This was the best episode so far - they kept to momentum from ep.3 and movied to story forward.
They didn't waste any time by answering my biggest question – what does Pin feel? Even before the opening credits that show makes clear that she is attracted to Anin as well, and she liked her advances. But Anin hadn’t seen the cold open ;-) , and Prik can only report that she had an impact, but not which. Prik’s plan is simple: make Pin jealous, then you’ll know. At this point a feel sorry for what torture Pin will be put through.
I wonder what Lady Uengfah is thinking about all the attention she is getting... What Pin is thinking about it, I don't have to ask, it is clear to see. Anin must be really blind if she didn’t see Pin’s jealousy – though when you compare it with her jealousy of Master Kuea (whom Pin herself dislikes) it’s clear why she didn’t detect it.
Then comes the infamous tennis match. I found this to be thoroughly one-sided, though I enjoyed Kuea getting hit again and again, and Pin acknowledging and then ignoring his pain 😉. The only one with any ability is clearly Anin, though the second semi-final seemed a little more lively.
Prik deserves a Golden Globe for her acting disappointed when Pin forbade her to accompany Princess Patt. 😊
Then, as the rain is falling while Anin and Pin are alone, we get an unexpected flashback – to when Pin found her dead parents in a thunderstorm – that was a heartbreaking scene. Anin watching Pin sleep – as if anyone doubted that Anin loves her…
Anin serves dinner for Pin. 💓
Finally, some talk about an overnight stay by Pin – that Pin needs this much convincing, seems a little odd to me. Then comes what we are all here for (well, I don't know if *you* were here expecting this, you seemed to be surprised) : the kissing lesson. 😉 Pin’s eyes going ultra-wide at the “lip kiss” was gold. And the French Kiss… now we should have an answer how Pin really feels about Anin.
I found the trajectory of the story somewhat obvious, but I liked the dynamic between Pin and Anin, and of course scheming Prik. What would Anin have done if it hadn’t rained that night, though? I mean, Pin’s Lotus Palace is right next to the Pine palace… 😊
Pin has always loved Anil. She just suppresses it. She'll open up soon.
Yes, she has loved her from the beginning. But what *kind* of love this is, she doesn't seem to know herself (of course, I know what kind of story this is). I'm just pointing out that she apparently doesn't know what to do with this new, openly sexual Anin - for now.
Now, we're talking - the show is finally talking shape. I‘m thankful that the show makes for once the setup of the episode absolutely clear, and answers all my questions from the end of the previous one. Anin is back, she wanted to surprise everyone, including her own mother and of course Pin, and she’s only back for a few months to attend he brother’s wedding.
Pin initially looks so in happy and in love that it almost hurts; she is really in awe of Anin, even though she has grown so much. Anin on the other hand doesn’t waste any time telling Pin she loves all of her (setting the stage for the rest of the episode) , even when she doesn’t show it as radiantly as Pin. Pin herself seems actually to be jealous of Prik, but Anin silents these thoughts at once by confession the ‘desires’ her – a term with which Pin seems to be entirely unfamiliar, as she doesn’t seem to understand nether her own feelings nor those of Anin.
Then the hilarious strategizing session between Prik and Anin, where Anin learns just how popular her Lady Pin is – and she gets really mad jealous. This is going to be fun! Her first attempts at “seduction” (for lack of a better word!) do not seem to land, tough, as Pin is keeping her distance and seems to be unsure how to handle to new side of hers. Not helping is Anin’s borderline predatory behavior which seems to creep Pin out. She’s sends Pin gay panic into overdrive with requesting a massage. But things don’t go as well as Anin might have expected – I think Pin believes Anin is just teasing her as when they were younger – even though Anin says that she is dead serious.
After the University scene, thing come to a head between Pin and Anin, where the former still misunderstands Anin’s attention as mischievous teasing, and Anin finally confessing that she does all this to spend as much time as possible with her – before moving away. Now, Pin is really alone again, and it shows – she’s back to her silent, solemn – and probably lonely – self. She longingly searches for glimpses of Anin – but she’s at the main palace, meeting Lady Uangfah. They visit the Pine palace later on where they meet Lady Pin who tries to hide it, but is clearly jealous of Uang. After she leaves Pin vents her jealousy a little, but is stopped by Anin putting the garlands Pin made into her hair, and then flirts as openly with Pin as she can. The episode closes on Anin kissing Pin on the cheek (yes, I count that, Theora.)
I really liked the episode, even though it didn’t answer the million Dollar (or billion Baht 😊) question: what exactly are Pin’s feelings for Anin? Anin’s feelings couldn’t be clearer if she shouted them from the top of a palace tree; and I think Pin still adores and cherishes Anin, so far she hasn’t shown any desire to go further than that, despite Anin’s numerous and pretty open advances. Is it that she simply doesn’t know what to do with her pent-up emotions? Only time will tell, in any case, the plot really got rolling this time and I laughed at the Anin’s strategizing, and at her attempts to woo Pin. That was really entertaining, but I think that this gay panic stuff can get old if they keep going this way. Pin really needs to make her mind up.
This is pretty much how it is in the books though, so they are following it pretty close! But yeah even then you…
It's okay that you mentioned it, perhaps it makes more sense in the books; the discrepancy between the time the episode spend on when Anin was still in Thailand and when she was actually abroad made no sense to me, as this was supposed to be the most profound turning point in Pin's life (after her parents' death), yet it came and went so quickly. For me, the 36 minutes the episode spent before that felt much more impactful, which I assume surely wasn't what the show - or the books - would want to convey. ;-)
The finale focused mostly on Earn and Lada and her family; Tan, Bow, Rose, Engfa, Ratee, Wisanu and all the others were mostly reduced to background actors who came in for the ending - but I didn't mind.
I was initially worried that Lada caring for her mother would cause a rift again between Lada and Earn - but the way they both approached the "break" this time was so serious and earnest, their declarations of love so emotional, that the happy end was practically guaranteed.
Personally, I could have lived without a Russamee's 11th-hour epiphany about her daughter because it has become a cliché of GL series at this point. But this was one of the better played-out ones because not only Lada's mom relented, but she even went to Earn to beg her to take Lada back with a very emotional pitch. Prior to that, the goundwork was done by Lada's father telling her wife that Lada could not have found a more loving, worthy partner for life. And even though I already knew where this was going - it was pretty obvious - I teared up once Earn told Russamee that she has given up everything , even acting. But she can't make herself not love Lada.
The wedding at the end was nice, but felt more like a BTS get-together for all the actors involved, that's the only reason I could find for Ratee to be there, even though they kind of tried to pair her up with Engfa - which made zero sense to me. The other two pairings the wedding revealed where Tan and Wisanu - where I was glad that they didn't give that storyline more screentime - and Rose/Bow, where I would have loved to see more beforehand.
Overall, I'm giving "The Secret of Us" an 8 out of 10, or a "B" in US grades . The final episode in the end was the only one that was in the same league as the first one, but apart from parts of episode 2/3 (which were a mixed bag), everything was at least good and the chemistry between Lingling and Earn was great, even when Earn in the beginning behaved like a child, you would never forget that Lada and Earn in fact loved each other. I wouldn't mind seeing them in another project.
This is pretty much how it is in the books though, so they are following it pretty close! But yeah even then you…
As I said, I haven't read the books, so cannot comment on that - but in a TV show, you should IMO give clear clues how time and the story progresses - I at least was confused about the pacing, and I was not the only one, especially as the caption "many months have passed" - the only clue that we've had a time-jump - was not translated for us international fans.
And Anin's return was directly at the end of the episode, so it might be that the next episode will give an explanation (and I will acknowledge it should it happen) - just found it odd.
The second episode of the Loyal Pin was good, but not stellar; my main issues with the ep was that more than half of the runtime was spent with sad Pin – while Anin was still in Thailand. In these sequences, we saw Pin alone coming to terms with the fact that Anin would be leaving – for seven years no less. Pin showed clearly her loneliness as her best friend would be leaving soon for about as long as they’ve known each other, while with Anin we only got glimpses of loneliness, because she was busy preparing her trip. It also seemed odd that she didn’t use the time properly, as I would have expected to at least reserve ten minutes or so every now and then in those weeks to talk to Pin while she still could – especially as Pin was clearly hurting as Prik reported. Only in the final two weeks before her departure, Anin goes to see her – and we finally get to see the scenes I was expecting of them two, including one of Pin arguing with Anin over some stupid game. This half of the episode was dragging a little.
Only when Anin actually leaves (in minute 36) we see her as affected by their separation. Then the time jumps quickly forward with an (untranslated) caption that says “many months have passed”. We only get one example each of the surely many, many letters they wrote to each other. The passage of time is not very well illustrated in these scenes, as I missed the caption the first time around I was surprised Pin suddenly already was in her second year of university (4-5 years later). We see, however, that Pin is getting more popular among men – among them Master Kuekat. Meanwhile, Anin gets a visit from her mother and brother, and a letter from Prik is which see tells her about all the men interested in Pin – and Anin gets as jealous as Pin when she detailed her friendship with the unknown Emma in her letter.
We move on to preparations for the engagement party for Anin’s brother – and no one told Pin that this is when Anin would return to Thailand?!? Apparently, it’s a surprise for everyone. I've heard from bookreaders that Anin is just on a break from her studies; but the show did not communicate that yet. (in the five seconds that she was back).
Anyway, now the real story can start. I found the episode to be painfully slow in the first half, then rushed in the second one. The passage of time wasn't made clear to me (as a non-reader of the novel). In my mind the show should have focused less on the preparations for Anin’s time abroad and more oh her actual time abroad. The show made it look like it was just a quick trip – when in fact Pin and Anin are now in their early twenties, I guess. Anin surely looks different now, whereas Pin hasn’t changed that much.
Plus points were nosy and emotional Prik, and the scenes where Pin and Anin were together showing genuine emotion (their chemistry is really something else, and their acting only got better since "Gap") – I just would have wished for those moments to not be buried in the slow-paced agony that was the first half.
So, finally we international fans got to see EP12.
The episode felt a little superfluous to me, as the story effectively already came to a close in EP11. That main - no the only - storyline was Marvin acting like a sore loser and sabotaging the career of his former fiancée. He made an effort and quite an investment into damaging both Kim's business and Wan's career - but for what? Was it really just out of spite, or did he expect to get Kim to reconsider.
This would have been okay as a background storyline over multiple episodes, but as the main plot of EP12, it didn't make much sense to me. Anyway, if the end he of course relented after Kim told him what he thought of him.
Other than that, we had roughly five minutes of a MV, montages of DREAM stuff (initially) selling and finally a fashion show. We had another cute love scene in the beginning, though I would have preferred to space them out out over several episodes instead of packing it all into EPs 11 and 12 (well there was the fake one in EP8...). That the show would end of the letter that Wan removed from the lunchbox in EP10, I was pretty sure. It's a nice bookend to an awkwardly-told story.
I was surprised how few of the supporting characters actually appeared in the final ep. Minnie, Dokrak, Jessie, Pat and many more were all missing in action, and as the wedding of Kim and Wan happened just with the two of them, no one was present there, either.
"Dream" had issues with pacing and also with scene selection. In EP4 and EP5 I was wondering how Kim could love Wan and her awful behaviour at all, those episodes and the non-flashback part or EP6 ware a torture to watch. That, together with the fake love scene in EP8 . That said things got better from EP8 onward, after Wan timeout, when her career was pretty much non-existent , the plot could focus on Kim and Wan's relationship and their feeling for one another. I cursed the screen many times at one of them letting a small, insignificant detail let them back out of confessing their love for each other, but at least the show dealt with them and not with in the end insignificant stories about Wan's work, about dresses, or about Marvin or stupid slapstick from Mali and Sammon.
The storylines about the mothers , I must exclude from that rant. Wan's mother dealing with alcoholism and depression and Kim's mother dealing with (any ultimately dying of) cancer where the best storylines in the show; they felt realistic and believable, especially when surrounded by Wan latest shenanigans or Sammon many business ventures.
In my view, the show would have been much better had they restructured the story, for example. delete EP 4 and EP5 and place the highschool flashback right after EP3, then let them get together in secret by midpoint, but let this fail because Wan doesn't want to commit to Kim publicly, then let Marvin swoop in to make Wan realize what is at stake. Or something like that, I'm no screenwriter, but in EP3 to EP7 is so much stuff that just drags the show down, and slows it down to almost a complete stop.
I think this might have worked better as an eight-episode series, but a a 12-episode (more like 14, because of all the overlong EPs) the show just spins its wheels too much, and has little to no rewatch value for me.
My final grade for "My Marvelous Dream is You" is a 6/10 or a D+, making it the second-worst GL series I've seen above only "Show Me Love".
For me, they both look like 15-16 year olds in this drama. I'm always impressed by how well Freen pulls it off.…
To me, they didn't - sure they were acting younger (and acted well, I should add), but I assumed that they were portraying - young - women (18-19 perhaps) until someone said Anin was 15 years old.
But that is really a minor issue, perhaps they could have made that clearer for those who haven't read the books (e.g. in Pin's "Many years have passed" monologue).
The OGs of Thai GL are back on screen - and I liked the first episode quite a bit (more than the first ep of "Gap" which is still my favorite GL - and my favorite show of 2022 altogether). It was a little slow at times but it very well established the setting - and there was quite a bit to establish, as the family and the household staff is quite extensive.
This time Freen plays the opposite of her Gap character - Lady Pin is earnest and serious, but warm and obviously in love with Becky's Highness Princess Anin, who has more of a mischievous streak, she is a troublemaker. It probably helps that she is the princess and the favorite child of her father. :-) With Anin, I'm not sure whether she's is already in love with Pin, or whether she just really likes spending time with her. The first episode gives evidence for both theories.
I understood why they decided to film this adolescent years of Anin and Pin with Freen and Becky - they are the main stars, and hiring teen actresses for those parts would have meant that the first 1-2 episodes would be entirely without the two. But no matter how many wigs they use or pigtails the braid, Freen and Becky do never seem to be just 15 years old, at best they could pass for 18-19 years.
The production values are really on another level - rich, well-lit scenery and plenty of outdoor and crowd scenes make the setting really shine. I'm wondering how they will tackle the time that Anin will (presumably) soon sprend abroad, but so far I'm not worried.
After this episode, the story can really start - though I suspect they separate Amin and Pin soon for a few years. Anyway, I will be watching - on Sunday evenings (CET), I'll probably be unreachable for the forseeable future. :-)
After the slow-motion car cash that was episode 6, I like episode 7 much better.
SPOILERS
At first, I didn't understand why Lada wasn't firmer with her mother. I did not make sense to me that she would let her go through with the wedding, as we never saw much of a relationship between the two. But this episode showed that a) Lada was indeed her mother's girl all that time and loved her very much and b) that Russammee was even more evil that we thought, deepening the breakup between Lada and Earn even further by falsely confirming her relationship with a man. Her morther must truely have thought that being gay is both a choice and ruinous to her daughter - otherwise I can't fathom how she could de this and cause Lada years of pain and suffering.
When Lada finds out - and she overhears this from her parents mouth, no less - she immediately cut all ties private and professional with them. This is the consequence that I expected in the beginning, but she loved her mother. The show could have probably pointed that out earlier on, but it's that we understand her now. Also, it proves that Earn could have gotten Lada back even sooner if she just confessed she was both blackmailed and tricked into the breakup.
What I found refreshing after all these misunderstandings was that Earn and Lada didn't argue once in the episode, even though there was plenty of conflict potential, but Earn let Lada deal with her family and the proposal on here own, supporting all her moves, and Lada never once gave the impression that she was willing to sacrifice Earn for her "reputation", or her mother's sake.
The Tan / Wisanu scenes were a little superfluous, but they were there give Wisanu some kind of an opt-out, and also flesh him out a little more, when he has been little more than a plot device so far.
At the end of the episode, Russammee finally realizes what a sh*tty mother she has been, and then seemingly out of nowhere collapses. Apparently, she has been sick all along. This is going to be the final obstacle for Lada and Earn - will Lada stay with Earn, or will she once again put her mother's sake before her own? We shall find out next week.
SPOILERS for ep6 . . . . . . . . I did not like this episode. All major players keep not having important coversations. Earn should have come clean about the first break-up by now - then Lada's mom wouldn't have the possibility to break them up once again, which is the trajectory we seem to be going for.
Lada's father needs to have more of a backbone, too - letting his wife just destroy his daughter's happiness for selfish reasons make him look even more like the doormat he seems to be.
There needs to be an explosion by Lada in the next episode - she usually has a fiery temperament and should not let the mother just get away with this. But somehow (I haven't watched the previews) I doubt that this will happen - this show shies away from every important confrontation if it's not between Earn and Lada.
Up to the interview, the episode was full of lovey-dovey fluff - but I was already bracing for what would inevitably come at the end, so I couldn't enjoy it completely. Worst episode so far, worse than Earn eating bananas.
The rooftop break-up - we've seen Earn in that dress before, which might help with fitting it into the timeline.…
Yes, it's the same dress as on that day she held the "sorry" balloon and *not* hit her head while couching under the table, you're right. Well, perhaps they will provide some connective tissue for the scenes in ep 6-8. I only found it to be a little odd to include that into a montage of memories for Earn when we as a viewer hadn't seen the scene yet, at least not in the show.
Episode 5 dialed up the drama again after a fun watch last week.
* Engfah tooks things too far with making Lada jealous, causing one of Lada's trademark vicious outbursts - but I liked how she owned up to it and imediatly went to Lada. She didn't exaclty apologize - that would have seemed inauthentic as she really is interested in Earn, but told Lada that Earn really loves her, and that she should make up her mind once and for all. * Thaen and Wisanu's shirt-swapping scene came a little out of nowhere - I don't really watch BLs so I can't comment on whether this is a trope of some sort. But Wisanu and Thaen can fall in love, at might get Nu to stop pursuing Lada which is clearly not working, as one could see at the beginning of the episode with this incredibly awkward excuse that Lada has to rope in Thaen, Bow and Ross for. * I hope Earn does not make a habit out of getting sick/injured, as she implied while talking to Lada in der Emergency room - following though with that would be incredibly childish. * The episode ends with Earn and Lada (apparently) reconciling; though have I must have missed something, or was the screen with Earn and Lada breaking up on the rooftop - the one that was in the trailer - really show for the first time in the show? Perhaps this is a scene that will later be shown in more detail - as with the Engfah/Earn scene in the fitness studio, but is it was, it was weird because we don't know where to fit the scene into the timeline.
That was a solid episode, though I enjoyed episode 4 more. Next time, the mother will reappear? Will her involvement in the Earn/Lada break-up be revealed? We shall see...
This was the best episode so far - they kept to momentum from ep.3 and movied to story forward.
They didn't waste any time by answering my biggest question – what does Pin feel? Even before the opening credits that show makes clear that she is attracted to Anin as well, and she liked her advances. But Anin hadn’t seen the cold open ;-) , and Prik can only report that she had an impact, but not which. Prik’s plan is simple: make Pin jealous, then you’ll know. At this point a feel sorry for what torture Pin will be put through.
I wonder what Lady Uengfah is thinking about all the attention she is getting... What Pin is thinking about it, I don't have to ask, it is clear to see. Anin must be really blind if she didn’t see Pin’s jealousy – though when you compare it with her jealousy of Master Kuea (whom Pin herself dislikes) it’s clear why she didn’t detect it.
Then comes the infamous tennis match. I found this to be thoroughly one-sided, though I enjoyed Kuea getting hit again and again, and Pin acknowledging and then ignoring his pain 😉. The only one with any ability is clearly Anin, though the second semi-final seemed a little more lively.
Prik deserves a Golden Globe for her acting disappointed when Pin forbade her to accompany Princess Patt. 😊
Then, as the rain is falling while Anin and Pin are alone, we get an unexpected flashback – to when Pin found her dead parents in a thunderstorm – that was a heartbreaking scene. Anin watching Pin sleep – as if anyone doubted that Anin loves her…
Anin serves dinner for Pin. 💓
Finally, some talk about an overnight stay by Pin – that Pin needs this much convincing, seems a little odd to me. Then comes what we are all here for (well, I don't know if *you* were here expecting this, you seemed to be surprised) : the kissing lesson. 😉 Pin’s eyes going ultra-wide at the “lip kiss” was gold. And the French Kiss… now we should have an answer how Pin really feels about Anin.
I found the trajectory of the story somewhat obvious, but I liked the dynamic between Pin and Anin, and of course scheming Prik. What would Anin have done if it hadn’t rained that night, though? I mean, Pin’s Lotus Palace is right next to the Pine palace… 😊
Now, we're talking - the show is finally talking shape. I‘m thankful that the show makes for once the setup of the episode absolutely clear, and answers all my questions from the end of the previous one. Anin is back, she wanted to surprise everyone, including her own mother and of course Pin, and she’s only back for a few months to attend he brother’s wedding.
Pin initially looks so in happy and in love that it almost hurts; she is really in awe of Anin, even though she has grown so much. Anin on the other hand doesn’t waste any time telling Pin she loves all of her (setting the stage for the rest of the episode) , even when she doesn’t show it as radiantly as Pin. Pin herself seems actually to be jealous of Prik, but Anin silents these thoughts at once by confession the ‘desires’ her – a term with which Pin seems to be entirely unfamiliar, as she doesn’t seem to understand nether her own feelings nor those of Anin.
Then the hilarious strategizing session between Prik and Anin, where Anin learns just how popular her Lady Pin is – and she gets really mad jealous. This is going to be fun! Her first attempts at “seduction” (for lack of a better word!) do not seem to land, tough, as Pin is keeping her distance and seems to be unsure how to handle to new side of hers. Not helping is Anin’s borderline predatory behavior which seems to creep Pin out. She’s sends Pin gay panic into overdrive with requesting a massage. But things don’t go as well as Anin might have expected – I think Pin believes Anin is just teasing her as when they were younger – even though Anin says that she is dead serious.
After the University scene, thing come to a head between Pin and Anin, where the former still misunderstands Anin’s attention as mischievous teasing, and Anin finally confessing that she does all this to spend as much time as possible with her – before moving away. Now, Pin is really alone again, and it shows – she’s back to her silent, solemn – and probably lonely – self. She longingly searches for glimpses of Anin – but she’s at the main palace, meeting Lady Uangfah. They visit the Pine palace later on where they meet Lady Pin who tries to hide it, but is clearly jealous of Uang. After she leaves Pin vents her jealousy a little, but is stopped by Anin putting the garlands Pin made into her hair, and then flirts as openly with Pin as she can. The episode closes on Anin kissing Pin on the cheek (yes, I count that, Theora.)
I really liked the episode, even though it didn’t answer the million Dollar (or billion Baht 😊) question: what exactly are Pin’s feelings for Anin? Anin’s feelings couldn’t be clearer if she shouted them from the top of a palace tree; and I think Pin still adores and cherishes Anin, so far she hasn’t shown any desire to go further than that, despite Anin’s numerous and pretty open advances. Is it that she simply doesn’t know what to do with her pent-up emotions? Only time will tell, in any case, the plot really got rolling this time and I laughed at the Anin’s strategizing, and at her attempts to woo Pin. That was really entertaining, but I think that this gay panic stuff can get old if they keep going this way. Pin really needs to make her mind up.
I was initially worried that Lada caring for her mother would cause a rift again between Lada and Earn - but the way they both approached the "break" this time was so serious and earnest, their declarations of love so emotional, that the happy end was practically guaranteed.
Personally, I could have lived without a Russamee's 11th-hour epiphany about her daughter because it has become a cliché of GL series at this point. But this was one of the better played-out ones because not only Lada's mom relented, but she even went to Earn to beg her to take Lada back with a very emotional pitch. Prior to that, the goundwork was done by Lada's father telling her wife that Lada could not have found a more loving, worthy partner for life. And even though I already knew where this was going - it was pretty obvious - I teared up once Earn told Russamee that she has given up everything , even acting. But she can't make herself not love Lada.
The wedding at the end was nice, but felt more like a BTS get-together for all the actors involved, that's the only reason I could find for Ratee to be there, even though they kind of tried to pair her up with Engfa - which made zero sense to me. The other two pairings the wedding revealed where Tan and Wisanu - where I was glad that they didn't give that storyline more screentime - and Rose/Bow, where I would have loved to see more beforehand.
Overall, I'm giving "The Secret of Us" an 8 out of 10, or a "B" in US grades . The final episode in the end was the only one that was in the same league as the first one, but apart from parts of episode 2/3 (which were a mixed bag), everything was at least good and the chemistry between Lingling and Earn was great, even when Earn in the beginning behaved like a child, you would never forget that Lada and Earn in fact loved each other. I wouldn't mind seeing them in another project.
And Anin's return was directly at the end of the episode, so it might be that the next episode will give an explanation (and I will acknowledge it should it happen) - just found it odd.
Only when Anin actually leaves (in minute 36) we see her as affected by their separation. Then the time jumps quickly forward with an (untranslated) caption that says “many months have passed”. We only get one example each of the surely many, many letters they wrote to each other. The passage of time is not very well illustrated in these scenes, as I missed the caption the first time around I was surprised Pin suddenly already was in her second year of university (4-5 years later). We see, however, that Pin is getting more popular among men – among them Master Kuekat. Meanwhile, Anin gets a visit from her mother and brother, and a letter from Prik is which see tells her about all the men interested in Pin – and Anin gets as jealous as Pin when she detailed her friendship with the unknown Emma in her letter.
We move on to preparations for the engagement party for Anin’s brother – and no one told Pin that this is when Anin would return to Thailand?!? Apparently, it’s a surprise for everyone. I've heard from bookreaders that Anin is just on a break from her studies; but the show did not communicate that yet. (in the five seconds that she was back).
Anyway, now the real story can start. I found the episode to be painfully slow in the first half, then rushed in the second one. The passage of time wasn't made clear to me (as a non-reader of the novel). In my mind the show should have focused less on the preparations for Anin’s time abroad and more oh her actual time abroad. The show made it look like it was just a quick trip – when in fact Pin and Anin are now in their early twenties, I guess. Anin surely looks different now, whereas Pin hasn’t changed that much.
Plus points were nosy and emotional Prik, and the scenes where Pin and Anin were together showing genuine emotion (their chemistry is really something else, and their acting only got better since "Gap") – I just would have wished for those moments to not be buried in the slow-paced agony that was the first half.
The episode felt a little superfluous to me, as the story effectively already came to a close in EP11. That main - no the only - storyline was Marvin acting like a sore loser and sabotaging the career of his former fiancée. He made an effort and quite an investment into damaging both Kim's business and Wan's career - but for what? Was it really just out of spite, or did he expect to get Kim to reconsider.
This would have been okay as a background storyline over multiple episodes, but as the main plot of EP12, it didn't make much sense to me. Anyway, if the end he of course relented after Kim told him what he thought of him.
Other than that, we had roughly five minutes of a MV, montages of DREAM stuff (initially) selling and finally a fashion show. We had another cute love scene in the beginning, though I would have preferred to space them out out over several episodes instead of packing it all into EPs 11 and 12 (well there was the fake one in EP8...). That the show would end of the letter that Wan removed from the lunchbox in EP10, I was pretty sure. It's a nice bookend to an awkwardly-told story.
I was surprised how few of the supporting characters actually appeared in the final ep. Minnie, Dokrak, Jessie, Pat and many more were all missing in action, and as the wedding of Kim and Wan happened just with the two of them, no one was present there, either.
"Dream" had issues with pacing and also with scene selection. In EP4 and EP5 I was wondering how Kim could love Wan and her awful behaviour at all, those episodes and the non-flashback part or EP6 ware a torture to watch. That, together with the fake love scene in EP8 . That said things got better from EP8 onward, after Wan timeout, when her career was pretty much non-existent , the plot could focus on Kim and Wan's relationship and their feeling for one another. I cursed the screen many times at one of them letting a small, insignificant detail let them back out of confessing their love for each other, but at least the show dealt with them and not with in the end insignificant stories about Wan's work, about dresses, or about Marvin or stupid slapstick from Mali and Sammon.
The storylines about the mothers , I must exclude from that rant. Wan's mother dealing with alcoholism and depression and Kim's mother dealing with (any ultimately dying of) cancer where the best storylines in the show; they felt realistic and believable, especially when surrounded by Wan latest shenanigans or Sammon many business ventures.
In my view, the show would have been much better had they restructured the story, for example. delete EP 4 and EP5 and place the highschool flashback right after EP3, then let them get together in secret by midpoint, but let this fail because Wan doesn't want to commit to Kim publicly, then let Marvin swoop in to make Wan realize what is at stake. Or something like that, I'm no screenwriter, but in EP3 to EP7 is so much stuff that just drags the show down, and slows it down to almost a complete stop.
I think this might have worked better as an eight-episode series, but a a 12-episode (more like 14, because of all the overlong EPs) the show just spins its wheels too much, and has little to no rewatch value for me.
My final grade for "My Marvelous Dream is You" is a 6/10 or a D+, making it the second-worst GL series I've seen above only "Show Me Love".
But that is really a minor issue, perhaps they could have made that clearer for those who haven't read the books (e.g. in Pin's "Many years have passed" monologue).
The OGs of Thai GL are back on screen - and I liked the first episode quite a bit (more than the first ep of "Gap" which is still my favorite GL - and my favorite show of 2022 altogether). It was a little slow at times but it very well established the setting - and there was quite a bit to establish, as the family and the household staff is quite extensive.
This time Freen plays the opposite of her Gap character - Lady Pin is earnest and serious, but warm and obviously in love with Becky's Highness Princess Anin, who has more of a mischievous streak, she is a troublemaker. It probably helps that she is the princess and the favorite child of her father. :-) With Anin, I'm not sure whether she's is already in love with Pin, or whether she just really likes spending time with her. The first episode gives evidence for both theories.
I understood why they decided to film this adolescent years of Anin and Pin with Freen and Becky - they are the main stars, and hiring teen actresses for those parts would have meant that the first 1-2 episodes would be entirely without the two. But no matter how many wigs they use or pigtails the braid, Freen and Becky do never seem to be just 15 years old, at best they could pass for 18-19 years.
The production values are really on another level - rich, well-lit scenery and plenty of outdoor and crowd scenes make the setting really shine. I'm wondering how they will tackle the time that Anin will (presumably) soon sprend abroad, but so far I'm not worried.
After this episode, the story can really start - though I suspect they separate Amin and Pin soon for a few years. Anyway, I will be watching - on Sunday evenings (CET), I'll probably be unreachable for the forseeable future. :-)
SPOILERS
At first, I didn't understand why Lada wasn't firmer with her mother. I did not make sense to me that she would let her go through with the wedding, as we never saw much of a relationship between the two. But this episode showed that a) Lada was indeed her mother's girl all that time and loved her very much and b) that Russammee was even more evil that we thought, deepening the breakup between Lada and Earn even further by falsely confirming her relationship with a man. Her morther must truely have thought that being gay is both a choice and ruinous to her daughter - otherwise I can't fathom how she could de this and cause Lada years of pain and suffering.
When Lada finds out - and she overhears this from her parents mouth, no less - she immediately cut all ties private and professional with them. This is the consequence that I expected in the beginning, but she loved her mother. The show could have probably pointed that out earlier on, but it's that we understand her now. Also, it proves that Earn could have gotten Lada back even sooner if she just confessed she was both blackmailed and tricked into the breakup.
What I found refreshing after all these misunderstandings was that Earn and Lada didn't argue once in the episode, even though there was plenty of conflict potential, but Earn let Lada deal with her family and the proposal on here own, supporting all her moves, and Lada never once gave the impression that she was willing to sacrifice Earn for her "reputation", or her mother's sake.
The Tan / Wisanu scenes were a little superfluous, but they were there give Wisanu some kind of an opt-out, and also flesh him out a little more, when he has been little more than a plot device so far.
At the end of the episode, Russammee finally realizes what a sh*tty mother she has been, and then seemingly out of nowhere collapses. Apparently, she has been sick all along. This is going to be the final obstacle for Lada and Earn - will Lada stay with Earn, or will she once again put her mother's sake before her own? We shall find out next week.
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I did not like this episode. All major players keep not having important coversations. Earn should have come clean about the first break-up by now - then Lada's mom wouldn't have the possibility to break them up once again, which is the trajectory we seem to be going for.
Lada's father needs to have more of a backbone, too - letting his wife just destroy his daughter's happiness for selfish reasons make him look even more like the doormat he seems to be.
There needs to be an explosion by Lada in the next episode - she usually has a fiery temperament and should not let the mother just get away with this. But somehow (I haven't watched the previews) I doubt that this will happen - this show shies away from every important confrontation if it's not between Earn and Lada.
Up to the interview, the episode was full of lovey-dovey fluff - but I was already bracing for what would inevitably come at the end, so I couldn't enjoy it completely. Worst episode so far, worse than Earn eating bananas.
* Engfah tooks things too far with making Lada jealous, causing one of Lada's trademark vicious outbursts - but I liked how she owned up to it and imediatly went to Lada. She didn't exaclty apologize - that would have seemed inauthentic as she really is interested in Earn, but told Lada that Earn really loves her, and that she should make up her mind once and for all.
* Thaen and Wisanu's shirt-swapping scene came a little out of nowhere - I don't really watch BLs so I can't comment on whether this is a trope of some sort. But Wisanu and Thaen can fall in love, at might get Nu to stop pursuing Lada which is clearly not working, as one could see at the beginning of the episode with this incredibly awkward excuse that Lada has to rope in Thaen, Bow and Ross for.
* I hope Earn does not make a habit out of getting sick/injured, as she implied while talking to Lada in der Emergency room - following though with that would be incredibly childish.
* The episode ends with Earn and Lada (apparently) reconciling; though have I must have missed something, or was the screen with Earn and Lada breaking up on the rooftop - the one that was in the trailer - really show for the first time in the show? Perhaps this is a scene that will later be shown in more detail - as with the Engfah/Earn scene in the fitness studio, but is it was, it was weird because we don't know where to fit the scene into the timeline.
That was a solid episode, though I enjoyed episode 4 more. Next time, the mother will reappear? Will her involvement in the Earn/Lada break-up be revealed? We shall see...