To Be Continued

It is okay and I enjoyed it.

I just finished watching To Be Continued. This is a Thai BL series and a partnership between Channel 3 and Netflix. I think I liked this show but not as much as you’d thought to be. I know that it is interesting and it is mature as we have two different timelines that are working to show us the love story of Ji and Achi. Ji is now a doctor and Achi is now a superstar but they have not met for ten years because of things that happened in their past. I think you can say that it was something that they had to deal emotionally and there is a good chance that a lot of the conflict in this show would not have happened if they could have just talked. This is a cliché that we have seen so many times in BL series now that I am wishing that there is still something else that is happening that would be more engaging than this but I will have to give it to the execution of the show because despite falling into a familiar territory, they still did a good job with the execution of the events that led to the finale. Yes, I am disappointed with the finale but I am not disappointed with the show entirely because they were still able to do as much as they could and it resulted to something that is actually quite enjoyable to watch.
The relationship of Ji and Achi is separated into two storylines. We have the story of the past that is dealing with how it started and how it ended while the present is now dealing with a more mature Ji and Achi as they are now dealing with Achi trying to reconnect and rekindle his former relationship with Ji who is still broken by the past. I think I understand Ji in this situation the most as he is the one that Achi left heartbroken. The story of him pursuing him is actually kinda cute and I think the explanation did not seem as big or as deep as they initially have made it to be. I know that coming out is a hard story because I am gay, myself, but the way that they handled it in the finale could have been much better to make the inciting incident that broke them apart to make much sense. Luckily, we had pretty cute and fun 7 episodes prior to that reveal and I enjoyed it too. The secondary couple of Ki and Kambee felt more of a mishandled situation too. I feel like they are a cute couple but had so little scenes together that I did not even care about them. They could have had more scenes together to make it a tighter narrative. The family story of Ji and Ki is not too bad but I am not sure why the father is acting that way considering the promise he made to his wife. Anyways, the relationships in this show okay. There is nothing that is completely striking about them but I feel like there is potential here if they could have explored the storylines much better. It is a cute show though. I feel like if I want to watch something light and bubbly, I would certainly watch this.
It is a pretty good show. It is not as remarkable as I would have expected it to be but it is not bad at all. It is pretty cute.

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loses focus, both on itself and with viewers

the way this series was produced makes the story feel like it's growth and development were not let to fully take place. there's a lot to these characters and their background that keeps getting presented in a way that doesn't allow for much of an emotional or informed audience. i understand what they were trying to do, but i think they relied too much on telling the present story through memories of the past and during it they lost a lot of the intensity, confusion, passion, fear, love, and affection that we were supposed to see.

because of this, it's hard for the viewers to really understand highly emotional moments. times like that initial reunion, the food, gifts, or just even the tension are kind of flat since there really isn't much to go off of in regards to their relationship or history.

it was not a bad story overall, but wanting to keep surprising the audience just got boring and made everything a lot more anti-climactic for me. i would have rather seen them grow together and apart then heal from their misunderstandings. this is like getting a story through a game of telephone, except the lines are crossed and you don't actually know where you are in terms of the story.

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Enjoyable story that clashed with poor execution.

I placed spoilers at the end of this review.

Overall, this was not a bad series. Unfortunately, the script and editing were not it’s friend. This was a shame because the series had a lot of potential. In its defense, the series main goal to keep views interested was good. If the idea was to keep you confused about the storyline to keep you watching, it succeeded. I kept watching because I was trying to figure out what the hell exactly happened with Ji and Achi in the past. However, the script was underdeveloped in some areas and lacked direction at times. The first episode did a great job grabbing the view’s attention but set an expectation for the rest of the episodes that was not met. The script also did a poor explanation on many things. I did not mind the slow pacing of the series, but they did not use their screentime wisely considering this is an 8-episode series. They could have eliminated some unneeded aspect to help fully develop the more important parts of the script. All of the characters were great and likable. The actors did a great job considering what they had to work with. Overall, it had beautiful cinematography but the editing seemed a little off. There were scene sequences that appeared out of order which caused some continuity problem. Actors made references to things that happen in the past from previous episodes as if it was still happening. However, the flash back scenes were done very well and not confusing. Most of the songs they used were good, but they made some odd background music choices that did not fit the mood of the scene.


******Spoiler Alert******

They were actually very smart on keeping us in the dark about what happened between Jirawat and Achivich in the past up to the second to last episode. I was so confused as to why Ji was giving Achi the cold shoulder which made me want to finish the series. Thankfully this only had 8-episodes.

They didn’t do a good job showing the progression between how Ji and Achi became friends in the past and how they became friends again in the present day.

The kiss in episode 2 was unnecessary and served no purpose to the script.

I wish they gave more screentime to Ki and Kambee. As much as I loved them, don’t introduce a second couple if you are not going to give them a proper storyline. Again, a miss use of screentime.

Although it had the mostly used story element to drive a classic story concept, I like that they did not use any of the predictable conflict scenarios in the last two episodes.

What the hell was up with Ki's college degree? What was that all about?

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Can't even figure out why I didn't enjoy this

This series seemed like something right up my ally when it came to the plot. It is a story between two friends who had crushes on each other in high school but never get together and reconnect in the future, where they get together. I love stories with these kind of plots and gravitate most to them. But for whatever reason I found the series very boring and was the series I looked the least forward to throughout the week. The actors definitely had chemistry so it wasn't that but I just found myself constantly skipping when watching due to how boring it got for me at times.

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This series is just a knock off version of Big Dragon

First of all I have some points that I didn't like about this whole serie
1.In this series they told that Achivich has always liked Ji but due to that incident they cut off completely and 10 years later he came back to win Ji back and they also showed that He dated Mona too so WTF is that if he really loved Ji then why he dated Mona and if he was doing well then why after 10 years he remembered his love for Ji.
2.Ji loved Achivich but he became doctor and after 10 years he still loved Achivich like be realistic guys
3.Ji first showed Achivich that he doesn't like him but then he gave in very easily
4.I was very disappointed in the second couple they didn't get enough screen time.
5.I just think they just misconcepted the word "love" in this serie
6.The whole plot is just not good enough and their lack of communication is just soo annoying.
7.I really thought that this serie would be better but it's just very bad.
8.Just watch "City of Stars" it is much better and enjoyable and their communication in the series during relationship is soo good.

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It’s kinda forgettable…?

I’m going to keep this pretty short since I don’t have a whole lot to say about this drama.
Was it bad? No. Was it lacking? Yes.
I’m not sure what it is about this drama that made it so forgettable to me. Like the amount of times I looked at my watchlist and wondered what this show was isn’t even funny (at this point I had already watched most of it too). I did watch it in probably 3 sittings or so, but that still shouldn’t mean that I can’t even remember watching this. I have watched a lot of Bls in the past and have probably never had one like this where I just completely forgot about it although. I left it midway through the last episode and finally decided to finish it and get it out of the way. I was honestly indifferent throughout most of the whole thing. It had its good parts and I think the actors did a good job, but the story just wasn’t it for me.
It’s hard to explain why I just didn’t really enjoy this show, and tbh I probably will not rewatch it at all.

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Run on miscommunication

This reminded me a lot of The Promise. These types of misunderstandings stemming from miscommunication turn into long run on series. Much like The Promise, a decade rolls by before they meet up again. Even after meeting up, the friendship turning into a relationship takes the entire series to sort out.

Let me just say that I really despise the moderators of this platform for approving the most asinine synopsis to past because they need a reliable source which often is wrong.

They didn’t misunderstand each other from a kiss. They had sex before they were ready. Then due to being young they both read into the situation wrong by what each said because when you’re young you can be this dumb about love and sex.

This could’ve been so much better if they didn’t give a nowheresville story for the brother Ki and the farmer Gumbie. That was a waste of time where we could’ve had a better fleshed out character developments. The office extras were annoying. I wish they would e done he dad a better arc.

I can see why some people find the series boring. It definitely had a lot to do with the editing and cinematography. A lot of the dialogue scenes could have been shot better for it isn’t monotonous. The lighting was horrendous. It was either too blow out or flat. I don’t know what the last episode with the window kissing scenes was. It’s like the shot it during different times of the day and just splice it together.

This had potential but the director and editor clearly are doing amateur hour. The acting was strong at during emotional scenes but mostly weak when they were just playing around.

The NC scenes are not glossy with hot kisses. It was kinda good to show how realistic sex is like is the most soft porn kind of way possible.

Overall, it wasn’t bad as a BL that had some school scenes. It’s not fluffy but it wasn’t that deep either. I’m so glad I finally got around to watching it and checking it off my list.

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Close to not continuing

We have new faces in the BL industry and they’re all looking good. But that’s it, everything aside from their looks is just too ordinary. The story, acting, chemistry, and the overall impact were mediocre. I have high hopes that they can turn the series into a worthy show since they airing it on Netflix, a popular streaming giant. Yet, they failed and continued to be a failure until the last episode. I would also like for the producers to stop incorporating unnecessary items in the show to be sold as merchandise. The dolls are cringe and horrifying which makes no sense to the story.

Honestly, they got me into the pilot episode. I enjoyed it wholeheartedly and was excited to see more things from them but as usual, they just kept getting worse. Even the side couples are not helping to save the show. The medical side feels like a clickbait for viewers who like to see real medical stuff from the drama. Can they also stop pairing every character with one another? The ML’s best friend and the girl's doctor ended up together is nonsense.

Thankfully, intimate scenes were executed well and I wanted to see more. Yet, I also felt like staring at two men kissing and not getting attached to the emotional portrayal of their romance. Since their characters are unenjoyable. The drama wasted its budget and I felt pity for those smaller companies with a better production quality to offer to its audience.

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Just a Dream?

TBC was full of very attractive people that made the series very easy on the eye. Junior's smile is just so distracting it's not funny. It was lovely to see Poppy again - he's always good for comedic value, and such a sweetheart. I don't often comment on female actresses as they don't usually grab my attention, unless, as in typical Asian fashion they're two-faced, evil, or just downright possessive, but I must say that I found Enjoy, who played Dr Song, a delight to watch, and she is one of the most attractive actresses I've seen in recent times. I'd be happy to watch her play any role. I remember Baan from Room Alone S2 and U-Prince, way back in 2015/2016, so it feels like he's been around for years. Now whilst there is only 4 years difference between him and Franky, I felt he was a little out of place, maybe because Franky looks so young. This is just a personal opinion and as such, shouldn't make anyone think negatively of Baan, but I did feel he was not quite right for the role. Speaking of Franky, it was such a delight to see Billy's younger brother step into the BL limelight. He looked comfortable - it was a shame he and Baan had a very vanilla relationship. I hope we get to see Franky play more BL roles in the future. It was also nice to see Leo, but it was barely more than a cameo - we never found out what happened to his character. I absolutely loved Tui as Teacher Ratri - shame we didn't get to see her on the farm.
I loved Fluke's role in My Dream, and was very disappointed when we didn't get the promised S2. Not sure what he's had done to his face, but I found it very distracting. The only time I saw the 'old' Fluke was when he smiled and we got to see those gorgeous dimples. The rest of the time was literally spent trying to work out exactly what's he's had done. I feel quite sad about this because it seems to be that so many actors and actresses are having work done, and whilst it may be a personal choice to 'fix' what they see as imperfections, it seems that certain companies have so many of their artists who've had enhancements, plastic surgery, or dental work done, and it seems as if it's almost a requirement. I do hope that artists are not being forced to have these procedures done. I'm sad because it seems that so many artists seem to be unhappy with how they look, but what they fail to realise is that there was never anything wrong with how they look in the first place, and secondly, they're erasing the very features that made them unique in the first place. If everyone is having the same things done, they're all just going to look like clones. I find it really hard to watch some series, only to find that I spend the whole time remembering how the stars used to look. I have no issue with anyone making a personal choice to improve or correct things they find lacking, but how can it possibly be that almost every actor finds so many faults with themselves? Their self-esteem must be so low. I used to think that Studio Wabi Sabi had an abundance of artists who were on a self-improvement kick, but hands down, GMMTV is leading the way - I reckon they must have arranged groups discounts for their artists! Anyway, that opinion aside, I felt that the 'reunion' was far too rushed. Having spent so much time on their back story, suddenly there's this whole new situation, and I'll be honest, I did not feel the chemistry - in fact, Fluke and Junior felt a little awkward to me. There really wasn't anything about Achi's life over the last 10 years, and Achi/Mona's story wasn't really covered very well either... there were lots of plot-holes throughout. I did think that Coin's story, which I thought was simply a consistent mistranslation, was a cute plot-twist however.
The story itself wasn't bad, but lacked substance. Not sure why Mandee is having so much trouble with their series lately - I'm only talking about the storyline here. It may be that they're trying to break down what could easily be a 12-epsiode story into only 8 eps, and they lose sight of what is, and what's less important. TBC reminded me very much of Why R U? which was affected by COVID. We ended up with contracted, and incomplete storylines - it felt that we were missing so much, which of course, we were. Is this simply a screenwriting issue, a directorial issue, or a company issue? I don't know, but it needs to be fixed. I've always thought of Mandee as leaders in BL, but if they don't look at the issues, they're going to start to lose credibility very soon. We now have 3 generations of Domundi Boys, but I'm beginning to think that's it's far too many. Even the First gen actors rarely seem to have anything more than a cameo role, yet they're trying to push out a whole bunch of newbies. I wish they'd utilised the actors they already had before introducing even more. This way, no one gets to shine.
The music was okay, but I didn't think much of the costumes, especially Achi's - his clothes usually looked to big, too baggy, or too short.
Was it worth watching - yes. Would I re-watch it - probably. Would I recommend it - yes.

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