Suspicious minds: nail-biting suspense and doomed romance
🎶we can't go on together with suspicious mindsand we can't build our dreams on suspicious minds🎶
This was much darker and more serious than I expected, even taking into account the heavy subject matter. BL shows usually have more comic levity and heart-warming moments, not suspense dialled up to the max.
But if I'm honest, it was that suspense that kept me watching when the mystery and romance fizzled out.
The first half had a nice dangerous vibe with a whodunit mystery and the two protagonists caught in a loop between suspicion and attraction. I loved dr Kan in the first couple episodes. He came off as seductive and dangerous - a mysterious homme fatale playing with the vulnerable policeman's feelings. Tew, on the other hand, seemed to be fighting a losing battle between his suspicious mind and other parts of his anatomy;) I thought it was a rather delicious dynamics, even if the two actors didn't have that much chemistry with each other. I wish they stayed like that till the end. Instead, in the blink of an eye, they became all loving and domestic (at least on the surface), which was hard to buy with no proper build-up.
I wouldn't call this series a serious exploration of the topic of euthanasia. For that, a bigger focus on idividual cases and better balance of differing voices was needed in the story. Tew was not the person who took daily care of his sick and dying mother, his sister was, yet she wasn't given a voice. But overall, the series did a good job showing the complexity of the subject and had some thought-provoking scenes. I'm not going to discuss the plot to avoid spoilers, but imo they made a wrong judgment call with how they resolved Boss's arc. It pushed the story in a direction I didn't care for and killed any goodwill I had towards dr Kan. Of course, this might've been by design, to make us question where the uncrossable line lies, but it just further soured me towards the romance.
The production values and acting were pretty good. Also, no blatant stupidity about police and hospital procedures in the script which was refreshing. Overall, it's definitely worth watching, just not for romance.
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Euthanasia versus the law
I never knew that I would get to see JJ and Tor paired in a BL show one day. Indeed, it was a dream come true. Throughout the eight episodes, I keep murmuring the phrase, “JJ is so freaking handsome!” The police uniform suited him well which highlights his manliness charms. Plus, those sexy glares and voices were too much to handle.The storyline was well written to the point that I found myself composing for some assumptions and possible twists regarding the real suspect for the sudden death of the palliative patients. The suspense is real! It also introduces the concept of euthanasia to the viewers, which is a serious topic that is discussed. A lot of countries, especially in Asia, are not too open to this medical approach. Which is reasonable due to its cons and needs a depth analysis for a law to be passed.
All casts give their best to perform their roles effectively. I don’t have any bad comments about the show as I fully enjoyed it as a whole. In the end, we got to see the Doctor confessing his involvement to his police lover. I liked how they came up with a finale that may be a sign of a possible sequel.
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Good:Actors could ACT (they knew how to cry but every thai actor KNOWS how to cry i can never deny them this)
Cinematography and scenery was gorgeous (was so lovely and different to see this kind of setting)
Hot lady ✅
Hot take but I love an ambiguous ending
Bad:
- The plot had such great bones but kinda felt like it was destined for more before falling through a bit for me…. not really sure I just thought there would be more of a mystery
- The romance(?) if you can call it that…. someone in the comments mentioned they liked the idea of the attraction vs suspicion in the beginning which I find can be done so well but this just flopped and fell really flat for me …they were just buddies who kissed with their shirts off and there was no other indication of their attraction or feelings … i believe this would have worked if they were just good friends (maybe even better for the themes betrayal that occurs throughout - if they focussed more on how the characters supported eachother emotionally i feel like it would have registered more with the audience ?)
overall it was a pretty good watch! just wish the main characters had more chemistry or drama within their relationship considering the moral and ethical dilemmas of their careers
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This Will Stick with You
This drama deals with the very controversial subject of euthanasia. The viewer knows from the get-go what that the doctor is guilty of doing it--but there's no shortage of questions throughout. I was on the edge of my seat. At one point, I actually acknowledge out suspenseful the music was. I was so tense, but nothing extremely tense was happening at that moment except for the music. It was setting the stage. Wow, is all I can say. It was a great story and a wild ride. Tor in particular did a great acting job playing someone who truly believes they are doing what is right. For anyone who enjoys mystery and intrigue with an underlying touch of romance, this is the drama for you. Brava to the director and cast of this gem.Was this review helpful to you?
An Awful Series
Perhaps the best way to identify this series is to use the word – indescribable. But I am not using this word to imply in any way that this series is either good or has any socially redeeming values. It does not. This series is awful in every way I can think of. Yes, by any standards of decency, morality, medical code, as well as legal laws, they are indeed and in fact murdering individuals. This series tries its hardest to convince itself otherwise; but it cannot. What they did, without question, was murder; not euthanasia or certainly not mercy killing. This series sickened me to my core. Not everything can be turned into a BL story and certainly not one with extreme moral repercussions. Wake up. Some things need to be seen for what they really are. Quit making cheesy productions with premises that are not well-thought out and throw a label on it called BL and pass it off as an acceptable story!Was this review helpful to you?
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This doesn't work as a BL and it alters the source in a negetive way
No, I reject this entire mess of a show. The only prasie I CAN give to it is the production team because it was visually a stunning piece of work complete with some of the best atmospheric visuals I've seen. The rest is an absolute dumpster fire and if I was Sammon I would have NEVER approved this script. I sincerely hope it was something she had no choice over.
For honestly the last 2 and a half episodes I sped ran. I did fully watch in pivotal moment without 10 sec skipping my way through.
The BL aspect was a bust on every level of this show. Up until this episode these two did not in any way shape or form act like people in love. Leaving the suspecting each other aside there was little dialogue to support it and when it was there it came out of nowhere. Their body language always had a major distance between them and even the way they looked at each other wasn't that of lovers.
The initial I like you was out of left field and I feel sorry for anyone stepping into this without knowing it is a BL because it is such a confusing piece of dialogue. There is no lead-up to it and no reason for him to say it. Another very jarring moment is Tew grilling Kan about the director's death and leaving Kan's house in a snit with a different lead other than Kan. The next moment we get a scene of Tew giving Kan a pen and saying happy birthday. 🤯 Mood swings much? Even Tew moving in feels more like he is doing it to get access to the house more than they love each other.
These two share nothing in common other than the mother which Tew is suspicious of, not I love the doctor for taking care of her. The book leans on FWB but these two don't have sex until the very end, so what is left? Nothing. There is no earthly reason for these two to like each other in the drama and the actors do NOTHING to encourage us to believe they love each other.
For this episode, we get all the BL moments as skimpy as they were. While not a dead fish kiss it lacks passion. The only thing that could be said about it is that visually the camera work and editing is top notch so at least it looks pretty. It is hard to feel anything without a connection between the characters.
Now I can forgive ALL that . From episode 1 it was very obvious this wasn't going to be a good BL show. The actors lack chemistry and very much felt like the guys in a crime show that someone forgot to mention was a BL. You really don't watch Sammon's shows for the romance. But this was a failure in the storyline as well.
There was very little mystery since they laid it all out fairly early. The cast was tiny so you only had two options for the killer. I'll admit I did suspect the nurse at first but it didn't take long for Boss to be the obvious pick. To be fair this wasn't really a mystery sort of show but at the same time the info dump of the paitients in the end felt out of place because they were trying to keep it one, so I brought it up.
You turn your BF in after he is in the clear in all kinds of FU. After that impassioned speech, Tew STILL didn't get it completely screwed over the whole point of the show in the direction they took it. By changing the story to make it so the only people Kan killed were people that wanted to die there should have been no reason for Tew to want to arrest him. Tew should have been able to come to terms with his mother's death realize the mercy in euthanasia and let Kan go. Instead, Tew understood nothing. While he still "loves" Kan he views euthanasia as wrong. The nicest interpretation is a ridge view of the law is the law. Still, after that impassioned speech where Kan lays his soul out Tew's words, will you confess ,was like a slap in the face.
With the book, there is a good reason for Tew to arrest Kan. There are even some fascinating discussion points on where euthanasia, murder, and the slippery slope where the two can collide. This drama is a big fat NOPE on any of that. In the end, I will give credit somewhat to the dive they did into the trauma of terminally ill patients and how childhood trauma shaped both Boss and Kan as well as nurse. Boss, the dad tried to kill the mom so both parents ended up dead his lesson was terminal patients were bad and needed to be gotten rid of. While Kan's was his mom trying to kill herself and needed to be released from suffering. Along with laying out all of Kan's patients' last wishes, it did do an ok job of laying out Kan's side but it misses the very important aspect of the families of those paitents that live with daily grind. Tew's perpective isn't nearly as importnat as many of the others. Also doing a run through at the end of the paitents last moments not coupled with the little we do get of their familes leaves their stories disjointed. I half forgot that the mentor and the director were connected by the end.
It completely throws the work the show does do to show euthenaisa in a postive light out the door with Tew turning Kan in. When you look back at all the characters in this show, not one single person changed their stance on euthanasia. Even the coroner who caught Kan out and understood why her dad died. She warns Kan NOT to do it again. Tew is even worse because he ARRESTS Kan. I applaud the police department in the respect that they didn't want to dig deep into this case, only Tew did. If they were going to change the book so drastically then they should have changed the ending as well. The takeaway is euthanasia at the end of the day is wrong. I guess if you believe in that stance it is a great ending but still a screwed-up one for a BL. The very fact they didn't have a time jump of Tew fetching Kan from prison just drives home how bad of a BL this is.
TBH from what I've been told of the book this show does a disserive to them. It has change the overall theming of it by not having Kan be a murder of people not ill and not lying and going behind Tew's back to cover things up. By making Kan a good guy but punishing for it and making it seem like his childhood trama lead him to killing people instead of a nuianced approch strays too far from the book I think The nusciances of euthnasia and murder have been stripped beyond the Boss and Kan simple contrast. They tried to put too much in one drama and cast extremly poorly for this.
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Compassion versus Law & Mercy versus Murder
My thought when I saw the first episode of the series was that it tried to establish a strong connection between showing mercy to a suffering animal by putting it to sleep and showing mercy to a suffering terminally ill human.The topic of Euthanasia is very debatable and that's why only few countries have made it legal...there are various concerns regarding the choice of Euthanasia by an individual, whether:
*the person is in a fit mental state of mind to decide.
* The person is being coerced ( by the family)
* Doctors' abusing the power given to them. etc. etc.
I believe a person who is still mentally fit should be allowed to decide if they wish to end their life.
However, Can a person suffering extreme pain whose mind is clouded by pain medications be competent enough to make a rational judgement? Should the family members/ doctors' have the right to decide the fate of a terminally ill patient without their explicit consent (as in the case of putting an animal to sleep)?
The whole discussion is never ending , so in the end it comes down to morality and legality.
I feel the show focuses more on Compassion versus Law and Murder versus Mercy.
In the eyes of the law, things are weighed as per the rules and regulations, no room for feelings.
Freeing someone whom you care about from further suffering is an act of mercy, but law considers it a punishable crime, similar to that of a deliberate murder.
Motive plays a primary role in differentiating between the deaths of various people... how is one person's action of taking a life different from the other killer(s)? when legally all are crimes. The question here is not who the killer is, but why and how that person chooses to take a life.
What is most interesting for me in this series is not the mystery of who dunnit because that is not the highlight of the series. The cornerstone of the series is the moral ambiguity of the characters.
None of the character in the series is pure black or white.
We live in a society of flawed humans. The law has many loopholes and is imperfect but by and large it safeguards our society by protecting the weak.
So the question is left up to the audience as to how they regard the actions of these characters and whom do they sympathise with.
Overall: thought provoking and trying to present various viewpoints on the much debatable, sensitive topic of Euthanasia.
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CHARACTER ANALYSIS::::: CONTAINS SPOILERS from the series in order to discuss their motivation and ideologies on Euthanasia.
(Don't read the review further if you want to REMAIN SPOILER FREE.)
Interestingly all the below mentioned characters were connected to a terminally ill patient, the viewers are a shown a glimpse of their life when they witnessed the suffering of their loved ones how that affects their outlook on Euthanasia.
*The police captain, Thiu strongly suspects Dr.Kan and wants the guilty to be punished as per law but his heart doesn't allow him to remain completely unbiased in this case. Even though Thiu is sceptical , he is ready to accept any slightest evidence to prove Dr.kan's innocence without dwelling too deeper into it. Thiu's mother was terminally ill and he had transferred to a remote place to took a posting there but before he arrived, Dr.Kan had Euthanized his mother as per her request. He was unable to bid her a proper goodbye which remains his greatest regret.
*Dr.Kan may have started on this path for mercy and ending the suffering of patients, but somehow along the way did he become desensitised to killing? What he did in episode 7 to Boss was for a selfish reason and a clear crime. Dr.Kan's mother was terminally ill and he saw her constant suffering and his own father's helplessness that's why he chose to be a Doctor and was an advocate of Euthanasia.
* Boss who has seen his family destroyed due to his terminally ill father (his mother, unable to take care of his father killed his father and then committed suicide herself) admires Dr.kan for his stance on Euthanasia but doesn't understand that Dr.Kan doesn't enthasnise a patient to reduce the burden of care taking from family members' shoulder. Boss doesn't understand the concept of taking consent from the patients. He wants to reduce the family's burden.
* Nurse Onanong, started supporting Dr.kan when someone dear to her was terminally ill and wished to end their suffering. Nurse On tried to perform euthanasia but couldn't go through with it, at that time Dr.Kan like an angel of mercy came and helped her. He showed her the path to reduce the suffering of the terminally ill patients in a painless manner.
* Director Somsak, he was a staunch advocate of the Hippocratic Oath, was against Abortion or Euthanasia. He believed that doctor's job was to care for terminally ill patients to the best of their ability. His male lover who was Dr.Kan's mentor had been terminally ill, Somsak being a loving person wanted to spend the last few months with his lover but was deprived of that solace due to Dr.Kan euthanizing his lover.
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:::::::::::::Trivia::::::::::::
Episode 1 and 2
Just by watching the first two episodes I think the series is posing a serious question as to when does Euthanasia cross the line of showing mercy Versus murder.
So far in the first two episodes, there have been deaths of three terminally ill patients.
1. The police captain's mother ( she seemed to be quite rational and seemed to be in too much pain, but did she choose to end her life? Didn't she want to spend some time with her son who was taking a transfer to be near her?
2. Another terminally ill person, but his family was taking quite good care of him...they were hoping that they could live with him for as long as possible. I don't know if he would have chosen euthanasia?
3.The aged father who was clearly a burden to his children....but for me, his death was a blatant murder... because inspite of his advanced illness and pain, he clearly resisted and showed signs of wanting to live.
So the question is, If Euthanasia was really a choice of the above three people or was it forced upon them?
Episode 3
In episode 3, Dr.Kan injects the terminally ill tribal man after asking for his consent...even though he may not have been responsible for ALL 3 deaths in the previous 2 episodes, he certainly Euthanised the man in episode 3.
So legally he could already be a criminal, as I believe active Euthanasia is not sanctioned in Thailand...
Therefore irrespective of other people who he may or may not have euthanized, he is already guilty and is punishable by law.
Now we just have to see whether there is someone else besides him who is ethuanising terminally ill without their consent.
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Spare me your mercy is a great series the actor and production is also great you all exceeded my expectations about this series...maybe I'll gonna rewatch this when all episodes is out.
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Intense Storyline & Chemistry
Whew,where do I even begin?!!Listen! You gotta watch this amazing drama. Not only is the storyline line amazing,the chemistry between the leads are just 💋,also the plot be plotting!!!
SMYM is a novel by Doctor Sammon who’s a famous author, the novel tackles a lot of serious issues with a mix of romance. Euthanasia itself is illegal in a lot of countries but only few countries have made it legal.
If you’re expecting full blown romance,where the ML’s are eating each other every episode,then this isn’t for you.
Doc Kan does something,with the patients consent & for their own good but his boyfriend Captain Wasan sees it differently.
This drama is filled with suspense,thriller & romance. You’ll keep racking your brains about who dunnit
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I need more of JJ & Tor!
The acting is SOOOO good, especially Tor! I love how everything is wrapped up in 8 episodes= clean and sweet cut.Each episode keeps you wanting for more, and boy- when that kiss finally arrived- im like YESS!
It tackles the topic of euthanasia in a really diverse way- including explaining the legal side, moral side, and even talking about consent, etc. It's amazing to see BL starting to touch on deeper topics beyond just 2 men kissing each other (although i love watching that lol)
I especially love the ending as to how Wansa held Doctor's hand and then dropped the Hydrangea which represents "forgiveness"- just WOW! Got me crying so badly- it's just so beautiful
Side note, Tor looked so much like Namkoong Min somehow, especially the eyes expression. I think it's probably the similarity in character they have played before than the actual actor looking alike
Anyway, this BL is just so FKING GOOOOOODDDD- I'd totally up for more collab from this duo again!
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Amazing!
Watching this series made me cry and be happy at the same time.The chemistry of the male leads is very good.
The ending was so good and very good acting.
I would like to see them in another bl series if it's possible.
I love everything in this series. ♥️
It was really nice to watch this masterpiece for a while but it's very short only 8 episodes 😖
It was good watching so I'm not going to complain 😌
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everyone should watch this
this series is so unique for so many different ways. I actually loved how the romance wasn't actually the main focus of the story, but the two main leads had such insane chemistry. the storytelling was perfect and always kept me guessing, having plot twists that made sense and made the story more interesting and complex. I don't think until I watched this that I can say that a BL series has made me question my own beliefs and morals, but Spare Me Your Mercy did exactly that. it was a powerful commentary on the fact that the law does not always have ones best interest in mind. everything about this series is amazing to me, and I am really really hoping for a season two. also Tor and JJ did absolutely amazing in this I am definitely a fan of both of them now. I highly recommend this masterpiece of a series!Was this review helpful to you?
