The Heart Killers: Uncut

Heart Killers: The show that stabbed its own potential!

The drama centers around two hitman brothers, Bison and Fadel, which had a promising premise with plenty of potential for intense actions, some unhinged and unpredictable characters with some good cat-and-mouse deception.

However as the episode progressed, I felt the drama got a bit off track. Instead of diving deep into the high-stakes world of their jobs and the consequences of their actions and tricks, it leaned more towards the predictable love story angle a bit too much.
While the love stories were interesting considering how both the couple had such good chemistry, it ultimately overshadowed the core concept we started with. As a result, the pace of the drama slowed, leaving the tension and excitement feeling undercooked.

I also felt that the hitmen aspect of the drama wasn’t explored much. Instead of delving into the complexity and moral dilemmas of their work, it was used more as a convenient plot device to fuel clichéd subplots.

Characters & Acting-
Bison & Kant: Kant, a tattoo artist working undercover for the police is drawn into the world of Bison, a one-night stand. From the start, it was obvious how Kant was deceiving Bison and how well he was pulling it off. You could tell Bison genuinely liked Kant. What bothered me, though, was that by the end, I just couldn’t buy that Kant actually loved Bison. It felt too rushed and kind of out of place.

Though Fadel & Style were a better couple, hands down First and Khao's acting was exceptional! The emotional breakdowns and manipulation were so solid, it felt so real and believable.

Fadel & Style: Style, the best friend of Kant was introduced to Fadel as a distraction so Kant can pursue Bison. They were ridiculously fun and somehow the progress of their relationship made sense. From the playful moments to the deeper connections, their chemistry was natural, and you could really see their bond evolve in a way that felt earned.

However, Dunk’s acting, especially in emotional and vulnerable scenes, felt a bit over the top. I haven’t seen his other work but clearly, there is a scope for improvement. Some moments came across as just overacting. On the other hand, Joong did a good job portraying the distant character, his performance was convincing enough to like them as a couple together.

Overall, what could have been the drama of the year for me from GMMTV considering such a unique narrative turned into a melodramatic fiasco. While it’s definitely not the worst thing I’ve seen, this is more of a disappointing review because the first half was really strong and the last few episodes crashed.

Read More

Antiheroes, villains and wild beasts

Inspired by the comedy "The Taming of the Shrew" by English writer, poet and playwright William Shakespeare, the Thai BL series 'The Heart Killers' brings back four popular and talented actors: Kanaphan Puitrakul, Khaotung Thanawat Rattanakitpaisan, Dunk Natachai Boonprasert, and Joong Archen Wiraphakul, who play Kant, Bison, Style, and Fadel, in that order.
The series addresses themes such as love, courtship, disguise, deception and crime, while love arises both in the case of Bison and Kant, and in that of Fadel and Style. However, unlike Shakespeare's work, whose secondary plot serves as a counterpoint to the main plot, in the Thai series both stories balance and measure equally, that is, there is no preeminence of one over the other.
Directed by Jojo Tidakorn Pookaothong, the story is not set in the Italian city of Padua nor are we in the 16th century, but in Bangkok, in the present. Instead of Katharina, the main character, it is Bison, a young man with a boisterous, stubborn, disobedient and indomitable personality, but also famous for being attractive. This in principle would not have any mystery nor would it be transcendent for the series, except for the detail that the father of this young woman, Baptista Minola, does not want to marry his youngest daughter, Bianca, until Katharina, or rather, Bison, does not has found a boyfriend.
But the story, which has a script by Kanokphan Oraratanasakul, Issaraporn Kuntisuk and Fleur Irene Insot, known for writing 'This Love Doesn't Have Long Beans', will bring us other changes: instead of Baptista, it will be Bianca herself... or better yet said, Fadel, Bison's intelligent, handsome and responsible brother, who will oppose Bison having a boyfriend until he himself finds the right person to love.
Fadel, who is the complete opposite in character of his older brother, has never shown interest in any of the men who have disputed his love in the past.
Protector of his brother, Fadel scares away all the suitors who are interested in Bison, to the dismay of the latter, who has just succumbed to the charms of the handsome man... no, don't be hasty, he is not Petrucio, but Kant, a young man with a strong character and intelligent, who will have the courage to pretend to Bison.
The love, which is taking shape between the two lovers, will pose a serious problem: will Fadel accept Kant when he himself has decided not to allow his brother to have a boyfriend until his heart also trembles with passion?
Faced with this dilemma, Kant and Bison, who is devoted to annoying others, especially Fadel, will plan to find a suitor for him. And who wouldn't be a better choice than... stop there, it's not Lucentio, but Style, the happy and smiling automotive mechanic and Kant's best friend.
Style must fulfill the task of helping the two lovers as much as possible to get Fadel to accept Kant as Bison's boyfriend, so the three of them develop a plan: Style will pursue and woo Fadel until he makes him yearn for her him and in this way allows Bison to also have a boyfriend. But when Style sees Fadel he falls in love, and he will try to win him over, but to do so he will not have to pretend to be a Latin teacher.
But the most interesting twist in the story is that both Bison and Fadel are two hitmen. As you hear, dear reader: while the authorities are not clear how to respond to organized crime in the Thai capital, these two young antiheroes are a curious solution. These brothers are hired to murder drug traffickers, rapists, corrupt politicians, dishonest businessmen...
If in "The Taming of the Shrew" that would be the main approach of the work, the Thai series brings other ingredients. Of course, in both one and the other, various situations of entanglements and abundant witty dialogues await us in which verbal wit undoubtedly becomes the most forceful of weapons.
Owners and workers by day in a hamburger restaurant, Bison and Fadel are, by night, two expert shooters and assassins. While the first dreams of not spending his entire life chasing criminals, the second believes it is necessary to carry out, for life, his mission of exterminating all villains.
But who is Kant? Is he really in love with Bison or does he have a hidden agenda? Kant is a young tattoo artist who has a history of being a car thief. He was caught by the Police some time ago for this crime. In order to have his criminal record archived and even be lucky enough to see it disappear completely, he must complete undercover police missions. Otherwise, they could reopen their case and end up in jail, so Babe (Kenji Kanthee Limpitkranon), his younger brother, would lose his only protector in life.
In this way, Kant will be forced to be an informant and spy for the Police on the same parasites of society that Bison and Faude eliminate daily.
And it turns out that, at the request of Chris (Peter Tuinstra), the police agent handling his case, Kant will have to secretly investigate the brothers Bison and Fadel, suspected of being the two hitmen who have taken the law into their own hands.
It is interesting how the series rewrites the work of the Elizabethan playwright that deals with the theme of "taming a brave woman by her husband", giving it a personal touch that does not leave anyone indifferent. The dialogues are full of wit and the wordplay is remarkable. That's something I love about Jojo, who plays with language and shapes it as he pleases to create series considered true gems of the BL genre with insightful, intelligent and even cynical characters, as he demonstrated in 'Only Friends', 'Never Let Me Go', 'The Warp Effect', 'Our Skyy 2', 'Nobody Happy', among others.
It is also striking how instead of machismo, the submission of the woman to the designs of the husband, marriage and the struggle between the sexes that permeates Shakespeare's work, 'The Heart Killers' takes an unexpected turn to address topics such as crime, flirting and a pitched battle between different personalities or characters.
As in "The Taming of the Shrew," the Thai series notes the ingenious use of duplicates. The contrast between the two brothers, the two love stories, the day divided into two, the different dreams of Bison and Fadel about their futures, the two scenarios that will involve one the laborious life as a front in the hamburger restaurant and the other the crime, among others, all aimed at giving rise to an agile and continuous dramatic counterpoint that very effectively helps the two romantic stories intertwine in an effective way.
In addition to a battle between totally opposite personalities, 'The Heart Killers' is a battle between wits, all the themes: seduction, crime, the relationships between best friends and between the two brothers, the professional tasks of the protagonists, namely that of a tattoo artist, a car mechanic, a chef and a restaurant worker, all of this to give rise to a display of deceptions and tricks, and the winner is always the one who demonstrates the greatest practical intelligence in all matters.
Furthermore, 'The Heart Killers' is a series of transformations that relies on the conventional resources of intrigue comedy; disguise, deception and false identities.
As far as the characters are concerned, above all I would like to highlight the two brothers, since the contrast in their personalities is overwhelming. On the one hand there is Bison, who has a lot of character and does not always agree with what is said to him and, in part, likes to bother others. Meanwhile, Fadel is very serious, responsible, and has always managed to maintain his composure... until Style enters his life.
Khaotung is a convincing actor. He has had meteoric growth since his debut as an actor in the 2018 series 'Cause You're My Boy', in 2018. The construction of his character allowed him to deliver a performance full of subtleties, where Bison's surly and indomitable character contrasts with the moments of introspection and the decisions that lead him to confront his most intimate feelings.
First once again demonstrates his talent, that each role he plays is comfortable for him, despite the challenges, the volume of work, and the archetypal experiences that he has to express on screen, no matter how new they may be for him.
Both make up a dream ship. Their interactions are natural. They know each other well, after being a couple in 'Only Friends', 'The Eclipce' and 'Our Skyy 2'. On this occasion, not only are their sex scenes a gift for the viewer.
Joong Archen Wiraphakul's Fadel is the most important character in this rising star's promising career until today. In his social accounts, the actor, model and singer recognizes that the recognition and affection of the public is the greatest reward received, in addition, what he has been able to grow and learn as an actor and person during the process. I never imagined seeing him "masturbate" in front of the cameras.
But of the four, Dunk has the most growth from a role prior to this. To my surprise, his Style overflows with provocation, sexuality and impudence. As an actor, he has been able to increase his acting skills through training and giving his best in each project. His evolution as an actor is based on extracting valuable lessons from each experience to apply them in future projects.
In the series he had to face things that he had never experienced, such as harassing Fadel, speaking with brazenness and determination, adopting a much sexier pose than on previous occasions, no longer in a university uniform, but in a car mechanic's outfit, T-shirts and shorts and occasion clothes. He had to face situations he had never experienced and search the depths of his emotions to interpret them. For this reason, I consider that 'The Heart Killers' and Style have been a school in his life.
Dunk and Joong Archen are also two actors who have managed to get along after pairing up in 'Star and Sky: Star in My Mind', 'Star and Sky: Sky in Your Heart', 'Our Skyy 2' and 'Hidden Agenda'.
Only the first two episodes have aired. I'll come back later to update the review.

Read More

The Heart Killers had a fairly decent start, but that was as far as it went.

I had not intended to write anything about this series. However, after reading the comments here on MDL, I could not resist leaving at least a brief note.

The cast, or rather the four main actors, are relatively new to me. This is only the second BL series I have watched featuring them.

At the moment, I am also watching the ongoing series Dare You to Death, with Joong and Dunk, and honestly, it is far more engaging than The Heart Killers. At least the script there makes more sense and offers a storyline with some substance.

The Heart Killers had a fairly decent start, but that was as far as it went. From the middle to the end, it completely lost momentum. The script is weak, the story shallow, poorly developed, and with very little that is truly interesting.

There is an excess of overly sweet and sentimental scenes, although I do acknowledge the actors’ effort in their performances. The acting was not outstanding, but reasonably solid, especially Khaotung as Bison. I must admit that the intimate scenes between him and Kant, played by First, were excellent. They do have chemistry, without question.

That said, despite the good scenes, pleasing cinematography, and the production’s commendable effort, the script simply did not support the project in any meaningful way.

By the end, I found myself fast-forwarding through several scenes, unable to endure the dragging pace any longer. Ten episodes would have been more than enough.

I would recommend it only for the visuals, the actors, and the mildly spicy scenes.

Read More

A lot of romance, less story involved

This series really stood out to me because of its characters, and not so much for the plot. I really liked the overall concept they were going with but It relied heavily on romance which was really heartwarming and exciting at times but I just felt like it would have been even more appealing if there was more than just the two couples getting together and being romantic. They could have done so much with the theme and storyline but I felt like there was just a lot lacking in that department. What really saved all of this were the actors, and the way they portrayed their characters felt so real to me and I really enjoyed how each one had certain dynamics with each other like Bison and Kant were an amazing pair in my opinion. FirstKhaotung will always be number one in my list in any drama and I love what they did here, they just match each other so well in their acting and intimacy as well. JoongDunk also did well with Fadel and Style and the character development that Fadel had was really natural and I loved his character especially. I had high hopes for this series and I wouldn’t say i’m that dissapointed. I did enjoy it a lot but again I feel like they could have done sooo much more with this great concept but anyways seeing my bae First throughout the whole series was good enough for me hehe

Read More

Campy rom-com & deeply flawed storytelling: frustrating writing issues despite loving the cast

Watching this series is like driving on a bumpy road : there are so many elements I disliked for a good chunk of the drama but at the same time, I cannot deny the fact that it remained all along quite entertaining. I must also admit that I have mixed feelings because the overall series never really matched my expectations : I wanted a dark and gritty thriller when I should have settled for a campy rom-com with clunky action scenes. There were also a lot of writing issues that frustrated me : even actors with amazing chemistry could not salvage completely the messy plot.

Against all odds, it was almost impossible for me to root for the romance of one of my fave duo of actors in Thai BL drama (First and Khaotung). I strongly disliked the character of Kant (played by First) and found his growth arc really unrealistic, preventing me to adhere to the romance for most of the series. I'm fully blaming the script and not the actors because First and Khaotung chemistry was very good and their acting was on point. Especially Khaotung who played Bison: he had some incredible emotional scenes that once again impressed me so much ! He is definitely an acting force the world need to recognize even more !

Next to this iconic pair of actors, the drama gave me the opportunity to discover a new duo : Joong and Dunk . My opinion on their acting and their romance (as Fadel and Style) is quite the opposite as the one mentioned above. I supported so much more their love story : it was very compelling and made sense. It was my first time watching those two and I will be looking forward to their next series despite the imbalance in acting skills. Indeed, if Joong fully convinced me, I still have reserve regarding Dunk acting which felt a bit too green. He played my fave character of the series (Style) but he was sometimes so unconvincing that it felt parodic to me (in particular in the most dramatic scenes). However, I felt he had improved by the end of the show.

Surprisingly enough, despite my expectations having been tampered quite a lot by the deeply flawed storytelling, I enjoyed the ending. Indeed, I expected to keep disliking one of the main relationship until the end but in some way the script managed to get me onboard at the last minute. It still feels like "too little too late" because it is pretty dumb to have one of the central romance only make sense at the end while it remained totally unconvincing for almost the full duration of the show.

Regarding the production value, there are also some high and lows. Despite me wishing for a darker and grittier story, I loved the colorful set, the costumes and the campy vibe. It felt very stylish and purposeful. I also found the sexy moments and the intimate scenes very well done for most part. I quite enjoyed the OST (especially the opening song by Khaotung) and the opening/ending generic design. It felt camp and over-the-top but in the best way. However, the actions scenes were ridiculous and the editing was maladroit and all over-the-place. The music layout on the scenes was also done in a too awkward and abrupt manner.

I would recommend the series mainly for the cast. Despite all the flaws I point out, the biggest being the writing, I still feel it is an entertaining watch. It frustrated me a lot at some point but ended on a right note. It is a bit of a shame that one of the romance felt totally unconvincing for most part of the series despite being played by very good actors with amazing chemistry. I want to scream at the writers/director/editors for that! If you watch it with the right expectations (as a campy light rom-com rather than as a dark story featuring carefully crafted characters), you will enjoy it more for sure.

Read More

Okay, so...

The Heart Killers startefd off STRONG. I love the idea since it's based on "The Taming of the Shrew" which is a good story, and I also love BLs, so I wacthed this with a high bar.
It had comedy, romance, angst (which I am a sucker for) and also some wholesome moments. I honestly really loved seeing Style going after Fadel. It was pretty much the biggest reason why I kept watching.
I thought this for a while but Dunk's acting is stiff. When I first saw him, I didn't notice. But after seeing Hidden Agenda and then rewatching Star in My Mind it was kind of shocking. The Heart Killers only made me think it more. I'm not saying he's a bad actor as I've seen worse, but he should relax a little more. Maybe even study different face expressions?
Joong and Khao did well, and I liked their characters.
First also did well but his character was a little annoying, and narcissistic in a way.
The series itself is quite nice and I thought that it was going to go smoothly after they exposed Lilly, but the second half of episode 12 was kind of disappointing. That whole "dinner with mom" part was such a turn off. Was it really necessary? No. It actually would have been a lot better without it, as if Lilly never got out of prison. It was too dramatic and so out of place. I'm saying this as someone who wants to study film, but having the antagonist come back with such a dramatic revenge plan to just fail in such a weird way is not a good thing to add in a final episode, especially if it's less than 10 minutes.
Also, the fighting scenes looked so odd as you can see how much enthusiastic they WEREN'T. At least try to look like you're trying.
OK! Regardless of those, the series is really good.

Read More

It's Time For Me To Move On

It's time for me to let this series go and move on, I've been stuck on it for way too long hoping it would get better and waiting for me to get the motivation to watch it. For time stamps I started this series 4 months ago, watched episodes 1-5, then stopped and left it there for about a month, then watched episode 6, then got back to it and watched episode 7 to 10, 2 months later. And the last time I watched the last episode which was technically episode 9 because I didn't start episode 10, was 25 days ago. The beginning was ok, then I got a bit uninterested but after waiting a while and getting back to it I kind of got the spark to watch it again for a little, I seriously thought this would be the time I finished it and I just needed to wait it out, but I got stuck on episode 10 once again, I couldn't start it, I couldn't finish this series. And why? Because there isn't much to it anymore, and to be honest, there never was. This story is very messy, I already didn't like the fact that we got all the action in the first episode, I think a enemies to lover or strangers to lovers would've been good but everything basically got spoiled in the first episode, no room for tension, or yearning, or slow burn. Then the whole story, was just... not my cup of tea. Don't get me wrong I love the whole hitman criminal plots but this wasn't it and it wasn't executed well. The acting was good, ofc. But the characters were annoying, and I think that made the acting look worse than it actually is, these are all great actors but with the script and lines I'm sure it was hard to execute a well performance, regardless they ate it up. But it just didn't deliver. I am sadly disappointed, I really tried so hard to like this because I love First, Khao, Joong and Dunk. And they all have great chemistry, and great acting skills. But this just wasn't it at all. Idk what it is this year and last year with series that have well known actors being horrible, I was also disappointed with Love Sea and Kidnap. But older series are better, I think we need to take a step back, take notes, listen to what people actually like, and take action based on that. I see a lot of people liked this series, and I'm shocked, some didn't like it as well. I know every BL watcher has a different motive to watch series, but lets be honest about ratings and reviews, and don't just base it off chemistry and NC scenes, instead the actual story and how well it was made. I think a 7.5 is a generous rating on my part, I've seen people rate it lower. I can admire the good aspects of it thats why I wouldn't go lower, and I didn't hate it completely, there were good moments, but to say the least. It was disappointing. Hoping next year is a better year for the LGBTQ+ content industry, and I hope these actors get better series moving forward.

Read More

minus some point for dunk's acting

HeartKillers was really well done. Khaotung and Joong both expertly delivered on their assassin roles. The chemistry between First and Khao was just *chefs kiss* and they both never fail to make me cry. Concerning JoongDunk, it felt as though Joong performed for the both of them, his acting made up for Dunk's. While his character was enjoyable and served as comedic relief, it was evident that Dunk struggled with line delivery. His effort was still noticeable and though there were times where I had to pause and sit in silence for a while, I really admire and appreciate him and his character.

Read More

Vale mucho la pena

AME DEMASIADO. Es SUPER enganchante, intensa, entretenida, romántica, hot, tierna, dramática... Lo tiene todo literalmente. Es muy disfrutable, no escatimaron en escenas que hacen que uno se enamore de las parejas, pero tampoco faltó el drama que le dio ese toque realista que le vino tan bien. El romance va surgiendo entre la acción de forma conflictiva e intensa, y el principal problema pasa por como ellos no pueden resistirse a ese amor. Todos los personajes fueron fieles a sus personalidades y hubo un desarrollo de personaje coherente. No fue demasiado realista y si, hubo una pequeña romantizacion a la delincuencia, pero todo con fines de entretenimiento para que la serie no se vuelva un drama aburrido. Comparte ciertas vives con Kinnporshe ✨ en el sentido de que tiene acción, intensidad, y las parejas no vendrían siendo un ejemplo a seguir, pero aún así es de las mejores y más completas series de romance y acción que verán

Read More