That Summer

How was your summer?

Warning: Do not watch this if you are offended by the suggested use of drugs. Opps, I mean the use of “herbs”.

I placed spoilers at the end of this review.

Overall, this was an entertaining series. It had a great story concept, but had a few missed steps with the execution. The script did a great job at grabbing my attention. It also did a nice job setting up the storyline and characters which made me want to know more. I especially loved the storyline involving Pheng and Wut. Unfortunately, the script was lacking in some areas and had a few plot holes. Although I liked the unexpected story components, there was a missed opportunity with one of them. The script also went a little off track at the end. For me, episode 9 was mostly wasted screen time because of a cliché plot twist that was not fully resolved. However, it did head back into the right direction with the last episode with one exception. The entire cast did an incredible job with their characters. This had a nice sound track, but had some odd background music choices.

Random Note:

I wish we received a tad more scenes and information about Wava/Davin’s world. We get a few random scenes that gave us very little information. I also felt like this aspect of the storyline was forgotten at times.


******Potential Spoiler Alert******

I was expecting the usual prince with amnesia storyline, but then we get the overthrowing the royal family storyline. I was pleasantly surprised at first, but became frustrated because it was not utilized very well. This could have added more interest to the series.

I really loved the storylines involving Pheng and Wut, especially because they were an established couple. I liked how it not only addressed the issue of dating someone that’s not out yet, but issues that many LGBTQ+ individuals face when they are out.

Am I the only one that wondered why Lava and Wave did not question the resort staff that Wave stayed at?

The cliché reverse amnesia in episode 9 was such a waste of screentime. This was a perfect time to incorporate more about the royal family. This was also not much of a plot twist.

Of course we had to get a time jump, at least it was only a year and we get a happy ending.

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The Most Beautiful Summer

To keep it short, I'll just say that this series was so good. I watched it right after the last episode was release, not expecting anything that great, but I absolutely loved it. I finished it in a day. The plot, the acting, the cinematography- it was amazing. I even cried. I'm so glad WinnySatang got their own series and I hope they get more in the future. They have great chemistry. Every scene, the soundtrack- the producers and actors did an amazing job.

There is one thing though... without spoiling I'll just say I never like time skips. It wasn't THAT long, but it shouldn't have taken that long for him to make that decision either. If you've finished it, you'll understand what I'm talking about. Still, this series was so cute and beautiful, I love Wave with all my heart and I'd 100% recommend it to others.

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It was SO good until it wasn't

The start was so good, exciting and made me yearn for more, but omg did it go downhill. I was so incredibly sad because of that, because at first it felt like nothing could make it bad even in the slightest, but as I said already, that quickly went out of the window.

But before I talk about what I disliked so much, let me start with the things I liked:
1. Prapae. I immediately liked her. She is so nice, supportive and was there for everybody when needed. I also liked how she knew about Lava and Wave but didn't say anything until they were comfortable enough to talk about it themselves.
2. Honey. She was just this funny side character you see only a few times but still love.
3. Uncle Peng standing up to the bullies for his nephew and the island. That was quite heroic and nice of him; I didn't expect him to do it.
4. Jealous Lava. It was a nice watch seeing Lava get jealous. ;)
5. Lava's growth as a character was quite big, and I can't even start explaining about how proud I feel of him. I feel like a proud parent seeing their child grow and become the best version of themselves.
6. Lava's boxing match. I enjoyed watching this, as well as him getting ready for it, a lot.
7. The way Lava stood up to Tum after Tum said that he shouldn't get involved in any of Davin's business since he barely knows the prince after Davin got shot. I can see Tum's point, but in my eyes he was wrong for saying it to Lava.
8. Lava standing on business and looking for the person that shot Davin.
9. When Lava started treating Davin the way he treated Wave at first to make Davin remember. That was so cute omg, it definitely made me want to rewatch the first few episodes.

The things I disliked:
1. Uncle Peng. Even though he was a great support and a "parent" for both Lava and Wave, he still had a lot of flaws, and I would like to point out two of the things about him I disliked the most:
1.1. Him being so secretive about his relationship with doctor Wut, making him feel terrible while the doctor was ready to come out and make it official. He kept insisting on keeping it a secret until he had to come clean due to someone seeing them together and telling everybody.
1.2. Him constantly picking at Lava. At first it was quite justified, but no matter what happened, Lava would always be his scapegoat.
2. Lava's behavior, specifically in episode 5. The way he was ignoring Wave instead of straight up talking to him and explaining that they have different ideas about their "relationship." Lava sees it as a fling that started at this island and will end here (he plans to move on), while for Wave it is something serious, and he is clearly in love with Lava.
3. Uncle Peng immediately accusing Lava in episode 6 after they got attacked. Saying that it's his fault, etc.
4. Lava addressing Wave as "Your Highness" after finding out that he is a prince/treating him differently, acting like a robot around him. I can understand he is shocked and doesn't know how to act around him anymore, but there is definitely a better way to go about it.
5. The 8th episode feels like a fever dream. I was confused the whole time. What is going on? Weird sound effects out of place, and random cuts that don't make any sense.
The weirdest, quickest, and most boring proposal I have ever seen. What is happening???
6. Lava's mother being incredibly self-centered and making everything about herself (which gets swept under the rug seconds after the conflict).
Acting like a victim, making her brother apologize for being "selfish" while she is the only one being selfish in there.
7. Everybody calling Wave a prince instead of calling him by his name, like he asked. As well as saying that Lava shouldn't get into the prince's business since he barely knows him.
8. Wave/Davin getting shot and losing his memory again, but this time he remembers everything from his past except for being Wave. That was so unnecessary.
9. Peng and Wut adopting Dao's baby in two seconds. This conversation came out of nowhere and was so awkward. Quite literally going like that:
Dao: Adopt my baby.
Peng and Wut: k.
DONE. Are we for real right now? At this point they shouldn't have added it at all.
10. ONE YEAR??? They haven't talked or seen each other for the whole year and then got back together like nothing happened. I would've understood a month or a few, but a year is a bit crazy.

Overall it could've been a 9 or a 10, and I really expected it to be, but it was just getting worse and worse the more episodes came out. Sadly the last 4 episodes were quite choppy, weird and just made me want to finally finish with this series.
I gave it an 8 because even though the end was pretty anticlimactic for me. I still mostly enjoyed watching this series, especially the first few episodes, so I'd say in the end it is worth it.

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“I'm a prince who doesn't want a princess, I'm a prince who wants a prince of his own instead.”

This series felt like a breath of fresh air on a sunny summer day. It’s lighthearted and fun, yet it balances tender, vulnerable moments with serious themes, touching on class, identity, and personal choices. The amnesia storyline was surprisingly well done and really helped the characters grow.

Winny and Satang have been two of my favorites since We Are, and their chemistry is undeniable. I love their playful push-and-pull dynamic. I’m so glad they finally got their first lead roles, because they have so much to offer, especially Winny, who lets his characters’ emotions shine through in his facial expressions with a strikingly sincere and natural authenticity.

Mond (Pheng) and Ryu (Dr. Wut) were such a pleasant surprise. They’re absolutely adorable together, and their storyline added real depth by exploring acceptance of one’s sexuality and confronting homophobia. Seeing them married, adopting a child, and building a family was easily one of the highlights of the show. Neo and Mint were delightful too.

The cinematography is simply gorgeous. Overall, this is a feel-good series about love and acceptance, and it’s definitely one I’ll be rewatching.

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The show that proves lazy summers are not what they're made out to be

If this is what a summer romance is.. please don't sign me up because I do not think I will like it.
On paper, the setup for That Summer is limitless because where do you actually go with a prince who washed up ashore?

The rest of the story is kind of preposterous though because from the very beginning, they're doing this setup to try and con you into believing this island is a small spec in the larger scheme of things because we have a ton to cover! Darwin's a prince who's lost all his memories and he's been rescued by Lava, who seems to have lost all his manners, Tum whose entire identity seems to revolve around SNS and smoking.. stuff, and Kratae whose entire identity seems reduced to being Tum's crush.
But of course, we also have Peng and Dr. Wut, who have one of the better written plotlines in the series, revolving around the secrecy of their relationship and how it affects them and all the other people around them it shouldn't really affect, because the universe believes in balance and sometimes chooses to give us something comforting before absolutely pulling out the rug from under us.

This has obviously got a lot going on and should be enough to cover ten episodes generously. I'm also partial to a good beach setting and tend to accommodate a solid five minutes every episode just for the ocean cinematography because what is a summer romance without the beaches and blatant disregard of other people's romantic lives as the leads run in slow motion across them?
Clearly the universe and the writers hate us all because we got a whole lot of squat. I should have known better because why did I expect a series called "That Summer" to be about anything else? Lava says about fifty times that this is anything but a summer romance but come on.. this was either the world's worst tourism advert because not once did they mention the name of the island they're on or it's the world's most mediocre summer romance because other than the beach and the rushed romantic relationship, they didn't get much else right.

It's one thing to keep saying it's not a summer love story, but I draw the line at mediocre summer romance!! My lines are as stable as ones drawn on sand, but they're probably better than the writing of this series. Which is incredibly solid by the way! It did not move an inch for ten episodes. We started out the series as we ended it - take from that what you will but I'll give you a hint - the biggest plot point happened twice but created no impact whatsoever. The story was at a complete standstill for most of the ten episodes, all the characters spent them having the same conversations, the same arguments, just rinse and repeat.

The characters themselves were no gems, all of them had maybe one personality trait and a single facet of depth each. What you see is what you get. I genuinely do not think I cared about any of them at the end of thing because I refuse to believe that three months of the exact same conversations gets you nowhere. That amount of lacked communication when all they do is talk should be criminal.

No surprises, the relationships were equally bad. Before we know it, all the couples are dating and that's it. Slow burn romances.. still need to burn. These ones were like a bonfire that got doused in the rain. It was all just so.. meh. When your leads lack personality, so does their relationship and turns out I have a limit for the amount of beach shots I can tolerate. I was annoyed and bored because even the usual chemistry I expect from Winny and Satang decided to go on vacation at the island's beaches.

Through it all I just kept hoping they would reference the lost prince, just once, but no. They truly took to life on the island and said buh bye to his whole actual life like it was some side quest. Even towards the end, where usually the focus would shift to an actual story, they refused to let go of that island because again, this was a poorly executed tourism advert and the writers have some vengeance against a plot. The shift only came in the last episode (shocker), and when it did, it couldn't have made less sense because the plot twist they pulled in the penultimate episode basically sent the story and the love story back to square one, like a sandcastle in all it's glory - you know it's going to be ruined by the waves or some bratty kid (or adult) at some point, so you're just waiting for the when.

The second build-up was obviously worse than the first because it happened in the span of two episodes and if the first relationship arc was barely believable, you know I'm not in the market to buy the second one. We get a time jump, a rushed reconciliation to conflicts introduced in episode one and forgotten until now (because this IS a summer romance) and a really shallow attempt at creating chemistry, a relationship and ever after.. because Darwin is a prince after all.

That Summer is truly a great show - for sleepy time because I cannot count the amount of times I almost fell asleep watching it. Winny and Satang deserved a script better than this, and we deserved something much better from all of them. I am truly disappointed because unfortunately the only thing I'll carry forward on a positive note from this series will be the title track because Winny can sing. Otherwise, let's let THAT SUMMER be the LAST SUMMER.

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The summer that made amnesia seem nice...

That summer some 100 days (or probably less) my prince fell in love with a boy.... Which could have beeen great if it wern't for plot holes, inconsistency a complete lack of logic and a lack of passion. As opposed to the regular dead fish kusses many of us are used to seeing this drama offers us aggressive fast kisses, seriously the guys look like they are having a who can kiss harder and faster contest making it look more painful than pleasurable.

I also do believe the creators believe the audience also has amnesia as a newborn kid is still new born a year later, mking me go what? Also why? why? why would you add these odd plot points? They do nothing to the plot.

Some parts drag out for all eternity (or what it seem like) others are wrapped up i a flash making me wonder what happend.

The scenery is pretty, some of the side characters are lovely and thats about it.

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Just finished the last ep!

I really enjoyed watching each episode as it was released! I was a little dissapointed with the story towards the end… I feel making him lose his memory again was unnecessary and kind of frustrating…. but overall a fun watch! Near the beginning of the story I was so hooked especially as it’s not a trope I’ve personally seen in BL before. But lava as a character slowly became annoying and I fear his reaction to finding out his bf is a prince was not the right way to react. How many times did he have to say “please call me Wave” like that’s you’re boyfriend just do what makes him happy I beg. was really feeling the poor guy’s frustration.

Although there were a couple negatives the watch was overall very positive! I probably wouldn’t rewatch it and it’s definitely not the best BL out there but I’d still recommend for giggles.

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Are you mine tomorrow? Or just mine tonight?

Look at me finishing shows when they come out and writing a review when the show finishes, and not three months later. Yeah, the show had a really strong start, and then towards the end got ruined by terrible plot writing. But I would do it all again for Winny and Satang. I would give it an 8.5 (8.8) out of 10. I’m gonna say what I like, what I don’t like, and then an overall review.

Starting off strong with the love of my life. WINNY MOTHER FUCKING THANAWIN my lord he is the sexiest motherfucker I have ever laid eyes on in my 18 years living, I’ll be double doggy style damned he is so motherfucking fine. The freckles, the skin, oh my God, and the nonchalant fight for your love character. Yes, 100 million times yes. I truly think they took their chemistry to a whole new level with this my lord. Where did we learn to kiss like that? HUH? Had me blown all the way away. Also mond my daddy was in this. Him playing like a oh I love my partner, but I’m shy specifically the shy part, HEAVY ON THE SHY PART oh my God I’m on my knees barking like a motherfucking dog. He is so fucking fine, my Lord it was just a blessed day to have eyes. I like his character a lot. I thought it was interesting because he was incredibly hypocritical, and I’m glad they touched on that later because how could you hate on your nephew when you’re the exact same. You can’t that’s just not how that works. He found that out towards the end, which is something that the show did well. I really like the plot at the beginning. I think it started off really strong and had to me hooked but I feel like it died towards like episode five. Like the first four episodes I was so excited when they aired. I was like oh I can’t wait for this. I can’t wait for this and then something clicked and then I watched most of the episodes today because I’m like I just wanna get this done. I think the concept of this plot is really cute and I’m like oh that’s fun and I think they both played their characters. Great I just don’t think that potential was reached if I’m being honest. GAWIN CASKEY The love of my life, I keep saying they’re all the love of my life, but he is the love of my motherfucking life. Oh my God when I saw his sexy ass in this i was so excited because i know my husband was gonna eat up his role, cause that’s all he does. I’m trying to find positive things to say for the show. I like the setting. I think they could’ve done more with it and we could’ve gone to the beach a little bit more instead of smoking weed.

Starting off strong, with mond and ryu. Immediate no, motherfucking no. I don’t know, they have chemistry but it’s like I don’t know. I didn’t like their shit like I have nothing against it or anything, but it just felt weird like, wrong in a way and I don’t know why, but I didn’t really like them. The plot is the next thing I didn’t like. I think that they put so many things out on the table and maybe if this was 12 episodes they could’ve done it all but because it’s 10 episodes and they rushed everything in the final two episodes and that just doesn’t work. I was getting ready for the ending and I am like can’t wait for like the big standoff with the action and all that but they’re like oh by the way we took him down. Like what? They should’ve done like a whole 20 minute part on that that would’ve been fire, but no we didnt do ANYTHING, THEY GAVE US CRUMBS. I wish we did more back-and-forth to the castle instead of like oh no we’re being held captive. Like what? I’m so confused. I also think that with the ex they could’ve done so much more with him so much potential to make him like this insane fucking villain like oh I’m gonna kill your family. Or the whole thing about him leaving him for dead and then proceeding to usurp his boyfriend’s family. That was a phenomenal set up, but it just fell off and they’re like oh, now I’m here. Oh I got jumped by your new boyfriend. OK now I’m leaving. Oh I didn’t leave yet now. I have a gun now. I’m gonna shoot you in the water and you somehow lost your memory again (if that doesnt make any sense, thats becasue the show got BUNS towards the end). I did like the full circle moment with him ending up back in the water I just wish he didn’t lose his memory again because that’s shitty plot writing like truly just miserable plot writing. It’s like oh went from full circle to these past nine episodes have been completely useless and you just wasted your time. That’s how that felt instead of like a full circle and now he’s gonna see if he really loves him. It just felt like a middle finger in the face to everything they built and I’m like that sucks cause like that’s just life but it’s also a Thai drama and we didn’t need to write that in. Also, the whole thing with the pregnant lady what in the world? I think that was very cute like oh they helped her get a job but then she’s like by the way do you guys want my baby and pengs like not really and she’s like OK here you guys go and she’s just gone and I’m like what are we doing. These two both have full-time jobs. He literally just won the election. He runs a resort and his boyfriend is a full-time doctor on an island with a doctor shortage. When do they have time to take care of this baby like be honest, maybe I’m thinking about this too much and I need to turn off my freaking English major brain cause I’m writing my paper right now and just let them have fun. Fucking awful, like I think they should do an our sky of them, but just like put one part with the baby and then one part with lava and wave. See I’ll be OK with that. What else the marriage thing back to our side couple I’m not saying all this because I think the ship is weird. I’m saying all this cause shitty plot writing. Oh we’re scared of this. We’re scared of marriage. I’m scared of everything. Oh, I won the election. Thanks to my nephew. Now I wanna get married to you. Oh, we’re actually gonna get married in the same minute in the episode that we got engaged, like that does not make any logical sense. We could’ve spaced that out. We could’ve added more. We could’ve done so much more with that but we wasted our potential because that’s all we ever do in this show is waste potential. I also wish they did more flashes of him getting his memory back like in the first part. So like when they were smoking weed and someone came up behind him, he’s like oh shit I got hit with a paddle and thrown into the ocean. They should’ve done more with that and worked more on that instead of going back around and making him lose his memory again, like fuck off that doesn’t make any goddamn sense like oh my Lord. OK one more thing, the election. What purpose did that serve? Nothing. And the boxing shit, what purpose did that serve? Absolutely nothing, oh by the way, I box to get my dad‘s motorcycle back which I could’ve sworn we already got back. That does not make any motherfucking sense at all. Oh my God OK I’m gonna leave that at that and now I’m gonna write my overall part.

Winny's sexy ass. Me making gay uncle jokes. "Its like pointless bullshit as the plot that develops their relationship but im obsessed." Lava is a great guy hes just does everything somehow wrong. Everytime they were near a beach i knew they were gonna serve face. "I AM GONNA COMMIT VIOLENT ACTS IN THE NAME OF GAWIN CASKEY." "Gawin needs some sun my lord." "BIBLICAL LEVELS OF IGNORANCE." Shy mond had me acting brand new. They started to rush the fuck out of the show. "I think this show is cute, they should have made it longer though so they dont rush it." “the show is getting a little boring ngl. we are doing the same thing.” “ I low-key like the show at the start a lot and it was really good and then the more they added on and the less they expanded on it the worst it got and especially the final couple episodes they were rushed and very choppy and I didn’t like that."

Watch for winny and satang, but dont watch for the plot at the end. Okay bye!

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Frustrating, Unlikeable Characters

Take this review with a grain of salt because in general, I don't enjoy memory loss tropes. Because it was Winny and Satang's first show as the main leads though, I really wanted to see how they would do. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed in this show. I found Winny's character to be infuriating, the plot was horribly rushed at the end, and the lack of character development with Satang's character for most of the show just made it really hard for me to enjoy it.

Prince Davin (Satang) sneaks away from the palace with his friend Victor to enjoy a last grab at freedom before he has to train to take the throne. Instead of partying it up, he ends up washed up unconscious on the beach, where Lava (Winny) saves him. However, Davin has lost all memory of who he was or where he came from. He works for Lava and Lava's uncle who he's staying with, and while Lava learns how to be a responsible adult, Davin (or Wave, as he is called after the memory loss) learns how to be a normal person. The two grow closer over the course of the summer, but the summer can't last forever.

Lava was genuinely so annoying to watch. How are you going to find a man clearly traumatized from memory loss and head injury and then almost immediately want to hook up with him? That's so weird and predatory! It also got really annoying that Wave couldn't remember ANYTHING for SO LONG. We got ONE flashback where it seemed like he was going to start remembering things and that went nowhere?? And then towards the very end, they had to try to wrap up the royalty drama plot, the regaining memory problems, the relationship issues that come with being a commoner x prince, etc. etc. and they just did NOT have the time to do all of that. The pacing of this show was totally off, the characters were mediocre at their best and genuinely unlikeable at their worst. Maybe if you like memory loss you'd enjoy this more than I did, but just liking WinnySatang was not enough to make me enjoy this show.

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Almost That Summer

This is a series where you must believe that everything that could go right, does. It is filled with fairy-tale Edenic bliss. Surprisingly, a lot of it works and if they had tightened up the story and made it more plausible, it would have been a great melodrama. Instead, it simply ended up just another good drama, but merely becoming an addition to a long-line of throw-away BLs that have a cookie-cutter premise having a wildly Pollyanna ending. It is not bad; just disappointing. One must really suspend one’s perspectives with this story. The story itself was surprisingly strong most of the time. It is hard to sustain an ‘amnesia’ theme, and this tended to get a bit long-in-the-tooth, as the expression goes. This story was presented way too simplistically and hurriedly to be fully believable or acceptable. Yet, it did make for a cute story. It is an entertaining series to be sure with a stronger than usual BL component than your run-of-the-mill trite Thai BL story.

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That Cute Summer

It was a perfect series to watch in the summer (even though we watched it in the fall). It was a simple story, with a touch of summer, sea, and freedom. It gave me the same unique feeling I felt when I saw Call me by your name.

It was my joy every Friday. I just relaxed and lived with Lava&Wave and the other people on the island. It was wonderful and I'm a little sad that it's over.

I liked that there wasn't too much drama and that the story followed a simple line. It was like a break from reality. And there were so many good moments, I have whole pages of lines from this series.

Satang was great as Wave/Darin. He fits the sassy personality. After Style (THK), he's my favorite from the "sassy" category. And... Gosh, he is so damn beautiful. He served faces the entire series.

Winny was wonderful. He was clearly in his element as Lava. He served both faces and bodie, and a tanned skin suits him very well.
My only complaint: he needs to improve his skills when it comes to strong emotions. He didn't convey anything to me when he was supposed to be in pain, it was just an empty expression.

It was a pleasure to see Neo again, and I'm glad he played with his girlfriend, Mint. Mond&Ryu were so sweet in Pheng&Wut shoes.

My second (and last) complaint: Winny and Satang need kissing lessons. They were okaysh, but they need improvement. They are too rushed, aggressive and repetitive. And it reminds me too much of the move we do when we lick an ice cream.🤣 I'm not saying it was bad, but it could definitely be better, slower, with more emotion.

That's it. Adios! 💜

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