Pio and Jeongyo briefly share a room and learn each other’s tricks of the trade in the fourth episode of Four Hands, Two Sonatas.
What makes a true artist? Despite the exposition-heavy episode, Four Hands, Two Sonatas shows us the two sides of genius, and even goes to explore what society thinks of the difference between raw talent and precise study. Additionally, family drama adds weight to an already tense situation.
Disclaimer: The following article contains major spoilers for Four Hands, Two Sonatas.
Family drama
Pio asserts his decision to stop competing, which causes his mom Jihye to lash out at Seungwoon and Seonju. Their argument reveals that Jihye was meant to go abroad to become a ballerina, but she got pregnant and came back to Korea.
At the time, Seungwoon was already messing around with Seonju all while his wife was sick with cancer. Jihye claims that her mother put a curse on Seonju for her misdeeds and storms out.
Learning from each other
Pio and Jeongyo go sheet music shopping. Jeongyo had previously used free downloads, but Pio teaches him that every publisher is different and each edition reflects the latest music research of the time. He also suggests that they be each other’s accompanists. He tells Jeongyo about how he fell in love with the beauty of music at age five but had never just played for fun.
On his end, Jeongyo takes Pio to a piano store and teaches him how to improvise using jazz techniques. After parting ways, Jeongyo runs into Mr. Kim, who, after their previous altercation, has realized that Pio comes from a rich family and now wants more information about him. He takes a picture of Pio’s number on Jeongyo’s phone and leaves. Jeongyo grows increasingly paranoid that Mr. Kim will harm Pio.
Little green monster in Four Hands, Two Sonatas Episode 4
Still angry at her son, Jihye takes Pio’s credit card and tells him not to come back home if he’s not going to play piano the way she wants him to. Pio ends up staying with Jeongyo in his cramped dorm room.
As the days wear on, Pio and Jeongyo continue playing together. Living in close quarters, Pio begins to notice Jeongyo’s quirks, like how he improvises music to whatever sound he hears. He also sees that Jeongyo has begun writing his own music. Feelings of inadequacy and comparison rise within Pio, especially as he notices Jeongyo flawlessly improvising and applying the techniques Pio taught him in their lessons with Hyunsoo.
Mr. Kim strikes
Mr. Kim and his loan sharks have tracked down Jeongyo’s dad. Mr. Kim tells Jeongyo that he needs to come up with 80 million won in three days or else. Jeongyo tries to say he doesn’t have the money, but Mr. Kim says he can just borrow money from his “rich friend.”
Jeongyo ends up asking Director Seonju to help him save his dad. Seonju brings a legal team with her to bargain the debt down to 10 million won, and they eventually convince Mr. Kim to let Jeongyo’s dad go.
Jeongyo, Seonju, and Jeongyo’s dad sit down to have a meal after the whole ordeal. However, when Seonju tries to commend the man for raising a talented son, he reveals that he is actually Jeongyo’s stepdad and deeply resents Jeongyo and his mother for making him take care of a child who isn’t his. Both Jeongyo and his stepdad leave the table upset.
Four Hands, Two Sonatas Episode 4 Recap: Switching allegiances
Jihye learns that the agency run by Jaein’s mom is planning on recruiting Jeongyo and possibly dropping Pio after he announced that he’s no longer going to compete. She shows up to tell Pio about this, digging into his weaknesses and eventually luring him back home.
Though Pio tries his best to remain cordial to Jeongyo, knowing he is not to blame for anything, his insecurity keeps growing. He goes to Jaein to ask her why she likes his playing. She cheerfully and genuinely compliments him at first, but when she gets a chance to listen to Pio and Jeongyo’s concerto, it’s clear to him that Jeongyo impressed her more.
Back at home
The nail in the coffin arrives when Pio comes home to find Jeongyo playing to a host of guests, including his grandparents. He even overhears them talking about how Seungwoon wants Jeongyo to play at his concerto.
Pio confronts his grandfather again, asking why he’s never good enough. Seungwoon responds that despite having perfect technical skill, Pio’s music is boring, and Jeongyo carried the Noblesse Concert performance with his strong emotions.
Jeongyo, who was tricked into playing because he thought he was paying Seonju back for the 10 million won, bursts in to defend Pio. He reiterates that Pio helped him get on stage, sparked the emotion in him, and therefore carried the performance; that without Pio, he wouldn’t have played at all. Seungwoon waves him off, simply urging him to audition for the concerto. He says that their friendship will destroy one of them eventually.
Jihye threatens Jeongyo to stay away from their family. After Jeongyo walks away, she finds Pio collapsed in the bathroom.
Thoughts and What To Expect Next on Four Hands, Two Sonatas
Jeongyo and Pio are basically two halves of the same artistic brain and a highlight of this episode was seeing how they complement each other. It was also great to see Song Kang and Lee Junyoung fully inhabit these characters, the contrast between them visible just from the way they stand and speak
It seems like his grandfather’s words and his own self-blaming tendencies still haunt Pio in the next episode. It also looks like he’ll decide to compete again if only to prove himself, as well as drag Jeongyo into the mess with him. The pressure is on for both our leads as we approach the midpoint of the show.
Source: tvN Drama
