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This review may contain spoilers
The only thing we can 'Dream On' about is that this were better
I'm annoyed with how disappointed I am because
1. We know that most sequels don't exactly live up to their shared stories
2. We should never really have much expectations, ever
Sometimes, you watch a drama and go 'why do I even bother?' because it's just that bad. I could say that Dream On had no depth, no good character development, no nuanced writing of any relevance, but why bother? What does it matter when they didn't have a decent plot or characters from the get go?
Because drama that goes down between six guys on the set of Romeo and Romeo because all of them clearly like just one person but force themselves to pretend they like others is not exactly a watchable plot with characters you can root for.
Let's just rehash this couple by couple in no particular order (except for the amount I liked/tolerated them)
Arnold and Tua
I believe they were supposed to be the 'steady pairing' - the couple who is kind of always into each other, has a ton of cute moments and one smidgen of drama that is not actually worth crying over (I made up that last part but it happened!)
Tua has forever been in love with Arnold - Arnold has a policy to never date friends and against all odds, they date. But that one smidgen of drama? It comes in the form of Dean, Tua's friend and Arnold's co-star in that play. Dean has this idea to create 'ship content' with Arnold (more on that later) but things start to get kind of real and a photo of them indulging in an angle kiss goes viral. That causes some distress but they make up so quick I began to wonder why break up?
Because they're that couple! Strong, dedicated and so boring. They were so bland as a couple and as individuals that remove them from the plot and it wouldn't really make a difference - which speaks both to how badly and boringly written these two characters were, but also how messily and terribly the other characters were written. I didn't enjoy this pairing much (didn't help that their last work was the Sniffle Story) because either have them be more involved or do not have them at all!
Dean and Jack
Before I start, please repeat after me - Jack is the worst!
Now let's go. I'd argue that these two got the most screentime, which genuinely upset me, not only because Jack was one of the worst characters in the series but also because of how terrible they were to almost everyone, including each other!
There's a lot going on here, and this is just an abstract but Jack and Dean are exes who broke up because Jack believes that Dean is a player who will eventually cheat on him. They're working together on a play and somehow end up in an on/off, FWB to couple relationship (complicated, I know) but throughout it all, Jack is just a complete jerk. Not just to his boyfriend, but almost everybody. I could actually write a paper on how badly written Jack is. Anyway, they have constant arguments working together, fueled even further by the presence of Raffy, Dean's rival in everything, including love.
The constant jealousy and arguments only get worse when Dean has the idea to shoot content with Arnold to promote the play, and that faux-kiss happens. And obviously Jack is super chill and that's that (ha-ha)
Their part of the story obviously has a lot going on, even aside from the petulant relationship troubles. They take about things like addiction, financial troubles, infidelity, trust - but they don't really talk about it. It's mentioned in passing and immediately forgotten to talk about relationship issues that do not exist. It's like they wanted to say something but were worried for some inapparent reason.
And we've already established that Jack is a jerk (the awfulness must truly be witnessed to understand) but Dean is actually a decent person. A good friend, smart and tenacious but when he's around Jack he turns into this monstrous person I really hated. This pairing actually angered me so much, I just - ugh.
Raffy and Rome
My favourite pairing, why? Because they had the most potential.
Raffy - in love with Jack, would do anything to get him, might be in love with Rome but won't accept it.
Rome - in love with Raffy, hated his step-brother Jack and will do everything to ensure those two don't end up together
These two start off as a quintessential FWB, annoyance to lovers pairing but I quite liked the way their story progressed. Despite being an integral part of the mess, it felt like they never really moved away from each other. Yes, they argued and fought, but somehow always kept looking for each other. Maybe it's the fact that they actually looked like they liked each other, but with a few tweaks, their story would've been one to rival even those from S1.
And even as individuals, brilliant characters. Not perfect but they actually had character growth. Compared to the other characters who didn't move an inch (personality or face wise) these two were aces better.
A story that was supposed to be messy, hard hitting and thought provoking like S1 turned out to be almost nothing. Don't get me wrong, this was MESSY. I haven't even covered so many of the things that happened in this series - embezzlement, the return of Boston, cameos from Only Friends, it had it all but it mostly felt like a hollow shell. Characters sometimes refused to interact outside their set pairings, and when they did it was mostly to fight. That was one of the biggest problems with this series, it felt like I was watching the love story of three different couples who rarely interacted with those around them.
Nothing worked beyond a certain point and we owe it all to the writers and makers who weren't willing to actually go anywhere with the story. The same drama was spun around hundreds of times, characters moved one step forward to take ten steps back, basically ending the story exactly as it started. Even the actors (who I know are brilliant performers) couldn't move their facial muscles to save this lackluster story.
If you've stuck it out until here - go you! It could not have been easy to read my rather incoherent rant (almost done I promise). I don't think I was the target audience for this series. Yes, I love flawed and messy people being themselves but there's a certain amount I can tolerate of people making the same bad decisions over and over again, and standing by that decision lol. If you're looking for a genuine messy bunch and a bunch of messy relationships, go for it. But don't say my rant didn't warn you ;)
1. We know that most sequels don't exactly live up to their shared stories
2. We should never really have much expectations, ever
Sometimes, you watch a drama and go 'why do I even bother?' because it's just that bad. I could say that Dream On had no depth, no good character development, no nuanced writing of any relevance, but why bother? What does it matter when they didn't have a decent plot or characters from the get go?
Because drama that goes down between six guys on the set of Romeo and Romeo because all of them clearly like just one person but force themselves to pretend they like others is not exactly a watchable plot with characters you can root for.
Let's just rehash this couple by couple in no particular order (except for the amount I liked/tolerated them)
Arnold and Tua
I believe they were supposed to be the 'steady pairing' - the couple who is kind of always into each other, has a ton of cute moments and one smidgen of drama that is not actually worth crying over (I made up that last part but it happened!)
Tua has forever been in love with Arnold - Arnold has a policy to never date friends and against all odds, they date. But that one smidgen of drama? It comes in the form of Dean, Tua's friend and Arnold's co-star in that play. Dean has this idea to create 'ship content' with Arnold (more on that later) but things start to get kind of real and a photo of them indulging in an angle kiss goes viral. That causes some distress but they make up so quick I began to wonder why break up?
Because they're that couple! Strong, dedicated and so boring. They were so bland as a couple and as individuals that remove them from the plot and it wouldn't really make a difference - which speaks both to how badly and boringly written these two characters were, but also how messily and terribly the other characters were written. I didn't enjoy this pairing much (didn't help that their last work was the Sniffle Story) because either have them be more involved or do not have them at all!
Dean and Jack
Before I start, please repeat after me - Jack is the worst!
Now let's go. I'd argue that these two got the most screentime, which genuinely upset me, not only because Jack was one of the worst characters in the series but also because of how terrible they were to almost everyone, including each other!
There's a lot going on here, and this is just an abstract but Jack and Dean are exes who broke up because Jack believes that Dean is a player who will eventually cheat on him. They're working together on a play and somehow end up in an on/off, FWB to couple relationship (complicated, I know) but throughout it all, Jack is just a complete jerk. Not just to his boyfriend, but almost everybody. I could actually write a paper on how badly written Jack is. Anyway, they have constant arguments working together, fueled even further by the presence of Raffy, Dean's rival in everything, including love.
The constant jealousy and arguments only get worse when Dean has the idea to shoot content with Arnold to promote the play, and that faux-kiss happens. And obviously Jack is super chill and that's that (ha-ha)
Their part of the story obviously has a lot going on, even aside from the petulant relationship troubles. They take about things like addiction, financial troubles, infidelity, trust - but they don't really talk about it. It's mentioned in passing and immediately forgotten to talk about relationship issues that do not exist. It's like they wanted to say something but were worried for some inapparent reason.
And we've already established that Jack is a jerk (the awfulness must truly be witnessed to understand) but Dean is actually a decent person. A good friend, smart and tenacious but when he's around Jack he turns into this monstrous person I really hated. This pairing actually angered me so much, I just - ugh.
Raffy and Rome
My favourite pairing, why? Because they had the most potential.
Raffy - in love with Jack, would do anything to get him, might be in love with Rome but won't accept it.
Rome - in love with Raffy, hated his step-brother Jack and will do everything to ensure those two don't end up together
These two start off as a quintessential FWB, annoyance to lovers pairing but I quite liked the way their story progressed. Despite being an integral part of the mess, it felt like they never really moved away from each other. Yes, they argued and fought, but somehow always kept looking for each other. Maybe it's the fact that they actually looked like they liked each other, but with a few tweaks, their story would've been one to rival even those from S1.
And even as individuals, brilliant characters. Not perfect but they actually had character growth. Compared to the other characters who didn't move an inch (personality or face wise) these two were aces better.
A story that was supposed to be messy, hard hitting and thought provoking like S1 turned out to be almost nothing. Don't get me wrong, this was MESSY. I haven't even covered so many of the things that happened in this series - embezzlement, the return of Boston, cameos from Only Friends, it had it all but it mostly felt like a hollow shell. Characters sometimes refused to interact outside their set pairings, and when they did it was mostly to fight. That was one of the biggest problems with this series, it felt like I was watching the love story of three different couples who rarely interacted with those around them.
Nothing worked beyond a certain point and we owe it all to the writers and makers who weren't willing to actually go anywhere with the story. The same drama was spun around hundreds of times, characters moved one step forward to take ten steps back, basically ending the story exactly as it started. Even the actors (who I know are brilliant performers) couldn't move their facial muscles to save this lackluster story.
If you've stuck it out until here - go you! It could not have been easy to read my rather incoherent rant (almost done I promise). I don't think I was the target audience for this series. Yes, I love flawed and messy people being themselves but there's a certain amount I can tolerate of people making the same bad decisions over and over again, and standing by that decision lol. If you're looking for a genuine messy bunch and a bunch of messy relationships, go for it. But don't say my rant didn't warn you ;)
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