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Look for the larger themes, and recognise where it's spoof
What they set out to do was ambitious and hard to pull off. Not just that it's structured as three different series/lakorn styles, but two of them also include comedic parody. That's why the first is so OTT, it's a rollicking exaggerated for humour piss-take of exaggerated for emotion lakorns, Club Friday, and tropes. If you're familiar with that part of Thai television culture, some of its comedy is laugh out loud funny. If you're not, it probably just comes across as annoying.
The second story foregoes that energy to give too much time to a cliched bickering/fake dating scenario. Its strength IMO are the interactions between Pim and Neung as they both learn from their mistakes and each other. Yes, Pim repeats some of hers. It's how the entirety is structured and if she hadn't it would have been A Son and his Mae, instead of three.
(I'm less certain about humour in the second story. Thames/Tevit is referred to as Mom Luang Tevit a couple of times - is he actually a great grandson of the king or are the mums taking the mick? The writers were having fun, as with his brothers calling him Tempura. The straight-boy playing gatoey assistant/confidant felt like parody too, though I won't argue for that one.)
The third story begins as spoof of youth series but leaves that quickly. It's the one which will be most familiar in feel to most western GMMTV fans. Film in particular was vibrant.
The three romances are the vehicle for the series' larger themes. Pay attention to that, because this is where it shines. Young people maturing and figuring themselves - and love - out, understanding their mothers and struggling to get their mothers to understand them, looking for the good intentions, but also learning that good intentions aren't enough. Complicated mothers getting it wrong but trying and doing it all for love, even when they misunderstand what's best.
The structure complicated what they set out to do. It's not perfect and these themes have been more gracefully explored elsewhere. But it has an enormous, generous heart and a charm of its very own.
The second story foregoes that energy to give too much time to a cliched bickering/fake dating scenario. Its strength IMO are the interactions between Pim and Neung as they both learn from their mistakes and each other. Yes, Pim repeats some of hers. It's how the entirety is structured and if she hadn't it would have been A Son and his Mae, instead of three.
(I'm less certain about humour in the second story. Thames/Tevit is referred to as Mom Luang Tevit a couple of times - is he actually a great grandson of the king or are the mums taking the mick? The writers were having fun, as with his brothers calling him Tempura. The straight-boy playing gatoey assistant/confidant felt like parody too, though I won't argue for that one.)
The third story begins as spoof of youth series but leaves that quickly. It's the one which will be most familiar in feel to most western GMMTV fans. Film in particular was vibrant.
The three romances are the vehicle for the series' larger themes. Pay attention to that, because this is where it shines. Young people maturing and figuring themselves - and love - out, understanding their mothers and struggling to get their mothers to understand them, looking for the good intentions, but also learning that good intentions aren't enough. Complicated mothers getting it wrong but trying and doing it all for love, even when they misunderstand what's best.
The structure complicated what they set out to do. It's not perfect and these themes have been more gracefully explored elsewhere. But it has an enormous, generous heart and a charm of its very own.
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