Warning. Spoilers Ahead! 

Here’s my review of the Netflix K-drama, “Love Alarm” season 2. If you haven’t watched it yet, beware of spoilers below. If you want spoilers, go ahead and keep reading!

I’m not going to give a plot summary. These are just unorganized thoughts that popped up while watching the show. 

First of all, I really hope that there won’t be a “Love Alarm” season 3. If there is, I’m not watching it.

I know that this season was delayed due to the pandemic, but this gap from August 2019 to March 2021, really killed the show.

Final SPOILER Warning!

Did the creator of Love Alarm die?

Nope, he didn’t. Duk-gu is alive! For a while, I thought Duk-gu might’ve been disguised as Brian after plastic surgery and perhaps limb-extending surgery. But I was wrong!

Why did Jo-jo dump Sun-oh?

I stole Sun-oh’s smile away from him just so I wouldn’t feel any pain – Jo-jo

Do Jo-jo and Sun-oh end up together in “Love Alarm” season 2?

No. Jo-jo ends up choosing Hye-yeong.

Plot holes in “Love Alarm” season 2

I know the show is based on a webtoon but the way the plot came to life was poorly done.

I’m biased because I’ve been on team Sun-oh all along, but towards the end of “Love Alarm” season 1, things started to not make sense, which led to an even more confusing season 2.

At the end of season 1, Jo-jo is caught in the middle of two people ringing her love alarm: Hye-yeong and Sun-oh, and Sun-oh’s gf just standing there witnessing it all.

Then all of a sudden in season 2, she’s Hye-yeong’s girlfriend? How much time has passed between the end of seasons 1 and 2?

When did she start liking Hye-yeong? Didn’t she say she’d never love anyone as much as she loved Sun-oh?

Why would Hye-yeong want to date someone who doesn’t like him?

Why does he want to date someone who doesn’t even want to kiss him? She looked so repulsed in ep 1 season 2!

The Love Alarm shield

Jo-jo was scared of her feelings for Sun-oh so she installed a shield to block her from ringing anyone’s love alarm.

Then somewhere along the line she starts dating Hye-yeong because he’s willing to date her even though she doesn’t like him?

And THEN, she feels bad Hye-yeong is trying so hard to please her that she feels like she needs to prove to him she likes him by shooting a spear at him? Oh, but in the end, she liked him all along even though she couldn’t ring his Love Alarm…

I’m sorry, but this whole reasoning behind her choosing him is dumb to me. 

They had zero chemistry. I’m not even sure why they liked each other or how Hye-yeong could have so little respect for himself to let Jo-jo walk all over him. 

They didn’t develop their relationship well enough. Jo-jo and Hye-yeong felt forced.

ALSO, why is no one talking about how Jo-jo CHEATED on another boyfriend?

She cheated on Hye-yeong when she kissed Sun-oh. I know she didn’t initiate the kiss, but a kiss is still cheating!

The first thing she should’ve done was tell Hye-yeong that Sun-oh came to see her at school and that he kissed her. But her not telling him anything made it seem like she didn’t even like him. If you love your boyfriend, you’d be honest and communicate your feelings. 

Oh, and when Sun-oh finds out about the shield, he just wants answers from Jo-jo but she can’t even be clear with him until the very end. And even then, it felt like her “answer” was such b.s.!! 

The message “Love Alarm” sends is wrong

Even if this show was trying to be “realistic” as some claim, the message was terrible. 

Yes, some people get into relationships with people who they don’t really like in hopes that their feelings will grow over time, but that is so sad!

I would also like to think that those people are in the minority. Unless there’s a large percentage of couples out there who only have one person clinging onto hope?

I feel like the message the show was trying to convey was not a good one.

Yeah, you shouldn’t have an app tell you who to love, but you also don’t have to force yourself to make a relationship work.

Relationships do take effort and work, but it’s not about waiting around until someone develops feelings for you.

I get that not everyone ends up with their first love, but most people also don’t decide that they’re going to try to make it work with their ex-boyfriend’s best friend. 

At that point, you need to be single or try to date someone outside of your high school circle.

Everything she was doing with Hye-yeong she could’ve done with Sun-oh. His feelings for her were so sincere! She loved him too!

She didn’t even pay attention or notice that Hye-yeong was around her back in high school.

Why did he even like her? His crush lasted so long even though he didn’t know anything about her?

There were no other girls around?

I know it’s kinda wrong that Sun-oh decided to pursue Jo-jo when he knew his friend had a crush on her, but Hye-yeong’s crush should’ve ended there. Also, Jo-jo had a different boyfriend at the time but we seem to keep glossing over the cheating!

Hye-yeong deserved better than Jo-jo! 

I get that Jo-jo needed to choose who she liked but it felt like she didn’t even give her relationship with Sun-oh a chance. The reason she ghosted him didn’t make sense. Especially when they made it seem like she still loved him.

She loved him so much that she didn’t want to hurt him by being with him? But she was the source of his misery all these years by not giving him proper closure.

How come Jo-jo could learn to be “mature” with Hye-yeong but not Sun-oh? 

So she prefers a “safe” love? 

And then Sun-oh who gets “closure” from Jo-jo still decides to go back to his ex? Why would a self-respecting person take him back? The only reason he went back to her was because he was rejected by the girl he truly loved. 

Imagine taking someone back after knowing all of that? 

I know that Sun-oh tried to make her happy at times but he was also not a good boyfriend. He left her at an event, he kept thinking about his ex, he never rang her love alarm, he kept ringing his Jo-jo’s love alarm! I would not stay with someone who was so hung up on their ex. That’s just heartbreak waiting to happen. 

So both Jo-jo and Sun-oh end up picking the next best thing, why didn’t they just pick each other?

Both Hye-yeong and Sun-oh’s gf deserved better! 

Why is the show trying to normalize being someone’s second choice?

It’s not romantic to have someone wear you down or be worn down by someone. Settling is also not romantic! 

I don’t know how happy your relationship is going to be when one individual has to try to find love for you.

Don’t settle for anyone who doesn’t love you and anyone you don’t love. There are literally plenty of fish in the sea!

Overall rating: 3/10

This is one of the worst dramas I have watched in a long time. The ending almost gave me “Reply 1988” feels, but not as bad. I’m not sure if it was the nearly 2-year wait for season 2, but when I started watching the new season I really didn’t care about who would end up with who anymore. The trio had me bored!

I don’t even understand the purpose of keeping the Love Alarm app after you start dating. That should be deleted, it’s like you wouldn’t keep a dating profile up (or you shouldn’t) if you’re in a monogamous relationship. 

Jo-jo’s cousin was much more interesting after they toned her down from being a huge bully. Gul-mi was consistent in her character. She knew what she wanted and she went for it. 

I also found myself wanting to know more about the Love Alarm CTO and the connection with Duk-gu rather than caring about who was going to end up with who.

Oh, and I totally didn’t even care about the stalker/murderer portion of the show, but that also happened.

If you watched season 1 and waited in anticipation for season 2, you might be disappointed. If you’re a Hye-yeong shipper, then you probably enjoyed the show. But nothing eventful really happened this season, even the pace of the show was not the same. I think the drama fell flat after Sun-oh and Jo-jo had their motorbike accident.

If you have time to waste, then I’d say finish the show, but if not, you really won’t have missed anything by not watching.

There are better dramas out there! 

Best quotes from the show:

You used the shield to prevent Sun-oh’s Love Alarm from ringing and you used the spear to ring Hye-yeong’s Love Alarm. You lie for your convenience. – Brian

Jo-jo doesn’t do anything, but she has two guys taking turns ringing her Love Alarm here and then – Gulmi