EmiLayo

An Unexpected Gem

I loved this series.

I initially began watching the series due to the hype over the pairing of RealHia, but to my surprise I completely fell in love with the dynamics of the lead couple, Thomas (Muenfah) and Kong (Teerak). These youngsters are so sweet together, in a way normally reserved for female + male pairings. Both characters appear to be neurodivergent-- on the spectrum, in different ways. On the surface, Muenfah is emotionally cold and closed off to everyone, even with his younger brother, while Teerak is happily surrounded by the love of his parents and sister and is a sweet ray of sunshine who, unfortunately for him, has poor boundaries. When, due to circumstances, they come together, they address the under-developed aspects of each other's personalities and grow, slowly and naturally, in trust and love.

In the end, Meunfah gains a partner who loves him, deeply, despite his faults, and because he knows he's loved, regardless of those faults, he wants to change them to be a better man for his partner. This change also generates beautiful changes in his relationships with his own family members and friends. Teerak gains a partner who will always choose to be gentle with him, who will wholeheartedly love him and protect him, just as his mother, father and sister do, and that safety allows him to be more emotionally honest with those in his life, thereby setting gentle but necessarily firm boundaries with some problematic individuals. As with any healthy relationship, Meunfah and Teerak end up as each other's emotional safe spaces.

I'm thankful that the screenwriter chose to deviate from the usual shtick of having characters breaking each other's trust for dramatic effect. For other couples and dramas, that's fine, but for this couple, it was unnecessary.

I want to also add that the cinematography and directing were top-notch and all the support actors did excellent work! Thank you creators and actors for bringing your A-games.

And, yes, the RealHia story line was greatly entertaining. They're such cutie-pies. It was refreshing to have a series based in college where the majority of the actors looked the appropriate age for the characters they were portraying.

Read More

Love Like a Gentle Breeze and the Soft Warmth of the Sun

This drama left me feeling warm and safe-- the type of feelings that the character Dong Uk, chronically suffering with insomnia, required to feel safe enough to sleep peacefully.

So many miscommunications or lost opportunities in romantic relationships are caused by fear of rejection or inability to recognize or accept one's own deep need for a safe and loving connection. Love doesn't need to be the type of raging and chaotic storms that are prevalent in dramas-- those that toss us to and fro and leave us shaken. Love can be as gentle as a summer breeze and, often, it is this type of gentle love that heals us, as we are left feeling safe enough to unfurl and fully open our hearts, just as the petals of a flower do in the warming rays of the sun.

A Breeze of Love represented this emotional truth very well and the actors all did a beautiful job portraying the characters. Excellent work, everyone!

Read More

A Beautiful Sledgehammer to the Heart

This drama was an unexpected gem. I was not expecting the level of quality-- wonderful acting from all actors, beautiful cinematography, exemplary direction and truly lovely score. I was locked in from episode 1 and remained fully engaged up to the final seconds of the series.

Every episode was a taut tapestry of emotions-- some almost choked me with their emotional intensity. I could feel my heart thumping and growing heavier as the episodes progressed.

Pond's portrayal of Wang was eye-opening. The man can ACT! I felt every single one of his emotions as they either simmered beneath his seemingly placid surface or exploded out when he couldn't contain them any longer. His relationship with his mother was loving yet fraught (for good reasons), and I could always glimpse his longing for his father and attraction to In. Pond needs to be given more serious dramas, as some of the BL scripts he's had to work with just aren't up to his talents.

I read a lot of reviews of those who detested the mother character, but I really appreciated her, because I could see that she was modeled after Elizabeth Taylor's character in WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF and the actress, Mam Kathaleeya McIntosh, did a stellar job of bringing the emotional roller-coaster of an alcoholic and narcissistic artist to life. Her acting almost had my jaw on the floor many times. It was out of this world. She understood the character's selfish motivations so deeply, that I couldn't hate her for her behavior, even though in many ways I wanted to shake her.

Life can sometimes be one big tangled web of complexities and this drama plowed right into the heart of some of those tangles. I appreciated that they didn't try to wrangle a contrived ending out of what were intensely complex relationships. Life doesn't always work out the way we desire. There are some who are deeply selfish, some who are brave of heart and those who are cowardly and when they all meet on the battlefield of love, rarely do we end up with a warm and cushy resolution.

In the end, the series was a beautiful sledgehammer to my heart.

BRAVO!! 👏👏👏

Read More