Earth

Mostly agreed, though I do see her as a victim in ways too.....of the system, patriarchal social norms, and the entrenched power structures....but yes, much less of a victim than Sasin-Saenkaew's pair in the specific context of their relationship...both of them hurt Pin, and that was wrong, though a lot of that was not in their control.... but none of them betrayed her in anyway whatsoever

I am not wanting to write off her emotions...the 'fantasy' part is about her being delulu, despite getting repeated reminders that it is very unlikely to happen, to the extent of refusing to even talk about it...and afterwards believing that she can force someone to love her...and that too after forcing them to abandon the one they love.

All of these would definitely, and without any shred of doubt, qualify as fantasy living and thinking in my opinion. A fantasy where she was the principal character in focus and the biggest victim...a fantasy that not only hurt her, but everyone else as well.

My consideration of her emotions, which I definitely acknowledged, as I hope is apparent from my earlier post, does not change the way I look at it. It is alright if you do not agree to this perspective though, we can always agree to disagree.

Agreed that not telling her was wrong...but it was not because they were betraying her....her sense of betrayal from Sasin was not completely unfounded though since she expected him to protect her, and off course would not have imagined him falling for her fiance....but before Sasin became aware of his own attraction to Saenkaew, he was trying to protect her only since he could sense something off in Saenkaew and was constantly trying to find out what it was...so in ways which he WAS doing what was expected of him....It was only when he found out about Saenkaew being gay that he changed his stance conciously...Yes, not disclosing anything to Pin was not the best idea, but given how prone she was to blurting all things to that POS father, I would say they were not being entirely unreasonable

Saenkaew did not betray her at all....it was plain to Pin from the very beginning that he did not love her and it was only an arrangement, it was her own attraction to him that made her turn a blind eye and ear every time Saenkaew tried to broach the topic, albeit cautiously....I am not blaming her behaviour here because she wanted to dream some and that is only human...but she has no reason to blame him for her heartbreak...the only thing that was strategically wrong on Saenkaew's part was how nice he was to her...but he is like that and is nice to almost everyone....

Sasin and Saenkaew were NOT conspiring to betray her, on the contrary, they were actually trying to save everyone involved...and yes, it would have been the best case scenario if they were to also confide in her about why they were doing what they were doing...but that does not make them such huge betrayers

We also saw how convinced she was that she can make Saenkaew love her instead, even when she learnt that the two men were in love, and Saenkaew is gay ...truth be told there were pretty obvious signs all along, she did not want to see them...again not outright blaming her only for that, because it is only human to want to run from uncomfortable truths....

She was majorly delulu and wanted to continue to live in that world...others like Rachawadee also tried to convince her to give up the idea, but she was adamant in wanting to hurt back and/or 'own' Saenkaew against his will, using the power leverage that she had....which again is human...but is definitely not the ideal human behaviour...so there were issues at both ends, I would say way more on Pin's end, than on Sasin and Saenkaew's end

Anyway, it was good that she finally realised her mistake and let Saenkaew go, who was not her to control in the first place

Absolutely agree!

"Maybe that’s the real emotional labor of watching historical melodrama: holding frustration and empathy in the same hand"

Yes, and yes..:)

But in the same breath, 'culture' is used far too many times and instances in many Asian countries to avoid potentially unsettling, but extremely important conversations and engagements...I think this drama, portraying a story from the 60s is actually bang on with the ending, since it couldn't h ave been any better during that timeframe...but I also understand why many of us are unhappy with it....I think this paragraph and how you put it, beautifully explains the same:

"A lakorn is basically free group therapy. One character’s misfortune invites our sympathy, another’s cruelty fuels our anger, and yet another’s foolishness gives us someone to yell at. We pour out every bit of bottled-up frustration onto these poor fictional souls."

Bang on...a fantasy tale of betrayal she herself imagined, made herself the martyr hero of, pickled in self-pity and victimhood ....don't we all know at least one person like that!

Couldn't have put this any better...💖

Agreed....but I guess as Asian individuals themselves, it is difficult to start seeing and actively acknowledging it as a core cultural issue. As an Asian myself, I actively talk about this in my own circles, particularly from a queer perspective, but we need to be careful in the same breath, so as not to demonise 'Asian parenting' as a whole

Ikr...out of these four, I have watched three and agree that they deal with them the right way, mostly that is....

This kind of out and out narcissistic abuse in the name of 'I'm only doing it for your own good'-propaganda needs to END....people do follow pop-culture, and perpetrators are emboldened by such portrayals.....it seriously harms countless individuals who are living on a precipice, like forever....it has been going on for centuries!!

I wish at least one show will do the courageous thing, and put such shitty parents where they belong.

Yet to watch the finale, but I heard that they forgive the POS father in the end!!!! He plain deserves a miserable death, or at the least a life where his son disowns him and never ever sees him again.

This is plain beautiful...and hilarious and heart tugging...to say that I like it, will be an understatement..it gives me the Tales of the City vibes, which is an absolute favourite...after a long time, we get a drama about love, friendship, and camaraderie involving gay men, that feels real and yet, promising...🥰

Ikr...its such a pity because the show has really improved with every episode and it could have well been a real all-round stunner if this one thing could be better.....unfortunately, there's very little one can do about chemistry I guess...you either have it or you don't..

Agreed ...as long as we don't start stepping on people's toes too much, debates need to be on....all kinds of opinions can have space, as long they don't start becoming violent, or demeaning

Couldn't agree more...what is with this compulsion to 'convert' everyone to your perspective and take....isn't diversity what keeps us going and thriving!!!

I think Namping has improved his acting in the more recent episodes...but NGL , I had initially put this series on hold after Ep 3 principally since Khem, as the lead character of this show, was not convincing to me.....but now he's doing a much better job of it...

The other off-putting thing is the very minimal chemistry that I feel between Keng and Namping, even now though both of them are doing good with their respective acting parts now (I am at Ep 10)......and no amount of convincing can make me change my mind about their chemistry...it's kinda sad now that I see that both of them are acting well and have a few more dramas lined up as a pair...I really feel they should explore other pairings

I got back to the show because the story, script, performance of all the other actors (Jet-Charn is adorable and so is grandma), art direction, cinematography, coloring, music, costumes, make-up all of it is so good...and the most important reason - Keng....he's plain stunning in this one....I stuck on because of Keng and I don't regret one bit

The official MV, Mantra, is now available on YT with Keng signing it, but I'm not sure if the intro credit song is available

Gurl!!!!!...I'm done for....

OMG!!! ..can you die more than once? 😱😭🥵

Yes, yes...and that tattooed back...oh damn!!! 🥵

It was Episode 8, the 2 hour long one 😁