REVIEW: ‘LINK CLICK’ Season 2 Episode 4 — “Them in the Photo”

The donghua (Chinese animation), LINK CLICK (Shiguang Daili Re­n) has used its last three episodes to wind up tension and mystery, and it just keeps going yielding more questions than answers. A more cohesive story than the case of the week format fans got last year, LINK CLICK Season 2 has been off to a thrilling start with each episode bringing a new cliffhanger to make sure you come back the following week. Now, with LINK CLICK Season 2 Episode 4, “Them in the Photo” continues unraveling the mystery that was set in Episode 1. The killer in the Quede Games is closer than ever but also more protected.

Following Chen Bin’s funeral, Chief Xiao Li goes to his widow to learn more about her last moments with him on the phone. After talking with the widow, it’s clear that the devilishly handsome and equally as enigmatic Qian Jin is at the center of the cover-up and may just be the one pulling the strings behind the body-jumping murderer. That said, the kinship between Xiao and then-Captain Qian Jin sets a backdrop for the story that feels more intimate than just a killer and his prey.

As a character, the coldness that Wei Chao brings to Qian Jin’s character and the way that Studio LAN animates him in the present starkly against the past version of himself helps build up a dissonance between who our characters have insight into and who the man really is. There is an element of surprise when working against someone you know, a blindspot that is visibly starting to cloud Chief Xiao’s judgment when talking with Lu Guang (Yang Tianxiang) and Cheng Xiaoshi (Su Shangqing).

As the dots begin to connect and Lu Guang shares the picture left with him at the end of the last episode, there are infinitely more questions than answers for our team—even if as an audience, we see a little more behind the curtain thanks to conversations between the hooded pink-haired girl, Xixi, and Quian Jin. With Chief Xiao being brought into the superpower fold for the team, more elements of the story begin to come together, especially as Xiao gets to experience the duo’s powers for the first time, with  Qiao Ling (Li Shimeng) serving as the exposition for the episode.

While some may see Qiao Ling’s conversation with Chief Xiao as exposition only if you’ve been watching the series since season one, Xiao is a perfect stand-in for folks who haven’t seen the first season yet or just forgot about the rules around the duo’s powers in the two year-wait. LINK CLICK Season 2 Episode 4 is the first time this season that Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi’s power is used, and we get sent to the past as viewers.

Working in the exposition and rules into the narrative is a fantastic choice and helps ground the relationship between the Chief and the trio. At the same time that the group works to find our dynamic duo works to find out the importance of the pink-haired girl’s photo, Qiao Ling and Chief Xiao try to find out how the latter was controlled. How did the killer find her photo? Who sent it to them? And where does it all lead?

Slower than the last three episodes, LINK CLICK Season 2 Episode 4 is scene setting episode that works to tease out the answers to the questions, setting up the season’s runway in the process. Some developments have an impact, but at the same time, the slowed pace feels like a relief in what has been a tense and fast season. That said, the tepid pace of LINK CLICK Season 2 Episode 4 doesn’t end with a lul. Instead, the slowness builds up before ending on yet another somber discovery that you’ll have to see in LINK CLICK Season 2 Episode 5.

LINK CLICK Season 2 Episode 4 is streaming now on Crunchyroll with new episodes every Friday this Summer Anime season.