This review may contain spoilers
I get it
I have such a LOVE LOVE/hate relationship with this drama.
I have watched it seven times at this point. And I will definitely watch it so many more times.
Is it a good drama? Meh.
Am I completely obsessed with it? HELL yeah.
Here is the thing - this drama had a great idea, but extremely poor execution. They threw away the one plot point that could've explained a lot of Type's actions even if it didn't excuse them. His abuse should've been the catalyst to explain and form a frame for his development but unfortunately they forgot about it after the fourth episode. This is beyond tragic because by including the trauma as a central "set piece", so to speak, it could've been not just referenced by Type, it could be used for him to explore and later accept the part of himself that hates his abuser but loves Tharn, who has nothing in common with that man. They could've made a clear distinction between his pedophilic abuser and gay Tharn, who only loves him and doesn't want to hurt him - unfortunately that was not the way the show went and it suffered a lot for it. The next time Type's abuse gets brought up is literally at the end of season 2 and that's just such poor execution for something that could've elevated the show greately. Can we as the audience still infer a lot from Type's behaviour? Sure, but it's never stated as such in the show so he could be traumatized and deeply confused and questioning himself - or he could just be a dick.
Plot? What plot? The relationship is the plot, if you are expecting anything else ... well, we get a semblance of a plot near the end of the show but honestly, how Tharn and Type become a couple and how they develop as a couple - that's the plot of this show, more or less. Again, is that really plot? I personally don't think so but some other people might.
Many of the things that don't make sense in this drama are due to the lack of time indicators - you thought Type first extremely refused, then propositioned Tharn the next day? Naynay, there's actually a gap of several weeks here that the audience just isn't privy to because the production made no indication of how much time passes in between scenes. It makes many things horribly confusing because it seems like Type is just flip-flopping all over the place.
Now onto the problematic stuff. It's there, it's unavoidable - Type is a loudmouthed ass and his development is first super slow, then even seems to go backwards in places, then just doesn't develop in a normal way. Who punches their SO when they are being kissed by someone else? Type's emotions are all over the place and again - if they had EXPLAINED THIS BETTER it could've made sense without excusing his behaviour.
However the production clearly was out to progress the relationship as fast as possible and so a lot was left on the cutting-room floor unfortunately.
Tharn is no angel either, they both honestly deserve each other with how toxic and combative they are.
Coming unto a guy who is so clearly averse to you? Uncool. Assaulting Type in the shower, no matter how much you "know" he wants it? Absolutely unforgivable.
The show also equates gay = pedo which is obviously completely unexcusable.
However - when they are sweet, they are unbearably, teeth-rottingly adorable and this is were Mew's and Gulf's chemisty is just out of this world. There is a reason this drama stays in people's mind: not just the chemistry but the absolute physical comfort they have with each other. When they kiss, you absolutely believing not just that they love each other, but that they are super sexually attracted to each other too - you buy them as sex friends, as a couple. There's a reason there were so many rumors about the actors at the time. It's the sort of dynamic that had been, until that point, completely unseen in the BL landscape. And they honestly sell it almost too well: they are intimate and lovely to look at. Which makes the scenes when they are tearing each other apart even worse because you SEE, you BELIEVE, how much they love each other, so the scenes when they are vicious are so heartbreaking.
The acting is for the most part, quite good. Gulf sells the trauma incredibly well, he's magnificent in all scenes where strong emotions are to be portrayed. His confusion towards his own feelings come across really well and you can tell he's an emotionally stunted young man who's sharp with his words but not a dumb brute.
Mew I found a little flat in some scenes, but he too sell high emotion really well, and he's fantastic when Tharn is being cheeky or forelorn.
Personally, I found that Tharn obviously looks quite a bit older than Type (Mew was 28 when this was shot) but when it comes to those two, I think that didn't stand out much. However, when it comes to the past relationship between Tharn and Tar, I was swallowing my disgust because Tar literally looks 13, no matter how old the actor was. It left a really bad taste in my mouth, especially because Tharn so nonplused talked about his own sexual experience at 14 with a 19 year old ... seriously, so messed up. There are quite a few of these aspects randomly thrown into the show that I found to be highly disturbing but that the drama absolutely did not acknowledge (see above). What happened to Tar and the fact that Lhong got no punishment for it is a big one here.
I HATE EVERYTHING RELATING TO THE MUSIC IN THIS WITH A PASSION! I want to rip whoever was responsible for the audio production in this drama a whole new gaping hole because - wow, does it suck. The mics were either too sensitive or someone had no idea what they were doing, because they pickes up sounds from the staff, background noise from filming, small bits like russling papers, people coughing even. Not to mention that the music so often overshadows dialogue in really unfortunate moments and IS JUST PLAIN TOO LOUD. I'm going to commit a serious crime againt the guitar player in episode 5 (or was it 6) who was way too loud over one of the most intimate scenes in the show.
The secondary character I found all to be lovely, they all added something or brought a new aspect or conflict to the show, some were hilarious, some were just nice, others were hugly annoying - but they all had their place.
Now the finale - was it dumb? Yes. Was it worth destroying Tharn's entire being over a really not-thought-out plan that nearly killed Type? Nope, not in the least. Did the Long get what he deserved? He's not in jail, so no.
I can readily admit that this show is not that good, okay. But I still can't stop loving it.
I have watched it seven times at this point. And I will definitely watch it so many more times.
Is it a good drama? Meh.
Am I completely obsessed with it? HELL yeah.
Here is the thing - this drama had a great idea, but extremely poor execution. They threw away the one plot point that could've explained a lot of Type's actions even if it didn't excuse them. His abuse should've been the catalyst to explain and form a frame for his development but unfortunately they forgot about it after the fourth episode. This is beyond tragic because by including the trauma as a central "set piece", so to speak, it could've been not just referenced by Type, it could be used for him to explore and later accept the part of himself that hates his abuser but loves Tharn, who has nothing in common with that man. They could've made a clear distinction between his pedophilic abuser and gay Tharn, who only loves him and doesn't want to hurt him - unfortunately that was not the way the show went and it suffered a lot for it. The next time Type's abuse gets brought up is literally at the end of season 2 and that's just such poor execution for something that could've elevated the show greately. Can we as the audience still infer a lot from Type's behaviour? Sure, but it's never stated as such in the show so he could be traumatized and deeply confused and questioning himself - or he could just be a dick.
Plot? What plot? The relationship is the plot, if you are expecting anything else ... well, we get a semblance of a plot near the end of the show but honestly, how Tharn and Type become a couple and how they develop as a couple - that's the plot of this show, more or less. Again, is that really plot? I personally don't think so but some other people might.
Many of the things that don't make sense in this drama are due to the lack of time indicators - you thought Type first extremely refused, then propositioned Tharn the next day? Naynay, there's actually a gap of several weeks here that the audience just isn't privy to because the production made no indication of how much time passes in between scenes. It makes many things horribly confusing because it seems like Type is just flip-flopping all over the place.
Now onto the problematic stuff. It's there, it's unavoidable - Type is a loudmouthed ass and his development is first super slow, then even seems to go backwards in places, then just doesn't develop in a normal way. Who punches their SO when they are being kissed by someone else? Type's emotions are all over the place and again - if they had EXPLAINED THIS BETTER it could've made sense without excusing his behaviour.
However the production clearly was out to progress the relationship as fast as possible and so a lot was left on the cutting-room floor unfortunately.
Tharn is no angel either, they both honestly deserve each other with how toxic and combative they are.
Coming unto a guy who is so clearly averse to you? Uncool. Assaulting Type in the shower, no matter how much you "know" he wants it? Absolutely unforgivable.
The show also equates gay = pedo which is obviously completely unexcusable.
However - when they are sweet, they are unbearably, teeth-rottingly adorable and this is were Mew's and Gulf's chemisty is just out of this world. There is a reason this drama stays in people's mind: not just the chemistry but the absolute physical comfort they have with each other. When they kiss, you absolutely believing not just that they love each other, but that they are super sexually attracted to each other too - you buy them as sex friends, as a couple. There's a reason there were so many rumors about the actors at the time. It's the sort of dynamic that had been, until that point, completely unseen in the BL landscape. And they honestly sell it almost too well: they are intimate and lovely to look at. Which makes the scenes when they are tearing each other apart even worse because you SEE, you BELIEVE, how much they love each other, so the scenes when they are vicious are so heartbreaking.
The acting is for the most part, quite good. Gulf sells the trauma incredibly well, he's magnificent in all scenes where strong emotions are to be portrayed. His confusion towards his own feelings come across really well and you can tell he's an emotionally stunted young man who's sharp with his words but not a dumb brute.
Mew I found a little flat in some scenes, but he too sell high emotion really well, and he's fantastic when Tharn is being cheeky or forelorn.
Personally, I found that Tharn obviously looks quite a bit older than Type (Mew was 28 when this was shot) but when it comes to those two, I think that didn't stand out much. However, when it comes to the past relationship between Tharn and Tar, I was swallowing my disgust because Tar literally looks 13, no matter how old the actor was. It left a really bad taste in my mouth, especially because Tharn so nonplused talked about his own sexual experience at 14 with a 19 year old ... seriously, so messed up. There are quite a few of these aspects randomly thrown into the show that I found to be highly disturbing but that the drama absolutely did not acknowledge (see above). What happened to Tar and the fact that Lhong got no punishment for it is a big one here.
I HATE EVERYTHING RELATING TO THE MUSIC IN THIS WITH A PASSION! I want to rip whoever was responsible for the audio production in this drama a whole new gaping hole because - wow, does it suck. The mics were either too sensitive or someone had no idea what they were doing, because they pickes up sounds from the staff, background noise from filming, small bits like russling papers, people coughing even. Not to mention that the music so often overshadows dialogue in really unfortunate moments and IS JUST PLAIN TOO LOUD. I'm going to commit a serious crime againt the guitar player in episode 5 (or was it 6) who was way too loud over one of the most intimate scenes in the show.
The secondary character I found all to be lovely, they all added something or brought a new aspect or conflict to the show, some were hilarious, some were just nice, others were hugly annoying - but they all had their place.
Now the finale - was it dumb? Yes. Was it worth destroying Tharn's entire being over a really not-thought-out plan that nearly killed Type? Nope, not in the least. Did the Long get what he deserved? He's not in jail, so no.
I can readily admit that this show is not that good, okay. But I still can't stop loving it.
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