MarxistCat

I hope you're right or else the comments would be too on-the-nose.

I am a bit confused as to what the political message here is. Thailand at the time was under an authoritarian regime with extreme anti-communist leanings, so I was expecting to see some proper representation of communists that doesn't devolve into red scare propaganda. The scene with Victor's dad caught me off guard because why is such grace always extended to capitalism (the "every system has its flaws" line) but never to communism? If every system has its flaws, then communism shouldn't be demonized wholesale. We have seen a lot of chaos and tragedies happening as a result of both systems, but only capitalism is afforded nuance.

The icing on the cake was the clear pandering to the U.S.. Is a country automatically good because it's democratic? Does foreign policy even matter at all? Only those of us on the receiving end of this country's atrocities know what's like, it seems, but it really isn't hard to dig into what the U.S has been doing to the global south for a very long time. I am not against criticism of the Soviet Union, but to contrast it with the U.S in the context of good vs. bad is delusional and reductionist.

I liked it. I am just a bit worried about whether they will be able to tell a compelling story in only 8 episodes, since a lot of things were happening in episode 1. Strong start, though, with interesting social commentary.

Milk is mastering the art of jaw-acting it seems.

Willy moves his jaw a lot while speaking; I don't know why, but it's bothering me. I don't even know what's going on anymore, so they should just have Willy and Charlie kiss then roll the credits.

Yeah, it was more of a rhetorical question. The writers clearly believe "Arab" is a nationality, and MENA is one big blob judging by that attire.

Sorry, but what is Sabid's nationality supposed to be exactly? It seems like the writers came up with a racist caricature of an "Arab" and threw in a mishmash of something they're attempting to pass off as traditional clothing. This isn't the first time I have seen blatant ignorance of the difference between Arab and Arabized countries and casual racism in Thai series. I liked the series, but I am not sure how to feel about it now.

NorthSonic is happening when we all become grandparents, god willing. Also, for someone doing so many shady and illegal things, Tony sure has very lax security posted outside the building.

I must say that I would have preferred if things were less predictable. I haven't read the novel, yet I know how this will most likely end both action and romance-wise. I am still going to tune in every week, but I am definitely less excited about the series now compared to how I was at the very start of the season, especially now that some storylines have been absolutely derailed (Willy predictably being Tony's lackey and a creep).

Sun really is the Walmart version of Ji Woo from My Name. I wonder why he never considered that Joe could be the culprit. Also, why does Peace's father even believe that Sun and Peace are involved romantically? This part never made sense to me. Even if he knows that Peace is gay, merely knowing Sun before being introduced to him by his father doesn't indicate a romantic involvement. Peace and Sun haven't actually interacted that much.

That aside, I wish Peace and Sun had had more scenes over the last few episodes to establish that yearning for one another. A scene of Sun being very shaken up right after murdering Madam Yao would have also been nice. The intimate scene would have been much more impactful in my opinion. I'm glad we didn't get hit with the classic dead-fish or smashing-lip kiss though, so I have no complaints about the scene itself.

Anyway, happy pride month to Sun (and possibly Mei).

Aim really did all of that, only to settle for being Joe's lackey instead of Madam Yao's. Too bad (good) he couldn't even be that and ended up a corpse, lol.

I normally find Charlie more annoying, but Babe was so whiny this episode. I don't think I have ever complained about him as a character, but he was doing too much this time. Instead of repeatedly bugging Charlie, he could have just insisted Jeff tell him from the start. He's smothering Charlie and has refused to give him his space ever since the Willy thing. Also, did he really just ask Jeff whose health deteriorates because of his powers to see if he and Charlie remain together? It's so selfish and borderline obsessive. If Willy wasn't written to be a giant creep, I would be shipping him with Charlie now just based on their chemistry. Wasted opportunity to address this kind of problematic behavior and have them take a proper break from each other but oh well.

Is there any news regarding a subber picking this up?

Why is Koji so obsessed with Toru's sex life? It's so creepy. I say let him, though, since this series would have been so dull and littered with deadfish kisses if it weren't for his storyline. Someone tell them that adults in their late twenties and forties don't kiss like middle schoolers.

I am enjoying it very much, but the deadfish kisses aren't doing it for me. I expect at least some degree of intimacy if I am watching a romantic story unfold. Contrary to some viewers, I thought they had chemistry; all it took is for the characters not to feel so desexed.

Yeah, Joe is clearly keeping an eye on Sun and his crew and testing their abilities with the jobs he is giving them to see what it would take to subdue them. Madam Yao is a diversion. The series is setting up Sun and Peace to be star crossed lovers in the Shakespearean sense, so I am pretty sure Joe will turn out to be the real villain.

I think Willy has never been genuinely interested in Babe sexually or romantically. If you think about it, he has only ever showed up or done things to provoke Charlie, whom we know now has been Tony's target all along. The photo he took at the race with Babe was obviously meant to be posted for Charlie to see. At the hospital when Babe was injured, Willy showed up, thinking Charlie was there, and stayed long enough for Charlie to walk in on him teasing Babe. I get the impression that the most he wanted out of their interactions was Babe giving him the time of the day just enough for Charlie to hear about it. So, yes, I agree that Willy's intention wasn't to assault Babe, but rather, stage a scene Babe can't talk himself out of and assert dominance after Babe believed he could fool him. It was a power move fueled by his ego. He never believed Babe was going to sway, and if he had, Willy would probably have been at a loss as to how he should proceed.

That being said, I understand why some found it to be disturbing. I was also struggling with a scene in another series, and when I couldn't look past it, I dropped it. As you said in another reply, these series aren't meant to be didactic, so it's best to stop watching when the escapism is shattered.

Wait, so if Joe's actor can speak English to a degree, then why did they employ that AI voice at the start of the series? It's so odd how they made him speak with no accent at the beginning, but now he suddenly has a Thai accent when speaking English.

The lackey (Non) of Sun's brother killing the man responsible for the death of Sun's father is really suspicious. Maybe he had more to say, and they agreed to kill him so he doesn't implicate them or Joe. It's obvious that Sun is being used by both his brother and Joe to get rid of Madam Yao, so Joe probably conspired to kill his father with the knowledge of what's-his-face. Besides, why does it have to be Sun to avenge their father while his brother sits around like a bum?

Also, the episodes feel way too short if you don't account for the opening and ending credits, as well as the previews for the previous and next episodes. With that runtime, the series should have at least had more episodes. I am worried the plot will be all over the place with too many things left unaddressed by the end.

I was referring to Charlie surpassing Willy in the previous team races. I don't quite remember if he did before. I understand why Charlie comes second to Babe, as you said, but I think Charlie's abilities are portrayed inconsistently throughout the show, and so are Willy's to an extent. He also supposedly lost his power by the end of episode 3, but Willy told Tony this episode that Charlie has all of Babe's powers now. Did we get a scene where Charlie regained them? I believe we didn't, so I am a bit confused about Charlie suddenly being better than Willy when he couldn't even be one step ahead of him when he still had his powers. I even remember Babe teasing Charlie about it in episode 2.

It's just hard to gauge who is better than whom at this point when Willy was introduced as a very worthy opponent of Babe, whilst Charlie was lagging behind the entire season until this episode.

I replayed that scene at the end of episode 10 so many times. Great acting from both leads.

Correct me if I am wrong, but has Charlie ever defeated Willy before in any of the races? Charlie has had his powers all along, but suddenly he ties then wins against Willy whom he has never won against before. Willy and Babe were portrayed as on the same level racing-wise, with Babe being naturally gifted beyond his powers as far as I remember. It seems like the characters' powers, or lack-there-of, are utilized differently whenever the plot calls for it.

That aside, bless whoever styled Milk as Willy but interrogate those who styled Nut for Chris. I didn't think Milk was the hottest amongst the cast when I started the season, but now I do. I remember being very mesmerized by Nut throughout season 1, but now he looks like an overworked salaryman. I understand that they're different characters, but why does Chris have to dress like he's five minutes away from a PowerPoint presentation? Whenever I see him, I feel like I am watching the embodiment of a "Reply All" email.

As for Babe and Charlie's fiasco, it was hilarious watching Babe say all of that only for Charlie to channel the "I'm not reading all that" energy with a deadpan expression at Ex-hunter's headquarters. And of course they ended up resolving it by having sex. Chris shaking his head at Charlie when he mentioned Babe at the lab was me this entire episode.

I also want to note that the it feels like the season is about to end even though we are only halfway through. Maybe it's just me.