Creating spin offs focused on the side couples that captured the audience's hearts has been a thing for a while. Sometimes it's done really well, but in a lot of cases as showcased here with Between Us, it just ends very poorly. The thing with side couples is that they're just that, side couples. They can bounce in and out as needed to provide whatever is needed, some levity to keep the show from being too heavy, a nudge to keep the plot rolling, a touch of ingenuity to get the lead couple together or back on track, etc. They're not central to the story, but they do play an important role. The problem comes though, when you try to take them and make them the leads. Unless both stories are planned out at the same time, it's bound to get messy which was the case with Between Us.

I watched Between Us and then promptly went and skimmed through UWMA which means that the differences between the two were positively glaring. Since these two dramas were obviously not planned out at the same time, there were inevitably going to be differences, that was unavoidable. However, with that being said, I think they could have done a much better job of making those differences less obvious.
-The most obvious were characters that were prominent in UWMA that were just completely omitted in Between Us, namely Dean's sister, Del. She became a good friend of Manow and Pharm and was frequently seen with them at the swim meets and such and with Manow in the drama club. I don't know if the actress was unavailable, uninterested, or if they deliberately omitted her but it was weird to have her absent. Same with Alex who was also part of the drama club and again was almost completely omitted aside from one comment about him that Manow made in Episode 1. If they didn't want those characters in there, then so be it, but find a way to explain why they don't show up. Pretending they don't exist is not the way to go. Your audience isn't stupid.
-Similarly, part of Manow's journey was her discouragement of not getting any acting parts and just working backstage. This was another fairly major change since she acted in a short film that won a prize in UWMA and acted in something for the club's open house as well. Don't get me wrong, I actually liked the change, but it just felt like they didn't care about consistency and staying true to the original story.
-Sticking with Manow for a second, her and Pruek's relationship was also completely different. This is another change that I liked, I actually adored their relationship, more than Win and Team, if I'm honest, they were so wholesome, but again, nothing like what transpired in UWMA.
There's definitely more but I'll stick with those so I don't keep rambling.

The biggest problem though with Between Us, is that there simply wasn't enough story to stretch for 12 episodes. There just wasn't. Again as side characters, as a side couple, Team and Win were fantastic, they were the comedic relief together, separately they were confidants for Pharm and Dean respectively. It worked. But with them as the leads, their characters also changed. Team was almost infantilized. He was whiny and childish. His constant complaint of "Hia" became increasingly grating as the drama dragged on. And Win, who was teasing and mischievous in UWMA, was suddenly possessive and overprotective. The teasing came out as well, but to a lesser extent and as the drama went on; their relationship took on an almost parental note which was weird and felt unnatural. Their relationship in UWMA, for as little as we saw of it, felt natural. That's part of why it was so charming. What we needed was something that told us why they worked. Not a one night stand, not family drama, or a traumatic back story, just them, what was it about their personalities, who they were, that just clicked and unfortunately we got everything but that.

But while I feel like starting their relationship with a one night stand wouldn't fit with the narrative initiated by UWMA, it could have worked. If they had showcased what started out as just sex slowly developing into something more. But instead, they kept their relationship painfully awkward, particularly on Team's part, hesitant to touch or be touched, and the kisses were just not great. There should have been a steady improvement, but there wasn't. I'm going to guess neither the writer or director have ever been in relationships and have no idea how they work because seriously, there should be growth and development, not just physically, but emotionally. But again, we have the weird parent/child dynamic between the two that never goes away. We have Win's apparent fear of commitment that's never really addressed. There's also Team's completely unfounded fear that he's not truly special to Win that's also not addressed. Those are two aspects that would have been interesting to explore and could have given insight to the characters, providing growth for them as individuals and as a couple. We also have scenes like the one where Team apparently sits in the rain for two hours waiting for Win to rush to his side. Really? You're visiting your parents, they're probably 10 minutes away, but you're going to call your boyfriend who's two hours away. And then Win, who has a car, decides to ride his bike. The levels of stupidity in that one scene were just off the charts. And then the episode where they finally admit they love each other but spend half of it chasing each other around. Basically, by the end of the drama, I wanted to bash their heads together, not that I think it would have actually done any good.

The other thing bogging down this drama was, as usual, the myriad of side couples. Now the two I didn't mind were Manow and Pruek, as I already mentioned, and, for the most part, Tul and Waan.
-Manow and Pruek had a good, steady development in their relationship and I loved his endless support of her. Seriously, Pruek is boyfriend goals. If he has an older brother exactly like him, I want him as my boyfriend thank you very much. I also loved how he just accepted her as she was with all her quirks and oddities. He took everything in stride no matter how weird and it created some truly adorable scenes. I just cannot describe how much I adore them. I liked the depth given to Manow. I loved her in UWMA, but there was more to her here. She wasn't just the funny friend, she was a whole character. And she had so much personality! BL's and dramas, in general, take note. A woman does not have to be a skinny, pretty little thing with no personality to be appreciated. Not that Sammy isn't pretty, she is stunning, but I love that she doesn't fit that typical mold. I wouldn't have minded more of a focus on her struggles and efforts to be an actress despite not fitting society's idea of how an actress should look, but I'll take what I can get.
-Tul and Waan, for all that they didn't have a whole lot of screen time, were an interesting couple if nothing else. They added an element of intrigue with the whole will Tul get the cajones to tell him who he really is or not. They reasonably developed characters with a mostly believable story. I liked their interactions both through their game and in person. Their ending was a bit rushed for my taste, definitely a 0 to 60, and the chemistry seemed to be a bit lacking there, but I didn't hate it.
-Bee and Prince were my least favorite side couple. They had some cute moments, but I didn't feel their relationship was well developed. When I first wrote this review, I really didn't get Prince's struggle and it seemed over the top. Now, having seen more how celebrities in Thailand and Asia are treated, I have a much greater appreciation for his dilemma and the trials he and Bee were bound to face. So that aspect I felt was well done. But as a whole, their relationship felt choppy. They hadn't interacted enough before they were in love for me to believe it was something lasting or to even fully see how they got there. Still, I did find myself rooting for them and for their future together.
-Pharm and Dean are of course in there, but they're not added into the story very well as a couple. Honestly, they're just kind of there. Dean, as president of the swim club and Win's friend pops up more than Pharm, but past the first couple of episodes, he's mostly there as a sounding board for Win. Since his and Pharm's story has already been told, I don't really have anything to say about them, other than, I did like Pharm more here. I don't know if it was because I can tolerate him better in smaller doses, he seemed more mature, which he did, or there were a lot fewer scenes of him being all shy with Dean after they'd been together for a while. Whatever the reason, it worked.
-They weren't a side couple but I was not fond of A and Sea. Frankly, they were jerks toward Bee and if I was him, I would have dropped them as friends. There is good natured ribbing and there is bullying/mocking. In my opinion, they went past good natured straight to bullying/mocking. He was obviously serious about Prince and rather than offering their support, they just mocked him. Who needs or wants friends like that?

And this was yet another drama that clearly thought its viewers had short term memories and so must show flashbacks at least once every ten minutes. I'm exaggerating, but the number of flashbacks really was unnecessary and excessive. Other than the music reused from UWMA which was just as lovely as I remembered, I wasn't overly impressed with the OST. It was mostly pretty forgettable and there were definitely moments where the music was too loud and it made hearing the actors' voices hard. The cinematography varied. Some of it was really great and beautiful, but then there were moments of shaky camera work, some awkward shots or lighting that really detracted from the quality.

The acting is honestly pretty mediocre. I didn't find myself impressed with any of the leads, no one really jumped out to me which was kind of disappointing. But then again, that's pretty much how this whole drama sums up. Boun and Prem for all that I did like them in UWMA lack chemistry. They have a couple of scenes that should have been hot, but frankly I didn't feel anything. Other scenes, where they were messing with each other or even when they were having a few heartfelt conversations, there was chemistry. They just severely lacked it physically. And should say that not everyone was mediocre. Sammy was once again a delight as my girl, Manow and Bosston kept giving me warm, fuzzy feelings every time he was on screen, so I will give credit to those two for keeping me invested.

I came into this drama really wanting to like it. I was excited for Win and Team's story, to see it unfold and develop. Unfortunately, I ended up disappointed in so many ways from the change in both their characters to the lack of development in their relationship to just how bland the story was overall. If you enjoyed UWMA, I really can't recommend watching this. Actually, I just can't recommend watching this period.