Somehow this drama managed to make forty minute episodes feel like two hours. It's long drawn out pacing is somebody's cup of tea, but not mine. The main characters, had they had more depth, could have filled some of those back and forth panning of actors doing absolutely nothing except be pretty and look miserable with actual, interesting content. The most compelling character and the one that had the shortest amount of screen time was the app creator Duk Gu, but because this show wanted to just murder everyone with angst they decided to 'mysteriously' write him off (tw suicide) by making him jump out a window (/tw suicide) just so the main character wouldn't be able to undo her decision to never ring someone else's love alarm. There were some mentions of the consequences-- real, hard hitting consequences and not just 'does she love me?' 'does she love me not?'-- of having an app that exposes love, such as lgbtq+ hate and turning to murder because the person you ring for doesn't ring you back. These would have been infinitely more interesting subjects to tackle but they're pushed aside for this asinine main story. The pacing is already dragging, weighed down by teenage angst and sorrow and I found myself zoning out more often than not. What this drama needed to be better is a huge cut down on the retrospective "stares out of a window" scenes, less flashbacks and slow-mo.

I get it. Heartache is the worst, it feels like nothing worse could happen to you when you're going through it but there are so many other shows that I can think of that tackle this topic. What this show could have done with the 'Love Alarm' plot? What with the concept is so good, though?! They could have done so much more with it and I'm willing to bet the webtoon is a lot more interesting than its kdrama equivalent. I just see the first season show as a huge missed opportunity. Granted! I am always, always a fan of growth so I will be watching the second season.