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This review may contain spoilers
The Common Sense Killers.....
I have no idea what hex this show put on me to keep me watching for 9 episodes because it is simply one of the most nonsensical stories I have ever seen. Although, I will admit that sometimes the lack of basic sense did make me smile.....so basically it was just a slight guilty pleasure I guess.
I normally do a pros and cons list with reviews because I think it gets my ideas across the best, but I think just explaining the nonsense will express my thoughts far better than if I just put them in a simple list.
The Hitman Aspect: I cannot believe how little sense there is put into the kills that the duo commit; I audibly asked "where are there gloves at?" because you would think that professional HITMEN would be more discreet and at least have the decency to buy latex gloves when touching murder locations and dead bodies. Then there is the issue of them murdering in pretty public areas....they were gonna shoot a man at a party venue with CHILDREN AROUND. See, I wouldn't have an issue with them being morally gray enough to murk a guy around child witnesses except for the fact that this show looooves to force the idea that Fadel and Bison aren't actually that bad of people. Despite the fact that they murder people......which would constitute them as serial killers.....the issue of moral dilemmas of whether their victims deserved it or not could have been truly interesting and thought provoking, but there doesn't seem to be much room for depth in that aspect of the show. Maybe I'm just being too harsh with my expectations since I've recently joined in with the resurfacing Dexter Frenzy and been stuck on a Dexter high.
The Handling of Morality: This part may have been my least favorite because I could not fathom why it felt like they were trying to push the audience to thinking that Bison was justified in KIDNAPPING AND THREATENING KANT and not to mention how he even "joked" about killing Kant's little brother to Kant's face as well. In addition, Bison got so heated over Kant having a pushy previous hookup pop up in his life uninvited and his fuss over Kant not disclosing the fact that he used to steal cars in his past years before meeting Bison. Like, Kant stole cars to PROVIDE for him and his little brother when they were emotionally and financially distraught after the sudden death of both of their parents;
Bison: "but why did you not tell meeee??? Do you not value me????"
Me: YOU MURDER PEOPLE
-and not him acting all victim about Kant not disclosing this past and him working as a police informant to be able to continue to provide for his brother after blud literally CHOSE not to tell Kant himself that he MURDERS PEOPLE!!! I know this sounds like a Kant apologist review, but I swear I have beef with him soon too.
+ can we talk about how poorly that scenario of the pedophile gym teacher was handled??? It was good that they portrayed the guy as a creep and scumbag, but it felt too cartoony and it felt like it was supposed to be semi-comedic. I simply did not care for how they just let him walk away without notifying the authority or school board either.
The Characters:
Kant: he started off interesting as it could have been really touching to see his sense of morality decline as he begins to sympathize with a killer despite knowing that the police are backing him to arrest said killer if he or his brother become targets instead. It could also have been compelling to see Kant feeling a subtle sense of sympathy for Bison committing crime because he himself committed crime when he was younger as a means to survive; this could cause Kant to assume the best of Bison's intent and feel he must be forced into the kind of life also.....but it just turned into a battle of 'which crime is worse', which is serial murder; obviously. He also always felt kind of detached from his brother, so much so that it seemed like he only cared about Bison over his own brother and best friend; style. Oh boy, where do I begin with this? This man set his friend up with a LITERAL SERIAL MURDERER yet never told him this until it was already too late. I could not fathom how Style stayed his friend after this.....like is bro's car THAT attractive to you? Enough to forgive him POSSIBLY SACRIFICING YOUR LIFE???? But then they try and force this whole "Kant puts his friend's life before his own" in episode 8 and I was just not believing it. Miss me with that bs.
Bison: I honestly feel conflicted about him. It felt like his character was all over the place with how I was supposed to view him: was he the sultry assassin? Was he the pouty little brother with a shotgun older brother? Was he a possessive and unhinged lover that would point a gun at his not-even-yet boyfriend's ex-hookup? Was he a secretly kind soul that wanted out of the daunting hitman life? Was he the guy that wanted to dominate Kant extensively? Or was he just the guy that wanted to eternally play victim and find new ways to make Kant look worse than him despite their VERY differing circumstances? I really didn't know what to think of him because I thought that the mischievous and sexy counterpart of him was encaptivating, and I saw the slight glimpses behind the curtain to a better version of the show whenever he acted unhinged and wielded a gun around. I personally believe he would have been far more of a favorite of mine and unique in BL Land if they stopped tip-toeing around him being morally ambiguous and just dived head-in with his mood swings and femme fatale vibe. I love characters like that, and lord knows that Khaotung could pull it off with his dazzling innocent face portraying a sexy and alluring bad boy. But no....we instead got a mismatch of different personas that just couldn't mash together well at all. I lament over what could have been for his character.
Style: he was a glorified stalker. I mean I did appreciate how he seemed the least morally questionable out of the central 4, but I still had to question why they wanted to root for him getting the guy when his preferred methods were intense stalking and harassment. Oh and his intent was to use Fadel in order to get his (undeserving of the title) best friend's family heirloom car. He did make me laugh at times so I can at least admit I appreciated that, but I also could not believe him when he said he was a stud that got tons of bitches; like, where??? I think it might have been because the actor couldn't portray that charisma, but I'm not certain. I also don't the reveal to him about Fadel being a killer was before he found out last second. I thought it would have made things far more interesting to see Style grapple with that fear and made the show seem 100% more serious. To be fair, Style does act scared at first when he finds out from Kant, but for all of 5 minutes. It also didn't help that in the following episodes his fear was hard to believe because of the acting performance. He just seemed like an oblivious guy that had zero survival skills whatsoever other than to try to rizz up his captor at the worst times.
Fadel: he was my favorite out of the 4, but that's not saying much to be honest. I liked the way his actor portrayed him and I thought that Fadel's rare smiles were the closest this show ever got to 'killing my heart'. He also seemed to have the most logic in the beginning, which I respected. We needed a voice of reason in this kind of plot.....but then we lost him......to the forced romance. I liked how he didn't give in to the persistent and clingy Style at first because he honestly had to no reason to, but once he did, he lost his air of maturity and it felt like his caution was compromised to him now saying the bs of "I trust you 80%" like, huh? I would not trust a manic stalker even 2%.... so they washed away his paranoid nature and replaced it with him not wanting to fool the two dudes into thinking his brother and him are head over heels for them only to THEN PLAN TO KILL THEM LIKE 2 DAYS LATER LIKE WHAT WAS EVEN THE POINT THEN!? The fooling was so obvious that even the lovesick Kant could see through that ish; but I digress.
Now onto the ***Romance***: I hated it. Okay, that's too harsh; I disliked it. It felt waaaaay too forced, and if there is one thing I hate more than anything in a romance it is a FORCED romance. That and obnoxious miscommunications like when a character finds out they are ill and decides to make their lover hate them and then skip town instead of simply working through it with them like a functioning couple would (side-eyeing The Story of Pearl Girl with that one). What can I say, I'm a sucker for slow-burns. I also didn't understand why Kant fell for Bison the way he did or why Fadel would even give Style the time of day to the point that Style was able to bounce back from finding out his lover is a SERIAL KILLER within DAYS. I also thought that the whole BDSM stuff between Kant and Bison was super cringe and not sexy at all. I'm not even dissing including BDSM, it's just that this portrayal was less appetizing than 50 Shades of Gray's was. I also didn't see why Fadel beating Style up right after they slept together was necessary. I'm not even a hater of them adding questionable aspects to relationships if it fits within a story's narrative (in which I believe it could have here if they were faithful to the idea of hitmen leading double lives and finding out their lovers lied to them and used them), but it just felt like a random reason to include abuse to the red flags of Fadel x Style. I think there are better ways to deal with a petty stalker that has negative rizz than to beat them up. Just felt like needless violence in a show that somehow needed more thought-out violence in it. Funny how that works, huh?
Now onto other aspects:
Acting: First and Khaotung are always excellent, I'm sure they were here too, I just couldn't fully experience it because I was too busy rolling my eyes at the absurdity of how their characters were written. I do still love them in other works a lot though, and I suspect I'll be watching many more shows of them. This was the first show of Joong and Dunk I had ever seen, so I have no idea how much they have improved (though I've read from others that it is quite a lot), though I really have to compliment Joong in this. I really liked his portrayal of Fadel and Fadel's strict attitude and rare instances of sorrow and joy. They were the closest I ever came to feeling legit anything of respect for any of the characters. Dunk on the other hand was not that good in this role. I will admit he did have some funny moments, but I just could not for the life of me see his supposed "charm" he loved to boast so much about. Maybe that was supposed to be the point and it just went over my head, but I still think there is no excuse for the unbelievable emotional scenes from him. I couldn't tell if I was tuning in to an abusive relationship or a comedic bit; it was that jarring. He is still gorgeous though and I mean no hate to him as I have hope he will genuinely improve as his acting career goes on.
Music: it was alright. Not too astounding, nor too underwhelming. It just was. I do remember that a single song did make me start to dance a little bit though, so it's slightly above average for me.
Production: it could look pretty good at times like when Bison was seducing the target in episode 1, then look unappealing like whatever episode 8 had going on. I don't know how they managed to make an island set look unattractive to me, but they did. I probably just got my hopes up after the beauty that was I Told Sunset About You's island sets. It gave me whiplash with how much I thought certain scenes had downgraded, along with the shaky camera angles that were not evoking the tension in me they were probably expecting. It's a shame that the most appealing sets were the ones in clubs that only appeared once in a Vanitas blue moon.
Plot: you already know how I feel about this if you've read this far faithfully. No extra words are needed to express my disappointment with this clusterfuck of missed potential and poor character writing.
Rewatch Value: I could only really see myself rewatching this in the future as a drinking game with my friends or sibling as a means to waste time together. We would not be there with the expectation of enjoyment of the main plot.
In conclusion: I don't think I'll ever pick this show back up again unless I planned to skim the last three episodes like I did with episode 9. It was that much of a disappointment that it's left a bad aftertaste in my mouth. Yet another shining example of a romance plot that could have been more if they dipped a little less into cliche romance tropes and a little more into a mature concept that includes romance as a subplot rather than the main plot. Thank you to anyone that listened to this TedTalk lmao. I yapped a bit too much. Sheeeeesh.
I normally do a pros and cons list with reviews because I think it gets my ideas across the best, but I think just explaining the nonsense will express my thoughts far better than if I just put them in a simple list.
The Hitman Aspect: I cannot believe how little sense there is put into the kills that the duo commit; I audibly asked "where are there gloves at?" because you would think that professional HITMEN would be more discreet and at least have the decency to buy latex gloves when touching murder locations and dead bodies. Then there is the issue of them murdering in pretty public areas....they were gonna shoot a man at a party venue with CHILDREN AROUND. See, I wouldn't have an issue with them being morally gray enough to murk a guy around child witnesses except for the fact that this show looooves to force the idea that Fadel and Bison aren't actually that bad of people. Despite the fact that they murder people......which would constitute them as serial killers.....the issue of moral dilemmas of whether their victims deserved it or not could have been truly interesting and thought provoking, but there doesn't seem to be much room for depth in that aspect of the show. Maybe I'm just being too harsh with my expectations since I've recently joined in with the resurfacing Dexter Frenzy and been stuck on a Dexter high.
The Handling of Morality: This part may have been my least favorite because I could not fathom why it felt like they were trying to push the audience to thinking that Bison was justified in KIDNAPPING AND THREATENING KANT and not to mention how he even "joked" about killing Kant's little brother to Kant's face as well. In addition, Bison got so heated over Kant having a pushy previous hookup pop up in his life uninvited and his fuss over Kant not disclosing the fact that he used to steal cars in his past years before meeting Bison. Like, Kant stole cars to PROVIDE for him and his little brother when they were emotionally and financially distraught after the sudden death of both of their parents;
Bison: "but why did you not tell meeee??? Do you not value me????"
Me: YOU MURDER PEOPLE
-and not him acting all victim about Kant not disclosing this past and him working as a police informant to be able to continue to provide for his brother after blud literally CHOSE not to tell Kant himself that he MURDERS PEOPLE!!! I know this sounds like a Kant apologist review, but I swear I have beef with him soon too.
+ can we talk about how poorly that scenario of the pedophile gym teacher was handled??? It was good that they portrayed the guy as a creep and scumbag, but it felt too cartoony and it felt like it was supposed to be semi-comedic. I simply did not care for how they just let him walk away without notifying the authority or school board either.
The Characters:
Kant: he started off interesting as it could have been really touching to see his sense of morality decline as he begins to sympathize with a killer despite knowing that the police are backing him to arrest said killer if he or his brother become targets instead. It could also have been compelling to see Kant feeling a subtle sense of sympathy for Bison committing crime because he himself committed crime when he was younger as a means to survive; this could cause Kant to assume the best of Bison's intent and feel he must be forced into the kind of life also.....but it just turned into a battle of 'which crime is worse', which is serial murder; obviously. He also always felt kind of detached from his brother, so much so that it seemed like he only cared about Bison over his own brother and best friend; style. Oh boy, where do I begin with this? This man set his friend up with a LITERAL SERIAL MURDERER yet never told him this until it was already too late. I could not fathom how Style stayed his friend after this.....like is bro's car THAT attractive to you? Enough to forgive him POSSIBLY SACRIFICING YOUR LIFE???? But then they try and force this whole "Kant puts his friend's life before his own" in episode 8 and I was just not believing it. Miss me with that bs.
Bison: I honestly feel conflicted about him. It felt like his character was all over the place with how I was supposed to view him: was he the sultry assassin? Was he the pouty little brother with a shotgun older brother? Was he a possessive and unhinged lover that would point a gun at his not-even-yet boyfriend's ex-hookup? Was he a secretly kind soul that wanted out of the daunting hitman life? Was he the guy that wanted to dominate Kant extensively? Or was he just the guy that wanted to eternally play victim and find new ways to make Kant look worse than him despite their VERY differing circumstances? I really didn't know what to think of him because I thought that the mischievous and sexy counterpart of him was encaptivating, and I saw the slight glimpses behind the curtain to a better version of the show whenever he acted unhinged and wielded a gun around. I personally believe he would have been far more of a favorite of mine and unique in BL Land if they stopped tip-toeing around him being morally ambiguous and just dived head-in with his mood swings and femme fatale vibe. I love characters like that, and lord knows that Khaotung could pull it off with his dazzling innocent face portraying a sexy and alluring bad boy. But no....we instead got a mismatch of different personas that just couldn't mash together well at all. I lament over what could have been for his character.
Style: he was a glorified stalker. I mean I did appreciate how he seemed the least morally questionable out of the central 4, but I still had to question why they wanted to root for him getting the guy when his preferred methods were intense stalking and harassment. Oh and his intent was to use Fadel in order to get his (undeserving of the title) best friend's family heirloom car. He did make me laugh at times so I can at least admit I appreciated that, but I also could not believe him when he said he was a stud that got tons of bitches; like, where??? I think it might have been because the actor couldn't portray that charisma, but I'm not certain. I also don't the reveal to him about Fadel being a killer was before he found out last second. I thought it would have made things far more interesting to see Style grapple with that fear and made the show seem 100% more serious. To be fair, Style does act scared at first when he finds out from Kant, but for all of 5 minutes. It also didn't help that in the following episodes his fear was hard to believe because of the acting performance. He just seemed like an oblivious guy that had zero survival skills whatsoever other than to try to rizz up his captor at the worst times.
Fadel: he was my favorite out of the 4, but that's not saying much to be honest. I liked the way his actor portrayed him and I thought that Fadel's rare smiles were the closest this show ever got to 'killing my heart'. He also seemed to have the most logic in the beginning, which I respected. We needed a voice of reason in this kind of plot.....but then we lost him......to the forced romance. I liked how he didn't give in to the persistent and clingy Style at first because he honestly had to no reason to, but once he did, he lost his air of maturity and it felt like his caution was compromised to him now saying the bs of "I trust you 80%" like, huh? I would not trust a manic stalker even 2%.... so they washed away his paranoid nature and replaced it with him not wanting to fool the two dudes into thinking his brother and him are head over heels for them only to THEN PLAN TO KILL THEM LIKE 2 DAYS LATER LIKE WHAT WAS EVEN THE POINT THEN!? The fooling was so obvious that even the lovesick Kant could see through that ish; but I digress.
Now onto the ***Romance***: I hated it. Okay, that's too harsh; I disliked it. It felt waaaaay too forced, and if there is one thing I hate more than anything in a romance it is a FORCED romance. That and obnoxious miscommunications like when a character finds out they are ill and decides to make their lover hate them and then skip town instead of simply working through it with them like a functioning couple would (side-eyeing The Story of Pearl Girl with that one). What can I say, I'm a sucker for slow-burns. I also didn't understand why Kant fell for Bison the way he did or why Fadel would even give Style the time of day to the point that Style was able to bounce back from finding out his lover is a SERIAL KILLER within DAYS. I also thought that the whole BDSM stuff between Kant and Bison was super cringe and not sexy at all. I'm not even dissing including BDSM, it's just that this portrayal was less appetizing than 50 Shades of Gray's was. I also didn't see why Fadel beating Style up right after they slept together was necessary. I'm not even a hater of them adding questionable aspects to relationships if it fits within a story's narrative (in which I believe it could have here if they were faithful to the idea of hitmen leading double lives and finding out their lovers lied to them and used them), but it just felt like a random reason to include abuse to the red flags of Fadel x Style. I think there are better ways to deal with a petty stalker that has negative rizz than to beat them up. Just felt like needless violence in a show that somehow needed more thought-out violence in it. Funny how that works, huh?
Now onto other aspects:
Acting: First and Khaotung are always excellent, I'm sure they were here too, I just couldn't fully experience it because I was too busy rolling my eyes at the absurdity of how their characters were written. I do still love them in other works a lot though, and I suspect I'll be watching many more shows of them. This was the first show of Joong and Dunk I had ever seen, so I have no idea how much they have improved (though I've read from others that it is quite a lot), though I really have to compliment Joong in this. I really liked his portrayal of Fadel and Fadel's strict attitude and rare instances of sorrow and joy. They were the closest I ever came to feeling legit anything of respect for any of the characters. Dunk on the other hand was not that good in this role. I will admit he did have some funny moments, but I just could not for the life of me see his supposed "charm" he loved to boast so much about. Maybe that was supposed to be the point and it just went over my head, but I still think there is no excuse for the unbelievable emotional scenes from him. I couldn't tell if I was tuning in to an abusive relationship or a comedic bit; it was that jarring. He is still gorgeous though and I mean no hate to him as I have hope he will genuinely improve as his acting career goes on.
Music: it was alright. Not too astounding, nor too underwhelming. It just was. I do remember that a single song did make me start to dance a little bit though, so it's slightly above average for me.
Production: it could look pretty good at times like when Bison was seducing the target in episode 1, then look unappealing like whatever episode 8 had going on. I don't know how they managed to make an island set look unattractive to me, but they did. I probably just got my hopes up after the beauty that was I Told Sunset About You's island sets. It gave me whiplash with how much I thought certain scenes had downgraded, along with the shaky camera angles that were not evoking the tension in me they were probably expecting. It's a shame that the most appealing sets were the ones in clubs that only appeared once in a Vanitas blue moon.
Plot: you already know how I feel about this if you've read this far faithfully. No extra words are needed to express my disappointment with this clusterfuck of missed potential and poor character writing.
Rewatch Value: I could only really see myself rewatching this in the future as a drinking game with my friends or sibling as a means to waste time together. We would not be there with the expectation of enjoyment of the main plot.
In conclusion: I don't think I'll ever pick this show back up again unless I planned to skim the last three episodes like I did with episode 9. It was that much of a disappointment that it's left a bad aftertaste in my mouth. Yet another shining example of a romance plot that could have been more if they dipped a little less into cliche romance tropes and a little more into a mature concept that includes romance as a subplot rather than the main plot. Thank you to anyone that listened to this TedTalk lmao. I yapped a bit too much. Sheeeeesh.
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