2gether

5+ years later... does it hold up?

After 2gether's 5th year anniversary, I felt the urge to not only rewatch the immensely popular BL series for the first time in a while, but I also wanted to give a review.... as objectively as I can. Throughout 2021 and 2022, 2gether was a comfort series for me. The easy, light-hearted nature of the series was the biggest draw for me when I initially watched in the beginning of 2021. It was the first BL series that I watched, and I was blown away to see something so contrived with nearly every romantic trope in existence, but between two guys. For me, it was as if almost every m/m fanfiction that I've read in my adolescence was written into the script. It was something that truly felt revolutionary to me.

The BL genre has progressed so much since the year that this series dropped; from production value to less sanitized storytelling. Despite how much I enjoy this series, I can't help but feel the censorship. The only two BrightWin kisses here are mid-sentence surprises and mainly non-consensual. And while I'm on the topic, consent is a lingering theme in the background of this series that could've been handled more gracefully. I won't dwell because anything done here without consent isn't nearly as egregious as some non-consensual acts from many other series produced around the same time (TharnType, I'm looking at you).

2gether falls victim to lazy contrivances for the convenience of drama. Simple communication, peripheral vision, and the ability to read body language would have saved our romantic leads from most of the trouble coming their way. It's nothing that you aren't already used to from Asian television but always so much more noticeable after the first viewing. However, none of the drama or third-party obstacles that our leads endure last longer than a single episode, until the final two episodes. As I've previously mentioned, this series is very light-hearted and I am very appreciative of a show where two previously straight-identifying young adult men find love with each other without the existential dread of queer realization. The first 10-ish minutes of episode 10 if a great example of that. Shortly after Tine and Sarawat decide to officially give their relationship a try, Tine is faced with the struggle of coming out to his friends. For a while, I thought the episode was going to be about how they navigate their relationship in secret; but that didn't even last for the entirety of the first 10 minutes of the episode before Sarawat exposed their relationship publicly. To no objection.

Many may look at that as a narrative flaw but after having nearly all of queer representation on TV from the west be founded on queer existential dread, it was refreshing to see a story where a gay relationship was outed, and everyone was supportive. And by episode 10, it's no surprise that Tine's friends were supportive, so it doesn't feel forced or rushed. With only 4 episodes left, I appreciate not wasting time on the drama of coming out.

Another thing that has bugged me about the public discourse of this series is that no one ever mentions how comical it actually is. There are many BL "romcoms" that I can name but can't think of any jokes or funny scenarios from the show on the top of my head. That's not the case here. For all its flaws, from the subpar production value, the censoring, the acting (which I personally think is fine, apart from Bright's crying scenes), etc, no one could ever say that 2gether isn't funny. I genuinely think it's one of the objectively funniest romcom BLs in existence, and that's even in comparison to many of them made today.

And maybe I'm leaning completely into subjectivity here, but I also think that BrightWin have great chemistry. Over the years, one of the most common criticisms of this show is that the romance feels more like a "straight bromance". Personally, I think they have good romantic chemistry and I'm certain that if the narrative didn't intentionally romanticize their interactions, less people would feel the opposite. To that critique, I say be your own judge. For me, the longing glances and reddening cheeks do it for me.

With 5 years of separation, I'm happy to finally view this series with a somewhat more objective lens. It's hard to watch 2gether now and think that I'd ever recommend it without a disclaimer. Yes, it's censored. It's very much of its time. But it's not bad at all. And I'd still argue that it's a good choice for your first BL.

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Oh dear. I really shouldn't have bothered.

I'm going to be honest - I read too much about this series before I watched it to give an unbiased review. I read a lot of comments on the MDL page, I read comments on the YouTube videos and I read a lot of speculation about why this series went off the rails the way it apparently did.

After watching, I'm halfway convinced there was no other way it could go.

The whole premise of the plot was overturned in the first half of the series, leaving it nowhere to go. The story started as a fairly standard one in BL - Young man A (Tine) is being pursued by Young Man B (Green). Young Man A has no interest in B because he's interested in girls, not boys.

Which he declares multiple times an episode whilst also making a point to ogle girls he considers pretty and try to date them. Because he's not interested in boys. No sirree. Not at all.

Young Man C (Sarawat) just might be the exception. He's the traditionally masculine, very handsome and talented young man that A recruits to fake flirt with to drive B away. Young Man B, as is the case with most Thai BL's, has a high pitched voice and feminine mannerisms and is, well, a raging stereotype.

Kudos to this series, though, for avoiding the colourism usually present in Thai BL - B is as light skinned as the rest of them. Now if only one of the leads was darker skinned, it would've completely subverted the trope which would have been even better. Baby steps, I guess.

Then it turns out, as we find out about halfway through the series, that Green hasn't really been pursuing Tine seriously. He had recently broken up with his boyfriend Dim (the president of the university music club that Sarawat and Tine belong to) and was using Tine to make Dim jealous.

Now, if this had happened later in the series, it might have worked out better, but it happened so early that the series had about six episodes to try and fill in and the writers couldn't seem to figure out exactly what they wanted to do. They could have given a bit more time to the side couples, instead of wasting the acting talents of Frank and Drake by having them appear for five minutes every episode.

No, instead we get this mess that just irritated me.

Here's the thing: when Sarawat agrees to fake flirt with Tine to chase off Green, he declares he's going to actually flirt with Tine. And then he says he's not. And then he says he is. And then he says he was joking.

And it continues on like this for most of the episodes. Poor Tine, who you can see is beginning to develop feelings for Sarawat (even if he has Wei Wuxian levels of obliviousness about it), doesn't know whether he's coming or going because Sarawat is....well, tbh, I'm not sure what Sarawat is doing.

It *looks* like he's playing shitty mind games with Tine, but I suppose it could just be his insecurity over actually getting the chance to be with Tine.

Then we get to episode 12 and everything goes to hell-lite because Sarawat forgot himself and Tine's, for some reason, lost all his confidence. Has anyone seen that, by the way? It was around for about six or seven episodes and then slowly slunk away somewhere. If you do see it, send it back would you?

Tine catches Sarawat in an embrace (a very clearly one-sided one) with his "friend" Pam and jumps to conclusions and gets very upset and runs away and cries, and then runs outside (where it is now somehow night even though it was daylight five minutes ago) where he runs into Mil and collapses.

Sarawat comes along whilst Mil is bundling Tine into his car to take him to hospital and he forgets himself completely and doesn't just get into the car (which he would've done two episodes ago.) He doesn't visit Tine in hospital, (presumably because he's still forgetting himself) and ambushes Tine outside of it and *still* doesn't just get in the car before Mil drives Tine away.

The ending consists of Sarawat singing a song for Tine and asking him, in front of all the extras they could hire for this mess, if Tine trusts him again. It's the perfect setup for a kiss. No, really,. Since the end of episode 2, Sarawat has been the one doing all the flirting (and then denying that he's flirting but, you know, you have to have something to deny doing in the first place, so it *counts*) and Tine's been acting all shy and coy.

This would have been the perfect moment for Tine to initiate something. To take charge. To lean in and kiss Sarawat and then say his line. And does he do that? No. They re-unite, happy endings all round, and do they kiss after that? No. Sarawat has been obsessed with grabbing Tine's 'boobs' for the last 11 episodes so maybe he sneakily does that? Yeah, no.

These are the two most chaste young men I've ever seen on a drama series. "If you keep looking at me like that, I'll kiss you til you drop."

Yeah, right, Sarawat. You kissed him a grand total of: once.

And he didn't drop.

I guess double high-fives are the new kissing?

In summation (because this got really long and rant-y but I'm not sorry because this had the potential to be so bloody good and it was ruined) - don't bother. Bright and Win 's acting isn't bad, though they are outshone by Frank, Drake, Toptap and Mike, and the soundtrack is great, but this show got lost in adaptation and whoever wrote this should just stick to original material and not ruin any more books.

If I sound like a bitter old person, about this it's because I am.

Bah! Humbug!

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The best BL drama out there

This is that one drama that made me want to watch even more BL dramas. What I don't get is why are people criticizing it . I mean it does have a plot that is kind of overused and predictable but what matters is how it has been executed. Whoever decided to give Bright and Win the lead roles deserves an award. They played their parts as Sarawat and Tine so well that I found myself falling in love with the characters, this is very important in drama's because if the person who's watching doesn't get attached to the characters they may later find themselves dropping it. The acting was *chefs kiss*. Another thing that I loved was that things didn't happen all of a sudden we saw Tine starting to realize his feelings and then later accepting them. On the other hand, we saw that Sarawat despite his attitude to Tine when Tine approached him had liked him for some time. Then we see Tine struggling because of his insecurities thinking he wasn't good enough for Sarawat, and how Sarawat after finding out tells him that it doesn't matter in his eyes Tine is flawless. Another reason I kept watching were the friends of both, they were such crackheads now that I think about it. Also the side ship with was so cute. Lastly, the music was fantastic , the music always added a lot to the atmosphere and was always played in the right situation. Writing this makes me rewatch it for the 4th or 5th time I think

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Full of clichés, but realistic at the same time

The plot is definitely not the most innovative one, but something about this drama is overall charming. Starting with the brilliant cast: Win and Bright are born to act together, the chemistry was INSANE from episode 1.
The plot is just the same old story: two guys meet in university, one of them is in love, the other one just need to figure out he's a lil bit gay. They go through some drama, end of the day. I think the strenght point of this drama is how natural and realistic the dialogues, the actions, the thoughts of the main characters are. Like, what's going on there (or at least most of it) could happen in any university. I loved how the writers portrait Tine insecurities about himself and people around him, and how Wat, being a shy and introverted person, menage to understand him. And this is cute af.

If you're into fluffy and cute drama, easy to watch, this is just your tea.

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Sweet, Fluffy Drama That Reminds Me Of My First Love..

2nd Edit After Watching It 2nd Time!!
***
My score might surprise or even mocked by most of the people here who felt utterly disappointed with how the show had gone through in the second half. But believe me, I was a non-BL watcher (before watching The Untamed ofc, lol), as I just tipped my toe in BL world as of last month, this drama really really made me squeal out of the mainleads cuteness!!

Here's a cup of my thoughts :
❤(About SarawatTine's relationship)-After watching this the 2nd time, I just realized that they really represented high school romance in a campus setting. Their unmature mindsets & actions reminds me of my own love story back then. I gotta admit tho, despite all the ridiculous misunderstandings between them, I can relate the butterfly feels you had with your highschool sweetheart..it felt awesome tbh..
I know now why people often said that their relationship went flat line on the 2nd half of the drama. It's because they're each other fist real love guys!

Even tho Tine has went out with countless girls before, but being with Sarawat made him change for better or worse. He-for the first time felt the insecurities by loving & being with Sarawat. He had to come up with the reality that he's not straight, had to face the backlash from Sarawat's fans & first love & he even felt insecure with himself, plus he's trying to getting used to receiving love from his partner as I saw it he literally felt deeply overwhelmed with how fast his relationship has been going..It's normal & relatable af..It's heart wrenching to see how Tine ALWAYS WENT SICK every time he had fights with Sarawat. He's indeed truly madly deeply in love with Sarawat even if he didn't said or showed it out aloud. I think Sarawat might be The One for him as he was able to bring up Tine's side that even he didn't know exist before..

For Sarawat, I think he's just not used to being with someone else beside himself. Remember before meeting Tine, he liked to just cave in & enjoy his own company. He always saw Tine as his 'star'-far, brightening, warming but unreachable. He dare to flirted with him, but when the situation turned to serious tone, he still needs to learn how to cope with couple problems.. I think When Tine finally became his boyfriend, he also felt the awkwardness of finally being with his crush & he just didn't know how to show Tine the love that he deserved..Well damn, Tine is his first boyfriend, it's understandable that he still felt shy, couldn't comprehend Tine's feelings/not sensitive yet, decided to cover up something bcs he thought it's not a big deal or not finished yet. His actions were not simple mistakes, but still understandable..The only solution to their problems are communication & trust. Thank God, they made the sequel, bcs if not, I may not rate this drama this high!!

They may start with instant attraction/insta love at first sight, but their real relationship took time to actually happened. The overall flirting process was *chef kiss*. You might enjoy the drama the most, bcs of this. Even tho they really had limited time of showing skinships/intimate scenes, I still felt their chemistry. Honestly guys, we gotta admit that not every BLs have to have s*x/steamy scenes, right? Even tho the production team did cut most from those scenes that actually might help with easing their stiffness, but I agree with a principle : just bcs you date someone, it doesn't mean we have to made love with him/her all the time. Maybe the production team just wanted to focus on the main love plot..Idk..

BUT, I must add that I finally felt something different in the 2nd half of the drama. I think that the director should be in charged with how stiff they are in some of the episodes..Like the one where Sarawat just 'slapped' Tine's head while he said that he couldn't stay mad with him, felt more like bromance than romantic relationship. It should be Sarawat petting Tine's head/neck. And another one would be the infamous hand clap at the last episode. It should be Sarawat gave Tine a kiss from the stage. Imagine that! How epic & romantic it'd be.

Their body language still showed the awkward vibe of two straight actors trying hard to act up as couple. But hey, they honestly has tried their best to act up the script and those small moments/gestures (eye contacts, shy smiles & blushes from Tine esp, sexy glares from Sarawat, etc) and I appreciate that..

❤Those pickup lines tho!! Welp for all of you BG drama lovers like me in the past, it's time for you to get to know BL world. Really, The Untamed was the one who first introduced me, but this drama was the one who made me realize what I've been missing on all this time. At some point, you will not get the same high excitement when you watch BG dramas. Damn, Watt's pick up & flirty lines still made me fan my self. He is one of greatest king of pick up lines in any drama history. The way he delivered them with those sexy glares made my legs go weak.

My favourite line would be "If I have a boyfriend, I will shower/worship him with kisses from his head to his shadow"..Damn, where would you find sexy and hot pick up lines like this in BG dramas??

❤They wanted to show another side of BL dramas, as they wanted to focus more on fluffy, lovey dovey sweet romance. I don't really mind tho, for a new BL lover like me, their scenes are more than enough to please my eyes and heart..

❤Loveable characters like Green (love his whole vibe, strong & confident character, loving & forgiving nature), Mil (love his way of showing love and despite the initials heat, he showed that his morals is admirable), Man (as the ultimate matchmaker for his bestfriends. You can't help wishing to have a supportive friend like him in rl).

❤I love how they decided to show that the mainleads relationship IS NOT PERFECT. Bcs in rl, all of these things happened. I knew it bcs I went through it. For example, when you passed on the honey moon phases, you will eventually had insecurities around your partner, or feeling oblivious with your partner's feelings or even wanted some space. It can't be helped and it's normal, as long as they are able to work things out in the end, and they did! Just take the good things from what you watch, don't mock the actors or even the script..I have watched far far worse relationships than mainleads, that clearly screamed toxic, dangerous & red flags.

❤Great osts!! I really love the musical pieces. The sweet and almost nostalgic melodies from Scrubb's / mainleads songs really brought your past memories. I love "Everything" & "Sarawat" (in the sequel) the best!

"Sarawat" 's lyrics really did bring myself to tears. We all know Wat's undying love for Tine, but for Tine as a former straight guy who only had eyes for girls, the whole relationship with Wat was utterly new and foreign yet soothing him. It frightened him at some point, as he knew that Sarawat was far from his ideal type, but he also knew that the only true joy & happiness will only come from Wat..His journey of finding, realizing and holding on to his true love was what really made me tear up.. :")

What I don't really like :

(-)How they wanted to romanticize the trope of turning someone that is clearly as day a straight guy into gay. Even tho I didn't felt any red flag in Wat's actions, but I admit that in the first few episodes I felt cringe on how Green always pestered on him even tho he clearly showed no interest (but bless Green for his sweet & forgiving heart tho), how Watt's being overly jealous & possessive even tho at that time Tine was not his partner or even how Man literally stalked and pushed Type to like him in return.

(-)HOW LITTLE TINE'S FRIENDS BACKGROUND STORIES! Like they actually really complemented this series with their comedic and legendary dialogues, but sadly they really were there as side character that ONLY support Tine's actions. The only reason they showed up was for giving Tine love advices or chasing up on girls. They need justice aka more stories that they deserved (they're one of the biggest reason why Wat & Tine can be together)

(-)THE CHOPPY TRANSITION. Damn, this drama actually had big potentials in the plot line & casts, but our production & editing team really had the nerve to make the relationship seems stiff and almost laughable in some scenes as the transitions were not smooth at all. From cinematography stand point, I'd rate it 6/10.

(-)LITTLE AMOUNT OF PARENTS SCENES. They really needed to address how their parents would actually reacts on their sons's relationships (both Wat & Tine's parents). Bcs even if Thai is more open to gay couples these days, it can't be helped that a lot of families really condemn this kind of relationship.

(-)Lastly, I really wanted to know why Type was crying on the Meditation trip. He was shown holding on to a photo and crying looking into it, but sadly we never knew the reason why..

Overall thoughts : Try it guys!! You will not disappointed if you see it as a whole (don't focus on the last two episodes, but try to pretend that the spinoff was the missing piece/continuation of this series).

It's another simple, sweet, fluffy and heart warming drama, it's cliche but it taught you that when you fell in love it was just love that really matters. Tine & Wat is the example of despite being gays, but they only had eyes for each other. It's same with BG relationships, it just happened that they are both boys.

Would rate it 9/10!! ❤❤

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Fully expected to hate, but it was fun!

After what I have read about 2gether, I thought I would end up clowning it, but here we are. I actually enjoyed it. It was light and fun and dumb, sure sometimes stupidly silly.

BrightWin do not have the kind of chemistry that makes you fall to your knees and beg for more moments, sometimes they just seem like really good Bros who happen to share a bed.
Win was actually pretty decent in his role considering his little experience at that point. Bright's acting repertoire seems to be blinking and squinting like 2/3 of the drama, but I do believe he got better lol
I have seen far less interesting chemistry in a bl though, so it was fine.

All the singing though ... I could have lived without but they are in the music club after all.

The friends together are a riot and fun, I often found myself laughing and enjoying myself.

If you like a little bit of fake dating au with emotionally constipated characters and really dumb friends, you will enjoy it!

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Still I can't get over this drama and brightwin...❤️

This drama is something that made me to be a part of brightwin fandom.I gave it a try because my friend told me to...I don't watch it's trailer and just started watching it on around aug 2021..and actually i am not fed up with BL series.And it's my personal opinion that I love this drama so badly and that's the reason I couldn't get over it after all these days..Each episodes gave me butterflies and I was so eager to know what the next episode will be..Both the leads acting is so good and that is to be praised...If you like to watch it,give it a try.That's all I would like to say...
Thank you💜

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Solid plot, solid cast, great music

The music is quite iconic, I didn't even realize how distinct it was until I saw the reference in We Are the Series. Scrubb is a great band also, so there's not really much to criticize there.

A bit ironic that I rated the rewatch value lower than the other ratings, but it's because I had to rewatch it because I didn't really remember anything except for the music. Maybe my memory is really bad, but although the plot is interesting and funny during the watching process, the takeaway isn't as significant.

Green is...uh...a character, to say the least. He's absolutely so much worse in the novel.

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