ArteMarte

Flawed but addictive. OST is a masterpiece.

Not going to pretend the series is perfect, but for some reason it has a hold on me and it's not letting me go anytime soon.

Let's start with the things to critique
- The story felt a bit rushed, mostly in the final episodes, creating some confusion in certain scenes. Adding 1–2 more episodes could have made everything even better.
- It focused almost entirely on Wan’s pain and perspective, which often left the viewer frustrated with Pleng. After multiple rewatches, I’m convinced that giving more focus to Pleng’s experience [especially her practically homeless, orphan, and school drop-out years] would have enhanced viewers’ understanding of her and her actions. The series gives more opportunities to understand Ek than it does Pleng.
- Support cast is solid, except for Ek, which - i'm sorry but - is absolutely terrible.
- While I understand where it comes from, I don't love the - controversial? - scene on regards to consent.

Now just SOME of the good things:
- The lead actresses are FANTASTIC, no wonder they won judge based awards for it.
- Not always easy to find in Thai gl, there's no cringe at all for their acting, just mature and raw emotion. (Excluding Ek)
- Surprisingly good balance between classic couple paring/ship focus and actual plot.
- Even if a bit rushed, the pacing they set - specially for the first 3 quarters - worked well. They managed to pack A LOT there, without it feeling too much.
- Production quality was surprisingly good, better than expected.
- Every rewatch I keep finding new details that make me want to stand up and clap.
- I don't usually focus much on chemistry or steamy scenes, but for this series, hats off. It truly had me shooketh.
- OST and music timing, amazing.
- Enjoyed the sound mixing.

Highlight: THE OST IS A MASTERPIECE. Sonya really has talent and potential to pursue music and singing. Hopefully we get to hear more in future projects.
No offense to LM, I do wish we had a Pleng/Sonya solo version of the OST.

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Enjoyable, light watch but not solid and somewhat confusing

It's enjoyable, light to watch and the actresses are good though characters didn't allow much.

TLDR - The plot relays too much on a supposed backstory, but said backstory is never shown or explained properly. There's a poor intent to do so that just makes it more confusing. Acting wise the actresses do a good job. Production is decent.


The storyline was portrayed in a way that even after 9/10 episodes I'm trying to understand certain aspects of it. Even points it goes over multiple times, it's done by using the resource of a memory, repeating scenes, and it remains unclear and confusing. A lot of watch time is wasted in those scenes that are supposed to bring clarity over their backstory but just don't make sense many times.

[SPOILERS AHEAD]

My main complaint would be about the grief of one of the two main characters is terribly portrayed, or not portrayed at all, which makes no sense specially when the entire plot of the series relays on her loss.

Still wondering what even were those videos they filmed of themselves at the end of each EP.

Highlight: That one scene where a character portraits claustrophobia, great work 👏

[END OF SPOILER]

I'm still missing the las EP, maybe it clarifies everything I'm looking for.
Not bad enough to drop but also not a rewatch.
Excited to see the actresses in other roles, seems like they have more to offer than the characters allowed them to.

Edit: Watched the last EP, though it's a decent ending, it still did not clarify basically anything. The final itself isn't fantastic, but it's also not terrible. It was resolved fairly good for what seems to be limited time and budget.

My main takeaway is that the story itself has a lot of potential, but it also has a lot going on, it's hard (and wasn't really accomplished on these 10 EPs) to show all the story has to offer and needs to show in order to make use and show it's potential.

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[1 - 3] Underwhelming, excessive product placement, LO still LO, support cast the highlight so far

- The actresses are good, though it's feeling less engaging that with their last series.
- The casting is great, in my opinion the support cast has been the best out of the show so far.
- The plot has potential, but so far, not sure if because of the pacing, the directing or the writing, it's potential is not shining through

{I'm sorry for what's coming}
Dear god, the production is terrible. I'm actually surprised something created by a huge Thai Ent company looks this bad.
The mistakes are things not even beginner level.
It looks like a project you rush to do last minute just to say you turned it in.

Sad that they fumbled it like this because they really had bagged a great base storyline and actresses. Even things that fans highlighted prior it started filming were not fixed or taken into consideration.

Hopefully it gets better as more episodes are out.
And that the nonsensical product placement slows down. Product placement is ok, but at least try to make it make sense with the scene, or on the contrary do the opposite and make it clear. The approach they took so far is just... Not it for me.

Will still keep watching, it's LO after all...
And the support cast, Tawan's team specially, makes it worth it while it's their screen time.
Hoping it gets better and they shut me up.

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[1 - 2] Most compelling start of the year, can it keep up the high bar?

EP1 & EP2 review: wow.

EP1 hooked me; EP2 invested me.
Bold premise, really well executed.

EP1 did a fantastic job establishing the leads' distinct personalities, and then immediately flips it by having them play each other. Both actresses nail it, not only with the mannerisms, but also in carrying the emotional tone of the “borrowed” character. They perfectly embody the other while not losing their own essence.
It’s so well done it had me stopping to recalculate who’s who.

Within a single episode, the series showed the stark contrast in their lives; one living in luxury but deeply lonely, the other without that luxury, fighting to sustain herself and her family. Both carrying heavy burdens. By EP2, the story starts to hit deeper with both of them beginning to understand and even open up about the other’s struggles, giving the swap more heart. And then that cliffhanger? Perfect. I can't wait for the next EP!

The “actresses playing actresses” meta-layer adds such a smart twist! Watching them not only navigate each other’s lives, but also act in each other’s professional roles, is fascinating.
The comedic timing was so sharp, I actually laughed out loud, more than once.

The pacing was a bit fast, there's a lot packed in those 2 first episodes, but still did not feel overwhelming.

So far, the focus is almost entirely on the leads. It works for building their dynamic, as for the supporting characters it gives you enough to get you intrigued but doesn't give you enough to understand them, keeping them a bit underdeveloped as of now.

Only two EPs in, but it may have become the most compelling Thai GL series so far this year.
If they can keep up the balance between complexity of the story and clarity, it will be a hit.

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