BadPenny

According to Max in one interview, his relationship with Tul is kind of a lifelong, very special thing and he never wants fans not to think of the two of them together.

I don't ship actors, I ship characters. But if I was going to ship actors, it would be the two of them. They're pretty clearly doing the platonic soulmate thing.

Oh Shit! Thank you! MaxTul are great fun to watch do their shtick.

I am assuming we might get a small chance at a happy ending. But even if it ends with a tragedy, it will be worth the journey.

Yesss.... TaeTee deserved this magnificent drama. And they're rocking it.

Watch group is wise. Always listen to watch group.

Pfft. I curate a watch group that I run in order to keep people up to date on what I watch so they can follow me around MDL and watch things as I watch them. And I have peeps on my watch group who won't watch this. I keep telling them they're missing something special. Maybe soon I can convince them.

No, it means they don't have proper licensing clearance to allow them to release a sub'd version for non-Thai language on their official streaming platform.

If you want to watch the sub'd version either catch it illegally at Bilibili or watch it on AisPlay's Youtube channel the first 2 hours after it posts. Not caring at all about international fans that aren't Thai Language speakers would be not providing a sub'd version at all. They've provided a sub'd version for a brief window. Which by their own admission is done in order to serve international non-Thai fluent fans while acting within the limitations of their licensing.

It's going to be Sing and Gap. Even in episode 3 and 4 there were hints of it.

I catch it every Monday on Youtube for the duration of the time it's showing there.

Agreed. Each episode presents a thread unwound for us to see. Each episode sets the foundation for a new discovery. Take out any of the earlier episodes and the character development is incomplete and the foundation of Who, and What is also fragmented.

International fans can always watch it on Ais Play, at any time. But not subtitled in languages other than Thai. The version that Ais PLay is only releasing for two hours every week on YouTube is the international subb'd version. And that has to do with the restrictions of licensing foreign language releases.

That wouldn't stop people from voting for disingenuous reasons. I've had idiots who didn't like my reviews on one show go to other dramas that I've enjoyed and vote them down, just because I like them. And then DM me that they did so.

People are idiots and the rating on MDL has never been a good indication of a show's quality. Hell, I wish they'd remove the star rating feature all together.

There has definitely been some cringe. Not as much as I expected. But present.

Cute and cringy often go hand in hand. There's a level where cute cuts off and a drama descends into cringeville if they don't pump the breaks. Mark/Kit had this problem bad in episode 11 of Gen Y 2. They were so saccharine they were gross, for just that episode.

In La Cuisine, Pangchi and Kitty are like 90% of the cringe moments.

She started her girl squad cyber bullying him. Then she hired thugs to make it worse, and when that fell through she hired people to actually physically harm him. So she's a real POS.

It's cute. Cute is a good word, for the most part. But it has some darker themes woven in too. So be prepared to be surprised by the lengths the villain will go to in this.

I think there are some people out there who are legit very sweet and who are ill prepared for being targeted. And I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

That being said, Generally speaking I think most people would struggle and need support if in Lukchub's shoes. What is happening to him is very vile. So I think part of what enables this to work is that Lukchub doesn't need protected from the big bad world. Normally he functions perfectly well and succeeds on his own merits in his schooling. But it's this very uniquely horrific situation that has left him needing protection. He doesn't need protection from the world at large, but he does need protected from NamNing's psychotic revenge plots. And that's pretty understandable.

This ep was fun and awful and really worked in some places and completely failed in others.

First where did my sweet little relaxation drama go? This shit was violent! But then laughably not heavy on the consequences.

It all opens with a fashion show that would really have worked great with more special lighting and music. Because fashion shows got glam. And this one didn't. That being said, Lukchub looked amazing! Mick was adorable and they had him put together perfectly.

NamNing was a complete psycho as she has been since day one, exponentially increasing her level of creep until absolutely no one is going to back her. Ram made me proud staring the bitch down and workin' the stink eye when she soured the mood for Lukchub. Good Boy!

Nam is so fucking weird. Though watching her hyperventilate with evil was fun.

Sky, Titan and Ram all standing around Lukchub after the fashion show really illustrated how tiny Mick is next to the other actors. Sky and Titan were on fleek and rocking the couple-not-actually-a-couple thing they do so well. And I laughed when they both started gushing over how cute Lukchub was. Because yes boys, he was adorable. Ram was all out and proud all over the place and it was hilarious. Though someone please explain why exactly 50% of the people he introduced Lukchub to had braces. Is this a fashion thing?

Blushing, flustered Lukchub was WIN! Sky: "No one can resist him." There goes the Sky/Chub ship, sailing for the coast of WhoneedsRam. Why the hell not, I do love my ghost ships.

But can we talk about the fact that BL's this season are using Xmas music as ambiance? This is like the third one recently. At about 9:30 you can hear a smooth jazz piano version of Oh Little Town of Bethlehem playing in the background and it threw me out of the scene so hard I had road rash.

Tatiana apologizing for the fact that NamNing wasn't even supposed to be there made me laugh. And then Sky and Titan were giving off the mad couple vibes again and I had to struggle focus on the fact that bad things were coming, so I didn't miss anything.

And then they threw me back out of the show, playing a peppy jazz piano version of Gloria in Excelsis Deo. The music choices for this event left mental skid-marks.

I needn't have worried about missing the big bad, though. The moment we spent wondering if NamNing was going to physically explode like an over-leavened soufflé was a proper lead-up to the shit storm that was coming.

We all saw the previews. But I personally was NOT expecting this level of violence. That was some rough trade right there. It was awful! Poor, sweet pacifist Lukchub getting the shit kicked out of him and then throwing himself back into things to protect Ram. I squeaked at my TV.

And people, I don't squeak.

The moment where Ram sends Lukchub away to get help was heartbreaking. Pop did an AMAZING job with that scene and so did Mick.

Sky looking at NamNing and her smiling like the unsubtle creeper bitch she is... We all wanna see him kick her ass, but he and Titan had to go play Superman and rescue Lois Ram.

Lukchub's panic and pain in the hospital when they carted Ram off was palpable. Mick knocked it out of the ballpark! Sky sticking by him was the stuff of legend and again, my ghost ship was sailing fast and hard. This was goooood.

The rest of the hospital stuff irritated me. It usually does. I was a medical professional way back in the day. So I do a dangerous amount of eye-rolling most of the time when there is a hospital scene in any BL. (Triage is giving me pleasure goosebumps for it's mostly accurate representations) But I don't expect any realism from shows like La Cuisine. Even so, lemme break it down. Before Ram ever arrived, Luck had been kicked 9 to 12 times over the course of the initial attack by three assailants. And they were all kicking Hard. In the real world that often results in serious head trauma, broken ribs, dangerously bruised kidneys, fractured hips, sometimes a dislocated shoulder or punctured lung (from the broken ribs) and every great once in a while it can even mean spinal fractures. Not a fractured elbow on the arm that was tucked safely under Lukchub. And no, you don't treat a fractured elbow with a few bandage layers. Sheesh people! At least make it look like you tried!

Okay, rant over.

This was possibly the first (and maybe only) time in which Jirichin showing up actually worked in the plot's favor. It was cute. It was a little too conveniently timed, but they made the effort to explain that away and I'll let'em have it. And yes, I get why they gave Lukchub anxiety medication. After a night like that? Pfft.

However, the next day we were treated to Pangchie instead of Phai. Which made absolutely zero fucking sense. Since the very possibility of this shit right here was exactly what had Phai acting like a bitchy, obsessed governess for half the season. His worst fears and darkest warnings finally come to pass and he's where?

Ugh. Whatever.

Then Ram and Lukchub see each other and it was almost worth it. Very cute. Very sweet. Absolutely exactly what we expected. Then other people showed up and this was categorically the worst way in the world to meet your potential in-laws. However everyone was exceptionally benevolent. Lots of acceptance all the way around. And the whole plot-thickening part was sort of slid in there at the end with the police officer and the hint of a plan. So far in this drama, plans have not panned out into anything that actually bears fruit, unless you count all the times Plans™ resulted in Lukchub taking it on the chin. But the previews for next week do look hopeful.

I had a head-desk moment when Jirichin's social media fuckups caused more problems and plot real-estate had to be allotted to discussing how he was going to finally straighten all that out. I wanted to know why the fuck it took him this long to decide that maybe this was important! Fire his goddamn struggle bus PR manager/handler and get someone in there who isn't emotionally invested and can do their damn job. Because Jirichin doesn't understand how social media works when you're famous.

All in all, this episode worked. It had some glaring problems in the form of lack of Phai. And specifically any SkyPhai moments. Even a small discussion outside Luk's hospital room would have been better than nothing so I felt like there were some wasted moments that could have been spent doing that. But overall, things moved forward, there were plenty of solid feels, and now the wicked witch gets a mop-water bath next week. Hopefully.

And then we get SkyPhai (too late in the show for my taste, but at least we'll get something) and the culmination of BL cute relationships everywhere, the tried and true "fade to black" sex scene. I actually care more about seeing NamNing get her comeuppance than I do seeing Ram and Lukchub in bed, and hopefully we'll get a good, solid 'police carting the bitch off' moment, to make this all feel like it had solid consequences.

Two more episodes to go. And if I'm really lucky, no more Xmas music.

Yep. It wasn't part of the plot. These characters never struggled with equality. These characters never faced anything or dealt with any problems that arose from their queerness. There were no plot developments that were built upon those moments of "discussion". They were just thrown out there like "See, we're political and relevant because we're talking about marriage equality. Isn't that so cool?"

That's about what I'm doing. Plus I'm compiling my final review.

Congratulations! Now you don't have to dread what they're going to do next that is both creepy, pointless and somehow boring also.

Screw everything else and watch Be Loved In House. And the special ep for after. Aaron and Hank will steal your soul.