Manner of Death

Manner of Death bored me to death

The beginning was promising and as a crime/thriller fan, I was truly looking forward to this series. I tried not to set my standards too high as it's a Thai series, however, it still fell short. Nothing against Thai series, I just don't believe crime/thriller is their strong suit though it could be because I've been watching meh-tier projects. Or I'm dumb and can't comprehend what they're trying to convey to their audience.
Their surface ideas are always fascinating but deliveries never live up to said ideas. After episode 3, I watched the rest on 2x out of obligation and to see who the murderer(s) is/are. Can't say I was surprised. Thai series tend to lean towards shock value and that's usually when everything falls apart. And I'm not even going to discuss the romance between our leads Bun and Tan because wtf. Halfway through the series, I found myself saying 'huh?' and 'what?' a lot. A lot of it made little to no sense. The timeline was unclear and why was everything 10 years ago?? The acting was decent, I don't remember much of the music... I thought Bun scoffed too much, it was almost every other two lines, or at least felt like it. Tan was alright, kind of unmemorable, he wasn't my favorite character so I didn't give him much thought. I liked That and Sorawit but only as friends, brothers, or partners in crime. My favorite character has to be the hacker guy.

Some of the more glaring parts that didn't make sense:
- Inspector M believes Tan killed Tan's relative-close-like brother Pued out of pure jealousy. I mean, possible so whatever, but then he went on to accuse Tan of and these are his words "cruelly locked him [Pued] up." I'm sorry, Inspector M, but what clean place with nice big open windows suggests that he was 'cruelly' locked up? Not only that, Pued was wearing nice, ordinary clothes. In what galaxy is a kidnapped hostage given clean clothes and good, normal living conditions with no locks or bars? And then Bun went on to say that the place was in the middle of the woods so how could anyone hear anything? Bro, did you not see all the open windows and other houses that were within 20 steps of it? It's not like the shack was in the middle of nowhere, it had an open view with walkways and houses around it??
- So Por sent his men to kill Tan but when Inspector M confronted him on the same day (hours later) he explained it as his men possibly having an issue with Tan that he wasn't aware of. In what genres do minions ever go out of their way to try to kill their boss' sibling and aren't punished for it? Not only was this a horrible excuse, but when Inspector M asked to talk to Tan, Por essentially said 'You can't, I sent him on a work trip and he won't be back for a month' and Inspector M bought his story??? So you're telling me, Big Boss' minions tried to kill Boss' brother between 1-2 AM and say 7-10 AM that same day Big Boss sends the same little bro on a business trip? Huh? Make it make sense.
- The police claimed to have shot Tan because he shot the 'hostage Dr. Bun' and resisted arrest. Crime fanatics know if there aren't bodies, there are usually no deaths. Still, the police ignorantly settled on 'Oh the two bodies must have been carried off within minutes/hours' but if you looked at the body of water, it appeared to be more of a large lake or at least the water was still for the most part...? Next thing we know the police show up at the hospital, a very public place, to arrest Dr. Bun - the man they referred to as the 'dead hostage' to the media. What on earth, why? I mean, we know why, but why in public? Anyway, putting their dumb plan aside, what crime were they going to arrest him for exactly? Surviving? Deceiving??
- The part where Pued and Rung were discussing the 'plan' for Bun was a little murky. As far as we know Rung had no real plan for Bun? Unless we're talking about the threatening, blackmailing, and scaring Bun into dropping Jane's case as Rung was also the one who told Pued where to hide?
- Tan cuffing Bun to the staircase and then leaving him with no food, water, or even his phone to take care of a risky situation was not only dopey but shortsighted. What if he never came back? Bun would have died as he never bothered to find a way to free himself. I literally screamed 'kick/break the wooden stick' every time he was on screen lol. What's dopier is Bun was not a little bit angry or annoyed about getting cuffed for hours. I mean, even the nicest man would have something to say about it? Also what person who isn't a cop goes around carrying and has cuffs on the go? Are we supposed to believe it was premeditated? Tan's shortsightedness?

I liked that this series tackled dark and real themes such as human trafficking, drugs, offenses against minors, and murder (reason #1 I'm giving it more than 5 stars) but when people started dropping like flies and no one really gave af, it became silly and absurd. Initially, Bun would be surprised and shocked to see his acquaintances' lifeless bodies but at one point he seemed numbed and emotionless. Out of sight, out of mind, I suppose. The way he thought of Pued as a close friend but still made a ludicrous comment about Pued being a ghost was odd. And I don't understand why Tan turns serious junctures into flirty, obnoxious moments. The sex scene came out of nowhere and it wasn't a pleasant surprise (seriously skipped it). I wasn't sure if it was the adrenaline rush from them breaking into Inspector M's truck and stealing the laptop or what but I was not expecting sex after committing a crime when I thought discovering the content inside the laptop was first priority.

Speaking of priority, I believe that's what's killed the series for me. The characters' priorities were inconsistent and all over the place. Bad guys suddenly became good and good guys are hidden bad guys. Call it twists if you will but Idunno I didn't feel that our protagonists were desperate enough to get to the bottom of all the murders and mysteries happening around them.

And this is just me nitpicking but why do whenever these characters drive, they can never keep the steering wheel straight? All those little weavings aren't good for your car sir!

On a positive note, I highly enjoyed the last two episodes where they showed us what Rung really did to Jane. Not sure how I feel about Pued's first reaction being to film it but at least it counted as evidence in the long run. Rung and Jane had a nice sisterly-loving relationship; Jane having her sister's birthday as her password was sadly beautiful so when Rung threw their sisterhood away for her greed it was very heartbreaking. I feel horrible for Jane. I don't think she truly got her justice but at least some of her offenders were charged for multiple crimes against multiple victims.

All in all, it wasn't the worst but wasn't the best series. I would recommend it to those who are into shows with multiple villains and plot twists but I myself wouldn't re-watch the entire serie.

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Want more of these!!

This was an excellent drama with top notch direction, screen play and acting. Honestly wasn't expecting much just wanted to watch for MaxTul & Sammon but this exceeded my expectations.
Sammon has written some very good, mature & unproblematic bl novels with quite a variety. Plus the fact that she is supposedly a doctor is assurance in itself that the series would probably be correct technically atleast story wise. MaxTul are kings when it comes to chemistry. You can say they paved the way for uninhibited chemistry through their on-screen & off screen camaraderie. Their acting had developed so much too. I just hope to see more of them in future. Returning to the series. I loved the pacing of the scenes and the direction. The screen play was great. I appreciated how the suspense maintained till the end made this drama all the more exciting. This one isn't for people who just love watching typical BLs but more for the seasoned veterans who can enjoy both typical bls and celebrate such gems.

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a really good time if i don't think about it

Here's the thing: Manner of Death was a phenomenally fun and well made murder mystery thriller of a bl... until precisely the moment I started examining it with a critical eye. So while I continue to find Sammon's themes and moral deplorable, I think it's perfectly possible to have a lovely time with this series! The characters are so charming, the plot is fun and engaging, and all around there's a lot going for this show. But personally.... personally, this story rubbed me the wrong way in several important spots. And while I have a great fondness for these characters, I probably won't return to it any time soon.

-The Full Review-

STORY:
I hated this story. Don't get me wrong: it was a decent mystery. The clues were not particularly subtle, but the plot structure was engaging and it was fun to put the pieces together. It was everything behind the story that I could not tolerate. This particular crime and this particular story had no business being a BL. It is the very definition of using women's pain and trauma as a plot device for men's stories and it's ridiculous.
While the story pays some amount of lip service to feminist response to these stories, it doesn't carry through the subtext and is tonally inconsistent. The episode where we delve into this in detail very nearly ruined the entire show for me because it was so poorly done. I am not a fan of this author or her works, and I am actively considering taking Triage off my To Watch list after DFF and Manner of Death have been so disappointing.

ACTING:
This was such an interesting title for acting! To start with: Mei is a phenomenal talent. Part of the reason it is so disappointing that what should have been Jane's story was squeezed into a genre that sidelines her was that Mei was absolutely ready to command that show. I also really enjoyed Mint as a partner for her, the two sisters created the perfect rapport for the story.
For our leads, Max and Tul are both wonderful. I wasn't convince this was going to be a good show in the first episode, but their tension resolved into a beautiful, fun, and mature relationship. I was really very charmed by their romance. To be honest, some of the more dramatic scenes strained their talents a little, but it didn't really impact the story enough to cause any issue. Certainly, I am still looking forward to catching some of their other work.
The rest of the cast filled in well, with some particularly sweet chemistry from Bhu and Putter, as well as a excellent performance from Great.

PRODUCTION:
Mostly, I enjoyed the production of this story. What caught my eye right away was that despite it's other flaws in the treatment of women throughout this story, the filming of violence against women was very careful not to be sexualized or gratuitous. This was never more clear than in the autopsies, which were careful shot to maintain neutrality.
Outside of this, the costuming was realistic but told the stories of the characters well, the locations were unique and decently dressed, and the lighting was nothing special but nothing wrong. Thankfully, the sound quality was very consistent without any glaringly visible equipment. Over all, the production is not doing anything extremely noteworthy, but it's doing the job and doing it competently.

INTIMACY:
While I wasn't disappointed by the lead actors chemistry, I did think the writing into and out of intimate scenes was hilarious in the worst ways. These poor actors were doing the best they could with the most abrupt tone shifts possible. I would have liked to see a more natural transition between suspicion and moments of romance. But once we'd made that leap and switched into the romance, it was lovely. These actors are clearly comfortable with each other and the characters have a language between them that works well. That said, I had seen this recommended as high(er) heat, and I don't feel that's particularly true (at least anymore).

In all, Manner of Death rather fumbled the ending for me, but I would still feel comfortable recommending it to most people. Just go into it looking for a more mindless thriller than something that is going to tackle hard hitting issues or offer an unusually spicy romance.

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Genre Breaking but that's It

I liked that this was both a thriller and a romance. But it could have been more fleshed out. Romance should have been towards the latter half and more thriller in the beginning. MC trusted the second MC too quickly for my liking without looking into him more after all that had happened to him. While everyone else complains that there's not enough romance scenes, I don't think you should be watching dramas like this if all you're looking for is smut anyways.

Should have cut out the scenes with the second younger ship./couple. When putting thriller and romance together it should only focus on the main couple and the plot. Once side character relationships are introduced it usually doesn't work out because the plot or main romance suffers from being rushed just so they can add in side romance. Thai dramas rarely have more than 12 episodes, we have limited time to establish a plot and make a believable romance.

Jane did absolutely carry this drama. Her acting was great, went through so much just to end up like that. Had no one to turn to because the people she should have trusted the most were the ones that were against her. I wish she had trusted Tan and Bun to help her but I understand her decision to leave them out considering.

Also, random remark: Inspector M needed to keep his hair down for the whole drama bc he looked so good like that especially with casual clothes.

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10/10!

I literally don't know where to start...I just finished watching the last episode and I just finished crying. Im filled with so many emotions right now its insane. This BL was so different than your average BL show and I absolutely loved it. It's filled with so much suspense, cliff hangers, drama, romance etc. Ughhhh I loved it. ALL the actors and actresses did a phenomenal job! Tan and Bun's chemistry in the show is just chefs kiss, absolutely loved them together! Guys I can't stress this enough, please watch this show it is sooooo freaking worth it. I've watched A LOT of BL's and this is definitely in my Top 5. I don't want to spoil the show so I'm gonna end my review here lol. HIGHLY RECOMMEND. 10/10!

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Worth a watch

If you are looking for something a bit more mature in the BL world give it a watch.

I am writing this after my second watch thru. I remember really liking this the first time through probably because it was so different from the typucal BL. The second watch thru i was a bit mire critical.

I still like the idea of this series being a crime mystery but I noticed so many things that just should have been better. Simple things like at least doing a little research to make the medical side more believable. I was also surprised at how awkward MaxTul seemed at times. I also was a bit surprised at the acting of Tul. It just didnt seem like his heart was in it.

I still think this is good for at least one watch thru just because it steps out of the normal storyline and tries something dufferent.

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So Good! Watch it!

Loved the scenery...it was nice to be out of the big city. The views were stunning. I loved the houses that were used in this series...so different from the apartments/dorms of so many other dramas. Loved the story line...I am a sucker for the "who dun it" plot (crime thriller). I make it my goal to figure out the ending before the ending and I failed miserably on this one which makes it so much better! I adore Max and Tul. They truly appear 100% comfortable around each other which helps the viewers to get sucked into the show. I thought Max looked great with his straight hair and death stare (chin down, eyes up). Tul showed more of his adorable side in this one. He looked at Max so softly, sweet and with a bit of "come here, baby" in his eyes. His character was way more vulnerable that his other role so it was a fun change. The other actors nailed their parts as well. I appreciated the innocence of ThatSorn's relationship despite That's lifestyle. Nam slayed her role (seriously, how do you prepare for a role like that?!?).

The only cons I have for this is Tan/Dam didn't remind Bun about their run in when they were at university and he never told him the meaning of the pink lily. What does it mean?!?

All in all, this goes on my must watch list and will be one I return to.

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Unpredictable till the End

A deep themed drama with a very solid story that engages you from episode one and keeps you on your toes till the end with the mystery solution. I was expecting predictability only to be rebutted time, after time, after time. The plot was complex with twists and turns, succeeding when many shows of the mystery genre fail with cliché plotlines. With that being said, I did have my issues with how some clues came conveniently to the story as a plot device or some parts getting rushed. It just felt too easy, I wish they were developed differently.

As for the romance, it didn't win me over personally. The way it was added to the main story was interesting and it did make sense, but I could live without it or at least with less of it. It didn't merge that well for me with the rest of the story. Sometimes it felt that the show turned bipolar, because its tone was shifted. Though, I understand it was for relief purposes, the result wasn't very smooth.

However, that says nothing about the actors themselves. They were pretty skilled with a lot of chemistry and portrayed their characters very well, just like the rest of the cast. I give a little more credit to Meiko, though. I really loved her performance!

I definitely recommend the series to mystery lovers who want something dark and complex with a bit of romance for the flavour..

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Very good for Action lovers

This was my first not 'Engineering Student BL'. After finished the BL went to find the book. The story not the same but again great book to read to be near main characters again.
What i liked:
-great work from MaxTul, was my first series with them. The chemistry is simply overflowing.
- good plot, kept me under suspense even thou knew who is the culprint feom ep5 still wanted to know the reason
-focus on real problems. Depicted abuse and exploration of women
What i want:
Waiting for Transplant sequal. Was so happy to see the connection with my other favorite Triage.

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MaxTul OMG!

Okay! Someone here led me to believe that the story wouldn't be that great, and I curse you whoever you were (jk).
I honestly LOVE the story, just seeing grown men handling grown men business (solving crime and kissing) was AMAZING. I loved Max's acting and I think it was perfect. Tul might need to work on his expressions a bit, but I'm going to LOOK PAST THAT because this was nearly perfect. I loved the color choices, and the subdued music in the series. it was the PERFECT choice. I loved how they kept the kids' storylines muted and minimal. And, and and, I genuinely loved the chemistry and story. I want to say more, but I also don't want to spoil. But, when I realized who it was, it made me want to smack a b. Come on, how are you going to be this heartless, bruh? I loved it though, and great, GREAT acting for this character until the very last moment

So, if you're looking to invest in a show that will bring a little action and thrill and romance to you, please watch this.

My only issue was that we didn't get to see final little kiss at the end of the series. That would have sealed the deal for me.
Give this a go! It's so so so underrated! I hope to see a new show from MaxTul soon.

Side Note: Max's adorable update on Valentine's. <3

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This show is amazing.

10/10

I found this show via several weeks of it trending on tumblr and I am so so glad I did. All it took was the trailer and I’d signed up to WeTV to watch it.

The cast is amazing and honestly so is the plot. It’s well written worn care given to the characters - and boy can they act. I appreciated the time given to the characters, and Max and Tul’s chemistry and Tan and Bun is genuinly breathtaking at times.

This is a crime drama thriller with a gay romance and both parts of this are excellently done.

Whenever a new episode aired I dropped everything to watch it. It never disappointed.

Also, this is probably the only show I’ve ever seen in which an inanimate cactus is an important secondary character. I am not joking.

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