I wish this series had just continued Jade's character from Bed Friend. In BF, Jade was cute, ditsy, sometimes over the top, but when he needed to be, he was serious and of course, the best friend Uea could have. Unfortunately, and I'm guessing that due to the negative impact BF had on some viewers due to it's triggering and very serious content, a decision was made to amp up Jade's character, to ridiculous levels, in an attempt to give us a more lighthearted and comedic series, but it didn't work. Most obvious was the volume at which he spoke, not only OTT loud to the point he spends most of the series yelling, (how the hell did Yim not lose his voice?), but it was downright painful to experience. It totally ruined the first 3 episodes for me. The best scenes were the serious ones, and of course the nsfw ones, which were just beautiful, and nothing less than what we've come to expect from DMD boys. I've had enough of grown ass men acting like 2 year olds, and we've had plenty in 2023 - I truly hope we've seen the last of that particular trope. I want to make it clear, and I say this all the time, that I will never, ever blame actors for their acting, or how they play their characters. What is released, is exactly what the people behind the cameras want us to see, especially the directors, screenwriters, and acting coaches. The behind the scenes videos show exactly how much these people are involved in telling the actors what they want, sometimes to the point that they are extremely 'hands on' when showing them... I've seen bts videos where acting coaches, in particular, and directors are constantly touching the actors, and are so close to them, that I get extremely uncomfortable seeing it. Had Jade been allowed to continue as he was portrayed in BF, it would still have shown us his cute, clueless, childish, and ditsy side, without being so cringeworthy. It was an automatic -2 stars for Jade's OTT character, and -2 for the constant yelling.
Yim played his sad/serious scenes beautifully, and he really tugged at my heartstrings - it's just a shame that the character generated so much secondhand embarrassment throughout the series. Tutor was perfect, as usual, as were King and Uea. I love Pete, who is such a role model as the perfect LGBTQI+ parent - I love everything he does. Not having seen Ngern for so long, I was so happy to see him playing Man, and have to say that he just seems to get more handsome with time. I'd love to see him in a lead role again. I would have liked to have seen more development of Gus and Tong's story, and a little more of Gun too.
The series clawed back 2 points for the long-awaited nsfw scenes. First with TongGus, though it felt that just as it started to get serious, the scene was cut off, which was disappointing. It always amazes me after the first kiss, the top's shirt is off and they're ready to get down to business, but just how often his partner still has his shirt on as the scene ends. (Not just this series.)
MaiJade's nsfw scenes were beautifully acted, as I said before, and well worth the wait. Another point was gained back simply because, when it counted, Jade and Mai were wearing nice underwear, instead of the stupid boxers we see all the time. I guess they tend to have actors wear boxers... just in case, but absolutely hate them! I've seen a couple of series now where the dreaded boxers have been replaced by fitted underwear, and I have to say, it looks so much better - I don't even understand how Thai actors can put on their jeans, or pants and feel comfortable with 2 layers of underwear on, and most especially those awful boxers!
I just have to add that the biggest bugbear I personally have with Thai series - any series, is the lack of proper continuity. It's not even as if I deliberately look for mistakes - they're usually glaringly obvious, like Uea wearing white boots in one scene, and black ones in the continuing scene - BF was pretty bad for lack of continuity too. I understand that scenes are shot out of sequence, but honestly, doesn't anyone ever check the rushes? Like Pavel's neck tattoo in 2Moons2, which he was having removed in real life - it was dark in one scene, then much paler in the next, and then back to dark again... and it's was not even as if you could miss it, when it was right in shot. The same with Boy For Rent, where a lead actress's hair changed constantly throughout the series, from long to shorter, and back to long, and even changed colour. And how many series have we seen where the drinks on the table change levels with every new camera angle? In the West we have a dedicated person known as the script supervisor, or continuity supervisor, who is responsible for checking wardrobe, props, set dressing, hair, makeup, etc. I don't read Thai, so I don't know if such a person is used in Thai productions, but if they are, from what I've seen, they all need to get the boot!
I will definitely re-watch the series again, maybe starting from episode 4, or at least with eps 1-3 muted! My criticisms of TML, are born out of frustration, yes, but more importantly, I include them in the hope that those behind the camera, will learn to understand what viewers want, and importantly, what they don't want.
If there is any chance, I'd love to see a third series, which would show more of TongGus, KingUea's wedding, (bringing back some of the character's from the first series, and Gun finally finding a partner, plus of course, more of MaiJade. I might be asking too much, but I'll keep my fingers crossed, just in case.