Below a serve for a show in 2023, but had potential for a good show in 2021
I personally believed that the show wasn't that bad, but it could've been better. Joongs acting in my personal opinion really saved the show, and if Dunk got acting lessons the show would've been way better. The thing is Dunks acting isn't even as bad as a lot of 'unpopular' thai actors. (i put these in quotes because there are some actors who are popular but still have bad acting aka popular for their face) Plus, they could've organized the plot in a manner where we could tell the point of each detail and what it meant to the story. To me it seemed a bit all over the place, but it did have good potential. Thinking positively, the show wasn't as bad as what i've seen with your average low budget bl. It's cute for a show would be low budget.Was this review helpful to you?
Kisses and a bunch of people with hidden agendas
This drama has one good episode, a decent female something and a bunch of really well executed kisses... and well that is about it... As slightly annoying guy has a crush on an amazing girl but gets douped by a guy with a hidden agenda on their way though some misunderstandings and the feeling of trust no one as they may or may not have a hidden agenda but honestly they all just fall flat.I was almost going to give this a 7,5 for the kisses, the good episode and the girl plus lack of issues to complain about but then a whole bunch of cringe happened and dragged down the score. Conversations with parents that had me gaging and just a whole lot of oh come on.... Seriously are they going to throw in that annoying trope. And well at that point I felt a 7 was a kind score.
So what can I say the romance has its good times and again great kisses... but honestly it is just not enough to make this a good or even a watch worthy of your time. But if you do not mind the lack of plot and cringe and have some time to kill go for it or just fast forward to the kisses and the scenes with the girl.
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This review may contain spoilers
i love joongdunk with all my heart but i feel like this wasnt it 😭 lets just say if its not joongdunk, i honestly would not (??) watch this. very questionable storyline and like i dont get where its going like whats the main point. the first few episodes about Zo liking Nita and Joke being the third person were actually so investing, i feel like starting from there they could’ve just add more about it and not about those random debate club thing that doesnt really matter 😭 and then it started becoming a story about families like 😞⁉️ also jeng/pok or aou/boom NEEDS MORE SCREENTIME. they barely even get any screentime and i love them sm. i thought i would get more on the last episode but no 😭 Was this review helpful to you?
love everything...first impression
the story kinda fresh summer vibe...gives me butterflys<3the actors have a strong chemistry makes u wanna go on with episodes ,everything seems magical idk how but i love it... cant wait for the 5th ep >maybe the idea of the glasses removed anyoned me bit cuz glasses not a bad thing or bad mejor in look yk what i mean...abit fast but doesn,t really bothers me at all.
><100% worth the shoot to watch and countine untill last ep.
ik abit much for onnly4 eps but trust me in love hooked already invested in the story and the couples...at the end i cant say much and give 100% clear view untill the last ep>
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I need justice for joongdunk
Ok I got to be honest...I tried heaven knows I did...and I'm disappointed...I think out of most gmmtv couples... joongdunk have the most beautiful chemistry... of screen but they have never impressed me in any of the series they have been in together....I want them to play a mafia vipire zombie and dark series because just seeing them being just cute and lovey dovey....that's joongdunk stuff....I need to differentiate between joongdunk and their characters.....STORYLINE:I was bored really...and I stayed in believing it will get better and at some point it did...but then they dropped me...I wish this series was just 8 episodes....let the couple be sweet then end it...but no offense...this series is too long and nothing going on....I just gave up on it....
I believe in joongdunk and I'm hoping they will surprise me in future but for this show sadly it's a no from me... AGAIN THIS IS MY OPINION YOU SHOULD WATCH IT FOR YOURSELF THEN JUDGE IT ACCORDING YO YOUR TASTE
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Not so hidden agenda
The description of plot and actual plot in series doesn't have much in common since Zo pretty soon find out he idolized Nita instead of loving her.To be honest; I enjoyed this series. At first I thought it's just silly lovey dovey romcom but at the end of the series we find out its not so glittery pink because both main characters have family issues which was showed in realistic way and as person who relate to Joke, ngl some tears escaped my eyes.
I also enjoyed second couple's plot, I think it's nice to see gay character understanding that they can't stuck forever in bubble and hide, especially when you're hurting your loved one.
Some scenes was unnecessary long; small talk between characters, characters standing in front of building for few seconds. I skipped some of it.
Going to characters and actors; I LOVE GRANDMA, she's absolutely my favorite. Also I fell hard for Joong and his smile... this man is so adorable and played Joke's characters so good especially when i have comparision to Fadel from THK where the character is much different. Joong really did great job.
In Dunk case; I think people are too harsh. It wasn't Oscar worthy performance but he wasn't bad, I can list at least worse 5 actors/actresses. He had better and worse moments. For example the first kiss scene was phenomenal. You can see all of Zo's emotions, I think its one of scenes which Dunk nailed.
I think the biggest flaw of this series is music. I'm also sick of BL characters singing and playing guitar. Just STOP I'M BEGGING!!!
There were also some threads without sense but in conclusion it's cute series. Did I like it? Yes. Will I rewatch it? Probably no.
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Mindless Fluff, Weakly Written
You might enjoy this if you like cute, mindless fluff and don't mind newbie acting. The main couple's "love language" seems to be bickering but their more intimate romantic moments are very sweet.The chemistry between the leads is undeniable and they are most natural when interacting with each other. However, they are still newer actors and their inexperience shows (in line delivery and reactions). Joong's acting is a 5 and Dunk's is a 3 (out of 10).
The actors aren't helped by a weak script with stiff, contrived dialogue and a boring, poorly executed plot. I'm glad for JoongDunk that they are getting some experience (it's a great way to continue improving their acting skills), but I just got too bored by the end of episode 8. After pausing for a couple of weeks I decided not to continue at all.
Both the actors AND the writers could benefit from more workshops to work on their craft before doing another project. At this point, I won't be looking forward to whatever they produce next.
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Finally a 2023 Thai series that gives me butterflies :)
I have developed a complete love for this series and both men since the end of ep 2. This episode gave me so many sweet, warm fuzzies, and I am so grateful I came across this gem from Thailand! I had lost a lot of hope for Thai series this year, but this show is wonderful and I plan to shout that from the digital rooftops!!!! I just finished episode 4 and am so eager for episode 5. No, the storyline is not very original, but it is well done and I think the actors are doing a great job so far....does it help that I find both leads super gorgeous...yes, but that doesn't take away from the fact that this is the first Thai show this year that I haven't had to force myself to sit distractedly through an episode and that I am 1000% rewatching! It's honey-sweet and the pacing is phenomenal thus far. The music is lovely and fits the story better than average too. I want to say this will be one of my top ten from Thailand, but there are 6 episodes to go, and I don't want to jinx it. Right now, I am loving this show and all the butterflies it started giving in ep3 and that are still there through ep 4.Was this review helpful to you?
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BL where Joon is a total (singing :) Green Flag
PLOT: At university, Zo had a long-standing crush on Nita (a student and fellow member of the debate club), but doesn't even dare talk to her. In desperation, he asks Joke (Nita's ex) for help, in exchange for a spot in the club. But Joke's main goal is to get closer to Zo...+++ I really like Joon & Dunk. They are excellent actors, subtle, moving, authentic, and with great chemistry. However, I didn't connect with Zo's charactere; he's always reserved, always asking, never giving.
+++ Second romance with Aou & Boom (ღ˘⌣˘ღ)
+++ Solid direction, with a coherent story. For once, the students have classes, exams, and assignments to hand in σ(´∀｀)
+++ Great OSTs (Joon sings a lot in this series)
### Parents' redemption too abrupt to be believable.
### Announcement to families not addressed here
=> Good BL, enjoyable, with endearing characters, but not memerable.
*****************************************************
BL où Joon est un total Green Flag (chantant :)
PLOT: A la fac, Zo a un crush depuis longtps sur Nita (étudiante, membre comme Zo, du club de débat), mais n'ose mm pas lui parler. En désespoir de cause, il demande à Joke (ex de Nita) de l'aider, moyennant une place dans le club. Mais les objectifs de Joke sont surtt de se rapprocher de Zo ...
+++ J'aime bcp Joon & Dunk. Ce sont d'excellents acteurs, subtiles, émouvants, authentiques, et avec une belle alchimie. Cpdt, je ne me suis pas attachée à Zo, tjs sur la réserve, tjs demandeur jamais donneur.
+++ 2nde romance avec Aou & Boom (ღ˘⌣˘ღ)
+++ Réalis° solide, avec story cohérente. Pr une fois, les étudiants ont des cours, des examens, des travaux à rendre σ(´∀｀)
+++ Bons OSTs (Joon chante svt ds cette série)
### Rédemption des parents trop brusque pr être crédible.
### Annonce aux familles non traitée ici
=> Bonne BL, agréable, avec des personnages attachants, mais elle ne restera pas dans les mémoires.
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This review may contain spoilers
it's the dollar store how good can it be
Let me start with a disclaimer that I kind of gave up on this show (more than once) but still wanted to write a somewhat robust review so I forced myself to skim the last two episodes. This means I might have missed some important nuance (surely) or events somewhere in the show and my review isn't super detailed.And yeah I skipped the side couple's scenes. Sorry! I heard they were good but I just didn't care to watch.
- Plot and Writing -
The writing for Hidden Agenda is pretty bad. I don't think it's awful and unwatchable (on writing alone) but the show felt directionless, as if it was being written in free-form. This could just be a taste thing. I'm not a slice of life person, which is a source of potential bias against Hidden Agenda and it's very simple story. But I don't know. Either I'm wrong, or the show is bad.
I think perhaps what bothered me most is that the show is called "Hidden Agenda", the same agenda by which the show is driven forward. When this ordeal is resolved before the climax of the show (instead of WITHIN the climax of the show) it induces audience whiplash. I imagine it's how people feel when they talk about Riverdale's billionth season being about completely random shit. Except GMMTV shows average 12 episodes. Which means the hidden agenda could have been drawn out to fill those 12 episodes. Instead, the story wastes a lot of space and leaves a lot to be desired. And I saw many MDL commenters sharing this same sentiment.
However, I've seen people praising the simplicity and feel-good aspect of Hidden Agenda. It's an "easy watch" (not for me, which I'll talk about in the acting section) and doesn't raise your blood pressure or expose you to intense content. Hidden Agenda is quite comparable to 2gether the series in this way. The acting is also quite comparable. I dislike both shows.
- The Hidden Agenda Reveal (ep. 9) -
There were a lot of mixed responses on MDL to the Hidden Agenda reveal (and all of Joke's actions leading up to this reveal). Personally I was on the side of finding Joke's approach manipulative in the earlier episodes, but the framing of the show wasn't clear enough to show this to the audience. From what I read about the manga from the comments, it is more obvious that Joke is manipulating the situations he and Zo are in as a means of getting closer to him. "Manipulation" not being an inherently sinister word, but I personally found Joke's use of manipulation too heavy-handed. I was on Zo's side here.
When it was revealed to Zo that Joke had this "hidden agenda" the whole time, Zo becomes upset and expects an apology. For this, half the MDL comments seemed to believe Zo acted hypocritically. "Didn't he do the same thing?"
My thing is, Zo's hidden agenda with Nita was acts of kindness, like trying to carry her stuff, or inviting her to the library under the guise of studying when he actually wanted to read her a story and gauge her response, asking someone she knows for advice on how to date a person, aka actually getting to know her. I think that's pretty harmless. Meanwhile, Joke's approach was being a weirdo. Backing people into walls, sneaky wedding rituals, "we have to go to my house oh its coincidentally a huge mess omg its midnight already I guess you have to sleep over promise I won't do anything weird! Change your style, change your food preferences, I'm super possessive around your friends." Like how is that the same as what Zo did?
I was also stunned by the fact that Zo is one of the least perceptive characters of all time, allowing Joke's hidden agenda to work in the first place. If Zo was a bit less dense he would have realized Joke's hidden agenda sooner. But I won't judge. He has trouble reading people, he has mommy issues, etc. He's a troubled boy. It's not his fault. But what bothered me about the big reveal is that, at that fucking point, the two of you are already dating, you know that he likes you, so did you not put 2 and 2 together? While I don't blame Zo as a character, I blame the writers who gave him so much goldfish-brain that it also deprived the audience of retrospective thinking.
- Supporting Characters -
One noteworthy scene was the Wave and Trin flashback story in episode 10. It was one of the few times in Hidden Agenda where I actually stopped and watched the full scene without pausing or skipping ahead. This is probably attributed to the relative acting talent of these supporting actors, as well as the way it stood out from other scenes.
The problem is that this scene served as insignificant exposition within the greater context of the show. It was a singular, self-contained conflict that explained another singular, self-contained conflict. This wouldn't have been an issue if the screenwriters had found a way to incorporate other self-contained conflicts throughout the show. Sprinkling in the supporting cast throughout the show, instead of just oh there's a stalker at the beginning, an old crush in the middle, and some random beef between seniors towards the end. Maybe we could have learned more about Zo's friends, maybe we could have learned more about Nita (because she was pretty cool), maybe we could have seen a little more of Joke's grandma (she was the best).
- Joong and Dunk and Acting -
So there's the enormous elephant in the room surrounding acting talent. Specifically the two lead actors, the stars of the show, the people who the entire show revolves around.
Personally, I find Joong and Dunk so hard to watch. Both together and separately. I have to do a lot of pausing and skipping, a lot of trying to hold myself together, because I'm very susceptible to secondhand embarrassment. I may have even had an easier time watching Star In my Mind, since I didn't know the actors yet and it was their first time acting together and you can only go up from there, right? Well they haven't gone much farther up yet. Honestly there was a moment in ep 10 where Dunk delivers a mini "you're being an asshole" monologue in the scene between Zo and Wave. That was pretty good! For Dunk standards, that was pretty good. But overall, the acting in Hidden Agenda was just not good enough.
But I want to say something very extremely important. Whenever you go into the Hidden Agenda comment section you're going to see 10,000 comments calling Dunk talentless. This may be true. But you'll also see those fans who try to desperately save Joong from from getting joint criticism. Saying Dunk is dragging Joong down and that Joong deserves a better partner and his career is being impacted by the evil dark energy that is Dunk. This is delusional. You just think Joong is sexy.
Dunk may objectively be the worst actor in this cast, and you might even expand this debate into the greater GMMTV roster, but that doesn't mean that someone who is better at acting than Dunk is a good actor. Joong may not have won 1st place in the GMMTV Worst Actors Contest, but he's still somewhere on the podium.
Joong is, once again, playing the monotonous quiet type. He's been playing discreet characters, in contrast to Dunk who's been playing the clumsier, nerdier, more animated and outwardly emotional characters.
This is tangential, but I want to note that this dynamic commonly follows couples in BL, and it's typically the case that this dynamic is superimposed onto the ever-present pest that is the top/bottom dynamic. Whenever the trope is reversed, it becomes a subversion. I find it the case that this dynamic follows masculine/feminine expectations, which are then projected outwardly onto the actors. Not only is a lack of acting talent more evident when your character requires more expression and dialogue, but the trend seems to be that, unless this actor is extremely capable with a solid reputation, it'll be the "bottom" who receives criticism disproportional to their performance.
This might be a hard sell when I'm using JoongDunk as an example, considering the fact that Dunk is truly a terrible actor. The criticism he gets is valid. But given the characters JD have been typecast as twice, and the comments that Dunk gets compared to Joong, I think it's fair to bring this issue up here. Because Joong is also, truly, a terrible actor.
I do think these two have been kinda victimized by GMMTV. This is their second project together and both shows were shit. That sucks, even considering acting talent. I think with good screenwriting and/or directing, even bad acting can be concealed within a show. Midnight Museum managed to do this and that show wasn't even good. Of course with GMMTV, and especially with JoongDunk, quality isn't the goal. These two actors are young and attractive and they're fanservice menaces. The only thing being monitored right now is profit.
But there is always room for improvement! I believe deep down in my heart of hearts that Joong and Dunk can improve as actors and put on a decent performance. I hope they get cast in a show with good writing and directing and gorgeous cinematography and good hairstyling and makeup. Joong and Dunk are too good looking to waste. And they might be terrible actors but when it comes to kissing they really go for it. That's kind of impressive. I've never seen two BL actors actually allow their bare skin to touch in a scene before. JD have courage and it should be sent to the acting workshops and used by good writers and directors.
- Overall -
Hidden Agenda wasn't good. It might have been watchable with different actors, or with the same actors and better writing. If it had different actors and better writing, it might be an excellent show. But those are hypotheticals and Hidden Agenda did not have different actors or better writing. Some people enjoyed it. I'm happy for them. I did not enjoy it and I would not recommend it, even as something to have playing in the background. If I was studying or cleaning my room and I heard a line delivery from Dunk or looked up to see Joong furrowing his eyebrows on my screen I don't think I'd be able to handle it. You're stronger than me if you can. But the intro OST was catchy I might go listen to it after this.
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Good start, disappointed ending
I was initially excited to watch more dramas featuring JoongDunk because I enjoyed their roles in SIMM. However, I’m sad to say that I felt disappointed by the end.Firstly, the fight between Zo and Joke after they resolved the stalker storyline felt unnecessary. I would have preferred if they had continued that arc, as the stalker could have created more drama and it would’ve felt more organic, rather than focusing on Zo being upset about his friends setting him up (which is something everyone experiences at some point).
Secondly, did anyone else feel that the relationship was somewhat one-sided? It seemed like Joke put in most of the effort, which honestly put me off. What’s the point of calling it a romance if there’s little to no romance present?
Lastly, I have to admit that I lost interest in the plot after a while. I wasn’t really invested in the story itself; I was mainly there for the JoongDunk scenes, and even those left me feeling somewhat unfulfilled.
Overall, I believe this series had a lot of potential and I did enjoy the beginning. However, by the end, it didn’t meet my expectations.
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