FX’s 'Love Story' Episode 4 Recap: Did John And Carolyn Break Up?

The FX romantic drama series, Love Story, continues unwrapping the relationship between John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette, with the two finally having spent a night together at the end of the previous episode. Both now look for more stability and assurance in what is a budding relationship, but it is never going to be an easy task, considering one of them is constantly in the public eye. Episode 4 sees John introducing Carolyn to his friends and family, which does not really go well, before they have their first major fight.

Spoiler Alert

Are John and Carolyn finally together?

Love Story episode 4 begins with John arriving at a Calvin Klein party, where Carolyn is also obviously present, but the two pretend like they are not well acquainted with each other. There are occasional stares and even physical touches when they are able to get away from the peering eyes of others, and even a playful show of passion when John sneaks an olive from his drink into Carolyn’s hand, which she then goes on to eat. Some time later, John leaves the party early, stating that he has to be somewhere else, but he keeps waiting for Carolyn around the corner of the street. As soon as she leaves the party and walks down the street, John pulls her in for a kiss, and the two walk to his apartment, unable to contain their excitement to spend the night together once again but also having to stay cautious about not being spotted together.

They are careful to not enter the building from the main entrance, and instead sneak in through the back door, which is something that John is quite accustomed to doing. Similarly, Carolyn wakes up early the next morning and wants to leave the apartment before the usual paparazzi gather in front of the building. She knows that getting spotted together, especially at such a nascent stage of their relationship, will only complicate matters, and she is especially cautious of her boss, Calvin Klein, finding out about the romantic development in her life. Perhaps she believes that Klein will not approve of the relationship, and it might hamper her professional career as well. Therefore, when the designer suddenly wants to take photographs of her outfit when she reaches the office, Carolyn is extremely uneasy, because she happens to be wearing John’s shirt.

Back at the Kennedy residence, John goes over Jacqueline’s old belongings and collection together with his sister, Caroline, as they need to sell off a significant chunk of the items in order to come up with the whopping 34 million dollars they need to pay as inheritance tax. Although John states that he would have been more comfortable with a private auction, Caroline reminds him that no private auction can bring them the amount of money that they need, and so a public auction is about to be held, where anyone with wealth can buy items once owned by the Kennedys. As the siblings talk about their childhood, and especially about Jacqueline’s style of parenting, Caroline remarks that she believes her mother had waited long enough for John to become strong and independent before drawing her last breath. Such remarks are bound to have lasting effects on John, and it is evident that the words make him feel confident about the current situation in his life. While he was already developing serious feelings for Carolyn, John is now possibly even more convinced that he is on the right track in life and, therefore, that she is an ideal fit for him. Therefore, John soon arranges a dinner party, where he intends to introduce Carolyn to his friends.

How does the meeting with John’s friends go?

As Caroline discusses with her own friends, she is still cautious about just how much she should get involved with John at this time. After all, she has already experienced how everyone’s attention is always on John, be it in public or even at private parties and events, and so she is clearly not very excited by the proposition of becoming the wife of someone so popular. She initially keeps ignoring John’s calls, but eventually gives in to the feelings that she is developing for him, and the two even have a fun getaway on his boat. Although the paparazzi do photograph them together, they do not seem to mind it, and this is when John invites Carolyn to a dinner with his friends, with the clear intention of introducing his girlfriend to the group. Carolyn does not mind the invitation, as meeting friends falls into the casual category for her, and she shows up at the restaurant a bit late.

The friends are well-behaved with Carolyn, and they make a fairly decent attempt to welcome her into the group, although whether their feelings about her are genuine is up for debate as of now. Carolyn discusses John’s plan of starting his own political magazine with the group, and especially with Berman, who is John’s closest friend and now partner in his business endeavors. Perhaps Berman and the other friends did not expect Carolyn to be so invested in the business plan, or even be so intelligent as to know more about running a magazine business than them, which is somewhat visible on their faces. It is only when Carolyn leaves, just a few minutes after she had come, that the friends express their real assessment of her among themselves. Most of the men believe that Carolyn is like the usual girlfriends John has had over the years, and that she is playing extra tough to get so that she can reel him in quicker. There is definitely an indirect attempt to malign her character in such a style of expression, but the women in the group are less harsh, as they feel that the couple might be genuinely interested in each other. 

Why is Caroline’s birthday party a disappointment for the couple?

Right after the dinner meet with the friends, John invites Carolyn to his family home, stating that he would like to introduce her to his elder sister, Caroline, who he believes will love her. Although Carolyn feels that it might still be too early for her to be introduced to John’s family, she still decides to trust his instincts and support his wish by accepting the invitation. But when she visits the Kennedy residence the next day, things only get more complicated because of John’s horrible mistakes. Firstly, the party at the place is not just any usual family gathering, but it is to celebrate Caroline’s birthday. But John does not tell Carolyn about this, apparently forgetting to inform her how the family is literally coming together for his sister’s birthday.

As a result, Carolyn shows up completely unprepared, with no gifts and also not mentally ready to face the members of the Kennedy family on such a significant day. All she can do to make up for the awkward interactions is wish Caroline happy birthday and outright tell her that John had not mentioned anything about the real purpose of the party. She is left all the more confused and awkward by Caroline’s cold response, as the woman does not pay much heed to her and carries on doing whatever she is doing. It is evident that Caroline is not very happy with Carolyn’s presence at her birthday party. Initially, it seems like Caroline is disapproving of John’s latest romantic pursuits, and just like her mother, she too is a bit too involved in John’s romantic life, which is really an odd situation.

However, the reason for Caroline’s coldness becomes obvious in the next few minutes, when it is revealed that she had no idea that her brother was going to show up at her birthday party with a date. It might be that John had intentionally not told his sister about bringing Carolyn home, as he feared that she would have asked to know much more about her before welcoming her into the family, while he still wanted to keep things casual. But either way, it turns out to be a terrible decision, with Caroline not doing enough to make her brother’s girlfriend feel welcome and wanted at the family dinner, and John also sits and dines with his family, almost having abandoned Carolyn in a way. The woman feels extremely out of place at the Kennedy family dinner, and has no idea about why she is being left alone. Despite having come with the intention of impressing the family members so that they would approve of her as John’s girlfriend, Carolyn is unable to make a lasting impression, and instead the invitation to Caroline’s birthday party only ends up a big disappointment for the couple.

Why does the couple break up?

John and Carolyn’s relationship is already affected by his failed attempt to introduce her to his family, and it is then horribly shaken to the core just some time later. John keeps up with his usual practice of playing football at Central Park with his friends, and after one such session, he finds an envelope that had been left in his bag while he was away playing. The envelope contains a letter that does not mention a return address or name, but is addressed to John and is intended to make him aware of certain things. It is clear that someone has tried to slander Carolyn by writing about her past relationships, her addiction to drugs, and even about how she had desperately wanted to be acquainted with JFK Jr. and had hounded her boss, Calvin Klein, to introduce her to the man of her dreams. 

The letter really paints a horrible picture of Carolyn, making it seem like she had always targeted John because of his wealth and influence, and because she simply wanted to be a wife of the Kennedy family. It also claims that Carolyn had hidden many significant details about her past from John, which would have otherwise kept him away from her. The letter has surely been planted inside John’s bag with the help of some of his friends, who are secretly disapproving of his new girlfriend, and the real intention of the sender is to make Carolyn seem like a cruel and cunning manipulator so that their relationship ends. It is unclear for now who could have sent such a horrible letter, but John unfortunately takes the claims seriously and confronts Carolyn.

This is enough to frustrate and hurt Carolyn for her to break up with John, as she decides to never give him any more chance or attention. But this is easier said than done, since both of them had started to genuinely feel for each other. When Caroline hears of the matter, she cannot believe how stupidly her brother had acted, and directly tells John that he should not only trust his girlfriend instead of some random stranger who has written an ill-intentioned letter to him, but that he should also distance himself from the worthless friends who must have helped in executing such a manipulative plan against the couple. Ultimately, John realizes his mistake and visits Carolyn at her apartment to apologize to her, and the couple’s separation does not last long. Both confess their love for each other, and John and Carolyn once again become a couple.

What is the new challenge that Carolyn has to face?

Although the couple sorts out their differences, trouble is not going to leave them, it seems, for a new challenge crops up at the very end of the episode, especially for Carolyn. After she and John spend a passionate night together, she reaches her office without any knowledge that the tabloids have published articles of her and JFK Jr. having been spotted together. The articles also include objectionable photographs of her, and in fact, her physique and appearance are the central subjects of these articles. To make matters even worse for her, the tabloids have naturally reached her workplace, and her boss, Calvin Klein, lays out all the papers one after another and demands an explanation from her at the very end of the episode. This is probably going to be a make-or-break moment in John and Carolyn’s relationship, with them either surviving this ordeal together or breaking up for good. Considering the course of history, it is known that John and Carolyn will definitely be together, but whether John supports her through this fiasco remains to be seen. 

...