REVIEW: ‘Solo Leveling’ Season 2 Episode 4 — “I Need To Stop Faking”

Sung Jin-woo’s (Taito Ban) mission to clear the Demon’s Castle dungeon and create the Elixir of Life is one step closer to completion. He has hit a crossroads in Solo Leveling Season 2 Episode 4, “I Need To Stop Faking,” and will need to be re-assessed if he wants to use his full strength to clear the dungeon.

Jin-woo’s re-assessment as a hunter has been lurking in the background for some time now. He talks about how he needs to be assessed as a higher rank to level up and access more challenging dungeons. With so many more people discovering his power, the decision is out of his hands. Very few hunters are ever re-assessed as a higher rank, but this subplot has been building since early on in Season 1, so it is nice to see that it has finally started progressing.

The reveal that Jin-woo is an S-ranked hunter in Solo Leveling Season 2 Episode 4 is fairly anticlimactic, though. The duo administering the test reacts pretty dramatically, but it all feels over the top for something that has been obvious for some time now. What is even more surprising, however, is that he is allowed to leave without any fanfare. He is only the 10th hunter ever from South Korea to reach S-rank, so it was odd that there wasn’t more of an outcry.

Odd against character decisions overpower Solo Leveling Season 2 Episode 4 

Most of that is due to the fact that the Hunter’s Association likes to act in the shadows. Go Gun-hee, the Hunter’s Association chairman, sets up a meeting with Jin-woo that literally takes place in the dark. Jin-woo leaves his mother’s hospital bed, where he is confronted by Gun-hee. It’s a little odd that they didn’t just meet right after the re-assessment, but it does add an air of mystique to the Hunter’s Association.

The Hunter’s Association is essentially the balance between the different powerful hunter’s guilds operating in the country. The idea is that they can keep any one guild from taking over the country, and they want Jin-woo to join them instead of tipping the scales in favor of any of the guilds. Jin-woo unsurprisingly refuses, choosing to remain solo instead.

Jin-woo’s decisions have been consistent from the start. He does not have lofty goals of being rich and famous. He just wants to help his mom and take care of his family. This noble goal is one that he does not waver from despite how powerful he has become. Joining the Hunter’s Association would not have been out of character necessarily, but it does make perfect sense that he would choose to remain unaffiliated.

Solo Leveling Season 2 Episode 4 also introduces everyone’s favorite game mechanic, the online market. That’s right, artifacts that make hunters more powerful can be purchased on the market, and Jin-woo is ready to dive in. He joins up with a team that is meant to clear out dungeons of valuable items after the enemies are defeated. It is a surprising choice, given his powers.

Sideplots prove more frustrating in how little they contribute to this episode.

He has already been re-assessed, and his S-rank status will soon be public. It doesn’t make sense that he would be so clandestine about how he earns items and money, at least not at first. During his lunch break, he investigates deeper and finds the boss’s room, but he can’t defeat the boss without alerting the guild, clearing the dungeon and closing the gate. He is caught by Cha Hae-in before we get any answers, but her questioning is going to force him to come clean and will make it nearly impossible for him to hide his power going forward.

Solo Leveling Season 2 Episode 4 only briefly mentions the two subplots that Jin-woo is not involved in yet. His father is brought up briefly as being an insanely strong beast that needs to be stopped, but that storyline is dropped after that one mention. It is a little frustrating that such a big reveal is being relegated to only a minute or two of the episode.

The Jeju Island mystery is also only mentioned once in passing as a cutaway while Jin-woo is being re-assessed. These moments that break away from the main story to give more information on the side stories can be useful, but without any payoff, they get more frustrating as the series progresses. It would be nice to see these moments get more screen time or at least more substantive things happening during them.

Solo Leveling Season 2 Episode 4 eschews action for plot development, pushing Jin-woo’s story without any surprising elements. It isn’t the most exciting episode, but it does push the story forward and sets up a big confrontation to start the next episode.

Solo Leveling Season 2 Episode 4 is streaming now on Crunchyroll.

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