manifested over time.
Punches thrown
Suddenly, a video has gone viral of Sun-oh visiting Jojo at the lecture. Hye-yeong sees it and immediately leaves his workplace. Word spreads quickly, and all three characters have to deal with it. Hye-yeong sees Sun-oh and punches him, calling him self-centred; Sun-oh punches him back. The men scream at each other. The love triangle has peaked. It was always going to end with these two men punching each other. It’s a shame that none of these characters had the ability to communicate with each other to resolve it before it got to this extreme place.
Hye-yeong is not mad at Jojo, and she wonders why
Hye-yeong finds Jojo and expresses that he’s worried about her. Jojo tells him that he should be mad as she keeps hurting him. As she cries, Hye-yeong hugs her and agrees that next time he’ll be mad at her. When they head inside, Hye-yeong wonders if he’s broken. As Jojo walks home, she tells herself that Hye-yeong keeps trying to believe in them both and that it’s making him anxious. Sun-oh finds Jojo while she walks hope and that instant attraction between them returns — he tells her that they’d have been perfectly fine if Love Alarm didn’t exist, and he blames it on himself.
Love Alarm is not to blame
But then, there’s a moment that feels like a blow to the heart for Sun-oh in episode 4.
Jojo tells Sun-oh that it was her choice to turn on the shield and that when he visited her school the other day, all she could think about is Hye-yeong. She tells him to look into her eyes and explains that this isn’t Love Alarm; this is her own volition. What a painful moment to mark season 2. There’s so much hurt between all these characters, making the audience wonder if it can ever be resolved.
The ending
And then episode 4 ends with a moment of clarity, leaving audiences to wonder if Jojo has picked who she wants to be with.
When Jojo heads inside, she sees the photos that Hye-yeong took of her, and she suddenly has clarity. She asks Hye-yeong to meet up with her. They run towards each other, but she tells him to keep a distance, and she gets out her phone. The shield is gone — she removed it earlier when someone sent her a solution — it was from an “unknown sender”, but it’s likely to be Brian Chon. She walks towards him with her Love Alarm fully on. Both of their Love Alarms turn on. Hye-yeong looks down at his phone, and they look at each other with a smile. For the first time, Jojo has told Hye-yeong that she loves him.
Love Alarm season 2, episode 4 brings a moment of clarity for one of the characters, which torture the audience. Heartbreaks and frustrations continue, but it feels like there’s nearly a resolution.
