This review may contain spoilers
Not the Best but still Good
Somehow it feels a lot of good series ended these days, yesterday "Duang with You" and today "My Romance Scammer". The premise was some mix of known elements. Rich and not so rich people becoming couples, scam and lies, breakup and getting back together. While it was nothing new, the mix had a potential to be great. But I felt in end, despite enjoying it mostly, it felt odd and lacking in some aspects, and it wasn't easy for me at first to see exactly what it was.
The series starts well enough with two different types of scammers fishing for rich people to get their money, and two different scam targets. First to the actors: Junior and Mark are a tested pair and played their roles well, and I was very happy to finally see Poon to get his long overdue main role, which he played out excellent, with Ohm being his new partner, whom I felt was a bit the weak link in the four of them. But then Poon and Ohm are new as pair and I am sure a somewhat better script and directing can give them more growth. I am quite clear here: the acting of the four MCs was good, but it wasn't perfection to write home about, which I assume is due to directing, where I have my biggest issue.
The story felt kinda all over the place. Handling two main couples and four very different characters IS challenging by any means. And that requires a very good pacing, which I felt just wasn't there. While didn't feel any particular scene in itself was bad, the connection of scenes was somewhat lacking. I enjoyed the start up to the revealing of the scam the most, and felt it went a bit downhill falling apart from there. During the scandal wedding it was way too quickly clear that each couple would stick together. I mean, duh, we knew this, but such a deep betrayal of trust was done, especially given Tim and Pai were together a long time already, with was done away too quickly and easily. I really would have liked to see some more lasting drama, some suffering from the guilty, when in fact right after the scandal revealed it was in a very slow and sort of tiresome path towards the second marriages. And this being so clear so quickly felt like the rest of the episodes dragged on without really much having to tell, and I blame this square on the directing of the series.
Still, I can't deny it was a feel good series, though just personally speaking I am a bit overfed with billionaire families. And not this is a mere cultural comment, not a political one. It just has a certain sameness having it seen for a bit too many times now and the harmlessness, so to speak, felt a bit like a fallback to past Thai BL years. There should have been more dramatic tension, more played out dark moments and emotional darker moments, to make the happy end feel actually something of weight. Especially if I recall the very great last episode of “Duang with You”, this last Episode was largely exhausting, somewhere nice but a bit too much “finally done” leaving me entirely clueless what to think or feel
While that all sounds quite negative, I still felt by far the positive entertainment was more than the critique I have about pacing and directing. I just wished the characters had been emotionally more intense, given the plot. Maybe making it a Rom-Com was just a bad choice, where a drama would have fitted better. With the background ensemble being solid, the location being scenic (though a tad bland) I rate this series a well meaning
7.5/10
Solid but fell short of it's potential.
The series starts well enough with two different types of scammers fishing for rich people to get their money, and two different scam targets. First to the actors: Junior and Mark are a tested pair and played their roles well, and I was very happy to finally see Poon to get his long overdue main role, which he played out excellent, with Ohm being his new partner, whom I felt was a bit the weak link in the four of them. But then Poon and Ohm are new as pair and I am sure a somewhat better script and directing can give them more growth. I am quite clear here: the acting of the four MCs was good, but it wasn't perfection to write home about, which I assume is due to directing, where I have my biggest issue.
The story felt kinda all over the place. Handling two main couples and four very different characters IS challenging by any means. And that requires a very good pacing, which I felt just wasn't there. While didn't feel any particular scene in itself was bad, the connection of scenes was somewhat lacking. I enjoyed the start up to the revealing of the scam the most, and felt it went a bit downhill falling apart from there. During the scandal wedding it was way too quickly clear that each couple would stick together. I mean, duh, we knew this, but such a deep betrayal of trust was done, especially given Tim and Pai were together a long time already, with was done away too quickly and easily. I really would have liked to see some more lasting drama, some suffering from the guilty, when in fact right after the scandal revealed it was in a very slow and sort of tiresome path towards the second marriages. And this being so clear so quickly felt like the rest of the episodes dragged on without really much having to tell, and I blame this square on the directing of the series.
Still, I can't deny it was a feel good series, though just personally speaking I am a bit overfed with billionaire families. And not this is a mere cultural comment, not a political one. It just has a certain sameness having it seen for a bit too many times now and the harmlessness, so to speak, felt a bit like a fallback to past Thai BL years. There should have been more dramatic tension, more played out dark moments and emotional darker moments, to make the happy end feel actually something of weight. Especially if I recall the very great last episode of “Duang with You”, this last Episode was largely exhausting, somewhere nice but a bit too much “finally done” leaving me entirely clueless what to think or feel
While that all sounds quite negative, I still felt by far the positive entertainment was more than the critique I have about pacing and directing. I just wished the characters had been emotionally more intense, given the plot. Maybe making it a Rom-Com was just a bad choice, where a drama would have fitted better. With the background ensemble being solid, the location being scenic (though a tad bland) I rate this series a well meaning
7.5/10
Solid but fell short of it's potential.
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