And here I thought Wandee Goodday was going to be the ultimate dose of comedy for the day.... then came here and…
I honestly didn't see the twist coming. And I didn't even think of the age gap as an issue, but I usually like age gap stories. I do feel bad for Songjam being alone for all those years while he waited for the timelines to align though.
Umm wow, I didn't see those twists coming. Nice idea, but I think I would have preferred no time jump when Songjam crossed over. Oh well, at least we'll get a HE next week.
I'm kinda loving the wide variety of options on this series. But I personally didn't connect at all with either of the leads in the first 2 episodes. I really had to force myself to finish both episodes, though I was intrigued by whatever is going on with the side couple. For now, I'm putting this on hold until it ends.
After more than a year of mediocre series after mediocre series, the BL gods are really blessing us in 2024. Unknown just ended and now we've got My Stand In. It feels like vindication for all of us who refused to give a pass to so many bad scripts and below average acting. Yes Thai BLs can still have strong writing, yes companies who make Thai BLs can hire professional actors and yes stories about gay characters don't have to fit into hetero normative standards!
I know I'm gonna curse Ming's (aka the reddest flag) name MANY times throughout this series, but it's really well made and I'm 100% here for the ride.
Continuing my journey through bad Thai BLs brought me here. This time I knew what I was getting into but somehow I was still disappointed. Watching this after seeing Only Friends highlighted all the areas where this series lacked.
The concept: Great! 2 fuckbois who fall in love Everything else: A hot mess!
It's so sad how many studios thrust amateur actors into lead roles with complex characters but get experienced directors who aren't up to the task of helping these newbie actors properly convey the characters. And hire screenwriters who write very repetitive and poorly written scripts.
All in all, I could give most of those shortcomings a pass because they are so common in Thai BL and because the 2nd/3rd couples were fine. I would happily watch a series with Ryu (Ping) and Kao (Tap) as the leads. But like many others have already said the biggest issue with the show that makes it truly terrible is the domestic violence. It feels constant and since each violent attack is never addressed or called out for being wrong, it makes Sherbet completely irredeemable.
Yes, hurt people hurt people. And yes, we're told that he doesn't know how to love. But each time every single character excuses his physical attacks on his partner, they all become complicit. Fahlan was flawed, but NO ONE deserves to be abused. And all those "friends" who spent every single scene talking about his relationship, should have been trying to help him get away from his abuser instead of saying how "cute" they were together.
I know this is long. But it's so sad that these series are made for mostly young audiences and yet the makers of this show thought normalizing domestic violence was a good idea. I'm really glad this series has an appropriate rating. But I also feel bad for the actors involved with this disaster. They're the ones whose careers have gone nowhere since this aired, but people behind the camera are the real problem.
Only Two Worlds could make me miss Naughty Babe. At least NB embraced what it was and stuck with a campy ridiculous story from start to finish. Here we get a new genre every week. It was sci fi, then action, then a ganster story, then romance, now we've reached the tearjerker phase. *sigh*
At least they continued the long tradition of random bad guys with facial hair!
Fluke signing to gmmtv is the only silver lining for this series. Shame on that company for everything they did. I hope all the other actors move on to better things.
My ongoing quest to watch as many bad Thai BLs as I can brought me here. At first I was a bit disappointed because if I ignored the bad subs, it wasn't terrible. But as the episodes continued, the low rating made sense.
I won't bother to highlight all of the ways this fails, because it's basically a mash up of every single popular Thai BL from years ago, combined into 9 episodes of nothing. All the tropes are there, you will 100% fill your Thai BL "moments" bingo card. I feel bad for the actors, it seems like they were all trying. But the writer who was strangely obsessed with white skin, is the villain here. Better subs probably couldn't save this, even if you understand Thai, there is BARELY a story.
But I would like to see Bam and Bombom as leads in a GL, they had good chemistry.
IMO this is already the best Thai BL of the year after only one episode. I haven't seen a first episode this good in A LONG TIME! Just when it seemed like Thai BLs had given up on storytelling and decided to only focus on endless sex scenes or content for young audiences, this show came in. Skilled actors, complex characters, a unique premise and compelling plot, I'm 100% here for this.
I never follow Filipino BL companies so all of those details were news to me. It's such a shame because Like In The Movies and The Day I Loved You were amazing. And a reminder that great stuff can be made there, but for a variety of reasons it almost never happens.
I mostly agree with your assessment, but I also think it was a timing issue. Pinoy BL took off during covid and they made the same covid love story over and over. I think if the genre had been established prior to covid, they would have been more prepared to tell a variety of stories. But how many times can "we met online and fell in love during lockdown" be interesting to watch? I also think since most of the series were very low budget and many were preachy, they couldn't grab international audiences like many other countries.
Since Thai BL ships were already thriving during covid, fans didn't mind mediocre scripts as long as they got ships. And Japan was also putting out well written series on a consistent basis. Since covid KBLs, JBLs and Taiwanese BLs have continued to increase and showcase a variety of great stories. Thailand still has loyal fans who love ships. And other countries like Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and even Singapore are making decent BLs. Most people aren't waiting around for Filipino BL companies to finally get their act together. So we're left with Xion 😒
Since the side characters just keep showing up and don't have name tags, I only have a vague understanding of who everyone is and how they're all involved in the story. With all games the editor insists on playing every week, all I could think while watching this episode was, "oh ok fine". There's no way the next 3 episodes will be worth watching, but I'll stick around for MaxNat.
I binged this and am glad I watched it. This is lightyears better than Time and much better than a lot other recent Thai BLs. All of the unique aspects set it apart for me in the best way.
I want to thank the writer for including characters like Dai and for giving Freya and Meiji a good amount of screentime. Those 3 were my favorites and I hope more shows start including a more diverse group of LGBTQ+ characters who aren't just there for laughs.
Yoon Dae and Soo Hyuk are such complex characters, that it was impossible for me not to feel very invested in their story. I also thought both actors gave very strong performances, even though I wish Jae Bin showed a wider range of facial expressions. Overall, while I could appreciate what the writer/director were doing, the story feels very incomplete. I hope part 2 happens, this deserves a conclusion.
1 
I'm looking forward to the finale.
I know I'm gonna curse Ming's (aka the reddest flag) name MANY times throughout this series, but it's really well made and I'm 100% here for the ride.
The concept: Great! 2 fuckbois who fall in love
Everything else: A hot mess!
It's so sad how many studios thrust amateur actors into lead roles with complex characters but get experienced directors who aren't up to the task of helping these newbie actors properly convey the characters. And hire screenwriters who write very repetitive and poorly written scripts.
All in all, I could give most of those shortcomings a pass because they are so common in Thai BL and because the 2nd/3rd couples were fine. I would happily watch a series with Ryu (Ping) and Kao (Tap) as the leads. But like many others have already said the biggest issue with the show that makes it truly terrible is the domestic violence. It feels constant and since each violent attack is never addressed or called out for being wrong, it makes Sherbet completely irredeemable.
Yes, hurt people hurt people. And yes, we're told that he doesn't know how to love. But each time every single character excuses his physical attacks on his partner, they all become complicit. Fahlan was flawed, but NO ONE deserves to be abused. And all those "friends" who spent every single scene talking about his relationship, should have been trying to help him get away from his abuser instead of saying how "cute" they were together.
I know this is long. But it's so sad that these series are made for mostly young audiences and yet the makers of this show thought normalizing domestic violence was a good idea. I'm really glad this series has an appropriate rating. But I also feel bad for the actors involved with this disaster. They're the ones whose careers have gone nowhere since this aired, but people behind the camera are the real problem.
At least they continued the long tradition of random bad guys with facial hair!
I won't bother to highlight all of the ways this fails, because it's basically a mash up of every single popular Thai BL from years ago, combined into 9 episodes of nothing. All the tropes are there, you will 100% fill your Thai BL "moments" bingo card. I feel bad for the actors, it seems like they were all trying. But the writer who was strangely obsessed with white skin, is the villain here. Better subs probably couldn't save this, even if you understand Thai, there is BARELY a story.
But I would like to see Bam and Bombom as leads in a GL, they had good chemistry.
I mostly agree with your assessment, but I also think it was a timing issue. Pinoy BL took off during covid and they made the same covid love story over and over. I think if the genre had been established prior to covid, they would have been more prepared to tell a variety of stories. But how many times can "we met online and fell in love during lockdown" be interesting to watch? I also think since most of the series were very low budget and many were preachy, they couldn't grab international audiences like many other countries.
Since Thai BL ships were already thriving during covid, fans didn't mind mediocre scripts as long as they got ships. And Japan was also putting out well written series on a consistent basis. Since covid KBLs, JBLs and Taiwanese BLs have continued to increase and showcase a variety of great stories. Thailand still has loyal fans who love ships. And other countries like Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and even Singapore are making decent BLs. Most people aren't waiting around for Filipino BL companies to finally get their act together. So we're left with Xion 😒
I want to thank the writer for including characters like Dai and for giving Freya and Meiji a good amount of screentime. Those 3 were my favorites and I hope more shows start including a more diverse group of LGBTQ+ characters who aren't just there for laughs.