Feardorcha

It's long been clear that the series doesn't know how to utilize its supporting characters but these last two episodes have reinforced that the series doesn't even understand its supporting characters.

Taem has been a level-headed, practical, and aware character from the start. During the first 2/3rds of the series, she never indicated that she had a romantic interest in anyone, or was focused on anything other than her own educational and professional goals. We even saw her suss out the attraction between Yak and Wandee and smile softly to herself about it. While the series never sold me on Yak crushing hard on Taem, it did convince me that Taem wasn't interested anyway. I legitimately thought the whole storyline would end with Yak confessing out of desperately sad despair and Taem reading him an empathetic but firm riot act on coming to terms with his true feelings for Wandee. THAT would have made sense given what we've seen. Same with the Ohm nonsense; neither of these characters, as we've seen them, are the type of people for whom that car scene makes any sense. What little we saw of Ohm hinted he had an interest in Taem but in no way suggested he was a predatory creep who would press the matter; what we've seen of Taem tells us she wouldn't have reacted or behaved the way she did in that situation. The whole scene was an insult to Taem's character, bizarre for Ohm's character, tedious for Yak's character, and an insult to the viewing audience.

Ter is having the same issue. He is whatever manufactured drama needs him to be. He's not a character, he's an overstretched plot point.

There is an increasingly growing gap between what the series is SHOWING us versus what it's TELLING us, and it's disappointing in what is an otherwise engaging story.

I know we're only two episodes in but this series just isn't grabbing me. It's rather dull. A few of the characters are kind of interesting and it's quite lovingly shot (kudos to you, Khun Ratchanon) but it just isn't capturing my attention, for whatever reason.

The last episode was replete with stupid, this episode was filled with pointless. Ohm is even less of a character than Taem (completely forgot AJ was even here) but you drag him back out just to have him be a gropey asshole for...what? And turned Taem into a sudden damsel-in-distress because...why? What purpose did that scene serve? Why are Taem and Ohm even having any scene? Yak didn't even miss the ball so...what was the point of all that?

And is Wandee suffering from a head injury we didn't see or something? What is this indecisive wishy-washy mixed signals nonsense with Ter? Is he over him or not? Because literally every other aspect of the series says "yes" but then Wandee keeps barely resisting Ter in private. Again, why? We are eight episodes in; Ter stopped being a thing like four episodes back but he keeps going round and round in a cycle of nothingness because the series won't just let Wandee give it to him straight. I'm actually starting to feel kind of bad for the guy.

The premise of this series obviously couldn't sustain itself for 12 episodes but this third act is a real downgrade. Yet, it doesn't have to be. Yei has an actual problem, one that threatens the stability and likely safety of the whole family—why aren't we focusing on that? We could spend these last episodes watching the boys fight to save Yei, the gym, and their financial future, while watching Yak battle back from the exhibition match loss, but for whatever reason we're still dicking around with this "fake boyfriend" thing that definitively wrapped last episode. The preview for next episode is aggravating.

Did a new writer take over? What are we doing?

[Oh as an aside: congratulations, Thailand!]

If GMMTV wanted to do "MSP" again, they should've just done a sequel to that series. The references, the musical numbers—it's annoying and schlocky, and a poor substitute for the chemistry that isn't happening between the leads. Both Gemini and Fourth are playing their individual parts well but this hesitant, imbalanced energy storyline just may not be the best material for them as a pair. The friendship between Atom and Mudmee is the only aspect that's somewhat working.

I think I see how the soundscape was intended to be the Thai equivalent of the broad mugging common in Japanese acting but, holy hell, it is irritating beyond belief, especially when it's part of a scene that is already exaggerated or overly explanatory. It's like the series either doesn't trust the audience to comprehend what characters are feeling/thinking, or doesn't trust the actors to properly convey it. Which is unfortunate because the cast is doing their jobs well enough, only to be undermined by poor production choices and unnecessary emphasis. Just let the scenes breathe for a moment, give the characters some room.

Every time Ming shows up while Joe is working, Joe ends up getting some kind of finger-wagging lecture from an industry bigwig. I hope Sol punches him again.

I think this episode was supposed to make me feel sad or angry or perhaps just pity but it was the first episode where I felt nothing. It was an episode of people being subjected to the consequences of their own dumb decisions. And any potential emotional weight is just undermined by the fact we know these two are endgame. It was all unkeepable promises—Ming will definitely hurt Joe again because Ming is a narcissistic asshat by nature, and Joe will go back to Ming in like two seconds because Joe's spine has the structural integrity of a jellyfish.

The one thing I absolutely loved in this episode is that Ming didn't say sorry. Joe is over there rightfully losing his shit about how Ming ruined his first life and Ming's whole response is basically, "Get over it. You were mine in that life, and you belong to me in this one, too." And doubling-down on it by reminding Joe he's still under contract and therefore doesn't even have the autonomy to leave? Oh, Ming, you magnificently selfish bastard, please don't ever change.

I'm excited that next episode will focus on Tong's brazen machinations. What a delightfully shameless villain he is. That's how he got away with the murder I'll forever remain convinced he has definitely committed.

LOL, that part.

Using AI and using it poorly. The prompts must be an absolute mess.

There is...so very much that is aggravating about your AI-generated response but what it tells me most of all is that I should disengage immediately from someone who can't even write a halfway decent prompt in the first place.

Good day to you.

["...but this felt more like a series of graphic encounters than a genuine exploration of love and connection."]

Because it is. It's two young hot strangers banging each other on a tropical island; love and connection has nothing to do with it. For now, anyway.

I'm also not a big fan of the sartorial choices here but then I am generally put-off by conspicious consumption masquerading as style. I absolutely hated his introductory outfit in the first episode. I took one look at it and thought, "That is a man whose clothes are wearing him".

But at the same time, the wardrobe choices could be character-related. Perhaps Tongrak dones flashy clothing like armour, the same way he uses money as a weapon. He's inhabiting a shell that loudly telegraphs to the world that he's successful, in control, undaunted, and not even the littlest tiniest bit unstable or uncertain.

Or, you know, it's Thailand, where the cultural affinity for what's considered fashionable is closely aligned with what visibly looks expensive. I'm just glad he's not strutting around with branded bags and giant logos plastered everywhere.

Ok fine, but I'm only hanging around for the sex and the scenery; let's not muck it up with too much "story".

Vie is deliciously diabolicial. Khaimuk, my lovely little doe, you are a married woman, even if you don't realize it yet. If you two were any other type of mammal, Vie would've just been aggressively scent-marking the hell out of you. I could smell the pheromones through the screen—you're in danger, girl!

I don't think I've uttered the sentence "What in the world?" as many times in my whole life as I did during that opening scene. Shame the rest of the episode was nowhere near as entertaining.

That poster communicated no information, advertised no product or service, provided no insight, contained no logos or even a website. It wasn't even a complete thought. That poster existed, in that specific elevator, at that precise moment, just to mock Yak. It tickled me pink and I laughed and laughed.

Which was good because pretty much the rest of the episode just pissed me off.

I fully expected some pointless conflict because we're at about the part of the story where it has to happen but holy hell was that manufactured. Everybody came out of this looking like right idiots.

Yak hasn't displayed any propensity for violence outside of the ring, nor has he been shown to be anything but hard-working, devoted, and successful; he's not even particularly cocky about it. He seems like the kind of guy who is aware that, as a professionally trained fighter, he shouldn't be getting into punch-ups with civilians. So what in the blue hell was all that yelling about him always resorting to violence and being a constant disappointment to everyone?

And did Wandee just lose all common sense? He had a pre-arranged date with Yak and candles burning on the table; on what planet does he sit himself and his sex costume down for dinner and drinks with Ter and then a little light PowerPointing? Previous crush aside, Wandee just would not do that; at the very least, he'd have taken off the headband and put on some damn pants first. I am insulted on behalf of the character that he was reduced to such outright stupidity for the sake of pointless drama.

And speaking of Ter—look, either pull the trigger or drop this storyline. I have no idea what his motivations or objectives are and, at this point, I really don't care. So either let him be an actual villain or move him out of the way; he has served his primary purpose as a plot point, and nothing else he's doing is important. I am getting annoyed by his face and have you seen Pod's sexy face?

I would say the same about Taem but Taem was never a thing. Even she looked confused about why she's still here.

As usual, Dr. Plakao was the only one making any sense; I, too, would like this saga to end already if this is the dumbassery we should expect going forward. Just...wow.

Episodes two of both this series and the JBL ended the same way: with our main protagonist realizing he's developing feelings for his male classmate. Why was it so believable in the JBL but comes across as undercooked balderdash here?

Somewhere between all the unnecessary inner monologuing and the silly noises soundscape may be the element that would actually make all of this work within the confines of Thai culture but I'm not seeing any promise that element will actually come to the fore. This series is hitting all the beats but it just feels so artificial, so empty, and so forced.

The play scene really left a foul taste in my mouth. In the JBL, the protagonist is a tad goofy but genuinely well-meaning and caring. He had no confidence in his own ability to perform the role but he was willing to be embarrassed on stage in front of the whole school if it meant he could save a friend from the same fate (and in the JBL, this decision truly seemed less about his crush and more about his inherent empathy; you got the impression he would've done it for anyone in the class, not just the girl he liked, because he's driven to be helpful to the people around him). He let them put him in that shapeless dress and slap on that shoddy-ass wig and just went with it, because he promised to help and by-golly, he was going to fulfill that promise. We watched him awkward his way through the production with all the gusto he could manage and it was bloody fucking charming. The play scene was short in the JBL but it told us so much about our characters: their fears, their shortcomings, their strong suits, their braveries, the traits that underlay their personalities.

In this Thai series, all of that was lost. It just seems like he was waiting for the right moment to step into the spotlight and flex his own talents. I skipped both of the songs; they felt so out-of-place in the story, so obviously just a vehicle servicing the main ship as a commercial Thai BL product rather than an integral plot element that moved the story and its characters forward. And, sure, he's "just stepping in", but he can perform the song flawlessly with no rehearsals and has the most perfectly tailored wardrobe for the whole show despite there being ZERO warning to the production crew that he would replace the title character? Sure. Ok. Aggravatingly stupid, and without reason. He could've just played freaking Cinderella and we could've skipped all the nonsense.

I so want this Thai series to be good because I genuinely like the source material. I'll stick around for another few episodes; perhaps it will find its speed once it reaches the new material, where there's more overt romantic activity between the leads. Thai BLs tend to be rather decent at that stage.

Well, at least they gave her something to struggle carrying that was more substantial than two pieces of floppy cardboard.

Tong has such resting "I murdered someone & got away with it" face. It is so very punchable. I want someone to punch it. I hope Joe gets to punch it.

Joe, it's wonderful you acknowledge that you are, in fact, a dumpster, and Tong and Ming are the flames you keep letting set you alight. But you just keep being the best dumpster fire you can be, you pathetic boy.

Wut needs more love. The man has such layers, and is carrying so much tragedy and loss that he isn't sharing with anyone. I'm glad he got some of it out, and also got his friend back to boot. Cheers to you, Wut.

And am I the only one who was mildly surprised Ming didn't spawn from under the van or out of a tree when Sol was hugging Joe? I guess Ming's "Someone's touching Joe" radar goes silent during meditation.

I don't care. I just don't care. This didn't necessarily begin as a great series but it has certainly devolved over the weeks since its premiere. One episode left, and I'm dropping. They're going to end together, sure, great, of course, but I just don't care.

First episode was meh. Lovely marine cinematography, though.

What a filler of an episode. How long are we going to just be spinning our wheels here? And can we finally please be done with this Taemrak nonsense? It has been nothing but a dull waste of time since the beginning, as well as a waste of an otherwise engaging and likeable character who should have been given literally any other reason for existing. There is so much else we could be exploring during all the dead air that is pretending Yak's interested in Taem.

What medical mysteries lie in all "the research"? What ominous and vaguely illegal mess has Yei gotten into? Cher was saved from being assaulted, how'd that go down? Is Dr. Plakao putting sex costumes on other people? How talented is Wandee that he can perform completely bloodless surgery? Is Ter having a real awakening or is he about to villain villainously? Could they really not find NC archive footage where Yak wasn't visibly wearing his necklace, or what are we supposed to think happened there? Wandee has been conspiciously wearing that thing for weeks, it was distracting to see Yak suddenly wearing it with no context. See? So much more we could be focusing on.

At this point, whenever Taem appears, I start pining for the next sex ed lecture. It also contributes nothing to the story but at least something new may be learned.

Ming, you selfish ass. Now they've got to reset and probably reshoot the end of that scene, and Joe is likely going to end up apologizing to everyone after receiving yet another lecture about professionalism, because you keep sabotaging his work. Don't you have some more decour-coordinated robes to go buy or something? Let the man work in peace, at least.

Tong absolutely murdered someone in the past and no one will ever convince me otherwise. How is it that neither Ming nor his sister can actually see Tong? He just oozes smarmy insincerity from every pore. One would think a monster like Ming would recognize another monster like Tong, especially after they basically killed Joe together.

I suppose we are now officially on the "redeem Ming" arc, terribly disappointing. Honestly, I don't want to see Joe's love lift Ming up; I want to watch Ming's obsession drag Joe down. Joe has been most interesting to me when he meets Ming at Ming's level: manipulative, forceful, occasionally cruel. Stop fighting the poison, Joe; just let it seep in.