Iknowthings

Agree, objectively, his choices are not showing growth from PB - same deer in the headlights, mouth ajar, with the half smirk. I was hoping he would have been cast as King - that would have given him a whole new persona to rise to. Alas...

I hope he lives for sure- he is the best actor on canvas right now and losing him half the damn basis of the show is gone - so no not all of us dislike him.

This is a comment section for reviewing a series, not a fan club. Disagreement is normal. Coordinated dogpiling, name-calling, and inventing motives to discredit someone you disagree with isn't critique. It's bullying.

Nothing I wrote requires your agreement. It just requires a basic understanding of how television storytelling works. Story structure, pacing, character investment, chemistry, and payoff aren't personal fantasies. They're fundamentals. When those fundamentals fail, ratings stall. An 8.7 reflects exactly what many viewers are feeling. It's a show that looks good, is competently acted, and still doesn't consistently land emotionally.

Reducing criticism to “you just want NC scenes” or claiming I’m writing fanfiction in my head is dishonest. Intimacy isn't just about sex. It's about connection, stakes, and emotional continuity. When a story hinges on a supposedly life-altering past relationship but they refuse to dramatize it meaningfully, that's a narrative problem. Pointing that out is analysis, not bias, projection, or hate.

The irony is several of you are doing exactly what you accuse me of doing. You're reacting emotionally, projecting intent, and defending actors or pairings instead of engaging with the actual review. That says more about fandom loyalty than the show's quality.

You're free to love the series. I'm free to critique it. If a differing opinion feels like an attack, that's not an issue with the review. It's an issue with how some of you engage in discussion. As the saying goes, a hit dog will holler.

ALSO:
Imagine calling someone else’s writing gibberish while writing “you is a just a fool.” You had one sentence to make your point and still managed to shank it. The universe doesn't reward mean spiritedness, dear.

Oh stop pontificating - telling ppl because they aren't fawning over this show that their opinion is some how worth less than yours. I would say this is where ppl are supposed to be able to come and express their views- so if you don't like it choose to consume reviews that you prefer and if a review is as terrible as you think - Keep scrolling. Go find the echo chamber review that will resonate with you so you can stop being a bully, and a nuisance, to others in the comment section,

The show is losing me to boredom at epi 8. I've hung in there long enough to conclude this is not going to get better, how did we get into this ditch?

IMO:
⦁ They repeated the same mistake - catering to the ship (PP) vs. where the drama lies. Just like it PB2, with Willy, the wouldn't allow Pavel to really go there with him. Same with King. They allude to a relationship, apparently so deep that it has caused all this trauma years later, and yet the flashbacks are lame af. Singha/King never had to shoot intimate scenes so their interactions now are disconnected and forced on the passion tip.
⦁ They're wasting King by not providing visual evidence of their romance and not showing Pavel to be torn about still wanting him in the present. Honestly, Pooh should have played King and they should have reconciled in the end with the actor playing King now moving to the Thup role and losing out to old love. But not before there was a serious love triangle with high stakes investment.
⦁ Pooh is not giving. The deer in the headlights frozen smile tactic occurs more often than not and harkens back to Charlie, and it being one of Pooh's main acting criticisms. Him playing King wouldn't have given him any reason to smile so it would have benefited his growth as an actor. It even extends to Singha and Thup's intimacy, it is boring between them with most of Pooh's flirting lines coming off super cringy. Pavel seems checked out, so not surprising they are cutting the scenes after a few kisses at most. No where near what they were giving in PB1.
⦁ Mike and TopTen - totally wasted - their characters don't even seem believable as lovers. TT's acting is pretty good but Mike is giving stiff and too blasé. The writing for them is terrible. It doesn't feel like love between them more like afraid to be alone.
⦁ The Chief of Police, and King's father, read hard as stereotypical paper tigers. Their lines are so trope it's embarrassing.

Pros:

⦁ Pavel's acting has improved and it is in scenes with King where that is most noticeable. In fact, because Pavel has improved he is kind of making Pooh's shortcomings more glaring. The actor playing King frankly is a better actor than Pooh and that is why it is such a loss that Singha/King don't have a deeper fleshed out backstory.
⦁ The supporting police force cast, and how they are handling the case (aside from a few what the hell missteps), is above average.
⦁ The makeup, for the ghosts, is much to my surprise consistently done well.
⦁ The cinematography is ongoingly up to the task. The show looks good.

Sadly, might be as good as it gets. How could they save it? Let go of pleasing the fandoms and go for a good story! They would need to pivot and reveal Thup as the killer. Then end with the possibility of King and Singha reconciling (maybe after King risks his life for Singha and kills Thup). Otherwise, it will end in an all to predictable way.

Exactly, they keep going to the same well without acknowledging its dry af!

And so are they! I get the physical attraction but reliance on that instead of character development for an actor with Gun's range is just lazy writing. No excuse.

Whelp any hope of them easing into Joong chasing Dunk for the 100th time -gone in their first scene. Its getting tiresome. Overall, series looks above average. Dare I hope for a twist to this overused trope? We shall see, hope springs...

Gun is a good actor but the material often drifts in this series into indulgence for him. From the shorts to the whining, the show seems catered to him in a way that isn't engaging for me. The first two episodes were promising but I'm now at epi 5 and I really don't care about Jira. I started to but he hasn't developed beyond being just basic. Whining is not development, complaining endlessly isn't character building, and not seeing the trope for the trees and living in denial doesn't drive plot. Off continues with nuances to add depth to his character as does Dew but I am left trying to figure out why these two magnetic men want to posses such a boring character.

Jeff is in a catch 22 with this series: he hasn't been able to take a break from all the shows, etc. to get HES underway because they are paying for HES. He's been on hard hustle for most of the year. It is a concern to him as well I'm sure that it is delayed but the money has to be there to do it the all out way that he knows it has to be done. Considering it's his first production from SOS, Barcode has a lot of traction behind him now so he doesn't want to come up short there esp since HES was grandfathered in, because BC agreed to it before signing with GMM, and Jeff's reputation is on the line (not to mention SOS was also listed initially as a producer for WB and that failed to launch). So there is a lot at stake here and one thing Jeff is not going to let happen is for Ta, JJ and Kinn to out romance him with Barcode. That said I'm kind of concerned for BarcodeKinn because they will seem like a throwaway if HES hits hard the way that it is set up to. JeffBarcode is the more profitable/ high profile of the two couples. I'm frankly surprised GMM didn't thrown in the remaining funds needed and go half on HES with Jeff to keep Barcode from having to go off into another pairing. BarcodeKinn wouldn't have happened, at this time - if at all, if HES was moving along as it was initially planned.