The Heart Killers 1×04 Review: Episode 4

This week’s episode was kind of all over the place, and some things happened much earlier than I expected. Also, at least one of my theories was confirmed, and another was shot to dust. Not to mention, this show continues to not take itself seriously at all, which I personally am a big fan of.

First of all, I have to revise my rankings of THK’s Greatest Betrayals that I made last week. I thought that, when Fadel learned that Style was initially interested in him because of a car, he would be relieved it wasn’t something more serious. That was based on the assumption that Style would remain in the dark about Fadel’s double life and Kant’s secret investigation.

However, he’s now aware of both and actively helping Kant. Plus, he and Fadel are actually dating, which happened a lot sooner than I anticipated. I thought for sure Fadel would hold out for a little bit longer. So I think he’s going to really be affected by Style’s betrayal, especially considering what we know about his ex.

That said, I do really love Fadel and Style. I love how their scenes paralleled each other a bit. Fadel’s, how shall we say, self-care at the end of episode 2 mirrors Style’s erotic dream from this episode, in that it sort of woke both of them up to feelings. And they both kind of responded the same way.

I mentioned last week that I appreciated how Style kept up the ridiculous antics (following Fadel to the track, popping up at the butcher stand in the market) rather than only doing them once. Therefore, I also appreciated the lack of him doing those things this week. I’m not entirely sure if Style’s assertion that “absence makes the heart grow fonder” was his actual intent, or if he just panicked and it sounded like a good excuse. But it worked, because Fadel was absolutely waiting for him to show up.

Fadel responds, naturally, by trying to push Style away. So Style reverses course on his plan to woo Fadel and instead decides to ruin his life – first by making a scene in the restaurant and then by causing problems at the support group. Which prompts Fadel to drive Style out to some creepy abandoned warehouse, and I’m not entirely sure that Fadel was entirely sure whether or not he was going to kill Style or sleep with him. But Fadel admits that he can’t get Style out of his head, and Style basically badgers him into being boyfriends.

I do think this seems like an abrupt course change for Fadel. It’s earlier than I thought it would be, and while I wasn’t initially doubtful, the more I think about it, the more I think something hinky is going on. Fadel’s been ready to stab Style for weeks, and now suddenly agrees to be his boyfriend? It makes me think about how suspicious Fadel has been of Kant, and how he knows that Style and Kant are friends. I have to wonder if Fadel is going to use Style to spy on Kant the same way Kant wants Style to spy on Fadel.

That said, Style has been way more convincing than Kant. This was in part because he didn’t have all the information, his motives weren’t quite as bad, and his interest seemed more genuine. Kant is suspicious as hell, so clearly Fadel thinks he’s hiding something. Style doesn’t start to act weird until after he knows the truth, which is after Fadel agrees to be his boyfriend.

Still, I think this may be related to Kant and Bison, and how Bison seems to have very easily forgotten that despite Kant’s record, he’s never been arrested. This is information that Fadel brings up to Bison early in the episode, after he caught Kant sneaking around the house. Fadel is also suspicious of how drunk Bison got, mentioning that it was similar to the woman they had drugged at the host club.

In what I think is the first evidence that Bison has some sort of self-preservation extinct, he goes to confront Kant. And he does so by being quietly threatening. Khaotung is able to do this extremely well; he was lowkey terrifying multiple times in this episode. However, Bison’s quest to get the truth out of Kant is waylaid when he realizes that little brother Babe is being bullied.

Personally, I think all shows should include a subplot where a former car thief and a current assassin stroll into a school and beat up a pedophile. I do think it was a bit out of place, but I also think it does a great job of showcasing both Bison and Kant’s sense of justice. At first, their goal is just to stop Babe’s bullies. But they will help more people if they get a predator removed, and I believe that Bison especially has a very strong desire to do the Right Thing.

But on that, Bison clearly resorts to threats and violence a lot. He’s told Kant flat out that he’ll hurt anyone who hurts him; he repeats this several times in episode 4, this time with specific threats. First does a great job of looking nervous and uncomfortable every time it happens. (Someone on Tumblr compared it to the famous meme of Ralph Wiggum, “Ha ha, I’m in danger!”) And something makes me think that Bison, who was shown to be extremely observant in this episode, has clocked all of those little looks Kant makes.

There is also a moment, after Bison has finally agreed to be Kant’s boyfriend, where Kant looks properly guilt-stricken. He’s in the shower, remembering Bison declaring that he has his heart, so he needs to take good care of it. I do think that Kant has some genuine feelings for Bison, but he’s obviously been playing some stuff up for the sake of the investigation. This may be the first time it’s hit him just how much he’s misleading Bison.

Now we have both couples officially dating. One half of each couple is an assassin who thinks the other half doesn’t know they’re an assassin, but they don’t know that they know. (It’s like that episode of Friends.)

So therefore, I’ve come to the conclusion that I have no idea what anyone is actually thinking, who is suspicious of whom, or who knows what. I’m pretty sure all four of our leads are lying, but I don’t know to what extent.

What I do know, is that Mother is not their actual mother. As we learn in this episode, Fadel and Bison aren’t even the half-brothers they’ve been saying they are – at least not biologically. In the office safe of their latest mark, they find files on both of their parents, which leads them to believe that the man had something to do with their deaths.

Honestly, this makes me super suspicious of Mother. It wasn’t something I thought until I rewatched episode 3 this morning, but it was in the way Mother insisted that their newest target was behind all of these awful things, yet provided no proof. I’m starting to think that the people Fadel and Bison have been killing are not bad guys (or at least not always the bad guys). I wonder if Mother has been having Fadel and Bison kill her business rivals or something.

In fact, I think perhaps their current target has been investigating Mother, and that Mother had something to do with the deaths of Fadel’s and Bison’s parents. That’s why he had their files in his office. It may also explain why she’s so unwilling to let the two of them go.

I didn’t expect this show to have such an intricate plot, but I’m really enjoying trying to figure out where things are going.

Author: Jamie Sugah

Jamie has a BA in English with a focus in creative writing from The Ohio State University. She self-published her first novel, The Perils of Long Hair on a Windy Day, which is available through Amazon. She is currently an archivist and lives in New York City with her demon ninja vampire cat. She covers television, books, movies, anime, and conventions in the NYC area.

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