Tonhon Chonlatee (2020)

Lower your expectations

Great cast? checked
Good tunes? checked
Based on a good story? checked
Covering all the cute tropes? checked

Yet the way it was executed was disappointing, to say the very least. If you don't have a decent screenplay, even the greatest cast can't elevate the story the way the fans'd enjoy it in peace.

Here we have a trope as old as the world, having a crush on your next door neighbour. Chon pretends he doesn't know anything, treats Ton like a younger brother, while Ton falls deeper and deeper.

It could have been great. It had all the potential. The hype among the BL fans was high.

In the end what we got was a homophobic story of "I'm not gay, I just love you". It worked well 5 years ago in SOTUS, but now I think LGBT community moved on past this narrative and deserves something better.

Actors do all they can to salvage whatever they have from a terrible script, but after 3 episodes even the jokes stop being funny. The pacing of the show is absolutely terrible and I feel sorry for Pod and how the writers underdeveloped his character. It seems as if the good story was replaced with repeatable jokes and the character development was something nobody ever thought about.

The only character worth attention is Nam, Chon's mum, played by Jennifer Kim. She's open-minded and protective of her son, full of good advice, deeply caring for her son and his friends.

I finished the show mostly because I like the actors and I don't like leaving the shows unfinished. I feel angry with myself for having such huge expectations.

If you haven't seen I Told Sunset About You, watch this instead of Tonhon Chonlatee. Or if you want a nice comedy, try I'm Tee, Me Too. And if you REALLY want to watch Tonhon Chonlatee, just lower your expectations.

/edited for typos

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Overhated for reasons that are explained in the series

This drama is given so much hate that I almost didn't watch it, but I'm so glad I did.

A lot of the complaints I saw was Chonlatee kissing Ton right after almost being sa-ed himself. This itself was called out in the show, with Chon's mother herself telling him consent is important and he was wrong, which he completely agrees with.

Another complaint is Ton's homophobic comments throughout the first half and then a complete turn-around. If you had a father who was constantly pressuring you and flinging hate towards a certain community, it would make sense that Ton had a lot of internal homophobia. It doesn't excuse all the things he said and he himself admits that, but he learns and makes up for it by standing up for himself and others constantly.

The cheating is another thing that is constantly critiqued, which I agree with to a degree. Ton should have handled that situation better, but Chon calls it out and doesn't forgive him easily, even going as far as to ask Ton what would happen if he was put in the situation again. He only forgives Ton after realizing how much time they both wasted not being able to love each other, which to each their own, but yes cheating is cheating. Chon isn't someone to just overlook something like that and I'm sure it wasn't the last time they discussed it.

Can we also talk about people's reaction to the pregnancy? Some gay couples still very much want to be parents and need someone to be a surrogate. Yes, I think it was fairly silly to be Miriam, but not really at the same time. She really became a part of their little family and was there to help and defend both couples and they all really saved her.

All in all, this drama gets a lot of flack for legit reasons, but overlook how well the drama itself calls out the toxicity and has the characters stand up and against the toxicity. I can say it's one of my favorite dramas and I hope someone reads this and agrees.

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I don't think it deserves this hate. Although I don't love it and here are the reasons:

This show started as very funny, I actually was able to laugh alot. I was so happy that the female characters were actually interesting, supportive and smart people, which is something rare to see in BL series. The secondary couple was not terrible and that was surprising cause Mike and Toptap were never a good match in other shows. I LOVE Neo's character, he made me smile everytime. What is fucked up is the fact that Ton is a terrible guy, he is violent and homophobic. But everyone forgave it when it was TharnType. There's a scene of this guy trying to take advantage of Chon in the bathroom, which is exactly what Vegas tried to do to Porsche and everyone forgave him too. My point is most BLs can be toxic but I don't understand why this show has so many haters. It should have and so do the other shows, I just don't get why you guys don't see it always.

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starts okay, but only gets weirder (and not in the good way)

I'll be real with you: I only finished this show, because of Toptap/Mike and Jan (and because I can't leave a story unfinished, no matter how bad...)

The plot was unoriginal and the character development was random and sudden. (I don't mind twists and sudden confessions, but can show makers please start using hints again? Like it doesn't need to be obvious, but if a character suddenly declares that they've been in love all along, to make the other one forgive him for kissing someone else, it does feel like a cheap buy out. Especially when that character was really homophobic in front of his male object of affection in the beginning, like come on!)

Also I see where they were going with the end, everyone is a big happy family, but it still felt wrong to me somehow.

Overall I think the plot (and Tonhon's character development) was rushed, but I am also glad that the show only had 10 episodes, because I don't know how much longer I could have taken it.

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It's emply. It contains spoilers. Watch this at your own risk

Personally after I watch gmmtv's all bl series I thought this one would be another hit. But I was wrong. This one is worst. I can't say this one is trash but its not that much good to watch. At last for me it's not that much good. Because it's story was like all other bl same even wrost at most of it. Acting to story everything is cheesy. 1st 2 or 3 episodes was ok.i don't like the intro of 1st episode. After that to me, chonlatee character was OK but tonhon character was not good. Like he was manly but to me more than chonlatee he looks gay. His makeup was like that. After that the supporting character ai and ni was extra. They were to much. Like they want it to look like comedy but it more look like overacting. But I actually like miriam. In this series everything is extra. Like the story was old they just want to give it some new feel but the overdue it.
I am not saying it worst.but is this really good? Because of its rating is somehow good. But I don't know who give it this much rating. To me it's over rated.
I don't know how I watch this series till end. At a point I want to drop it but I thought they would left it up. So I watch this whole series. But at the end it was trash.
So I want to tell if you want to watch it then watch. But I won't recommend it. Because its full of extras.

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The cast is the only good thing to come out of this show.

Re-review after re-watch:

I'm going to take a chance at providing a better review now that my emotions towards the show aren't as intense as it was when I wrote the original review.

Story:

The issue with TC is not that the story is too typical or already seen. Human creativity can have its limitations. The issue is the Main Problem and what came with Him and Her. Some of these problems were not in the novels apparently. Though take that fact with a grain of salt as I have not read it. The issue also lies in the pacing. The development of TonChon relationship was slow, while not an issue generally, it is an issue when you have small number of episodes to pull everything together. Which is literally what they did. The last episode was clunky. They had to tell us what happened to the main antagonist through a flashback and someone asking about her. Why would anyone ask about her approximately three years later? When the person that asked the question would have witnessed the whole thing anyway. If you have to create a mini plot-hole to answer a question I doubt many people care about is testament to awkward pacing. Some parts of the last episode could have moved forward if the relationship between the main couple (Ton and Chon) had sped up just a little bit.

The twist that Ton knew the truth but still did what he did is baffling. So you knew, but still tried to change him? Ton was shown to like it but still did as much as he could to change Chon. Or did he try to lie to himself because of his family? So many odd questions and plotholes... It almost feels as if that big reveal was thought of later, after the intial filming (though it wasn't).

One subplot I did like was of the sister and her husband's issue. It was nice to see that issues like that can exist and how nicely it was managed along with how the couple got stronger after they communicated with each other. Perhaps a relationship feature Ton and Chon could have unlocked.

Cast:

I stand by what I said. The cast was really good. They worked well together. Decent chemistry. Solid comedy acting. The first scene that introduced Tonhon and Chonlatee? Hilarious. The actors did really well with making me laugh. If they had been given a better plot with the humour, the show would have been a hit. Neo was the best actor overall. That scene at the end made out to be a tiktok video? Phenomenal!

Music:

Not much to say, it was fitting with the aesthetic, but nothing to outstanding.

Re-watch value:

Obviously, as this extended review is of my watching it the second time, the show does have it's good parts, its potential is just killed with the last two to three episodes.

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Originial Review after re-watch:
Every actor did a great job with their characters. Were the characters ass? Yes. Did the actors do well acting out as asses? Yes. With the exception of Na, I found at least one serious flaw in the characters. Chon’s mom comes in second.

The cast should try again with another comedy series. I’m sure they’ll do well!

Story was crap. Apparently, a vital part of the series and the main insitigator for the problems wasn’t even a part of the original book, which I have not read.

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No One Talk To Me About This; I'm Senstive

I really enjoyed this drama! It was the perfect length and captured everything very nicely - I would've given it higher but Chonlatee saying that he would be called the 'godfather' of Tonhon's child made me physically uncomfortable so... They really amped up the drama and drew it out in a wonderfully painful way (I love slow burn, sue me) to the point where I wondered if they were just masochists. Overall, they were cuties and seeing Mike and Top together always makes life shine just a little brighter - I love them being plotting and planning gays they really made the relationship happen because these naive bozos for main characters really weren't making any first moves. I think Pod is a great actor and he really shines in the projects I have seen him in so far.

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CORNIEST BUT FUNNIEST BL DRAMA

The core strength of this series originated from its shallow yet comedic scenes. What did I drink to make every silly lines laughable? If I could remove one character here, then it is Nueng. I don't want to be rude but his existence is pointless. All of the characters have their share of funny/worthy scenes but his scenes are too problematic.

Seeing how low the overall rating is, I could say a lot of people watched this expecting that this will be a serious and complicated series jampacked with romantic scenes. Try to do some quick research first. Well, there are some unreasonable instances that I remember which I can't stand though (not even resolved properly):

1. The use of a rape victim to rape someone
2. Selective discrimination
3. Physical assault
4. Identity Crisis

Homophobic scenes are not a concern for me. In my point-of-view and although we are living in the modern era, it just shows that we must still face the adversities while the world is trying to change. Raising awareness to this kind of issues comes with facing the reality.

Referencing SOTUS series is a YES for me. I just finished it a few days ago and it is a good series for me too.

The casts made this a very watchable series. I never thought I would see Khaotung (as Chonlatee) who acts a cutey childish role. He really nails it and I realized that he's a versatile actor. There is Mike-Top-Ciize with their lovely flirty relationship. Neo (as Na) has the corniest execution and lines I've ever seen but the weird thing is I find his role funny that I still laugh on his corny jokes. Kapook (as Amp) portrayed well as a wicked evil soul. They all did a fantastic job!

There are minor scenes that I hate a little bit but overall, this was entertaining. I've never laughed so hard in a series since I watched Bad Buddy before. This is such an underrated series. I never expected to be this low. It should range from 7.8-8.0 out of 10.

IF YOU PLAN TO WATCH THIS WITH A SERIOUS AND COMPLICATED MINDSET, THEN DON'T! This is a series with 70% Comedy and 20% Romance and 10% Drama mixture.

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DO NOT TRUST THE REVIEWS!

THIS SERIES WAS SO GOOD, IDK WHY NO ONE LIKED IT (not the best, BUT NOT THE WORSE). I know that this show did have some scenes that promoted sa + homophobic scenes, but girl i have seen worse (tharntype). (plus this show made us see what the true world looks like, not everyone would support lgbtq, there would be always negative people! this show is not like those puppy cute love type of trope!) but beside those scenes the show was amazing.

1st of all, I liked the chemistry of poddkhao (rip they have sunk), 2nd THE ACTING WAS EVERYTHING!

the only thing that I didnt like was the ending, LMAO I WAS SO CONFUSED THAT THE ONLY REASON WHY PODD'S DAD WAS HOMOPHOBIC WAS BECAUSE PODD WOULDNT HAVE A CHILD IF HE DIDN'T MARRY A WOMAN, i mean there should've been a good reason. plus when miriam got pregnant....

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Sugary sweet typical BL (X), more to reality intense toxic yet great chemi with happy ending (✔)

In my opinion after watching this drama several times im not bored at all it made me laughed and sad and angry but at the end still got that happy ending...i dont know why people hating this serues maybe because of the toxicity or denials..but if u look at wider perspective you should know that the world is not all rainbow and sugars where everyone can accept everything...and this series deliver the message very greatly actually.

First this series touched on denial, homophobic, toxic relationship, friendships, surrogacy mother, unsupporting parents IVF(in vitro fertilization), call girl's world, toxic es girlfriend, toxic senior and so many more.

But that is how the world actually are and they actually put a very great job at delivering each issues in the short length of time, the progress were very well developed does not feel rushed at all..how the lead have to hide the fact he have crush for his *'childhood friend aka brother'* and how NI and AI have to hide their relay from their homophobic friend, how a call girl also have their own difficulties in life, how it also shows NA is not actually boastful because he is rich but he just have communication and socializing problems and how they judged him at first but slowly starts to understands him, how a father being homophobic and always worries about heirs and grandchild, a friend that became surrogate mother and a toxic ex-girlfriend and a toxic senior all of these have their own lessons and opens your mind to think about the world much more deeper...all of these and none of it felt rushed at all they were perfectly expand through out the series..some scenes especially the opening where the leads were in chinese traditional costumes are so freaking cringy!! But trust me keep on watching because after that cringiness you will get a lot of drama and funny scenes?but towards the end of the series you will see them in that costumes again??that was the only torture i had while watching this series because im a fan of chinese historical drama and for them to do a parody on that are just funny yet cringy like hell???all in all, these things or issues happened in the real life, some wanted kids but unable to and choose to do ivf yet failed so many times bfore succeeding , and some were blessed to get pregnant yet wanted to do abortion not knowing how they were blessed to have the baby...some parents are very judging unwilling to listen to their kids all they think is what they were doing is the right one and the kids are just being immature...as a nurse i have seen many things and this drama delivered it beautifully, im actually proud of gmmtv for producing such perfectly written series that touched on wide spectrum of realities that we face in our life. So if you want to watch a sugary sweet typical BL then this is not for you, but if you want to watch something fun with just the right amount of toxicity and intensity yet still managed to deliver happy moments and great chemi then this series is for you.

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