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labcat
This review may contain spoilers
Surprisingly nice
Review After Watching Episodes 1-12
Having watched a few series with just too many characters, I was a little wary when I read that that there are four couples in this series. But after Why R U and 2gether, I wanted some BL fix, so I started on this one.
Some flaws of having so many couples in 14 episodes may still be seen in this series, but I think the editors have done their best to make the scenes flow and largely succeeded even though sometimes I find that a scene can be cut into too many smaller parts to bring in the other couples' stories.
The beginning of the first episode almost made me stop watching. It is, in my opinion, the worst part of the series so far, with Bohn as the campus prom king with hordes of screaming female fans. It's an overly used BL trope but not something unbearable. What I didn't like was the posing and all--yeah, I know he's supposed to be hot af, but it does nothing for the story (especially given that Bohn doesn't have a good reputation apart from his good looks).
But the series soon proves to be more interesting once Bohn sees Duen sleeping on a bench. No time in wasted in showing that Bohn takes an immediate interest in Duen. Yet, despite having Bohn and Duen as the main couple, soon it is the other characters' relationships that become more interesting, and I wonder if any of the couples should have been the main couple instead:
1. There is Mek and Boss. Despite the poor dubbing of Mek's lines (the actor doesn't speak Thai), Mek is the character I feel the most for quite early in the series. He's secretly in love with Boss who seems to do nothing but hit on girls in front of Mek and even gets Mek to help him. But Boss is not an irritating character--despite seeming frivolous, it's clear that he does feel a sense of inferiority because no girl seems interested in him (until Fon comes along, but she neglects him too). When it turns out that he has been secretly in love with Mek too, the twist is somewhat unbelievable, but who has the heart to complain about this if we can see Mek finding happiness? This is my favorite couple in the series.
2. There is Ram and King, who are both interesting characters. King is outgoing and very good in his studies. Ram, the junior, on the other hand, doesn't talk much. (Perhaps he's the real mute husband.) Ram is a really tough guy (a professional boxer), a loyal friend to Duen and also emotionally vulnerable. Ram talks to his dogs (he says) while King talks to his plants, so there's perhaps a strong similarity between the two despite superficial differences. King seems to take an interest in Ram at first sight, but it could be because of Ram's looks or his unique tattoos rather than conscious romantic interest. This ship is interesting as there isn't a strong indication of budding romance from the start, but we see King being genuinely nice to Ram and Ram slowly opening up to him. Interestingly, it seems to be Ram who develops romantic feelings for King first. [Additional comment after watching the final episode: In the final episode, however, it seems that King has liked Ram for some time, but he Ram's usual reticence makes King unsure if his feelings are reciprocated.]
3. Thara and Frong is unfortunately the ship that starts sailing the latest. I say it's unfortunate because they look really cute as a couple--cuter than Bohn and Duen as a couple, really. We don't see that much of Thara at first, but he seems affable and caring as a doctor (medical student). He's quirky in a likable way, gushing about how cute his pet lizard is (not the humongous one that almost got to Duen) when others think he is gushing about a cat or a dog. Frong is another interesting character with too little screen time. He seems like a much more pleasant person than Bohn, but it's unclear why there is deep tension between Bohn and Frong from the start. (Frong is said to have almost toppled Bohn's position as the prom king, but is that really such a big deal to either of them?) He also doesn't like Thara at first for reasons not fully explored.
I find the relationship between Bohn and Duen cute at the start. But the writers could have done a better job with Bohn. He seems perpetually upset or jealous about something, which doesn't really show the depth of his feelings for Duen. Some viewers don't like it that Duen doesn't want to be more physically intimate with Bohn, but I don't think this is the main problem for Bohn. I think there is too much focus on Bohn's proneness to jealousy (although it can be funny, like how Bohn gets jealous of Thara, who is merely Duen's cousin). A nice scene involving Bohn and Duen takes place at the end of Episode 12 when Bohn keeps trying to say sweet things to and have a romantic time with Duen but Duen seems oblivious to it. Bohn seems upset, especially when Duen falls asleep in the middle of a conversation, but he gently shifts Duen's head out of the sun and onto his shoulder. If there were more of such scenes, it would be great.
That said, the series is interesting as a sort of meta BL, making use of common BL tropes while critiquing them. The husband/wife trope is invoked, but quite explicitly dismantled, with Duen (the gentler guy) showing an interest in being the "husband" and top. The series has the guys falling in love with one another, but doesn't fail to have the characters point it out.
Additional Comments After Watching the Entire Series:
The last two episodes don't disappoint. Bohn and Duen have a misunderstanding, but they expectedly patch up. The makers of 2gether (which I do love) could have learnt something about making the final episode end a little more beautifully for the main couple. It doesn't take much to leave the audience with lingering sweetness: loving hand-holding, affectionate time alone (rather than being in crowds), a loving gesture to affirm the love.
Mek and Boss also have a happy ending this season. Thankfully--it would be too painful to see Mek ending up unhappy in Season 1.
There is promise of more to come for the other couples in Season 2. It's a good thing that there seems to be no hurry to take things further for them. But the Thara/Frong ending is a tad too much of a tease, with Thara saying to Frong, "We're brothers (P and Nong), right?" I'm pretty sure it's an innocuous remark--Thara is the senior and Frong is the junior, so they are really P and Nong in Thai since it's not like they are a couple or anything. Frong seems visibly disappointed by the remark though, so I can't wait for things to go further in Season 2.
Hopefully the success of Season 1 will lead to better budget for Season 2. I do think there isn't a need to focus on all the four couples in Season 2 though. I'm satisfied with how Bohn/Duen and Mek/Boss have ended up though I suppose the issue of parental objections may crop for for Bohn/Duen.
Despite being a terrible year with a pandemic going on, 2020 has been spoiling us with surprisingly good BL series. Let's hope the trend continues.
Having watched a few series with just too many characters, I was a little wary when I read that that there are four couples in this series. But after Why R U and 2gether, I wanted some BL fix, so I started on this one.
Some flaws of having so many couples in 14 episodes may still be seen in this series, but I think the editors have done their best to make the scenes flow and largely succeeded even though sometimes I find that a scene can be cut into too many smaller parts to bring in the other couples' stories.
The beginning of the first episode almost made me stop watching. It is, in my opinion, the worst part of the series so far, with Bohn as the campus prom king with hordes of screaming female fans. It's an overly used BL trope but not something unbearable. What I didn't like was the posing and all--yeah, I know he's supposed to be hot af, but it does nothing for the story (especially given that Bohn doesn't have a good reputation apart from his good looks).
But the series soon proves to be more interesting once Bohn sees Duen sleeping on a bench. No time in wasted in showing that Bohn takes an immediate interest in Duen. Yet, despite having Bohn and Duen as the main couple, soon it is the other characters' relationships that become more interesting, and I wonder if any of the couples should have been the main couple instead:
1. There is Mek and Boss. Despite the poor dubbing of Mek's lines (the actor doesn't speak Thai), Mek is the character I feel the most for quite early in the series. He's secretly in love with Boss who seems to do nothing but hit on girls in front of Mek and even gets Mek to help him. But Boss is not an irritating character--despite seeming frivolous, it's clear that he does feel a sense of inferiority because no girl seems interested in him (until Fon comes along, but she neglects him too). When it turns out that he has been secretly in love with Mek too, the twist is somewhat unbelievable, but who has the heart to complain about this if we can see Mek finding happiness? This is my favorite couple in the series.
2. There is Ram and King, who are both interesting characters. King is outgoing and very good in his studies. Ram, the junior, on the other hand, doesn't talk much. (Perhaps he's the real mute husband.) Ram is a really tough guy (a professional boxer), a loyal friend to Duen and also emotionally vulnerable. Ram talks to his dogs (he says) while King talks to his plants, so there's perhaps a strong similarity between the two despite superficial differences. King seems to take an interest in Ram at first sight, but it could be because of Ram's looks or his unique tattoos rather than conscious romantic interest. This ship is interesting as there isn't a strong indication of budding romance from the start, but we see King being genuinely nice to Ram and Ram slowly opening up to him. Interestingly, it seems to be Ram who develops romantic feelings for King first. [Additional comment after watching the final episode: In the final episode, however, it seems that King has liked Ram for some time, but he Ram's usual reticence makes King unsure if his feelings are reciprocated.]
3. Thara and Frong is unfortunately the ship that starts sailing the latest. I say it's unfortunate because they look really cute as a couple--cuter than Bohn and Duen as a couple, really. We don't see that much of Thara at first, but he seems affable and caring as a doctor (medical student). He's quirky in a likable way, gushing about how cute his pet lizard is (not the humongous one that almost got to Duen) when others think he is gushing about a cat or a dog. Frong is another interesting character with too little screen time. He seems like a much more pleasant person than Bohn, but it's unclear why there is deep tension between Bohn and Frong from the start. (Frong is said to have almost toppled Bohn's position as the prom king, but is that really such a big deal to either of them?) He also doesn't like Thara at first for reasons not fully explored.
I find the relationship between Bohn and Duen cute at the start. But the writers could have done a better job with Bohn. He seems perpetually upset or jealous about something, which doesn't really show the depth of his feelings for Duen. Some viewers don't like it that Duen doesn't want to be more physically intimate with Bohn, but I don't think this is the main problem for Bohn. I think there is too much focus on Bohn's proneness to jealousy (although it can be funny, like how Bohn gets jealous of Thara, who is merely Duen's cousin). A nice scene involving Bohn and Duen takes place at the end of Episode 12 when Bohn keeps trying to say sweet things to and have a romantic time with Duen but Duen seems oblivious to it. Bohn seems upset, especially when Duen falls asleep in the middle of a conversation, but he gently shifts Duen's head out of the sun and onto his shoulder. If there were more of such scenes, it would be great.
That said, the series is interesting as a sort of meta BL, making use of common BL tropes while critiquing them. The husband/wife trope is invoked, but quite explicitly dismantled, with Duen (the gentler guy) showing an interest in being the "husband" and top. The series has the guys falling in love with one another, but doesn't fail to have the characters point it out.
Additional Comments After Watching the Entire Series:
The last two episodes don't disappoint. Bohn and Duen have a misunderstanding, but they expectedly patch up. The makers of 2gether (which I do love) could have learnt something about making the final episode end a little more beautifully for the main couple. It doesn't take much to leave the audience with lingering sweetness: loving hand-holding, affectionate time alone (rather than being in crowds), a loving gesture to affirm the love.
Mek and Boss also have a happy ending this season. Thankfully--it would be too painful to see Mek ending up unhappy in Season 1.
There is promise of more to come for the other couples in Season 2. It's a good thing that there seems to be no hurry to take things further for them. But the Thara/Frong ending is a tad too much of a tease, with Thara saying to Frong, "We're brothers (P and Nong), right?" I'm pretty sure it's an innocuous remark--Thara is the senior and Frong is the junior, so they are really P and Nong in Thai since it's not like they are a couple or anything. Frong seems visibly disappointed by the remark though, so I can't wait for things to go further in Season 2.
Hopefully the success of Season 1 will lead to better budget for Season 2. I do think there isn't a need to focus on all the four couples in Season 2 though. I'm satisfied with how Bohn/Duen and Mek/Boss have ended up though I suppose the issue of parental objections may crop for for Bohn/Duen.
Despite being a terrible year with a pandemic going on, 2020 has been spoiling us with surprisingly good BL series. Let's hope the trend continues.
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