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idontwanttothanks

idontwanttothanks

Tonhon Chonlatee thai drama review
Completed
Tonhon Chonlatee
0 people found this review helpful
by idontwanttothanks
Jun 21, 2023
10 of 10 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 5.0
Story 5.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 4.0
Rewatch Value 2.0
This review may contain spoilers
Well, it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be, but I'm not sure that it means that it was good, either.

Things I loved: Na and Miriam.

Miriam was a joy and lit up the screen every single time she was in a scene. She made me laugh a lot. This is the second thing I've seen Jan in and the second thing she's been a highlight of.

And Na was hands down my favorite character in the entire drama. He stole the show from his very first scene. I have to say that I have not given Neo enough credit even though I have seen him in several things by this point. But after watching this I am a fan. Na was a general blast and also an unexpected sweetheart, and I shipped him with Chon to an insane degree. Now I want a Khaotung/Neo pair up because their chemistry is very good and I think it would be fun. Maybe they can have angry makeouts in Only Friends? As a treat to me specifically.

Things I liked: Chon, Prang, Ai & Ni, Chon's mom

This was a fairly decent friend group. I liked that Ai and Ni understood and stuck by Ton even when he didn't especially deserve it, and I love how fierce Chon's mom was in defending her son, and how little she cared that he was gay. Petition to keep casting Khao in roles where he has a great relationship with his mom, please.

One thing I was a fan of was that Chon had a spine in him. So often when you get these pining romances the piner lets themselves be pushed around for love, and it always annoys me. I like that Chon didn't let himself get walked all over. Good.

Although…to be honest, I felt like both Ton and Chon were kind of nothing characters. Oh, both actors did what they could with what they were given (I have never seen Pod in anything else, but Khaotung I know is excellent so I blame neither of them for this), but they just…weren't given all that much. Despite the story being about them, I honestly felt that characters like Miriam and Na got way more development. Hell, even Ton's sis and her hubby got more than I felt Chon and Ton had. It was especially annoying in Ton's case, because there was a lot to work with there and I do think, based on what I was given, that the actor could have handled a more nuanced character. I feel like the main problem with this drama is that it didn't know how to walk the line between comedic an serious, and a lot of potentially good story was lost in the process.

Things I did not like at all: the attempted SA plot and the way that it happened and then was never brought up again (and also the way that Amp was somehow made out to be worse than the dude who actually tried to SA Chon, like he gets a free pass on that because oh hey, she really is a homophobe after all. No, sorry, both of them were vile) and the whole dad and babies thing. I also kind of hated that the second dad gets his way he's suddenly all remorse and solicitude.

The last thing that really rubbed me the wrong way was Ton kissing Amp as some sort of proof that he's still a man or something? What? Not only was it completely inconsiderate of Chon and his feelings (and good on Chon for directly calling him out on that part because what the hell, my dude?), it's also completely nonsensical. I get that it all tied back to Ton's ideas of what makes a man and the way he was raised by daddy-o, but again, the show did nothing with it. It felt like in the end it was just there to cause some drama and give Ton a reason for his big "I've loved you all along" confession, and honestly there are other ways we could have gotten there. As it was it just made Ton look like a meathead who would go around cheating whenever someone challenged his precious manhood with no regard for what it might do to his relationship.

I can't say I regret watching it, but I can see why so many people really don't love this show, ha. For me it was middling, and the problems outweigh the good points, so I probably will never find myself with the urge to rewatch. I am not what I would call a connoisseur of the best BL - I have been known to adore trash and I make no apologies for it - but this one just didn't manage to hit enough correct notes for me to remember it with fondness, nor enough bad ones to make me mad enough to remember it for that reason.

In summation, this is a show that exists, and I'll probably forget it in an hour or two.
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