Summary
The final chapter speaks many truths, but it raises the issue that feelings are not always straightforward and are often complicated. Technology is not always the answer, and sometimes a leap of faith is all people need.
This recap of the Netflix k-drama series Love Alarm season 2, episode 6 — the ending explained — contains spoilers.
Here we are, folks. The episode everyone will care about the most after an emotionally stressful penultimate chapter. Episode 6 begins with a flashback; Dok-gu watches Hye-yeong observing Jojo running on the field. He scrawls development notes on the floor for Love Alarm. In the present day, Jojo cannot stop crying — her entire world has crashed before her. Hye-yeong walked away and didn’t stop. Memories rush back, with characters blaming her for everything.
The Love Alarm murderer is arrested
In the rain, the man that has followed Jojo about “The Ringing World” confronts her. Suddenly, the man is chased and is arrested for murder. As he lays on the ground, the man screams at Jojo, explaining that he drew everything she did, and asks why are they still lonely. Flashes of her childhood inflict her, and she nestles to the floor. On the news, it’s reported that the man responsible for the Love Alarm murders has been arrested after they tracked him following “The Ringing World”. Episode 6 brings a dark start to the final chapter.
Jojo is a broken woman
Jojo heads to the police station and tells them that “The Ringing World” is not an instruction or prophecy but that it’s about her. The character has had to relive all the trauma again after recent events. There’s an air of depression layering over the episode as she wonders whether she can ring Hye-yeong. Meanwhile, Hye-yeong is struggling to focus at work. Jojo is a broken woman; even her aunt and Gul-mi sympathise with her after years of arguing amongst themselves. On social media, Kim Jojo reveals herself as “The Ringing World”. She tells everyone that she was the sole survivor of a family mass suicide, and all her life, she’s wondered why her parents did what they did while pretending to be an ordinary person.
Season 2 has started to touch on what Jojo was suffering from in season 1. The character proves that trauma never really goes away and has moulded her into the person she is now.
Jojo regrets installing the shield
Jojo meets Sun-oh; she admits to regretting installing the shield but thinks she’d do it again as she’s learned a lot by having choices. She apologises, but Sun-oh asks her not to as liking someone isn’t something to say sorry for. The pair remember walking together as a couple on this path; one of their fonder memories. In the present, Jojo says goodbye and walks off. There seems to be an acceptance that they’ve reached the end of the road, and they’ll be able to move on without any bumps along the way. It’s sad, as many viewers would have wanted this couple to come to fruition, but Love Alarm teaches us that not everything goes the way we planned in life.
Duk-gu explains why Jojo was sincere
Duk-gu explains to Hye-yeong that with the shield as a variable, Jojo’s volition intervened, and he became someone she would like. He believes Jojo wanted to ring Hye-yeong’s Love Alarm even if it meant she had to use the spear. She was willing to go that far to express how she felt about him. Duk-gu believes this is sincere. Meanwhile, Jojo is travelling to Gimpo, Jeju, to get answers for herself, and she asks Hye-yeong to listen to her when she returns. Dok-gu’s explanation was sensible. When you flip the perspective, it begins to make sense; Jojo was looking beyond the artificiality of an app — she wanted to explore something for herself.
Running a marathon
Jojo decides to run a marathon; she always runs when things get hard, and it feels like she’s surviving. The character is going through an awakening and becoming self-aware of who she is as a person. As she runs, her childhood memories rush through her. She suddenly stops in her tracks and sees her young self on the running path holding a teddy bear. She looks at her younger self and hugs her. She’s finally letting go and tells her younger self that she no longer hates her but that she was too heavy. Jojo starts running again, with her mind clear. When she gets to the finish line, Hye-yeong is there, smiling at her. Jojo runs towards him with happiness. The pair embrace each other. The ending of Love Alarm season 2 brings the message of accepting yourself before accepting others. There’s a strong theme of self-love that runs in the veins of episode 6.
Duk-gu wants to get rid of version 2
Love Alarm season 2, episode 6 gets into the weeds of the app development as Duk-gu becomes an important character for the last chapter.
When Brian Chon returns to the office, Chon Duk-gu tells the CTO to stop Love Alarm 2.0. Brian explains that version 2 helps people find who likes them and will stop the mass suicide caused by version 1. Dok-gu explains that version 2 could prevent love that could have been. He uses Kim Jojo as an example and that with the introduction of timing and volition, the small error changed a person’s life. He asks Brian Chon to give up version 2 and remain the developer forever.
Gul-mi is finally in the Badge Club for the 900 day anniversary of Love Alarm 2.0, and she’s alarmed to see Dok-gu when her Love Alarm goes off. He tells her he is the founding developer. He apologises to her for still ringing her Love Alarm. It dawns on Gul-mi that she could be the reason that Love Alarm was created. She plays it cool and is hard on him before walking off. When she gets home, she’s reported in the media as Love Alarm’s muse. She tells her viewers how she met the Founding Developer of the app. Gul-mi finally got the social ranking that she wanted, and it leaves the door open to whether she explores a romance with Dok-gu or explores fame on social media.
Reaching an understanding
Sun-oh and Hye-yeong finally have a calm conversation together. Sun-oh tells his friend that he’s gained a lot now but that he will take care of himself. Hye-yeong tells him they can keep meeting moving forward. It feels relieving that these two men have finally reached an understanding — but it feels bittersweet — a friendship has been lost at the expense of this love triangle, which should be a resonating message to all.
Sun-oh will return every day
When Yuk-jo gets home, she receives CCTV video messages that were left for her from Sun-oh every time he visited her apartment. She wasn’t in, so he kept coming back. Yuk-jo sees all videos and sobs. Sun-oh visits her apartment in the present day and assumes she isn’t in, so Yuk-jo runs after him. He tells her that he still can’t ring her Love Alarm but that he will keep coming back and that one day, it will ring. Meanwhile, on a park bench, Jojo tells Hye-yeong that she loves him, which leads to a kiss.
The ending
Dok-gu tells Jojo that the moment she liked Hye-yeong, her name would have disappeared from the list of people who will like him. Jojo meets Hye-yeong and gives him a log of her Love Alarm that has recorded all the times she rang someone’s Love Alarm; the times her feelings were hidden by the spear and the shield. When she puts in the tape, nothing happens. The couple laughs if it off and agree to go for something to eat. As they walk out, the log plays; it lists all the times her Love Alarm rang for Hye-yeong, and it goes back a long time; even during moments where we doubted she had feelings, but what was really heartwarming is how the couple did not care about the log; they brushed it off and got on with their day, knowing that they love each other — the reliance on technology was gone.
The final chapter speaks many truths, but it raises the issue that feelings are not always straightforward and are often complicated. Technology is not always the answer, and sometimes a leap of faith is all people need. Love Alarm season 2, episode 6 brings bittersweet moments but also a justified ending that speaks volumes. I imagine some fans will be disappointed, while others will be happy, depending on which couple you rooted for.
