Love of Kill on the surface seems like it is going to build a romance between two quite capable characters only so far Song is the only one pursuing the romance or ever getting to really have any solid moments. Chateau on the other-hand was taken down by Song, has been led around by him ever since, got run off the road and beaten down in the woods, and now in episode 4 she’s been taken captive.
Now I will admit the story never explicitly told us that Chateau was actually good at her job, but she seems to carry herself fairly capably and yet in four episodes they haven’t managed to give her one actual success or win. It really does undermine your confidence in her character. And given she’s kind of playing the stoic professional, if she isn’t actually good at her job you have to wonder what is left of her character.
Other than the fact that she was super-adorable way back when.
Love of Kill needs to let Chateau have a small win and soon.
Before I get more into this episode I find it interesting how often Love of Kill likes to frame its scenes with the character standing in front of a window. In episode 1 we had the hotel room with the great view, episode 2 saw Chateau staring out a train window with her reflection staring back. Episode 3 had both characters at times standing before the window though Song’s sequence was notable given he was standing in the shadow of the curtain he had just drawn with the light streaming in beside him on the left.
That image almost perfectly mirrors the scene this week with Chateau in the church as she stands in the shadow with the light streaming through the church window on her right.
But none of that really gets into what this episode is about so let’s focus.
Pretty much this week we find out that Chateau has a past full of tragedy and unknowns which we more or less suspected given a previously glimpsed flashback. Turns out someone working that case ended up taking her in but her real name was unknown and that man is now dead, which is why Chateau is out laying flowers on a grave.
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It all seems like they are trying a little too hard to come up with a mystery in the past that ties things together. While I don’t dislike stories that try to be interesting, I suspect Love of Kill is going to end up tying itself in a knot that it can’t resolve in a satisfactory manner. Chateau’s identity being unconfirmed would have been an interesting enough backstory without somehow tying it to Song as well.
And while I quite enjoyed the episode, my issues with the overall plot do not end there. We also have the silly moment when Chateau actually did seem to get the upper hand in a fight, for once, and yet even hitting a guy point blank with a stun-gun did not result in a success because somehow his drug use made him non-responsive to getting zapped. I don’t know if anyone is actually buying that plot development but it just seemed dumb. I would have accepted that his jacket was non-conductive and maybe that protected him but Love of Kill went a different path.
All things considered, Love of Kill continues to be an enjoyable enough watch each week but the plot is moving slowly and unfortunately it doesn’t seem like it is going to be particularly clever or without glaring holes. If the pace was faster it would probably be easier to gloss over some of these things but instead the viewer is left with plenty of time to contemplate things that just fall apart when you think about them.
Despite all the criticism though, I am curious and I am still enjoying Song and Chateau. I wish Chateau would occasionally get a small victory but that seems like a relatively minor issue in the grand scheme of things.
Images from: Love of Kill. Dir. H Ooba. Platinum Vision. 2022
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Karandi James