Only Friends: Dream On

Were you hoping for Only Friends 2? Dream On..

It pains me to say that this was so bland that calling it a watered down version of Only Friends would be overly generous. Only Friends was not exactly a masterpiece in storytelling but its appeal was that it was fun and messy and wasn't afraid to make the characters incredibly flawed and unlikable, to the point of being almost irredeemable. Every character in this was almost messing up but not really, almost cheating but not really, almost blackmailing but not really.
Where I am from we have a saying that goes "too much oil and no pancakes at all" and I feel it summarises this series perfectly.

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Only Friends But Without Its Soul

I wanna preface this by saying 3 things:

1 - I enjoyed season 1. It was messy and convoluted and, yes it did have some issues (the series' treatment of Boston and how it portrayed Cheum as some sort of saint) but it was fun to watch.
2 - I like the cast. I knew all main actors from previous work they've done and I think they have enough skill to carry a series like Only Friends.
3 - There's nothing inherently wrong with producing a mediocre series.

This being said Only Friends: Dream On sucks.

First and foremost because it lied to us. The teaser and the trailer and the very fact it carries on the name "Only Friends" all indicated the same messiness, complicated relationships, multiple character love connections, dark themes and overall vibe as the 1st season. None of this was proven true.

The relationships seem at first to be complicated but when you look into it, and especially as the drama progresses, you can tell the issues between the characters are either silly (like the not-kiss kiss drama), repetitive (like Rome and Raffy running into the same unaddressed problem multiple times and nothing coming out of it) or just rushed through (like Pete's entire thing about the video and the money). Not only that but the characters, even when jutified in their issues, are explored in such a shallow manner that you can't even properly connect with them, let alone find them relatable. And this happens even with season 1 characters who ABSOLUTETY DID NOT face this issue before. It feels like they were just brought in for hype and then entirely butchered before our eyes (especially Boston).

Then, as if not enough, the relationships are shallower than baby pool water, without GMMTV actually having the guts, in a series like this, to make ANYONE even kiss outside of their company assigned couple (which is a whole other issue, with them panning to the weirdos who think their favs should be locked from the outside world so they can only interact with each other and feed the fantasy that they have in mind because these people don't even consider them humans, just dolls that should play the part for their entertainment):

1 - Arnold and Tua could've had a good development exploring the consequences of falling in love with a friend and how the dynamic change might be awkward or cause confusion and you might need a period to adapt to it or even not be able to adapt at all. Instead all we got was a mild conflict and skipping ahead to wanting to spend their entire lives together #LoveWins.

2 - Rome and Raffy could've had such an interesting exploration of how your family and your relationship with them affects the way you perceive love, want love, experience love and even believe yourself to deserve it. I'll still give them the point that their relationship was the best development and that Aou and Boom pulled some massive weight to try and make it work but their skills are almost entirely wasted on that script. Justice for my babies, please.

3 - I don't even know where to begin with JackDean because it was so utterly boring and atrocious but I think if there's one thing to be said is that they had a good opportunity to explore the fact that love itself isn't enough to make a relationship work and that, sometimes, even if 2 ppl love each other, they'll never make a good match and instead it was just like "you should always fight for love, no matter how toxic it is" #FéNasMalucas.

And that's not even getting me started on how they skipped over domestic violence and totally used it as just a plot device or how Jack's alcoholism AND EVEN RAY'S (which had previously been addressed in a meaningful way) were both treated like a character accessory that is nothing but a silly personality quirk. As someone who's watched more than one close relative struggle with it, I cannot tell you how disgusted I am in words that are anything but a string of swears.

But, last but not least, because this wasn't bad enough already, they had to make the script a mess (which, truly, is the only real kind of mess we get in this series) that makes no damn sense and where everything that happens just happens so that the series can get the characters to a specific purpose. No rhyme or reason.

It just overall feels rushed and lazy and ridding off of the hype of season 1. Not even the actors, no matter how much they tried, could save it. And it's honestly a shame.

So what do I take? Boston and Nick getting their closure, which was only good because Mark Pakin himself wrote the dialogue for that (and the RomeRaffy sex scenes that AouBoom put their entire p**** into). That's it.

Needless to say I don't recommend it and I hope I never have to watch it again (and yes that includes that stupid cliffhanger they left with Great at the end, please someone save him from this monstrocity).

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I enjoyed it for what it is

I feel like a lot of people are judging this series based on the expectations they had in their head, instead of what the show actually is. And like… I get it, I was frustrated with some things too. I do wish they had taken more risks with the couples, especially if they were gonna lean into that whole “Only Friends” vibe.

But honestly? I enjoyed it for what it is. It’s overall pretty fun to watch. I have to admit, Dean and Jack were the least interesting to me at first, but the last few episodes??? they kinda grew on me 😭 I lowkey hoped the show would be bold enough to not keep them together, or maybe have them find each other again later when they’re more mature.

I stayed for Rome and Raffy, but I really wish we got more depth from them as characters. Actually, I feel like that’s true for all the characters...we needed a bit more exploration overall. The first season definitely isn’t perfect, and yeah there were moments of frustration, sadness, and even disappointment… but at least I could understand the characters. Here, I get them, but I don’t feel as connected.

That being said, I still had fun watching it!!

P.S. Tua and Arnold were cute, but they just didn’t do it for me overall. Like I like them, I’m happy for them… I just don’t care that much 😭

P.P.S. huge props to all the actors and the crew!! you can really see the effort that went into this. It’s not my fave of the year, but I genuinely enjoyed it, and I could see the improvement in some performances and how others absolutely shined 😊

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A Polite Version of Rudeness

The continuation of the series didn't captivate me the way the first season did. Season 1 was bold, full of twists and turns. Something was always happening, someone was always breaking someone else's heart — and ours as viewers too. Couples cheated on each other, and the on-screen ships kept getting mixed up.

In the second part, it felt like the creators lost the courage to shake things up with the ships and couples. Beyond the established pairings, there was barely any interaction. Even the kiss that was supposed to be a betrayal wasn't really a kiss.

A bit of a disappointment, especially after such a strong and shocking first season. I was honestly hoping they'd break my heart again like they did in Season 1 and put the characters through some emotional chaos. Even Boston showed remorse, which actually worked well as a contrast and an unexpected twist.

The couples may have done a good job, but there wasn't much happening in the script and not much for the actors to play with. Rome and Raffy's constant breaking up and getting back together became repetitive, Jack and Dean's relationship could have been developed much better, and as for Arnold and Tua, I have the feeling that Gawin's performance was only average.

But my biggest issue isn't with the cast — it's with the writers.

I'm waiting for Season 3 and hoping for more of the fire that Season 1 had!

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The dialogues were written by chatgpt and the actors were underpaid.

I cant even bother to talk about how they just killed the essence of only friends, not even letting people kiss outside of their popular ships. When did we get so conservative lol. Also what were the actors doing in front of the camera, i can name only 3-4 people who could actually act in this series, best being Mix's character Dean. The dialogues are so plain it genuinely bores you. There's no spice or hair pulling level frustration portrayed as well. Everything is just....happening and its not that serious. I cant take the craahout of these people seriously neither can defend their acting. Storylone had great potential but I'd suggest giving the director a helping hand jn direction like they did in the first season because somethjng is clearly no sitting right with this one. Anyways overall i love Dean and Raffy.

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I genuinely think the first season was better than this one and it was not because this cast was bad or they are bad actors. it's because there was no commitment to the characters, either from the actors themselves or the director. this show is meant to be messy and to showcase these new adults relationships and behavior in the situations they were put in. It looked like they were scared to kiss people outside of their fixed couple when it made total sense for their character to do so. I feel like stuff was cut that was meant to make us care for certain characters that did these big things or were from the past, in the end it didn't have the desired effect.
AouBoom is what made me come back and catch up with the show, because I was bored halfway thru. it was kind of stuck.

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boring !!!

THAnk god it’s over, when I start watching something I need to finish it, I never drop any series even if it’s bad. And I never write any reviews, but after this, I had to.
I’m sorry but that was horrible. ONE OF THE worst BLs I’ve watched. Not the worst. !
When I saw the pilot I was excited, bcs I liked the first show, so i had very high expectations, too high….I haven’t read the novel but does the plot really look like this? Really I don’t get the plot, they act like someone was killed, they didn’t even cheat on each other. While watching this, in my mind was only “It’s not that deep bro 🤡” boring, boring and boring. Seriously, what a big downfall compared to the first show.
Forgetting the plot, their acting was mid 🫠
The only good thing was the intro/music and Aou carried this show. Boom was good too.
I haven’t watched any series with this cast, but I heard a lot about them (bcs they are popular ships, right?) so that was my first series with them and yeah, guys remember, popularity≠quality.
And what was that ending even supposed to mean? Season 3? Hell nahhh, better not. Don’t do it 🙏🏻 Actually, it’s not even about the acting, but the plot was SO boring, 0️⃣🧪.

Not the best, not good, not mid but not the worst 👍🏻

(Ofc, it’s only my opinion, I’ve read many reviews from other people about this show and others as well. I keep an open mind about every drama and other people’s opinions bcs I like it. You know, so many people, so many minds.) OH and I’m sorry for my English but it’s not my first language…😌🫶🏻

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A tame version of Only Friends

This can be watched as a standalone series, but I will be comparing them!

Compared to OF, this series had very little kissing, almost no sex (and it didn't show nearly as much as OF), and basically no drug use. It had alcohol and half the amount of drama. It was like they were afraid to push the limits as they did in OF. The toxicity levels in OF broke the meter, while here it barely reached halfway. Everything was too safe.

That being said, I enjoyed OFDO more. Maybe it was the school setting that made the world feel bigger. Maybe it was that the overall chemistry between the actors was better. In OF, I only really liked FirstKhaotung & I really liked Mark as Nick, whereas in this series, even though I only liked the couple of RomeRaffy, I loved EarthMix's chemistry. Whatever it was, I got invested in the story faster than in OF.

I wasn't stressed at any point in the series(unlike in OF, where episodes 7 & 8 gave me SO much stress I couldn't be around people), and I honestly didn't care about Arnold & Tua (hate his name, it sounds like you're spitting) and cared very little about Jack & Dean. In episodes 7-8 & 11-12, I didn't even give Arnold & Tua half my attention because it was simply uninteresting. Jack and Dean (like Top and Mew) were the main focal point, but I found myself not caring if they got together or not, not because of what Dean did, but because Jack is a hothead who escalates situations using violence, and uses Raffy's feelings for him to hurt Dean, which hurts Raffy in the process. Jack, overall, was the most toxic character with nothing likable about him.

Dean rubbed me the wrong way with his interactions with Raffy. I'm assuming the reason they hate each other is because of Raffy's crush on Jack, which, okay, fair enough, but there were several times when Dean crossed the line and was straight up being nasty or rage baiting Raffy for no reason. So I didn't really like Dean either, but I don't think he deserves to end up with Jack.

I was 100% invested in Rome and Raffy's story. They honestly didn't get enough screen time, which left the scenes that would have caused me the most emotional pain to fall flat because as soon as the hurtful thing happened, they would jump to another couple. Their kiss scenes, though? I will admit to rewatching multiple times, especially the one in episode 2.

The main point of drama in this series was easily avoidable. If Dean and Arnold felt like they did nothing wrong, and they were single at the time, then they should have told the people they were pursuing the morning after. If it meant nothing, they wouldn't have felt guilty. Honestly, I don't even know how Dean remembered it, considering how much he drank that night. Dean didn't help matters any by going to Gameplay for a place to stay because he "had nowhere else to go". Excuse me, does Timmy not count as a friend? You can't tell me he would refuse to help if you had nowhere else to go. The only real drama that I felt was unavoidable was Raffy's feelings for Jack and Raffy & Dean being double cast as Romeo, which led to Dean and Arnold making couples content together. There were already massive amounts of jealousy going on there, and it naturally progressed with the story.

In Only Friends, Boston was the main reason behind the drama, and everything kind of spiraled out of control and became a chaotic mess because of how the characters reacted and retaliated. In this series, the drama felt more controlled and, in some cases, easily avoidable. Don't make the drama avoidable; it's not what we are here for. We are here for a toxic mess, and instead, we got characters toeing the line but never crossing it, while in Only Friends, Top and Boston didn't just cross the line, they obliterated it.

As for Tua's reaction, you know it's bad when Boston is the voice of reason. Like honey, sit down, you're not ready to handle the big leagues.

Like in OF, this series focused on the drama and didn't really care about building up character backstories or just dropping characters completely. This made it hard to care about the characters and what they are going through, and in some cases, even like them (like for me, Jack). Some things, like with Pete, just kind of resolved themselves in a lackluster way, and then we heard nothing about him after, and in both series, there are issues with at least one character's parent that are just never resolved; In OF, it was Ray, and in this one, it's Raffy. Honestly, for a character like Pete to be doing so much that SHOULD have caused drama, he felt more like a wall decoration with how involved he actually was.

Boston has changed a lot from the first series to this one. I expected him to be here to start drama, and his entrance made it feel that way, but he actually helped fix things this time around. I'm really glad that Nick found someone new, but I also can't help wanting him to have actually changed, and Nick sees that and gives him another chance. If anyone doesn't deserve one, though, it is Boston.

I like that we get a one-year time skip at the end to see how our characters are doing.

Was the guy at the end a hint at a possible season 3? We saw Mix at the end of OF, and he became the main character of OFDO, so I would like to think it's possible.

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Huge Disappointment by GMMTV

Only Friends: Dream On is a huge disappointment compared to the first season. I’m honestly surprised and frustrated by the direction GMMTV chose to take with this installment. The chemistry and bold storytelling that made the original season so compelling feel noticeably toned down here.
One of the biggest issues is the decision to cast actors who are then seemingly restricted from fully interacting in the kinds of adult situations the story implies. It ultimately feels like an injustice to the actors themselves. These performers have proven they are capable professionals, and limiting them in this way makes it seem as though the studio doesn’t trust them to handle the material.
The drama that was promised never really delivers. What should feel intense and emotionally charged often ends up lukewarm. Even Boston—who was such a strong and chaotic antagonist before—has been reduced to mostly implied moments that require very little actual on-screen development.
It’s disappointing because Only Friends had the potential to be an amazing franchise. Instead, the direction choices here feel overly cautious and end up limiting the actors’ performances, which does a disservice to the talent involved and to the fans who loved the original season.

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I really like the ArnoldTua storyline

Only Friends 2 – The story feels more rigid and contained within a smaller circle compared to the first Only Friends. This time, the narrative is centered around a stage production of Romeo and Romeo, which becomes a key part of how the story unfolds.

I really like the ArnoldTua storyline—their chemistry and sweet, swoon-worthy moments are undeniably captivating and easily grab my attention. As for the other pairs, I’m not as invested. It sometimes feels like there’s too much focus on flirting rather than actually developing the plot.

They’ve already hinted at partner switching and possible infidelity, which could add drama, but right now it feels a bit overemphasized. I think the series would benefit from integrating stronger storytelling alongside the romance to create a better balance and make it more convincing and worth watching.

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