Hidden Agenda (2023)

Cute, but nothing more

I hadn't watched anything else from JoongDunk, so I wasn't sure how the pairing would be. I found the couple to be very fun and cute, and while the storyline lacked some substance, it was a very cute romance that was a fun watch. I will admit, as many of the reviews here point out, there was no "hidden agenda". There was a slight misunderstanding and that's about it.

Zo (Dunk) has a crush on Nita, a girl in the debate club with him. Nita recently got out of a relationship with Joke (Joong), but the two seem to still be hanging out a lot. Zo decides to approach Joke and ask him if they're dating - and if not, ask for advice on what Nita likes so he can ask her out. Joke decides to coach Zo on how to win over Nita by going on fake dates with him; however, it's clear from the beginning that Joke's real motive is to win Zo over for himself.

Based on the summary and the title, I expected a lot more time in the show before Zo and Joke ended up dating. The relationship pacing felt a little off considering the premise, but I really wasn't opposed to it. I thought the romance between teh characters was really nice and it was a light and fun story. I did that that towards the end, they tried to bring in too many family conflicts which took away from the relationship. I assumed the issues would revolve around them coming out to friends and family and maybe some other relationship troubles, but instead their issues were totally unrelated to the romance, and still for some reason affected their relationship. These conflicts should have either been brought up earlier, or framed in a way that directly impacted the relationship of the main characters. Overall I enjoyed watching it and thought it was a cute romance that could have benefitted from a bit more plot outside of the relationship.

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Don’t understand all the hate

Okay, I get this wasn’t a 10/10 but man people have a lot to say LOL. I actually sooooo enjoy JoongDunk together. They have wonderful chemistry. I ended up watching this after the show finished so for me it didn’t feel boring since I was able to watch back to back. I can understand how if you were watching week to week it could maybe get slow for you mid show. Half of the show was just them being a couple. If you prefer a lot of angst this definitely may not be for you but sometimes personally I just enjoy watching the couple experience. I do feel like there were alot of random plot points lol maybe the writers should have just picked like 2 main plot points and stuck to that.

I agree that the next show they do I would love to see something different and not related to school since this is their second show like that. However, I love them as a couple and how GMMTV lets then explore more!

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JoongDunk chemistry never disappoints

Yes this was not perfect and the hidden agenda was not a big deal at all, I expected more. But I enjoyed this. It was a simple BL and I absolutely love JoongDunk, so I had to finish this. As always they look so good together with overflowing chemistry.

They improved a lot and the kissing scene were so much better than in star in my mind.

It was interesting the issues that were addressed with like the relationship with their families, the pressure…

I also like the second couple, wish we had seen more of them.

Don’t know why add this stupid problems in the last episode, Zo annoyed me here. Joke is such a good boyfriend, I didn’t like how Zo treated him sometimes. Also, it would have been interesting to explore more Joke story about his relationship with his family.

For me, it’s not as bad as people are saying it is, you don’t always need a big or complicated plot.

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This series was OK, not great or bad, just OK

I liked the premise of the story and the story itself was fine. It was a little bit different twist on the college story, there wasn't one engineer in the whole thing! All kidding aside, they explored how families can affect relationships, and how parents can unintentionally mess up their kids by stuff the parents say and do. The acting was good, and this was clean and something even your Grandma could watch.

I think part of the problem with this story it seems to drag in places, they could have edited this down to 8 episodes and had a much more cohesive story. For almost 12 hours of runtime, not a whole lot happens, at least not compared to something like A Tale of Thousand Stars, Not Me, or Manner of Death.

The other direction they could have gone is explored the side characters more. For example, Wave and Trin, they seemed to have some unresolved issues (possibly romantic?) even at the end of the series. Kot and Pat really didn't add much to the series, there were lots of ways those characters could have rounded out this series, possibly with those two dating each other, or showing more than a passing scene with them. Poor Nita barely got to speak during the whole show, and the story loosely revolves around her and the two leads. Then you throw in a stalker for a few minutes randomly.

I did enjoy this, but it wasn't the best thing I watched recently. It is worth watching, but don't think you are going to be watching a memorable or groundbreaking series.

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Hidden Plot

I wasn't expecting fireworks from Hidden Agenda, but I also didn't expect it to be as bad as it was. I anticipated the name to play a far larger role in the story than it did. It was barely a blip in the bigger picture. The acting, bless Dunk and Joong's hearts, is subpar and it definitely brought the quality down. The OST is kind of fun, but severely overused and it got old very fast. It ended up being a complete train wreck.

The plot was nearly non-existent. There's a bit of an over arcing focus on the debate competition, but it's pretty thin. Besides the romance between Zo and Joke which was underdeveloped, the drama, beyond Episode 5 or so, is mostly made up of various filler story lines that get wrapped up far too quickly to have any kind of meaning. Aspects like Zo's past with Puen, the whole stalker scenario, Zo's and Joke's conflicts with their parents, etc. all were introduced fairly quickly with very little meaningful background and then the issue was typically resolved within an episode or two. The sad part is that several of those story lines could have been interesting. The stalker part had potential, I actually thought it was going to play a much larger role than it did, but it ended up being incredibly lame in part due to how quickly everything was worked out but also because of foolish decisions characters made. The issue with Zo's and Joke's parents could have been introduced much earlier and played a bigger role in the characters' actions and behaviour. Instead they fell flat because of how late in the drama they came in. And then there's the whole "hidden agenda" which was just very poorly planned out. It felt forced and while Zo had every right to be upset, his reaction seemed excessive. In general, it felt very scatter brained and incohesive. The pacing while initially relatively smooth if slow, quickly became inconsistent. The filler episodes were tedious to get through and it felt like the story was going nowhere.

The characters were fairly lackluster. The few that actually breathed some life into the story were unfortunately underutilized. It was disappointing that they weren't given the chance to shine as removing a lot of the filler and giving them more screen time would have significantly improved the drama. Joke and Zo, despite being the main couple, lacked a lot of development in their relationship. There were moments where they seemed to be on the same page, but then there would be conflict out of nowhere. Joke in particular seemed to lack a sense of self. Everything about him was focused on Zo and yet it's never clear exactly why he's so in love with him. Zo's emotions were hard to read which I think was mostly an acting issue, but it made it difficult to identify with and care about the character. There were also some awkward moments between the characters. One that stood out to me was the scene where Joke and Zo have sex for the first time. Zo says he doesn't think he's ready, then apparently changes his mind two seconds later and then looks absolutely terrified when Joke goes to take off his shirt. Joke's actions also felt out of character. Considering how caring and attentive he had been towards Zo up to that point, he felt too assertive in that moment. I imagined him taking things much slower to make sure Zo was comfortable. The energy and emotions just felt very off for an intimate scene. Characters like Jeng, Pok, Kot and Pat added a necessary level of dimension to the story, but were never given full rein to develop into fully realized characters. Jeng and Pok in particular were a great addition as an established couple and frankly I found them to be far more compelling than Joke and Zo. They faced legitimate issues in their relationship that unfortunately were rushed but did provide a nice reprieve from the monotony. Kot and Pat were filtered in mostly as a source of humor, but I generally liked their characters and I think with better planning, they could have served as more than that. I found Nita to be fairly boring. She had some good lines, I did think she deserved to win the scholarship as her answer was the best thought out and compelling, but otherwise she didn't impress me. She felt like the token female character that needed to be present for the lead to crush on before realizing he was actually into guys. As a side note, the whole conflict between Wave and Trin was incredibly contrived and unnecessary. Why they couldn't have just had Wave not like the guy because their personalities clashed or something less convoluted is beyond me. The ending between them felt cliche and unresolved.

The acting, particularly the leads', was underwhelming. Dunk is a sweetheart, he seems like a genuinely nice and good guy, but when it comes to his acting, he really struggles. It felt like he was playing a very slightly different version of Daonuea from SIMM. He either under acts or over acts depending on the scene, emotional scenes are painful to watch, he fails to emote, and he does this weird thing with his head sometimes that I don't even know how to describe. Frankly, I don't know as he's so much acting as just being himself. It's just no bueno. Joong felt like he was portraying a less closed off Khabkluen from SIMM. His performance wasn't bad, just not great either. And the thing is, he can act. He had a small role in Home School recently and I really liked his performance. Here though, he was a bit boring. I do think some of that was the way the character was written though. Joke doesn't have much to him. The chemistry between Joong and Dunk wasn't great which is both surprising and disappointing because off screen, their chemistry is fantastic. But in this instance it felt forced and unnatural at times. Aou was one of the bright spots in the cast. I've seen every drama he's been in and he has yet to disappoint me. I don't think this was one of his stronger roles, but I'm chalking that up to the writing because he didn't have a whole lot to work with. Boom was another bright spot. His chemistry with Aou is great. They seem comfortable with each other and it shows. I love Louis. He's such a versatile actor and I found him entertaining in this role though I wish we'd had more of him. I like AJ, but I feel like he typically plays the same kind of characters. I'd like to see him in a different role. Jamie is a gorgeous young woman, I liked her in Home School, but here I just found her to be wooden. She lacked expression a lot of the time or seemed to only use one expression. Her performance was just bland. I felt she could have done a lot more with the character.

My biggest problem with the production was the sheer number of inconsistencies. Every drama is going to have them, but this one stands out in terms of how blatant they were. In the scene where Zo almost falls twice and Joke catches him, arms were in different places between takes. Same with the scene where they cuddle in bed. In one take, Zo's arm is under the cover, in the next it's on top of the cover. In the scene where Joke takes his roadside shower which was weird to begin with, there was a smear of grease on his arm that kept appearing and disappearing. And probably the most glaring instance was, in the shot right before Zo finds the smashed ceramics, as he's closing the door, you can clearly see them, still intact, on the shelf behind him. There were a few others, but those ones really stood out to me and to me it just showed a lack of attention to detail.

This is not a drama that I can in good faith recommend. It was too inconsistent and too poorly acted to make it worth the time to get through. There are some sweet scenes, but they're not enough to make up for all that's lacking. Unless you are a die hard JoongDunk fan, steer clear of this one.

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Coming of Age

This is a great series exploring coming of age. Who am I? And what is my goal in life? If you look at this as a stricktly romance series I can understand that you miss a lot of the interesting underlying plot lines. I personally love how strings and crumbs were given in episode 1 and with a red thread throughout the episodes became clear how each character had multiple hidden agendas with their actions and experiences.

The series explore self-awareness into adulthood, how ties to family changes from childhood into young adulthood and romantical connections. How past experiences are carried with us and impact our future decisions and reactions in various situations.

Personally I loved how Dunk’s acting showed parrallels in scenes from the beginning of the series to the same scenes happening at the end of the series and you can clearly see his character growth. (Zo is supposed to be an awkward character in the beginning before he grows into himself over the couse of the series. We see Joke grow and learn more about himself as a person and how to approach his friends, family and situations.

The side couple wasnt showed much, but Aou and Boom did amazing in the few scenes they were present. And gave the perfect counter-balance to Dunk and Joongs characters.

Also, we cannot deny that Joong and Dunks chemistry carried in the low plot parts of the series.

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Surprisingly well written!

Surprisingly, this is a smartly written, well defined adult-themed BL that unfolds from an infatuation to quite literally life partners. I was impressed with how well this series evolved and told a full and complete story. Sure, it had a lot of bumps along the way, and tended to be too much of a Soap Opera in places, but it had heart and grit and frankly never lost its way. It is one of the most solid BLs from Thailand to come along in quite a while. In the end, however, the story did something rarely seen in BLs and almost never in Thai ones. It had a graceful ending eluding to the notion that they were and remain a couple still deeply in love and still happy to be so. They are life partners, if not soulmates in every sense of that term.
You can read my full review of this pretty good series at BLBliss.com.

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A good one with touch of a real life feeling

I liked it. It was a story of a couple getting together and how their relationship grows. There was less drama and unrealistic plots, it was more like what could happen in real life and how people feel things for real. Of course this series had its own share of not so great scenes so it wasn't perfect but enjoyable enough.

The plot handled different type of issues that were mostly solved within one episode. And most importantly the couples talked about issue not just being a drama qeen and being several episodes apart just because of some idiotic misunderstanding that could have been solved in seconds if they only have talked each other.

If you like more drama and anxiety this may not be your favorite but for others it's a nice and relaxing series to watch.

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Definitely a must watch for JoongDunk fans

Watched ir only because of JoongDunk, turned out to be better than expected.

Positive:

-Chemistry
-backgrounds chosen
-liked the JengPok end scene it was very cute!!
-not too dramatic, a simple romance
-Zo realising he was only admiring Nita
-lots of scenes were funny/cute/interesting to watch
-Joke‘s personality, he‘s taken so good of Zo
-love how you could watch the improvement between Joke‘s and Zo‘s relationship
-Joong‘s acting was sooo natural to me

Negative (room for improvement):
-last Episode - it was all rushed and all in one episode. You could see how down Zo was and I felt for him, but I definitely didn‘t like that his mother lied to him in 12th ep.
-Joke‘s character - I hate how they made him „the bad guy“, but fixed the problem in one episode, like at least give me some real drama.
-the thing were Jeng still gave his number out even tho he‘s taken.
-the music was sometimes off (espacially in ep 12)
-some scenes were a little dull so i skipped them (sorry)
-the scene were Joke and his father reconciled somehow didn’t make any sense to me 🤷🏻‍♂️

All in all:
was very cute, a must-watch for JoongDunk fans and worth the wait every Sunday. Could definitely be one of my favs!!
(Don‘t judge me, it‘s just my personal opinion. At least only think it in your mind if you feel upset abt anything I wrote. I also don‘t go around and judge people for their opinion, so let‘s respect e/o!)

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A bit bland, but JoongDunk saved it

tl;dr: JoongDunk chemistry elevates this underwritten and troubled show – it was their dynamic which made me watch all 12 episodes.
Acting
Joong’s acting may not always be on point, but he was still superior to the rest of the cast. Dunk did his homework in this department too; his abilities are still limited, but he was nonetheless able to portray a new character, different from “Star in My Mind”. Both actors give their characters qualities some would attribute to the actors themselves: Joong’s Joke is effortlessly cool and nonchalant, but also caring and a tad clingy, while Dunk’s Zo poses as timid and withdrawn, while being perfectly able to stand his ground. Also, they get intimate quite often and seem very comfortable about it; no forced, non-consensual nor awkward kisses here!
Script
My overall reception of the show suffered due to weaknesses of the script.
My biggest complaint regarding the show is that it feels messy, but also bland, lukewarm, at times even boring. It’s not hot nor cold, it leaves you with a “meh” feeling. No idea how this was accomplished, as the script includes two plots to win someone over involving the main characters, a stalker pestering one of the main characters to get back at the other main character, strained relationships with a demanding parent, a past heartbreak, a side couple with their own problems and drama etc. etc. The content is clearly there – but it doesn’t translate to a captivating story.
As with many other BL’s this one doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be about. Is it a rom-com? A coming of age story? Family drama? Thriller (see the stalker episode)? You can include elements of all of those in a show, but you have to be smart about it – otherwise you’ll get a tonal mess. "Hidden Agenda” has this problem – it’s all over the place.
Hard to say what the titular “Hidden Agenda” really was/was supposed to be. Was it Zo’s attempt to win Nita over? Joke’s attempt to get Zo? BTW: depending on how you judge Joke’s motives and actions (and some reactors claimed that Joke didn’t do anything wrong – any normal person would act in a similar way) the hidden agenda may not exist; even if it does, it’s not important enough to have the show named after it. Spoiler warning: both the initial trailer and the official trailer are misleading, as the whole “Joke helps Zo to get Nita in order to get Zo” gets resolved in something like 3 episodes; the rest is about a variety of other issues, like family, ambition, friendship, competition, communication and so on.
The script introduces several important issues, like Zo’s relationship with his mother and Joke’s with his father, pretty late in the show. Since both issues seem to be late additions they do not appear to be important. It’s a shame we didn’t get more of both these storylines in earlier episodes. This would allow them to grow naturally, would explain more of Joke’s and – more importantly – Zo’s backstory and motivation, would show Zo and Joke as more than just students in love. Balancing every important aspect of the story, introducing them in the right moment, giving them more time to breathe – all of that would greatly improve the show.
Pacing
Pacing is generally okay and helps the show; only ep. 2 felt redundant (the “Joke gets into Zo’s club” storyline could have been a subplot in a different episode or be omitted entirely – have Joke be a club member when the show starts).
Cast
The support/secondary couple (Aou’s Jeng and Boom’s Pok) felt unnecessary. With only a handful of scenes (I think it was less than 1 per episode) we didn’t really get a storyline with them; it’s not clear to me what was their purpose in the show.
Same can be said about several other characters. Only Nita, Pat, Joke’s grandma and father as well as Zo’s parents do things that make the story progress. I loved to see Pod, Guy, Arm and AJ, but they were heavily underused and their characters didn’t have much to do.
Music
Both songs (“Hidden Agenda” and “Your Smile”) were decent, with nice MVs. Joong sings a bit in this show and he’s rather good at it. I enjoyed most of the background and ambient music used in the show, both the subtle emotional vibes and the cool electropop used to good effect throughout the series.
Favorite scene
I wanted to end my review with something good from the show. It has its moments – I enjoyed most scenes with Joke and Zo as a couple and plenty of other things (like Joke’s grandma – she’s a treasure), but the grand prize has to go to the finale of ep. 9. It actually moved me to tears. Joong’s delivery – quiet, but deeply emotional – was nearly perfect. Dunk remaining silent for the whole scene and non-verbally expressing Zo’s doubt, hesitation, sadness and how moved he was – great. To top it all the scene was shot in a very smart way, with Joke and Zo in the same room, but staying apart, with Zo packing his things and Joke trying to bridge a gap between them in one last attempt. That scene alone let us glimpse what this show might have been – and that JoongDunk can do magic. Would love to see them again in a BL as the main couple – this time with a good script.

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Weak start, strong half-time, weak ending

No spoilers:
Overall, this show convinced me because of Zo's character and how the script only revealed his backstory bit by bit, making me want to re-watch the show at least once. Where the show almost lost me was at the very slow beginning and the convoluted end. In retrospective, only episodes 3-9 grabbed my attention, either because the relationship was still developing or struggling. Another thing I liked was the second couple, as they felt enriching to the story and also had an interesting plot. However, one of the main parts (?) of the story – the debating club – I think could've been used more effectively and didn't feel as important as it was supposed to be. For me, the topics they debated were too fictional to take them seriously.

Acting-wise, I do feel like Joong and Dunk improved from Star in My Mind. Especially, Dunk portrayed Zo's nervousness perfectly with his physical responses to Joke's advances. I'm certain that some scenes/situations helped bring across these emotions because it was also their first time shooting scenes like this. However, I see the need for both of them to act separately from each other, so that they can learn from other situations, plots, and more experienced actors. Of course, I want to see them again together in a series, but then it must be outside the uni-context and maybe in another genre – be it action, thriller, more mature or full on rom-com where you sit on the other side of the screen laughing so hard you have to cry.

Let's talk directing-style: I think in the special episode that aired before Hidden Agenda was released it was mentioned that this was the first or one of the first bigger projects for the director and I think you can feel that. Sometimes I felt lost as to how much time has passed (especially episode 7). I was missing transitional-shots or something that gave a clue as to where and when we are in the scene. Also, I'm not a huge fan of this very milky background we got most of the time (again, episode 7) – at some point it felt over-used. It could've had a better/bigger impact I think if it would've been used more sparingly. Additionally, the music often felt quite random. Maybe a bigger selection would've made the job easier and could've improved to convey certain feelings in some scenes.

Spoilers included:
That Zo is a pan- or bisexual character came to me as a pleasant surprise because I read his behaviour when he realized his feelings for Joke as i'm-getting-to-know-my-sexuality kinda thing. As it turns out, however, this was only him dealing with the trauma experienced back when he was a kid, and he had feelings for a boy for the first time. So, now the first 7 episodes change their meaning – at least for me. And I love that we don't have this i'm-getting-to-terms-with-my-sexuality-trope, but rather deal with how-can-I-overcome-this-trauma.
What I also admire about Zo is that he stays true to his principles. He communicates very clear and doesn't make any distinction between classmate, friends, or boyfriend. A few examples: As soon as he figured out his feelings for Joke, he acts on them (the kiss in episode 4). Next he goes to Nita because he realized the difference in his romantic feelings towards Joke and his feelings of admiration towards Nita. When Joke is again pushy with the food, and he gets into a fight with one of Zo's friends, Zo ends the fight and takes Joke with him to tell him off in a mature way. And of course when Joke's hidden agenda gets revealed, and he doesn't apologize correctly, Zo doesn't get weak and waits for Joke to come to his senses and (hopefully) learn from his mistake. Now of course Zo is not perfect as I don't like the silent-treatment he's giving Joke, but again, no person is perfect, and I love it that we see more characters like that.
Joke being the green-flag and supportive boyfriend was a great watch. Even though he really frustrated me in episode 9 when it took him the entire episode to realize what he did wrong – but I'm here for it. What I admire about Joke was his consistent reassurance he gave Zo about his feelings for him. He tried to not pressure Zo which I think is important to show more in BL as there are too many storylines out there where pressure is romanticized. I think we saw the peak of it in episode 8 where we got the super hyped NC scene.
While Zo and Joke were the example for good communication, I feel like the second couple, Jeng and Pok, showed us what happens when you don't communicate your thoughts and feelings honestly. However, their conflict also got resolved in a mature way where Jeng realized how his behaviour hurt his boyfriend, and Pok learned that he needed to communicate his feelings better for Jeng to be able to act on them.
Now the last two episodes felt really out of place, I think that's because Hidden Agenda was originally supposed to run only for 10 instead of 12 episodes? Anyhow, the end felt convoluted and rushed because they squeezed in Joke's family drama and another quarrel between Zo and Joke. It's possible, that if it had been 12 episodes from the beginning they could've built up the Joke situation way better. Now, his family-situation was used to explain Zo's misunderstanding with his mom – a classic “don't tell but show”-situation where the time ran out to show rather than tell what just happened. Because without Zo's explanation, I don't think I would've got his isolation in episode 12. In the end I would've been more happy with just 10 episodes because after episode 9 I didn't feel as excited anymore to wait for each episode.

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standard Thai romcom

Overall: I would call this an old school Thai BL and wish they had changed a few things to make it feel more fresh. 12 episodes about 45 minutes each. Aired on GMMTV's YouTube channel. If I were to re-watch I would start at episode 4, skip 5, 6, and 7, watch 8/2 2 min and the end of ep 8 thru 11, and episode 12 part 4.

Content Warnings: stalking, vomiting, punches, manhandling, manipulation

What I Liked
- the intro animation was unique though it didn't grab my attention
- Joke's dream
- cute/sweet moments
- that they both talked about the importance of boundaries and communication (but then both didn't take this advice at various points)
- an established couple with a realistic problem, wish they had more screentime
- Zo's friends
- the grandma
- kissing/intimacy

Room For Improvement
- Joke's approach/"plan" made no sense to me
- poorly written plot such as the stalking plotline, the Joke backstory in the final episode, the 3rd couple?/friends? introduced almost at the end with no real resolution
- why did Joke like Zo there wasn't even a love at first sight
- very tropey (2 accidental falls in one episode for example)
- pacing was off at times, series could have been fewer episodes
- a "makeover" where they took away his adorable glasses (and in total contradiction, Joke said to stay true to himself)
- talking about owing Joke
- non realistic debate stuff, and then the debate stuff in general
- choppy at times (episode 5 was suddenly the next day)
- (neutral) comedy sound effects

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