BadPenny

Thank you! I'm glad my turns of phrase are something you appreciate.

yes. The suggestion is that he's developed them because of the many, many times he's tried saving Tol and the levels in which he's growing to know him as a person in the attempt to get him to stop driving that night.

There's a part under a causeway where they are both at work and she mentions she should have taken a specialty in ER medicine.

This drama isn't what I was expecting (or warned about) at least not initially. I figure it will get there soon, but so far it's been very mild in the first half. I will say that the theme song legit always has me asking what crack anime they stole the song from. It makes my damn ears bleed.

See, I have zero experience with cat boi stories outside that cringy piece of shit that Ja/First did. Because I despise anthros, furries or whatever else you want to call them. Aminal/human hybrid characters and their weirdo fetishist fanbase have always repulsed me.

However, I ended up watching this just because some friends of mine went on a rant about the awful peculiarities of catboi stories in specific. And because I was fascinated to know how James Prapatthorn managed to fuck his career so solidly that he went from The Effect to wearing cat ears in a fetish drama. So I buckled in for what I assumed was going to be a pervy ride full of cringy tropes involving infantilism and lots of other not cool shit that I would end up shaking my head and laughing at by the time it was over.

This drama is written like they have the catboy playbook, but are teasing the audience with it, instead of leaping right it. Which is an interesting approach. So the shower scene in the beginning sets things up to be sexy, but then just turns it into scrubbing the idiot cat's head. The second episode presents the classic confusion in their relationship, but doesn't let it lead into anything romantic. The third episode reveals strong feelings on Dem's part, but then classifies them as filial in nature. Though of course that won't remain the case.

And there is some degree of infantilism in this drama, but it wasn't so overt that it became deeply obvious until the brother character was introduced as a contrast to Meow. When it was just Meow and Dem, we could accept that Meow was just bad at getting around the human world and taking care of himself because he wasn't human. But once his brother is introduced, who goes to college and everything, then we get the feeling something is wrong with Meow that he too isn't skilled at interacting with the human world. I mean, Faiyen is living in a (Super gay) college dorm room, making his way in the world and crushing on a TA while Meow is batting at cat toys, wrecking shit in the apartment and getting lost if you let him out of the house. Kinda like an actual cat. Meow's childlike nature and more catlike persona worked up until Meow's brother pops on scene and establishes that this isn't a catboi thing, it's a Meow thing. Which is creepy.

I suspect this is the manifestation of one of the biggest, lamest tropes I am told characterizes catboi stories: the level of innocent helplessness in the catboi. For no apparent reason, in this case. Meow comes off little better acquainted with the real world than your average alien visiting the planet. Until of course he suddenly can adult a little better when Dem gets sick. But still, the average viewer needs not feel ashamed at being uneasy with the prospect of a relationship with such enormous power dynamics and in which one partner is so extremely child like. Especially when according to the story, the world is full of functioning cat people that blend in every day. Essentially Meow is abnormal, for reasons that haven't yet been properly contextualized. Which makes the incipient romantic relationship really kind of gross because overall, Meow does not come across as mentally fit to consent to things, based on his childlike qualities.

Now, if they had kept the relationship between Dem and Meow purely filial, I'd have thought this was a very cute, if weird story. But the romantic element just cannot avoid being gross due to the aforementioned setup.

The relationship blooming between Faiyen and Even is weird too. But largely because Even is weird and Faiyen has Boy George's fashion sense from the mid 80's. I used to work as a medical professional on a Nuerology wing. And there are no brain injuries that result directly in lack of ability to show emotion via facial expressions. There are a number of emotional/depressive disorders that can result in "flatness" of facial expressions and vocal tone. And those emotional/depressive disorders can result from brain injury. But no injury to the brain just directly shuts off the ability to make facial expressions. So that made me snort. This is an exceptionally light weight plot, so fake medical stuff is hardly unexpected, but wow, that was weird random.

And the fact that Faiyen is glad to pass off responsibility for Meow onto someone else is very telling. it doesn't say great things about Faiyen. He's essentially got a sibling that is the mental age of a much younger person and he's allowed them to go live with someone else so he can party. Yeah, not impressing me.

I didn't have a lot of patience with the GL story slowly developing, either. Due to the utter incompetency of the assistant, whom I suspect is also a cat. I'd have fired her right out of the gate. Lack of competency is not something I find cute.

I do enjoy James and Gap. And I would love to see them in another, less problematical BL. And I will hand it to James that he's the first actor I've ever seen take on certain animal characteristics and it not come off as stupid, cringy or unbelievable. He's owning the whole cat thing. But if they wanted me to be able to get behind the romance, they needed to present Meow like the rest of the cat people in the world, instead of making Meow this weirdly childlike exception to the rules, dependent on Dem in ways that cat people generally aren't.

Thank you SO much! I appreciate you telling me.

Cutie Pie has all the coherent plot of a disintegrating wet paper bag. Triage is a complex woven artwork of plot. So yeah, Triage deserves way more recognition than it's getting.

Yep, that's exactly who I was talking about.

I don't care for Toh's cringy nasal whining, his ridiculous simpering and I really didn't care for all the hand wavey write off of his obsessive behavior. So yeah, not for me.

This show has kept my attention since episode 1.

As I said in my initial assessment, the medical side of things on a technical level really impressed (and satisfied) me as someone who used to work in an ER. From a medical drama standpoint, this really works.

The overall plot mechanics work well. Just a touch of creepy is the best way to handle this Groundhog's Day storyline. The supernatural element is fresh and I think the actor playing Jinta is amazing. Honestly the pace and placement of key info drops are timed well and that's more of a complex thing to accomplish in a script than most people realize. So I'm digging it.

Hospital Directors are never people who get into position because they have patients' individual best interests at heart. They get into position because they are good at politics, kissing ass, greasing palms and satisfying the board establishment. So the sleazy position jockeying and the coverups made me sigh in nostalgia. And not in a fun way. But good plot choice.

The beleaguered female resident story was also on brand, since women play hell getting the approval, backing and support in medical sciences that most men do.

I enjoyed the cats. That's just me. Resident cat mom here, so when subplots involve cats I am there for it. The washed out, chalky pallor on Tol's face when his kitty was hurt just got me in the feels.

And I love Tae's character. He's just..really doing great with this character and I identify with Tin really easily. My main frustration with Doc Tin is that when it comes to approaching Tol, he's about as subtle as dropping anvils from the sky. If you wanna game Tol, Doc you gotta think stuff through. Though Tae,does really amazing job of expressing Tin's desperation, anger and frustration and latent attraction to Tol, all while being really on brand in the ER itself. It had to have been a lot of work to make the Doctoring parts flow so natural.

Tee has been consistently good in this too. Just a little arrogant as a cover for his sensitive side. A lot (rightfully) mistrustful. Angry and slightly jaded. Insecure. PLus, of course, he's beautiful. They really worked the makeup to play with his best attributes.

The side characters were most of them solid as well. The queer nurse, whose name escapes me right now, is an absolute doll! I adore this character. Grade A best friend material. Seeing Mild was so good as well. Though Art has all the exact same notes as Techno, so it didn't really feel like a new role. Which it may just be that this is the sort of character Mild is strongest in portraying. I hella winced when poor Art ended up in the ER because of Doc Tin's bad ability to limit the fallout range of his changes to the timeline.

As budding romances go, the one between Gap and Sing has been cute. I really am getting into the characterizations for them. Can't wait to see if their weird work relationship grows into something else. But regardless, Gap really needs to make Sing stop grabbing him by the scruff. That's a no, sir.

The only acting complaint I had was with the actress playing Mai. She literally has no facial expressions. It's like watching an empty doll carry out the lines. She sighs impatiently every once in a while, and not much else. Flat performance aside I did feel bad for her, since her mom is tied up in some kind of illness that creepy simp doctor is denying the severity of.

As Episode 4 unfolds, the bigger picture gets a little clearer but Doc Tin still hasn't grasped enough of it to make effective use of his restart. But he's asking the right questions now. Why me? Why this one kid? And he's got his first solid taste that everything is not as it seems.

I got a kick out of Tin's dancing to stay awake. And the Thai Dragon peppers scene cracked me up. I grow those in my garden. And wow. Ha! I would have been calling bullshit if he ate the bowl of them straight and DIDN'T end up hooked up to an IV after abandoning his lower intestine back in the bathroom.

We get out first solid romantic connection scene between TIn and Tol and it's soooo weird. And so touching at the same time. In that moment we get a real feel for the impact all those relived days are having on Tin and how much he's grown to care for Tol. Halucination? Dream? Supernatural event? Who knows?

All of which which lead into the cameo of Tul as Dr Bunnakit from Manner of Death, linking the two dramas as happening in the same universe. And Max showed up as Tan. Which was the highlight of the year for me. Even though Max wasn't rocking the muscles or the danger vibe of Tan. He came off a lot more boi toy and a lot less Shady bar owner by night/teacher by day.

Tin's eventual crash as everything catches up with him at the end of the episode felt like the inevitable end of a marathon. His zombie lurch across the threshold of his home was so dramatic. Although it left me going "Close the door! The cats will get out!"

I love the wild pace interspersed with the slices of college life, and all the intrigue. But man, I'm going to be dead exhausted by episode 13, just because of how all over the place my emotions get during an episode.

This drama hits the spot! All of the complexity of plot and excitement you could ask for; cats, medical drama, intrigue, abuse of authority, collusion, cats, murder, cats, supernatural themes and did I mention cats? All wrapping around a romantic BL core. And also MaxTul cameos. There's nothing this show is missing.

Except Bas Suridet. But then no drama is absolutely perfect.

Anyway, next week looks like it's shaping up to enhance the romantic tension between Tin and Tol. You gotta feel for Tol. He's dating the equivalent of the boring instructions on the back of a pack of instant oatmeal. Why wouldn't he fall for Dr Tin?

I suspect there's some black market organ trafficking going on, among other things in that hospital and shit is gonna get ugly before it gets better. So bring it. I am in love with this entire drama.

I will make one nod to the technical side of things this episode. The use of lights and twisty camera motions to suggest when shit starts getting too much for Doc Tin was well done without being overdone. The theme music is mood. Brief, sharp and it sets you up emotionally. And the panoramic camera shots in the ER really emphasize the rhythm and orchestrated speed of rush time when critical patients are brought in. The light effects set an interesting sort of mood on some of Jinta's visits. So all in all I feel the production values are smart and efficient.

I can't wait for next week.

Many people don't require a lot of sexual behavior in their plot. I don't. I like the levels of physical affection in this drama.

As for Jealous woman trope... Jealous women or men, it doesn't matter. It's all the same thing. By gangster story I presume you mean KP and there is more than one character in that motivated by jealousy. That they're male characters doesn't make a bit of difference. Jealously is a common presence in real life from any gender, and malignant behaviors that arise from that jealousy are too. So I have zero trouble seeing it commonly employed BL dramas.

But even if the jealous girl trope was stupid because of how unrealistic it is, then I would still love this version because honestly, Nam is next level. She's not just jealous and bitter, catty even. She's nuts. The drama's creators built this entire mode of approach in which Nam has these wildly narcissistic traits with stalker overtones, and they've directed the plot down a road toward actually holding the character responsible. Which almost never happens. And so I am loving the potent "wrong" feel to her character and the actress is knocking it out of the park.

I don't see those comments, so I am presuming I have them blocked. And if it's who I think it is, the best strategy is to also block them. You literally take their toys away if they have no one to harass.

Lol, I think you mean Kuea?

Someone has Nuea on the brain.

This exactly!

It's been a hot minute for me. So I am very unsure of the exact moment I am thinking of. If I get a chance over the next couple of days I'll give the eps a run through and see if I can find the moment I'm thinking of.

Oh, I give Mork a hard time, but he needs it. That doesn't mean I hate him. In fact I'm quite fond of Mork.

In terms of which ep...damn. I'd have to go rewatch stuff to find it. In general Mork was too pushy. It takes him too long to realize that the speed at which he wants stuff isn't really the only thing that matters and patience is more than a word. He's good along the way at saying he'll play it cool. But then he doesn't sometimes.

If I get a chance over the next couple of days I'll give eps a run through and see if I can find the moment I'm thinking of.

Awww! Thank you!

I worry that the toxic relationship dynamics from the show are making their way into advertising. That's a good fucking way to end up imprinting that shit with a larger cultural impact.

This plot got more intense in the last couple of episodes than I was expecting. Though there were still plenty of fluffy moments.

I still feel like 75% of everyone's ability to stay on task is Phai. The other 25% is Sky. Can we get these two together already? I know there is a car kiss scene. I am thirsting for it. Gimme.

Today's award for person who most randomly made the problem worse goes to Jirichin, who also nabbed the awards for weirdest brother moments and dumbest FB maneuver ever. (*roaring applause*)

Where was Jirichin's handler? Seriously, this man needs a leash. I think this celebrity on the loose moment was brought to you by "lazy", that most undervalued of motivations. I am presuming his PR/Manager/handler was asleep at the wheel.

Grandmother remains one of my favorite characters. I loved how when Jirichin asked after food she gave him a sharp look and the Thai grandma equivalent of "Bitch, you know where the kitchen is." That woman is my hero.

Also, I am refusing to look too deeply into why a pair of brothers use an idiom generally applied to one's lover to describe each other. If you have to do that much work to explain the context of the idiom, sweeties, you're using it wrong. How did my sweet little show grow so weird so suddenly? One word. Jirichin. Or as I call him, King Chihuahua. (Here, I present to you, PROOF. https://sta.sh/01as3oot1kh7 )

I am here for Ram giving the side eye to Jirichin as well. (I feel like not enough people just stink-eye this weirdo.) Listen, when Ram of all people has to explain to you the impact of your choices on poor Lukchub's beleaguered life--you done fucked it.

It was absolutely no surprise when the group pow-wow uncovered the fact that Nam was just as psycho as we suspected. The shock is that this show is actually having a dialog about toxic stalking behaviors and the possible legal ramifications of that, and I am impressed. That's a BL first for me. This season the only other drama I've seen with stalking made it cute. You know what drama I'm referring to. I don't need to say it.

I am here for how serious Ram and everyone is taking this. But It's not cool that everyone is leaving Lukchub out of the loop. I get that Ram and gang, and even the chef brigade are all concerned about stressing Lukchub with this. I mean, he panic fainted last episode. However, they need to at least let him know that they're looking deeply into things and that they have deep dark suspicions about Nam. Arm him with a little information, if nothing else. They don't have to give him the gory details, but Lukchub is an adult and they need to respect him enough not to be doing all this completely behind his back. Besides being unsafe to leave him in the dark, it's just not fair.

Hopefully while hunting the culprits, everyone will also keep an eye on Lukchub. Nam's hired thugs are at it again and he's already been attacked once. The Scooby gang are messing with someone who they already know tampered with an adversary's vehicle. Nam's cute-to-crazy ratio is way out of whack. And while the gang is meeting in clandestine fashion to talk about options, Nam is busy putting the dagger in "cloak & dagger".

Also, Pang this episode was killing me with her annoying shit. And so was Kitty to a lesser degree. Some times their "extra" is entertaining. Sometimes it's not. When I watched this episode I told my friend "I would tolerate Pang to be my friend for exactly 2 minutes. One of which I would spend contemplating where to hide the body." Pang, that whole obsessive, whining, harassing, clingy, LOUD mess you became while berating Lukchub for not telling you his brother was famous IS WHY HE DIDN'T TELL YOU HIS BROTHER WAS FAMOUS.

Lastly, I do have respect for Ram's devotion. And his unhampered declaration of love for Lukchub. A far cry from the stilted refusal to give his feelings for Lukchub a name, a few episodes back. He's really bloomed as a character the last couple of episodes. But, uh, Ram...I think when you were growing up, no one ever told you it's okay to have facial expressions.

Anyway, Next week is shaping up to be weird. We have 4 episodes left, one of which Lukchub will meet Ram's...er...ram. And somewhere in there Sky gets to maybe introduce Phai to his tongue. So this drama with Nam needs to wrap up soon. I'm giving it two more episodes. Then I want some relationship milestones for the main couples as a close out to the story.

It was cute. I liked the kiss itself. I hated that it happened in a bar in front of everyone. This show keeps doing that. Throwing out these big intimate kissing moments in front of groups of people like the director has a voyeurism kink or something.

I thought the kiss was cute in and of itself. But like I said somewhere else, I hated that it happened in a BAR, in front of the whole room.

And I don't think it's a musical. Musicals actually tell stories.