Never Let Me Go

Fast-paced story; good indie soundtrack

The action, developing romance, and some frustration with the boys’ decisions kept me engaged enough to binge this show in a weekend. What started out as a cute high school romance shifted quickly into a crime drama, and the two main characters had to grow up quickly to meet the challenges that they faced.
the pros:
-The indie soundtrack really complimented the show—many of the songs’ lyrics perfectly matched whatever emotion or action was playing out onscreen.
-I also appreciated that there were *some* moments that blurred the lines of the traditional “top” and “bottom” tropes in Palm and Nuengdiao’s relationship. Of course Palm was Nueng’s protector, but director made sure that their characters weren’t *always* designated to stereotypes of “strong” and “weak.” There were also dancing scenes in which both Palm and Nueng took turns as being the lead. I’m not sure why that struck me so much…
-There were cute flashback scenes of PalmNueng’s love story throughout the show; flashbacks that filled in the gaps of what we hadn’t seen the first time around. I thought this was a great way to add lightness to the intense, heavy episodes toward the end of the series, while also reminding the viewer of the passage of time.
The con:
both Nueng and Palm were far too young and immature for the intense kind of love that they fell into. Both boys couldn’t see past themselves and their own weaknesses to work as a couple. For a show called Never Let Me Go, they left each other a lot…and always for selfish reasons. The constant seesawing between promises to stay together forever and then running away from one another when times got tough gave me whiplash.
overall this BL was definitely worth the watch, but I’ll also look forward to a PondPhuwin series with older and more emotionally mature characters

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Left me unsatisfied.

I’m a sucker for vintage and retro in movies and shows and that’s what I want to talk about first. The atmosphere In this drama is just ravishing. My eyes are in heaven. Thank you.

Many people say that this movie is a miserable attempt to recreate KinnPorsche, but I won’t agree. I am used to seeing similarities between Thai dramas, they stopped bothering me. I always look for specificities in every drama and I have never failed to find them, and that’s what I pay attention to while rating dramas.
Salient similarity: “You do it, because my/your father told you so. That’s your duty, you don’t have feelings for me”. The same situation was with Phupha and Tian. Classic story.

Thai dramas would have lost their peculiarity without beach vacations, musical instruments and motorcycles. I’m glad to see that the guitar was replaced by the piano. There’s something that has been bothering me all the time: american songs. It was so unusual to me…Thai songs were outnumbered by american songs, but I’m not saying that it is a bad thing. I just love listening to Thai songs in Thai dramas, that’s it.

Everything is comprehensible in this drama until you get picky about the plot: What happened to Palm’s father? When did Ben manage to generate feelings for Chopper? I knew from the start that these two would end up together, what I’m saying is that they needed more screentime.
Sometimes the main leads were clutching at straws for showing some chemistry: either they had smoldering emotions or tried to forge them. This is the main reason I couldn’t force myself to feel that special emotional boud with the leads. I still can’t get over Khao and First, because they enchanted me with their acting skills and chemistry. Palm was naturally shy and meek, but what about Pond? Was he shy to act? There were a lot of sad moments and only once they made me cry and I apparently felt the chemistry: when Palm was screeming and calling his mom after she died and when Palm hugged Nueng from the back after pushing him away. I adore that scene.

I can say the same thing about Nueng’s emotions. When Palm got a tattoo to honor Nueng, the latter was supposed to act like he was really astounded. In my opinion, he failed. Instead of manifesting surprise, he was acting as if Palm MUST have done it a long time ago, because he was his Young Master, and it would have been a shame not to do that. I need real emotions, that’s it.

This transition from teenagers to adults was not smooth. Nueng became a businessman in the blink of an eye..or maybe I’m underestimating him. I don’t know, it just wasn’t convincing enough to me.

And the last time when Palm left Nueng…C’mon, bro, you have talked this over for like hundred times already and the deduction has always been the same: You love each other and want to stay together. I understand, that Thanya’s words affected him, but c’mon, how could you think of yourself as an impediment after what you had been trough? This was either a way to get them separated for worrying the audience, or forgetting promises given once or even more was a piece of cake for Palm.

7.5/10.

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This series is definitely not everyone's cup of tea just by reading at the reviews, well I am disagreeing with them.

The story is so good. Yes, it started like a school drama but doesn't we except it to go into action just by the start scene and just by role that is played by Palm?

It was well acted, storyline was good, and cinematography was perfect (a fan of ITSAY, Your Name Engraved Herein...). Never imagined to have PondPhuwin to be in this kind of genre considering their other series but they really fitted well, I commended their acting a lot. And can I just say that Perth is an actor to look foward to. I knew him from Love Chance and he keeps on improving not just in acting but visually too. PerthChimon is a great pairing too.

Current rewatching the series because I miss them. I just hope to have another series from them soon.

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Was not a fan of PondPhuwin Now a big fan

I honestly doesn’t know what to expect from this series but as the stories went by I was hoping to see more of them. Phuwin as Nueng is my favourite character through the series as he displayed a much better acting than in Fish Upon the Sky. They played a different role and I must say they really did a good job. The mothers and the supporting characters did a good job despite some plot holes. The good thing about it is the story doesn’t gets boring until the end after clearing up the main threat Palm manage to pull another cause for their parting. The bad part was they knew who caused the problems but instead ran away which could either have been solved in the first place. Also Neung father was shot and they let the murderer to slide without careful investigation.
For the cast, Chopper was such a character I was hoping he didn’t turn out like his father as there were a good reason for him to hate Neung. I’m glad he wasn’t. Perth displayed a whole emotions well with his character with Ben. Although there was some lack of development from Ben side, I don’t think I can expect alot from support characters.
Pond played his part well despite there were some off-emotions during his dialogue and it was as though in the last ep makes me feel Palm doesn’t want to be with Neung and the leg injury only requires months of physical therapy he could have stayed and gets better with him. Leaving Neung is a let down.
Overall, I want to see another Pond-Phuwin series. I wish GMM give them another chance to portray different characters and hoping their acting improves for best.

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It's not what i expected, BUT at least...

For me, it's still one of the best Thai bl series in 2022. However I agree with the comments below and can’t deny the fact that there’s a lot of nuance here.

I’ll start with the good parts. First of all, the idea of the story isn't cliche. Love between boss and bodyguard, it's like fresh air. The second one is the main character's acting: it's stunning, I believed in it and don't have any pretension to them at all. The last is the storytelling. I thought it has a good content. There were a lot of happenings, locations, which constantly changed and kept in tension. So I wasn’t bored watching it.

So, now about the nuances I mentioned at the beginning. Palm has a very strange relationship with his parents. Their reactions to each other are not natural. Palm so easily swallowed mom’s egoism. " I’m sorry I left you" - I’d be crying in there. Characters are not completely disclosed. It’s about Ben and Chopper. Their relationship was very flat. They lacked time and more intimate conversations. And a huge claim to the filming of fights. Sorry, but it feels like the work of another shooting team. Was it not possible to put the sound on top of an implausible slap?

In the end, I want to say I probably expected a lot from the series, but I didn’t get it. I liked the sea views, the beach and etc. Such a beautiful picture, but not enough attention to details. And I think it applies to many Thai series. But with that kind of experience, why not get better?

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not the best, not the worst

p’jojo does moody color lighting so well, i loved the red, blue, and purple

the plot moved along quickly enough and the pondphuwin chemistry was good enough that i could overlook the plot holes. it’s interesting enough to be worth the cognitive dissonance. i think the last episode was the best one, it brought the emotional impact (the scene with neung and chopper made me cry). i liked that we didn't get a happy fairytale ending so easily but we still go there!

sometimes the acting from pondphuwin was a bit weak, you can hardly compare the veteran actors and even perth with them

honestly not the worst BL but still worth a watch! it’s fun watching pondphuwin’s acting journey, having just finished We Are and currently watching Me and Thee as it airs

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I loved it!!

Gorgeous men, fantastic scenery, great music, interesting plot with a lot of surprises. Ok, ok, ok, I know it wasn't Shakespeare. It isn't supposed to be. To those who compared it to a soap opera; what's wrong with that? That is what BL stories are. They are light entertainment. And this series delivers! From a technical point of view, it has all of the great qualities of a Thai BL that we all love down to the perfect costuming. It also has all of the disappointing features of every BL series; too many loooong loving stares, too many looong teasing conversations, too often looong plot development. But once again, those qualities are found in every series in this genre.
My single complaint is the lack of any development of the relationship of the secondary characters. I have been a fan of Chimon since his performance in "Sweet Boy". I've enjoyed watching his acting skill grow. The same is true for Perth since "Love By Chance". Two actors with their experience and skills deserved more face time and expanding their characters would have added depth to the story line.
In summary, not a perfect piece, but a darn good one and well worth watching.

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Went beyond my expectations

The plot is quite cliche but I like how there are very few plotholes, which is quite rare in Thai series as most Thai series has ending that looses the plot. But NLMG is very well written and well scripted. None of the scenes felt like it was not required or exaggerated. It's a show quite comfortable to watch without cringe scenes. I liked how even the jealousy scenes are showcased in a great way. The plot twists were predictable but what really threw me off was Palm's mother's death. I did cry when Palm left the letter for Neung. That was also unexpected. The emotions of each characters are portrayed well and totally valid. I love the color grading of the drama. It's so aesthetic. Phuwin is a great actor. Pond has improved so much. Overall it was a great drama.

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