To Be Continued

Not bad, just average

I think prolonging all of the backstory kind of killed it because I spent up to episode 7 thinking Ji was exaggerating a lot, especially those first episodes with the punches and being very rude, and since we basically did not know what really happened it seemed off putting.

After seeing why they fought it makes a little more sense I guess, but with only 8 episodes I spent basically the entire show frustrated with the male lead. Especially since Achi has that puppy smile that makes you think he can do no wrong lmao.

I would have dropped this but I was looking for something mild to watch because I'm bored and I didn't want to get too invested in a show.

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COMMON STORY BEAUTIFUL EXECUTION HEARTFELT

I can't believe I finished this this fast, I just started watching this yesterday and now I am done, somehow I'm gonna miss the leads here. I am impressed that the makers of this drama did not made this one too long but idle, I mean not all but most of the Thai BL I watch there was too long but nothing is really happening and here I think this is one of the most precised I have seen, I got a little bit bored in the middle coz it was like I did not know where was the anger of Ji coming from until they have shown what really happened on their past, It was beautiful for me because maybe their past was not the right time for their love story, thankfully they are able to get back to each other after 10 years. It was all just a misunderstanding haha.
All in all good acting, not really good script , very light drama and heartfelt, watching this was not heavy in the heart, I think I would rewatch this again after some time and I hope I will see the boys to have another drama in the future.

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Simple and Clean

This is pretty much your cookie cutter separated childhood friends to reunited lovers trope. Youthful misunderstandings and all. Now with that being said I truly really did like this series, and not because I'm such a sucker for this specific trope itself. But the chemistry and cinematography of the show are excellent in my opinion and while the story isn't groundbreaking its still done with a coherent plot progression that many similar BL struggle to maintain. The eight episode runtime especially helps this show go at a comfortable pace without feeling too rushed or long. My only complaint with progression in the series is how the side couple isn't really that developed. But just a small gripe since its truly the main couple that grabs your attention throughout the series, so perhaps it truly is for the betterment of the viewer it turned out that way. My favorite scene is the one where both the leads have their first intimate moment with each other. Extremely romantic and tasteful with My Beautiful Man Eternal vibes. Solid 8/10 for me.

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This drama is infuriating!!!

I started this drama with little to no expectations. At first I found it funny and cute, the first episode was really entertaining, Very handsome leads great chemistry, but as I continued to watch it got draggy and boring too much of the same and nothing really going on.

I thought about dropping it but the dimples man, those dimples kept me hooked so I stuck with it, I was really curious about why they stopped being friends and then episode 7 happened.

I finally got interesting again it drew me in completely and when the fallaout came I got so mad! You're telling me these two morons haven't talked in 10 years because such a stupid misunderstanding?!!! uhggg I am so mad I might not even watch episode 8.

Don't waste your time with this one, seriously! It's a shame too because these two actors are excellent together, I hope to see them again in something actually worth watching.

I caved, the dimples, I needed to see those dimples again. The final episode is beautiful, perfect!! I loved every single scene. If only the writers could've come up with a better conflict and not drag things so much it would've been one of those that makes you come back and rewatch again and again but, as it is I sat through it once and never again, not even for those adorable dimples.

Not a good story but if you're like really bored and have nothing else to do, I suggest to watch episodes 1,7 and 8. you won't miss anything important you'll save yourself hours of nonsense, the misunderstanding is stupid, there's no way around it but it's so insignificant that it's resolved in less than two minutes and from then on it's just fluffy cutness and dimples.

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“To Be Continued” is a simple and easy watch about second-chance romance, which is one of my favorite tropes. This is also the reason why I watch this drama despite its low rating. The plot itself is simple and there really isn’t any plot twist. Flashbacks play a big part in the storytelling, as it goes back-and-forth between the past and present timelines throughout the drama. It’s not hard to follow along, but it gets exhausting in a way. With only 8 episodes, the pacing is fine. I wish the drama has spent more time on other characters instead of all on the leads, when their story is quite simple.

This is my first time watching the main leads, Fluke (who played Ji) and Junior (who played Achi). I have to say I was not impressed with their acting, especially in the earlier episodes. They both lack facial expressions, no matter how handsome they are. I actually find Fluke really cute and adorable, more than the supposedly handsome superstar Fluke/Achi. The camera also likes to stay on their faces for 5 seconds too long. When you can’t act, it just makes everything feels awkward.

However, as we enter the second half of the drama, I do think their acting improved. I was particularly impressed with the acting In episode 7. That scene was beautifully shot and I can feel all the mixed emotions - lust, love, longing, care, hesitation, shyness and uncertainty. Their conversation and everything that happened afterwards broke my heart, even though I knew what’s about to happen. But aside from that episode, the acting is a hit or miss.

In the beginning, I found Ji to be quite mean to Achi. Through the flashbacks, you knew how Achi felt about Ji when they were in high school. So, in the back of my mind, I wonder why Ji is so mean, until the full backstory is told. They were young and innocent back then, thus making such mistakes is totally believable. But 10 years seems a little long for Achi to come back and try to patch things up. And when they finally resolved their issue, it was underwhelming and anti-climatic. With the buildup for most of the series, I was expecting more.

The secondary romance between Ji’s brother, Ki, and the farmer is also underwhelming. They could have been so cute together, but the writing of the story makes them an afterthought. It seems like there’s more to Ki’s story and why he’s a food vlogger instead of an architect.

Overall, I would only recommend this if you are interested in second-chance romance and can get past some questionable acting. It’s also nice to take a break from most Thai BLs that have a strong and sole focus on students. Though this one has many flashbacks to high schools, at least you also see the leads as a doctor and a superstar/idol (in a semi-believable way).



Completed: 4/16/2024 - Review #428

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Standard Thai BL

Admittedly, this series is perfectly named. It did seem to continue to go on and on endlessly. It was like being adrift in a rudderless boat floating in an ocean of tropes, clichés, banalities, stereotypes, and platitudes. Sooner or later, you would bump into one of them on your way to wherever it was you were supposed to be going. Unfortunately, this series went nowhere because it had nowhere to go to. Honestly, you have seen this story hundreds of times if you are an avid BL watcher. If not, you will no doubt run across its plot again because it is standard. It is another high school love story between two best friends. I know that many will no doubt like this series, but I found this series wantoned for its shallowness, use of endlessly tropey and cliché storylines, supporting characters that were superfluously infantile and not funny, the main characters never got to be a couple until the last episode and by that point it was too late, and a supposed secondary couple that was never fully developed into anything meaningful. I also found it quite sad that these two guys, who are otherwise solid and successful, could not bring themselves to communicate with each other. That for me is simply not a subject matter I can find funny.

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Disappointing because manipulative

When will BLs reflect the real diversity of the LGBT+ community in Thai society?

Something missing from 'To Be Continued' is a convincing explanation of why Ji has rejected Achi for over 10 years.
It is evident that while Achi fully accepts her sexuality, Ji hides it and does not want to acknowledge it. That's why he approaches a girl, but still doesn't decide to make her fall in love with him. It can't be any other way: he is gay. He hides his homosexuality and denies his love to the person he loves. He is a victim of internalized homophobia.
Ji knows his place in an inhospitable world, but he doesn't dare to position himself in it. Ji lives in a world built by and for the heterosexual man. He lives in a heteronormative society that still discriminates against homosexuals, harasses them, persecutes them and excludes them.
Ji, like the other members of the Thai LGBT community, is a man who lives surrounded by heterosexual stimuli everywhere. And everything that goes beyond the "normative" is viewed with suspicion and incomprehension and even hatred. Anyone who dares to feel differently runs the risk of being separated and excluded from the group. As an animal of habit, Ji is afraid of the unknown, he doesn't really know how to act when faced with what is different from him and those who are like him. That is why he chooses to sacrifice his love to try not to be attacked, cornered, ignored.
In series like 'The Promise' a boy hides being in love with his friend, but his decision not to confess his love is justified for fear of breaking the relationship between the two, but he also damages the friendship by putting distance for 10 years, which It is also excessive.
But that's not the point in 'To Be…'. Here the two boys are in love. And while one is open to the relationship, the other does not dare to take the next step. They are in a world and a society that prevents them from leaving the established rules. Going outside the norm has always implied social exclusion. They know each other and love each other. But out of fear Ji does not open himself to love. The series fails to be convincing about why two men who love each other and have no other impediment than the one indicated above, can declare their love and be together.
When will the creators of BL series stop being afraid to demonstrate in their works that love and feelings have no borders?
The question is that Thai BL series have not yet decided to address the reality of LGBT+ people in that country. Until now, BL dramas tell us two very different realities. Although the "positive representation" of relationships between male characters is celebrated, in the sense that they are no longer always synonymous with tragedy or come with a strong load of stereotypes, the genre of love dramas between boys does not show representations close to the Thai reality.
BL series generally focus on “young love,” omitting the realities faced by gay men in Thailand, who still do not have basic rights such as equal marriage. This leads many viewers to misunderstand that Thailand is a gay paradise. And that is not true.
Even homosexual romance dramas are broadcast with the intention of not disturbing "the tranquility and sleep" of the most conservative sectors of the country. The episodes of the BL series are broadcast on alternative platforms through smartphones and digital devices, in order not to interfere with the usual TV soap opera programming.
When will BL series come to reflect the real diversity of the LGBT+ community in Thai society? While dozens of BL series are produced and broadcast each year, stigma and discrimination against LGBT+ people continue to occur within society. When will the creators and directors of television channels understand that making homoaffective representations in BL series more nuanced and political could bring important and positive changes in a society that is beginning to observe its diversity through television creations?
Why do two young people of the same sex, like Ji and Achi, live 10 years of their lives apart, suffering, dying in life, despite loving each other? What prevents you from living a life together, as you wish? While Achi fully accepts her sexuality, Ji hides it and does not want to acknowledge it. And I answered myself: "The reason is that same-sex marriage is still not recognized in Thailand." And he argued that Ji is a victim of internalized homophobia. Ji represents one of those hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of young homosexuals in the world forced to hide their homosexuality to comply with what a conservative society with strong patriarchal and heteronormative traditions demands of them.
In the South Korean BL series 'Jazz for Two', broadcast in parallel with 'To Be Continued, three of its protagonists are also victims of internalized homophobia. Tae Yi, one of its main protagonists, is a victim of the discrimination, rejection or shame he feels towards his own sexual orientation or gender identity, living, like Ji, in a society that stigmatizes and represses sexual diversity.
But the creators of the Korean series did not hesitate or mince their words when addressing this complex and current topic. By exposing the reason why Tae Yi rejected Seo-Hun, the series put its finger on the sore spot and, in addition to making internalized homophobia visible and generating debate and reflection on this issue, it denounced a homophobic society. What courage on the part of the actors, the production team and the directors of the television channels, taking into account that South Korea, like Thailand, is a society in which, despite the fact that sexual activity between people of the same sex is Legal, Gay Marriage, Equal Marriage or Same-Sex Marriage or other forms of legal partnership are not available to same-sex couples.
To argue my point of view, I allow myself a spoiler: Towards the end of the series we will learn that Ji and Achi have suffered a voluntary separation for 10 years due to "a simple misunderstanding." Let no one justify that "they lacked communication or were very young." They are the same age as Tae Yi and the rest of the young high school students in the aforementioned South Korean series. How can "a simple misunderstanding" be credible as such a crude justification for the human suffering, represented in these two young people?
Ji and Achi did not lack communication or experience due to their young age. Ji and Achi lacked the courage of the creators to address sensitive topics, such as internalized homophobia and the homophobia itself present in Thai society.
Ji and Achi lacked the courage of the creators to denounce the harassment and discrimination suffered by real, flesh-and-blood gay youth depicted in Thai BL fiction.
Ji and Achi lacked the courage of the creators to criticize the discourse that seeks to suffocate minorities by stating that being homosexual is something abnormal and depraved.
Ji and Achi lacked the courage of the creators to propose to reflect on real and tangible issues that the members of the Thai LGBT+ community have suffered and suffer, who have been affected by that intrinsic message that society constantly sends you and that tells you that You are not normal, that there is something wrong with you and that you have to hide, make yourself invisible.
It is unfortunate and very questionable to witness how BL lovers set themselves up as censors in the face of reviews like this and, feeling attacked by a critical intellectual exercise and having no arguments to refute the author's approaches, they choose, through trivial arguments, to question the sincerity of someone who carries out a critical analysis with objective criteria, without being carried away by their own tastes or passions.

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Totally Unimpressive

Admittedly, this series is perfectly named. It did seem to continue to go on and on endlessly. It was like being adrift in a rudderless boat floating in an ocean of tropes, cliches, banalities, stereotypes, and platitudes. Sooner or later, you would bump into one of them on your way to wherever it was you were supposed to be going. Unfortunately, this series went nowhere because it had nowhere to go to.

Honestly, you have seen this story hundreds of times if you are an avid BL watcher. If not, you will no doubt run across its plot again because it is standard. It is another high school love story between two best friends. Ji (Fluke Pongspat) and Achi (Junior Kajbhunbitt). Both are handsome with each focused on wanting to be successful in different ways. Ji is obviously in love with Achi as he is a bit more overt about it. Achi senses it. Although he likes it, Achi is understandably terrified of reciprocating. This is all such a confusing time for teenage boys.

Read the complete article here-

https://the-bl-xpress.com/2024/05/21/to-be-continued-series-review-ep-1-to-8/

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I Really Wanted to Like This

This is 8 episode which I would binge watch in a day. This took me 3 days to complete. It could not grab my attention. The story was okay because I can see high school kids acting like this. My opinion for so many years pass before reconnecting is because the writer wanted to show two teenagers who fell in love and did not understand it. The parted, have successful careers but still is missing a big part of their lives, each other. Their history being told in sporadic flashback was confusing and boring. This particular story should have been told, yes showing them as adults in their careers but the flashbacks should have been done as it's own complete section and then goes into them as adult and their path to reconciliation. What I watched felt disjointed and the second and third couple needed some more storyline.
The acting I honestly can't seem to find the words to explain it not being bad but not being good either. The actors' smiles appear more as placement ads than anything else. There dont seem to be the level of vibes to show the viewer I am crazy in love but I dont want that person to know until their feelings can be verified.
Yes, I needed that stimulant flashing light to capture my attention and this didn't have it. I even forgot what the story was about a I write this review and this was immediately after watching the last episode.

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A diamond in the rough? Almost! Kinda...

I have crawled out of my hibernation hole back into the weird and wonderful world of Asian dramas and what am I greeted by but this show - simultaneously a welcome surprise and a massive letdown. Let me explain.
Let's start with the positives:
While it is plenty obvious that the show didn't have a particularly high budget, the audio quality is occasionally poor, and the subtitles are sometimes just plain broken (this, to be fair, is not the show's fault as much as the studio's/distributor's), there is a familiar sort of cheesy charm to the series that the show-runners use to great effect.
The many flashbacks, soft filters, and extensive staring sessions that can be so deeply grating in lesser shows are given new life here, used as they are to tell the story of a man who is absolutely *haunted* by his first love and former best friend.
During the first episode particularly we see Ji being constantly bombarded with images and memories of Achi, desperately trying to escape from them only to bump into Achi by accident, meeting him again after a literal decade.
Cue the cheesy music, sparkly lights, and Achi's thousand watt smile.
Excellent use of time-honored cliches, this show has a Vision, it has Vibes, 10/10.
Later on these same tactics are used to showcase how much Achi has been haunted by Ji for these past ten years as well, which serves as a lovely balance for the first few episodes and provides deeper insight into the characters' motivations and general state of mind.
Furthermore, simplistic as the overall story may be, it takes the time to explore some real world issues - such as grief, loss, and some of the difficult realities of working in the medical industry - with surprising sensitivity and insight and even perfectly sets itself up to tackle complex topics like internalised homophobia and and the politics of para-social relationships ... only to utterly fail to follow through.

Yes, this is where we come to the negatives. This show was so close to telling a fantastically grounded, touching, and relevant queer story. So close and yet so far.
The series tiptoes around the realities of queer relationships , the complexities of self-image and social expectations versus internal desires and then just keeps tiptoeing, never committing to those plot lines even in a subdued show-not-tell kind of way.
Sweet as Achi and Ji's story may be, the lack of follow-through makes the resolution feel utterly anti-climactic, no matter how happy an ending we are provided with.
After a while even the previously so cleverly used flashbacks and filters lose some of their focus and effectiveness.
The show also tries to tell the side couple's story through the same visual tricks as the leads', which simply doesn't work.
Sickeningly adorable though they may be, these characters don't have a shared history, no complicated past between them to warrant such levels of cheesy drama.
You can't simply slap some sparkly effects on your show and call it romance, that's not how it works.
Then there are things like the completely unexpected and unnecessary parental abuse which rears its ugly head some time towards the end of the story and is then never addressed again.
Or the forced kiss in episode one which the show acknowledges as harassment only to then, once again, never bring it up again.
All in all, after I had finished watching I was left with a profound sense of... absolutely nothing. Of "Okay, and? Is that it?"

This is not say I wouldn't recommend watching this show at all. Give it a go, form your own opinion. For all my complaining I can't deny that it has lovely visuals, solid performances from the whole cast, a central queer relationship pleasantly devoid of hetero-normative dynamics, and some genuinely great portrayals of intimacy.
Also there is a very good dog if that tips the balance for you either way.
If you're looking for something sweet and light that won't take too much time to get through, then you might like this one.
Personally though, I'm just too hung up on what it almost was. Always the damn almost...

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just kinda meh

I really liked the premise and the cast but the writing was unfortunately not very good. The timeline was confusing and boring to follow, the main couple were really annoying and didn't respect boundaries, the secondary couple were so detached from the main show that I felt like I was watching two separate shows at once and just flicking between them. It does get better towards the end, the last two episodes were my favourites. The love scenes were also well filmed. I guess my main issues is that by the end I still felt no connection to the characters and really didn't care, except that I hated Achi for most of it...

It has some good moments, if you can handle badly done tropes, maybe you'll get on ok with this show. Overall, I personally wouldn't recommend it to someone.

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