A Democratic Vote
With two people dead and the residents in disarray, episode 4 of Sweet Home begins with a mourning Jin-Ok blaming Eun-Hyeok for what’s happened. He’s clearly shocked too and struggles to keep the residents under control. Meanwhile, Ji-Su and Jae-Hun head out in the morning, armed with a makeshift shield made from a cupboard door to protect them. Just before they leave, Hyun-Soo decides to join them as the two kids thank him for saving them. The date is August 18th and it’s officially day 4 of confinement. The different residents all begin working together to bring makeshift boards and barricades for the doorways downstairs. Ji-Kyung has a close encounter with a creature in the vents, one not dissimilar from the Licker in Resident Evil. She manages to free herself from its monstrous tentacle but finds herself stuck and away from her phone as Sang-Won rings. She does make it back to Eun-Hyeok though but berates him for knowing there was a monster lurking around. As she staggers away, air raid sirens wail as we hear more about what’s happening around Korea. A news report confirms that the military will be in charge of all security and civil affairs from here on out. They’re not quite sure how this infection has been spreading but they do know some key details. These creatures have excellent regenerative capabilities but the soldiers confirm there’s a moment dubbed “golden hour” where these creatures can be killed by incinerating them. Right now, this seems to be the only solution to stopping their threat. “Survive. Good luck.” The soldier retorts before the broadcast ends. Hyun-Soo continues to have bad dreams before awakening in Eun-Yoo’s room. Eun-Hyeok’s there too and he warns Hyun-Soo that things are going to be tough from here on out. That roughness is made worse when he heads out to the main atrium where the rest of the residents happen to be. Suk-Hyun wants to get rid of Hyun-Soo, seeing him as a threat to their livelihood but they all eventually decide to vote on his fate. It goes right down to the wire too until the final note confirms to be invalid. And just like that Suk-Hyun gets infected and begins bleeding profusely from the nose. When he awakens, he finds himself in isolation with Hyun-Soo. Ji-Kyung however finds herself suffering with an upset stomach. While she tries to make sense of what’s been happening, Ji-Su comforts Jin-Ok who mourns the death of her daughter. Ji-Su heads into the bathroom and spies a baseball bat sitting against the wall. This brings back memories of the past as we see that the boy lending her a helping hand is also the owner of the guitar. Back in the present, Sang-Wook goes on the hunt and finds the Room 802 resident he was torturing from before. Sang-Wook beats him down until the boy races away, convincing the others to keep him locked up for now. This sees him in the same room as Hyun-Soo and Suk-Hyun. he confronts Hyun-Soo and asks him how he can turn into a monster like him as Hyun-Soo starts to exhibit concerns of his own. Up in the apartments, Doo-Sik opens the door to the bathroom but finds a massive sac that seems to be holding a child inside. With the gun in hand, he remains shocked over what he’s seen and deliberates over his next move.
The Episode Review
With lots more action and frantic energy, Sweet Home has barely stopped to catch a breath across its opening four chapters. While there are moments of the group gathering together and small fragments of flashbacks to the past, there never quite feels like enough to really get behind these characters and understand who they all are in explicit detail. To be fair though, a lot of the residents have pretty interesting stories and the democratic vote to try and kick Hyun-Soo out is a nice touch too, even if it does end somewhat predictably. Still, the actual series is incredibly unpredictable and having not read the webtoon myself, this one leaves the door wide open for where it may go next.
