I am enjoying this series, although I can tell many commenters here are not.
I think it's because they don't have experience with / don't understand how some ppl can struggle with mental health the way Zhao Huan Neng / Wan Xiong / "Raccoon" 's character is, to the point where he's having delusions.
Sadly, I have insight into this (I grew up in a very dysfunctional family), and the story line hits a nerve for me.
I just watched Ep 7 and it seems like Raccoon is sinking further into his mental illness, which seems to be related to some kind of past trauma related to water.
I hope the last 3 episodes are paced well so we can see what happened back then, and see if he starts to recover from that, WITHOUT the last part being rushed to squeeze everything in. <-------- That happens to so. many. series. and it's annoying.
Also.....the two main leads may not be super experienced actors, but I think they're doing a good job with the script.
I got the feeling the film might be trying to show the cruel and aloof main character, photographer Myeong Seon, experiencing what it was like when the shoe was on the other foot.......when he was on the receiving end of the same disdainful cruelty from the doppelganger.
And I'm not quite sure, but at the end I *almost* sensed a shift in his understanding and potential softening toward Gi Jun. But I could be wrong about that.
Double Exposure had some (not many, but some) similarities to a 2017 Korean film called One Summer Night. That film had very explicit sex scenes between the male leads on par with Double Exposure (but One Summer Night did not blur anything out - you could see everything in vivid detail), and there was a similar feeling of cruelty and detachment.
The story, production and acting in "Spare Me Your Mercy" are better than I expected. I am REALLY enjoying this series and can't wait for more episodes!
When I say refreshing, I mean NOT a high school-based / university-based / office-based / comedy noises every few minutes-filled/ massively trope-afflicted BL. MAN, those get old.
This is a BL where the characters are both manly (which frankly needs to happen more often, in BLs) and have very strong personalities.
I agree. They have amazing friend or even brother chemistry, but almost no romantic chemistry. They really need…
Not slander at all. I really like both actors.
But as a BL couple, they just don't have much chemistry. In a lot of ppl's opinion (not everyone, of course) their characters would be better as friends.
It drive me crazy how Asian (especially Thai) BLS (and come to think of it, Asian dramas in general) put so much emphasis on SAYING OUT LOUD whether you like someone or not.
All the signs are already there......the other guy is doing EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN to spend time with you, cater to you, buy things for you, feed you, write songs for you, skip classes for you, try to get in the good graces of your family for you, protect you from anything bad or unpleasant, say encouraging and complimentary things to you, hold hands with you, kiss you, take long walks with you, sit on the beach with you, take you for long drives on a motorcycle or scooter, sit under the stars with you......etc......etc......etc.....
And yet, one of them always, ALWAYS ends up saying "He hasn't actually said he likes me, so I'm not sure how he feels."
AND THEN........when the guy finally DOES clearly spell it out by saying "I like you" the one who was worried / not sure acts like they're ROCKED TO THEIR CORE that the other guy likes them. They stand there saying "WHAAAATTT????" with their mouth hanging open, their eyes are huge with a shocked expression, and their bodies are frozen in place while they act like this came COMPLETELY out of left field with no prior indication at all.
It kindof ruins the moment for me because the character's shock and wonder are just completely fake. It's so frustrating.
I completed this series a while ago, but started re-watching it last night.
Some observations that I made the first time around and am again confirming during this second viewing......
1) Pavel is an excellent actor. Seriously. He's really, really good.
2) Pooh is actually quite cute, but his behavior in the role of Charlie is SO cringe. He's WAYYYYY too bouncy puppy for me. In a number of scenes I half expected him to start wagging an imaginary tail, waiting for someone to throw him a tennis ball so he could chase it. NOT attractive. And his character came across as just so......weak. Not always. But often. His actual body is thin but muscled, so I don't mean that. I just mean he just comes across as weak in general. IMO Babe's character needed a partner with a slightly stronger physical and emotional presence. As much as I like Pooh, I really think he was miscast as Charlie.
Since there's supposed to be a Pit Babe 2 at some point, I REAAALLLLYYY hope Charlie has manned up slightly more for that series. PLEASE PLEASE no more bouncy puppy stuff.
I don't know how old a lot of commenters here are, but if you remember the Sarah Connor character in the first Terminator movie and how soft and sweet and innocent she was.......and then in the second Terminator movie she had turned into a serious badass with muscles, weapons training and self-defense skills. I don't want Charlie to be THAT different from the first Pit Babe, but I DO want him to PLEASE have made some progress in the same kind of direction while retaining his sweetness, too. If that makes sense.
3) I really like the Sailub-Pon pairing as Alan and Jeff. They have great chemistry in Pit Babe, and BOY did that come across in a subsequent series they did together called This Love Doesn't Have Long Beans. They had MASSIVE chemistry in that series, whew.
I'm tired, so that's it for tonight as far as my reaction to viewing Pit Babe a second time. I'll write more later.
I mean I think I know what you're getting at. ForceBook gives zero sus vibes (like between some ships, it feels…
Even just a smidge of passion would improve their scenes together when those scenes are focused on them arguing, touching, kissing, etc.
But their characters in various series together are just.....like..... two people who are comfortable because they've known each other so long, but there's nothing beyond that.
I think the closest they got to their characters showing any real interest in each other through body language, vocal tone, touching, kissing, etc was in "Only Friends."
I mean I think I know what you're getting at. ForceBook gives zero sus vibes (like between some ships, it feels…
I can see your point, too.
But to me their kisses feel like they're used to acting together, so they can kiss each other comfortably without feeling forced.
And that's entirely different from giving the impression that their characters are actually attracted to each other, so they want to organically take it further and become lovers.
IMO, that ^^^^^ is missing from their scenes together.
Really? I feel the opposite tbh - like they just feel so natural & authentic on screen to me - that entire beach…
I think part of the problem is they need to REALLY, REALLY get away from the whole "college student" story line. It's beyond old and tired - and not just with this group of actors. It's like the writers and directors of many BLs simply cannot imagine any other scenarios where people might meet / become friends / become lovers.
That's one reason I enjoyed other BLs like Tale of 1000 Stars. That was WAY off the "high school / college" trope track, and immediately, it felt much more interesting.
Really? I feel the opposite tbh - like they just feel so natural & authentic on screen to me - that entire beach…
Where they were sitting next to each other and Arc was listening to Arm talk about how he'd been hurt in the past?
Yes. That scene felt very natural........as friends.
And so many other scenes are the same, to me. As I said, they have great friend chemistry. But just no real feeling of being attracted to each other. Literally, ever. At least not to me.
Also.....am I the only one who is never convinced - in ANY of their series together - that Force and Book are more than friends who are just playing at being lovers?
I love them as friends. They have great friend chemistry. But I feel no honest to goodness love-interest chemistry between them.
The BLs that always have the same actors can be so formulaic and predictable. This one is, too, pretty much.
What saves Perfect 10 Liners is the sense of humor. (<---- which, sadly, can feel very forced in many other BL series.)
The cast of Perfect 10 Liners have acted together for so long that they really know each other well and know how to deliver the funny stuff when necessary. Thank goodness, because otherwise I would give up on it.
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I think it's because they don't have experience with / don't understand how some ppl can struggle with mental health the way Zhao Huan Neng / Wan Xiong / "Raccoon" 's character is, to the point where he's having delusions.
Sadly, I have insight into this (I grew up in a very dysfunctional family), and the story line hits a nerve for me.
I just watched Ep 7 and it seems like Raccoon is sinking further into his mental illness, which seems to be related to some kind of past trauma related to water.
I hope the last 3 episodes are paced well so we can see what happened back then, and see if he starts to recover from that, WITHOUT the last part being rushed to squeeze everything in. <-------- That happens to so. many. series. and it's annoying.
Also.....the two main leads may not be super experienced actors, but I think they're doing a good job with the script.
And I'm not quite sure, but at the end I *almost* sensed a shift in his understanding and potential softening toward Gi Jun. But I could be wrong about that.
Double Exposure had some (not many, but some) similarities to a 2017 Korean film called One Summer Night. That film had very explicit sex scenes between the male leads on par with Double Exposure (but One Summer Night did not blur anything out - you could see everything in vivid detail), and there was a similar feeling of cruelty and detachment.
Bwahahahaha !!
When I say refreshing, I mean NOT a high school-based / university-based / office-based / comedy noises every few minutes-filled/ massively trope-afflicted BL. MAN, those get old.
This is a BL where the characters are both manly (which frankly needs to happen more often, in BLs) and have very strong personalities.
I love the mystery element, too.
But as a BL couple, they just don't have much chemistry. In a lot of ppl's opinion (not everyone, of course) their characters would be better as friends.
All the signs are already there......the other guy is doing EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN to spend time with you, cater to you, buy things for you, feed you, write songs for you, skip classes for you, try to get in the good graces of your family for you, protect you from anything bad or unpleasant, say encouraging and complimentary things to you, hold hands with you, kiss you, take long walks with you, sit on the beach with you, take you for long drives on a motorcycle or scooter, sit under the stars with you......etc......etc......etc.....
And yet, one of them always, ALWAYS ends up saying "He hasn't actually said he likes me, so I'm not sure how he feels."
AND THEN........when the guy finally DOES clearly spell it out by saying "I like you" the one who was worried / not sure acts like they're ROCKED TO THEIR CORE that the other guy likes them. They stand there saying "WHAAAATTT????" with their mouth hanging open, their eyes are huge with a shocked expression, and their bodies are frozen in place while they act like this came COMPLETELY out of left field with no prior indication at all.
It kindof ruins the moment for me because the character's shock and wonder are just completely fake. It's so frustrating.
Some observations that I made the first time around and am again confirming during this second viewing......
1) Pavel is an excellent actor. Seriously. He's really, really good.
2) Pooh is actually quite cute, but his behavior in the role of Charlie is SO cringe. He's WAYYYYY too bouncy puppy for me. In a number of scenes I half expected him to start wagging an imaginary tail, waiting for someone to throw him a tennis ball so he could chase it. NOT attractive. And his character came across as just so......weak. Not always. But often. His actual body is thin but muscled, so I don't mean that. I just mean he just comes across as weak in general. IMO Babe's character needed a partner with a slightly stronger physical and emotional presence. As much as I like Pooh, I really think he was miscast as Charlie.
Since there's supposed to be a Pit Babe 2 at some point, I REAAALLLLYYY hope Charlie has manned up slightly more for that series. PLEASE PLEASE no more bouncy puppy stuff.
I don't know how old a lot of commenters here are, but if you remember the Sarah Connor character in the first Terminator movie and how soft and sweet and innocent she was.......and then in the second Terminator movie she had turned into a serious badass with muscles, weapons training and self-defense skills. I don't want Charlie to be THAT different from the first Pit Babe, but I DO want him to PLEASE have made some progress in the same kind of direction while retaining his sweetness, too. If that makes sense.
3) I really like the Sailub-Pon pairing as Alan and Jeff. They have great chemistry in Pit Babe, and BOY did that come across in a subsequent series they did together called This Love Doesn't Have Long Beans. They had MASSIVE chemistry in that series, whew.
I'm tired, so that's it for tonight as far as my reaction to viewing Pit Babe a second time. I'll write more later.
But their characters in various series together are just.....like..... two people who are comfortable because they've known each other so long, but there's nothing beyond that.
I think the closest they got to their characters showing any real interest in each other through body language, vocal tone, touching, kissing, etc was in "Only Friends."
But to me their kisses feel like they're used to acting together, so they can kiss each other comfortably without feeling forced.
And that's entirely different from giving the impression that their characters are actually attracted to each other, so they want to organically take it further and become lovers.
IMO, that ^^^^^ is missing from their scenes together.
That's one reason I enjoyed other BLs like Tale of 1000 Stars. That was WAY off the "high school / college" trope track, and immediately, it felt much more interesting.
Yes. That scene felt very natural........as friends.
And so many other scenes are the same, to me. As I said, they have great friend chemistry. But just no real feeling of being attracted to each other. Literally, ever. At least not to me.
I love them as friends. They have great friend chemistry. But I feel no honest to goodness love-interest chemistry between them.
Just me?
What saves Perfect 10 Liners is the sense of humor. (<---- which, sadly, can feel very forced in many other BL series.)
The cast of Perfect 10 Liners have acted together for so long that they really know each other well and know how to deliver the funny stuff when necessary. Thank goodness, because otherwise I would give up on it.