Link Click – Season 1 Episode 5 Recap & Review

Farewell

Link Click episode 5 shoots us to a Lu Guang explainer on time nodes. Then onto news about an earthquake. And back to that moment when Xiaoshi spirals about the date.

Chen Xiao’s mother is concerned he’s not well but he frantically races off to see Hongbin again. Lu Guang warns of the panic he could cause by alerting people of the earthquake, making the result even worse.

Xiaoshi remembers his mother singing him to sleep. Or is Chen Xiao’s memory? He bikes on trying to reach his friends.

Hongbin’s mother is scolding him that playing basketball has no future while the nosy neighbors remark that the kids are basketball-obsessed.

A panicked Xiaoshi tells Hongbin to run away but no one gets what he’s saying or the urgency. He tells him the basketball court will be torn down no matter what but Hongbin doesn’t want to hear that.

Finally, he’s direct and warns about the earthquake, telling the Lu’s to go to their dad in the city. That starts a different quarrel with their mother over their father. Xiaoshi watches in horror as Lu Guang reminds him that he can’t save those who’ve already died but could endanger survivors in the process.

The neighbors take in the news about the earthquake wondering if it could be true. When Chen Xiao is pressed, he blurts the excuse that he read it in a magazine and everyone guffaws.

Racing home and screaming in frustration, he begs Lu Guang to let him save his mother. Lu Guang agrees to guide him.

He tells Chen Xiao’s mother that the whole town is talking about an earthquake and she runs to pack. At his house, Hongbin wonders – could there really be an earthquake?

Nearly rumble time, Xiaoshi and Chen Xiao’s mother hide under the table at Lu Guang’s instruction. To keep her safe, Xiaoshi says he’ll grab the forgotten camera – just as the earthquake hits.

He’s caught in the fallout but his mother had crawled out to protect him. She says consoling last words and sings his childhood lullaby. Lu Guang is with him listening as Xiaoshi cries for the dying mother.

Rescue teams arrive as does Chen Xiao’s father, but it’s too late for his mother. They pull Xiaoshi from the debris.

Back in the present, Lu Guang tries to console Xiaoshi but gets a punch in the face for lying to him. Tearfully, Xiaoshi asks the point of delivering the words if he could never save them.

Graveside, Chen Xiao’s father wonders the outcome if he’d arrived earlier. He gives Chen Xiao an old camera he found in their house, thinking it had been lost during the earthquake.

He brings it to the Photoshop where Xiaoshi prints the film, reliving the memories of his mission. The basketball court will never feel the same.

At first, Qiao Ling questions why the guys are wanting to take a break from the Time Photo Studio. But Xiaoshi looks like he’s been through the wars, so she accepts it.

A customer walks in looking for the Qiao Ling of a magical photoshop however, she claims he’s in the wrong place. Then the customer announces he’s with the police. That gets their attention.

The Episode Review

Whether it’s the time travel or the dramatic circumstances or Xiaoshi’s state of mind, within three missions, this job is getting to him. What a mind-bend. This is precisely what makes this story compelling – there are consequences to every action.

When the quake started, and at any point, Xiaoshi had the option to leave via the photograph – but couldn’t. There’s a point where Xiaoshi refers to Chen Xiao’s mom as ‘mother’ – like his own mother. Even with Lu Guang in his head course-correcting, Xiaoshi is consumed by the persona of Chen Xiao. Lu Guang lies about being able to save her.

But what choice did he have? Every moment Xiaoshi remained in the photo, he was effectively thrusting himself into onrushing danger.

With the things Xiaoshi was able to do differently – most especially, delivering those messages – has Chen Xiao’s life changed? One would think reducing his regrets by having verbalized his thoughts would change a person’s outlook even if one couldn’t affect the overall outcome. Closure is like a magic word.

And for Xiaoshi too, as he received the added bonus of being able to develop the photos of the mission, did it reassure him that he added something to his now lost friends’ lives?

Who’s overthinking?