This review may contain spoilers
The best of the ugly duckling series, but not without its flaws
The show starts on a genuinely satisfying note. Watching Junior's fair-weather friends evaporate the moment her looks change is uncomfortable in the best way — it earns the story's premise immediately and forces Junior to confront how shallow her world, and she herself, had been. And honestly? She needed that reality check. The early episodes make it clear she wasn't entirely innocent in buying into that shallow culture herself, which gives her arc something real to work with.
What's harder to stomach is her mother's reaction-showing visible disgust toward her changed appearance — treating her like something contagious rather than a daughter who needed support.
Out of the entire Ugly Duckling series, this is the one entry where the central romance genuinely feels built on something. Seua and Junior's relationship develops with enough friction, warmth, and history that you actually root for them — which is more than can be said for some of the other entries in the anthology. Push Puttichai is a big reason for that; his charisma carries the role effortlessly, and it's nearly impossible not to fall a little bit in love with Seua ourself.
That said, there's one moment that doesn't sit right — Seua hugging Junior in his sleep, while still in a relationship with someone else. It's played as a cute, unconscious gesture, but it's actually a strange thing to just... let slide. The show doesn't interrogate it, and it probably should have.
The biggest stumble in Seua's characterisation is his frustrated outburst at Junior. Calling her a gold digger and accusing her of being obsessed with men — because she keeps rejecting him — is a genuine jerk move dressed up as wounded pride. His character did get annoying and irrational toward the end. It's the kind of scene that's supposed to be a low point before the reconciliation, but the specific accusations are mean-spirited enough to leave a mark. The show moves past it fairly quickly, but it's hard to fully forget.
The drama starts with a strong premise — a previously shallow girl learning there's more to life — but as it progresses, the theme gets muddled. It quietly shifts from "don't let shallow judgements define you" to "appreciate the man who liked you when you were ugly." Additionally, the male lead's backstory about being broke and frugal builds interesting tension around a wealth gap, but the show sidesteps all of it by conveniently revealing he was secretly rich all along. It's the easy route, and it slightly undercuts what could have been a more meaningful resolution.
What's harder to stomach is her mother's reaction-showing visible disgust toward her changed appearance — treating her like something contagious rather than a daughter who needed support.
Out of the entire Ugly Duckling series, this is the one entry where the central romance genuinely feels built on something. Seua and Junior's relationship develops with enough friction, warmth, and history that you actually root for them — which is more than can be said for some of the other entries in the anthology. Push Puttichai is a big reason for that; his charisma carries the role effortlessly, and it's nearly impossible not to fall a little bit in love with Seua ourself.
That said, there's one moment that doesn't sit right — Seua hugging Junior in his sleep, while still in a relationship with someone else. It's played as a cute, unconscious gesture, but it's actually a strange thing to just... let slide. The show doesn't interrogate it, and it probably should have.
The biggest stumble in Seua's characterisation is his frustrated outburst at Junior. Calling her a gold digger and accusing her of being obsessed with men — because she keeps rejecting him — is a genuine jerk move dressed up as wounded pride. His character did get annoying and irrational toward the end. It's the kind of scene that's supposed to be a low point before the reconciliation, but the specific accusations are mean-spirited enough to leave a mark. The show moves past it fairly quickly, but it's hard to fully forget.
The drama starts with a strong premise — a previously shallow girl learning there's more to life — but as it progresses, the theme gets muddled. It quietly shifts from "don't let shallow judgements define you" to "appreciate the man who liked you when you were ugly." Additionally, the male lead's backstory about being broke and frugal builds interesting tension around a wealth gap, but the show sidesteps all of it by conveniently revealing he was secretly rich all along. It's the easy route, and it slightly undercuts what could have been a more meaningful resolution.
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