Be aware! You are going to watch one of the most powerful poetic sexual tensions of TV history! The scene on the beach when they meet and the scene where Teh touches Oh-Aew's backs... Oh my Buddha! I have never seen something like that before in an Asian TV show. This series needs an international award!
Today this series is the top rated Gay/BL series on this website, ahead of Cherry Magic and Gaya Sa Pelikula. If you consider The Untamed as a BL, then it would be the second top rated.
Some people say he is selfish and childish. Well, I like the character. I won't lie that I like him because I see on him my teenage version. When I was 15, 16 years old, I had a huge appetite for admiration from my peers. I was a smart kid, very good at language, History and Literature. I liked very much when people acknowledged that. At the same time, I was EXTREMELY insecure. Although I was good in many things, I was terrible at math and sports, for example. I didn't want people to acknowledge some of my flaws and more than anything I wanted to be like everybody else, to be integrated. I wanted to be part of a group, be friends with everyone and be admired for my good traits. I think Teh is the same. He is very insecure. Insecure people tend to seek for other people's approvement and admiration. That's why he always wanted to be a protagonist. He doesn't want to be a common actor. He wants to be a protagonist. Supporting role is not enough for him. But when he tells to his friends that he wanted to be a leading actor, his friends make fun of him: "You can only be a tree". There is only ONE person who doesn't laugh at him: Oh-Aew. And this is the turning point. Oh-Aew supports his friend's ambitions and this is why the friendship between them developed. Oh-Aew gives Teh the admiration he wants. It doesn't mean, though, that it is an one sided friendship since Teh develops a real love for his fellow. Their friendship is real and we can all see that clearly. The difference is that Teh needs more attention than Oh-Aew, who is a chill boy and can get popularity easily and "naturally". When Oh-Aew is chosen to be the protagonist of the play, Teh is very said because he wanted so much that role, but he still supports his friend. But after Oh-Aew reveals he also wants to be an actor, he is not going to be an admirer anymore, but a competitor. This changes everything and Teh is really upset. For him, it is unfair that his friend, who doesn't care about studies and definitely is not a hard worker, got so much admiration and popularity. Teh feels that he is working so hard for getting what he wants while his friend didn't do anything but got all the glory. So, they fight and stop talking. Oh-Aew is sad because his friend said he would give up after some time because he is not a hard worker. This is an interesting event. Oh-Aew, who seemed to be so chill, hides insecurities also. Although he doesn't seek so much attention as Teh (because he can easily get attention and popularity) , he is also insecure about something: his skills. He is not so confident as Teh in his own capacities. So Teh is very confident in his skills, but he is insecure about other people's approvement. He thinks his skills are great, but this might be not enough to get other people's admiration. Oh-Aew, otherwise, care less about other people's admiration (he is already popular without much effort), but he is insecure about his own capacity.
Summary: Teh wants to prove everyone that he is good. Oh-Aew wants to prove himself he is good.
I understand why people tend to feel more empathy for Oh-Aew, but I really like Teh. His insecurity about what others think about him is so strong that he creates imaginary conflicts in his mind. The scene where he asks his friends if they are virgin is brilliant! In his mind, he needs to prove to himself and to everyone else that he is so cool and chill as Oh-Aew. Generally teenagers are ashamed to confess to his peers that they are still virgin. Since Oh-Aew did that, he needs to do the same and prove he is so cool as Oh-Aew. He needs to prove that just like Oh-Aew, he has friends too and he can talk personal things with them. For him, it is a competition where he needs to prove things all the time. The point is that he doesn't understand that he loves Oh-Aew yet and the competition for attention is a competition for love. The interesting thing here is that at some point, they started to care more about each other than anything else. Teh wants all Oh-Aew's attention and admiration (like he had when they were kids) and Oh-Aew wants to prove to Teh that his is capable of being an actor, that he can be a hard working man too. So, the rivalry hides a deep connection between them. They do everything to get to each other, although they don't fully understand it yet.
Isn't that a great show? We could talk hours about it!
Many people here seem to think that the audition in the first scene of the series is actually the future, after the Chinese tutoring classes. A future where they are not together. When I saw it, I had the feeling that the audition was part of his entrance exam. He calls his mother after the exam to tell her that he can beat the "kids from Bangkok". Then, he goes back home and his mother gives free food to celebrate him. Some days later he gets the result of the audition and he is approved. So, this is how I understand the chronology of the story. Maybe I am wrong, though. However, one thing got me confused. He said after the audition that the next day would be his last day at school. But he keeps going to the school after that, which means that the audition might be the future indeed. But if it is really the future, I really didn't get the chronology. What is your opinion?
I'm not sure we can talk about a "teenage" love. Every person have different ways to experience love as a teenager…
I don't agree. Teh is just someone with very low self-esteem, not toxic at all. Only because he has some flaws, it doesn't mean he is toxic. Toxicity is a very strong word. Teh feels he is not good enough and he wants to be good as his friend. He thinks Oh-Aew is more handsome, more loved, more special than him and he wants so bad to be like him. He is envy of him, but jealousy of him at the same time. He wants all his friends' attention. He wants his friend to admire him the same way he admires his friend. A lot of immaturity, for sure. But far from being toxic.
I wonder the same, it's as if something happened though it's framed to look like it happened before he coming…
The presentation in the first scene is his exam entrance. He needs that to get in! The chronology only makes sense if the presentation is before the tutoring classes. That is what I think so far.
Be aware! You are going to watch one of the most powerful poetic sexual tensions of TV history! The scene on the beach when they meet and the scene where Teh touches Oh-Aew's backs... Oh my Buddha! I have never seen something like that before in an Asian TV show. This series needs an international award!
Wonderful to see the recognition of the public.
Some people say he is selfish and childish. Well, I like the character. I won't lie that I like him because I see on him my teenage version. When I was 15, 16 years old, I had a huge appetite for admiration from my peers. I was a smart kid, very good at language, History and Literature. I liked very much when people acknowledged that. At the same time, I was EXTREMELY insecure. Although I was good in many things, I was terrible at math and sports, for example. I didn't want people to acknowledge some of my flaws and more than anything I wanted to be like everybody else, to be integrated. I wanted to be part of a group, be friends with everyone and be admired for my good traits.
I think Teh is the same. He is very insecure. Insecure people tend to seek for other people's approvement and admiration. That's why he always wanted to be a protagonist. He doesn't want to be a common actor. He wants to be a protagonist. Supporting role is not enough for him. But when he tells to his friends that he wanted to be a leading actor, his friends make fun of him: "You can only be a tree". There is only ONE person who doesn't laugh at him: Oh-Aew. And this is the turning point. Oh-Aew supports his friend's ambitions and this is why the friendship between them developed. Oh-Aew gives Teh the admiration he wants. It doesn't mean, though, that it is an one sided friendship since Teh develops a real love for his fellow. Their friendship is real and we can all see that clearly. The difference is that Teh needs more attention than Oh-Aew, who is a chill boy and can get popularity easily and "naturally".
When Oh-Aew is chosen to be the protagonist of the play, Teh is very said because he wanted so much that role, but he still supports his friend. But after Oh-Aew reveals he also wants to be an actor, he is not going to be an admirer anymore, but a competitor. This changes everything and Teh is really upset. For him, it is unfair that his friend, who doesn't care about studies and definitely is not a hard worker, got so much admiration and popularity. Teh feels that he is working so hard for getting what he wants while his friend didn't do anything but got all the glory. So, they fight and stop talking. Oh-Aew is sad because his friend said he would give up after some time because he is not a hard worker. This is an interesting event. Oh-Aew, who seemed to be so chill, hides insecurities also. Although he doesn't seek so much attention as Teh (because he can easily get attention and popularity) , he is also insecure about something: his skills. He is not so confident as Teh in his own capacities.
So Teh is very confident in his skills, but he is insecure about other people's approvement. He thinks his skills are great, but this might be not enough to get other people's admiration.
Oh-Aew, otherwise, care less about other people's admiration (he is already popular without much effort), but he is insecure about his own capacity.
Summary: Teh wants to prove everyone that he is good. Oh-Aew wants to prove himself he is good.
I understand why people tend to feel more empathy for Oh-Aew, but I really like Teh. His insecurity about what others think about him is so strong that he creates imaginary conflicts in his mind. The scene where he asks his friends if they are virgin is brilliant! In his mind, he needs to prove to himself and to everyone else that he is so cool and chill as Oh-Aew. Generally teenagers are ashamed to confess to his peers that they are still virgin. Since Oh-Aew did that, he needs to do the same and prove he is so cool as Oh-Aew. He needs to prove that just like Oh-Aew, he has friends too and he can talk personal things with them. For him, it is a competition where he needs to prove things all the time. The point is that he doesn't understand that he loves Oh-Aew yet and the competition for attention is a competition for love.
The interesting thing here is that at some point, they started to care more about each other than anything else. Teh wants all Oh-Aew's attention and admiration (like he had when they were kids) and Oh-Aew wants to prove to Teh that his is capable of being an actor, that he can be a hard working man too. So, the rivalry hides a deep connection between them. They do everything to get to each other, although they don't fully understand it yet.
Isn't that a great show? We could talk hours about it!
By "New" you mean "Oh-Aew"?
When I saw it, I had the feeling that the audition was part of his entrance exam. He calls his mother after the exam to tell her that he can beat the "kids from Bangkok". Then, he goes back home and his mother gives free food to celebrate him. Some days later he gets the result of the audition and he is approved. So, this is how I understand the chronology of the story. Maybe I am wrong, though.
However, one thing got me confused. He said after the audition that the next day would be his last day at school. But he keeps going to the school after that, which means that the audition might be the future indeed. But if it is really the future, I really didn't get the chronology.
What is your opinion?
I really enjoyed the kids, they are great actors!