Blkittykat

A while ago, I wrote a review where I said there's no show but this that could be more aptly named, but I could not have been more wrong. The winner of the best named drama goes to Interminable, because this nonsense was truly interminable. It just went on and on and on until I was begging on my knees, praying that the torture will end. Every once in a while you come across a drama that makes you wonder who signed off on it, and I really wonder - why would you sign off on this?

Right from the beginning, it could not have been more confusing, because the story is told in parallel storylines, and it switches between the past (1910s) and the present (1940s), with no sense of coherence. There's no rhyme or reason to the scenes we see, it's in some random order, like they decided it would appear in the episodes based on the Q it was shot in. Almost every single actor plays the same person in both timelines - their names, their characteristics, their personalities are all so similar, so similar that the only way to identify what the timeline is is by looking at their clothing or hairstyles, and even then it's confusing because most of them are dressed in one outfit for the entirety of the series.

The actual story begins to unfold with Kaew recieving an inheritance from a distant relative on his father's side - a huge house that has affectionately been dubbed the Huge White House.. (subtle)
Anyways, it's his, ready to move into, only a small problem, he's got to share the space with a friend of this distant relative who also lives there. They won't bother him, but they're going to be there.

The minute they move in, Kaew starts having even more recurring dreams about a man, and even thinks he sees this man in the house - he's an apparition in white who comes and goes, and he gets the sense that they're acquainted with each other/have been for a long time. This person is none other than Khun Yai, a man who has been waiting for Kaew in that house for almost thirty years now.. because of a promise they gave to each other. Or he gave to Kaew, they're not very clear on that.

But thirty years ago, he gave a promise to the person he loved (also Kaew), and him, along with his assistant Saen and his nanny Yam have been bound to the house since then. With Kaew now reincarnated and back in the house, all he needs to do is fulfill that promise, but first, Kaew needs to regain all his memories of their past. And this fragmented attempt at creating tension gives us no real information, except
a) they were lovers
b) a person named Sophee hated that they were lovers

Sophee was in reality Yai's adopted sister who was in love with him, but he loved Kaew. Sophee is obviously shrill, jealous and vindictive, because her only role is to yell about Yai not paying attention to her, try to ruin his life and attempt murder. The huge narrative is that Yai and Kaew's love was cut short because of her, and that Yai's promise has something to do with this.
And to her part, Sophee has also reincarnated and the girl is smart in some sense, because she regains all her memories before Kaew does. I guess vengeance does run deeper than love? But once again, she can't get him, because one - he's a ghost, two - he's a ghost who still loves only Kaew. She schemes and threatens to try and get her way for no real reason other than a portrait that Kaew has drawn (he's an art student) of Yai, and she's convinced he must have reincarnated as well.

All this while, in the present, Yai has been a nuisance. He won't let Kaew live his life, he's jealous, possessive and incredibly intrusive - but he's also so secretive. To get some answers about his behaviour, Kaew ventures into an underground dungeon that is restricted to him, it's Yai's space and he's not allowed in there. But going into the dungeon gives him some answers about why Yai is so secretive, comes and goes as he pleases, disappears for days on end.. he finally finds out that he's a ghost. He runs away to a temple to talk to the monk there, who knows everything that happened thirty years ago

From them on, we're left to watch as Kaew slowly loses his sanity, not knowing what is going on, except that they were in love, before he gets a sudden influx of information conveniently put together in a couple of episodes, ensuring that any and all possibilities of creating a grand narrative is flushed down the drain. This continuous flashback is also of no use because suddenly there's a political uprising on the horizon that has more screentime that Kaew and Yai do, and their story goes no further - it's once again a ton of scheming and threats and the grand nature of all that is good but no actual story.

Because as it turns out, the entire story had actually been revealed in the trailer. If you've watched the trailer, you know the story. They were in love, they were killed because of someone's jealousy, one of them reincarnated and the other didn't. And that big promise that made the whole thing possible? I won't tell you because if I had to sit through this nonsense to find out - so will you (don't watch it, it's actual nonsense).

Interminable was a snoozefest, I'm not even sorry. There wasn't a single episode where I didn't accidentally doze off, only to wake up and see if I missed something. I missed nothing. Because nothing happens in there. For some huge love epic, they couldn't even convince me that they were in love. Things happen because they're supposed to happen, but why? Give me one good reason why Yai fell so madly in love with Kaew. Give me one instance where it looked like Kaew was also in love with Yai. They literally fell for each other because the plot said so.

Everything in this was just so.. mechanical. They're all just so frigid and statuesque in everything they do - are they trying to tell me that it was supposed to be expressionless ? Not a single emotion came through for me, again are they trying to tell me that two people who have apparently been tied by a promise so strong that their love has lasted over three decades.. cannot afford to actually look like they're in love?
Three decades and all they do is show Yai pine, pine and pine over Kaew while he looks on with a blank expression. No longing, no pain of seperation, no angst - no nothing. This is a classic example of "tell, not show" because every second scene has someone singing the praises of their love story, but I don't see it??

They keep telling us that something terrible has happened to all of them in their past life, but there is no sense of tragedy or urgency to their love story, the fleeting sense of every moment between them in the past was as amplified as a mosquito buzzing by your ear.

All the characters are so one dimensional - reduced to a single characteristic, I mean is that all they can be? Like caricatures, you can plot the exact route each character will have, in fact, if you must watch this make a game out of it. See if you can predict the exact storyline for each character. And if you're right? You win nothing because there are no winners here.

The cherry on top? The amount of plot holes. One or two, I can forgive, but the entire story felt like a pothole I accidentally tripped into and the thing was riddled with plot holes. Who was Sin? Why did he keep calling Saen his father? Who was Kan? Was he reincarnated? Why was there a sudden doppelganger who's body Yai inhabited? Who on earth wrote this story? Seriously who? I need to have a talk with them.

I'm so disappointed in almost everything - even the acting was so bad. I don't know if it's the actors or the writing but the last three minutes had the best acting in the entire series. May just be the writing because they finally let Kaew have some personality, too bad it lasted mere minutes.

I'm saying the +1 is for Billy and the 0.5 is for the chemistry.. but it's really because I cannot go lower than a one while rating it. My extra 0.5 is me being generous, I genuinely implore that you think twice before you watch Interminable. What a shame. I was so excited for this one and we got THIS. Trust me. Just trust me on this and stay far away.