This review may contain spoilers
Missed golden opportunity
Let’s start with the obvious: vampires – powerful, often immortal, carnal creatures that need to consume blood to survive – are among the sexiest beasts invented by our imagination. Representing a multitude of things considered forbidden and often evil, like unrestrained lust, following animal and predatory instincts, hunting, pursuing and killing prey, evading death etc., vampires are a projection not just of the darker (or even darkest) aspects of human nature, but also of a desire to be truly free, to do whatever we want, with no boundaries nor restrictions. So, in theory, a love story about gay vampires should be awesome, right? Well, in theory – yes. In practice, however, it can turn like MGB did: not so awesome.
The good stuff
There’s plenty of things in this show that I liked a lot – mostly the interactions of Mark and Tong, especially once they became an item. Fortunately that makes up a big portion of the series – it is a BL after all (no, it’s not a show about vampires – that’s just a pretext to tell a love story). Joss and Fluke work well together and their chemistry is MGB’s saving grace (that and Joss displaying his flawless physique). Another thing I enjoyed: the OST, consisting of “Closer” by Fluke (heard during opening credits), “Just You” by Joss and “Ever After” by Joss and Fluke. Pretty modest by GMMTV’s standards – and that’s also okay.
Writing
The show’s script is based on two intertwining storylines: Mark’s and Tong’s love story and the golden blood vampire story.
The love story is a variation of a well-known trope of a protector becoming a romantic interest/partner of the person he’s protecting. Inserting a vampire into that pattern doesn’t change a lot – after initial problems Mark becomes a rather traditional bodyguard-turned-lover character. Here’s where the vampire aspect of the show fails the most: once he overcomes his lust for Tong’s golden blood, Mark becomes so mundane that it’s easy to forget he’s a vampire. This is not an isolated case: all vampires in MGB seem weirdly bland, tamed and controlled, turning violent only on the rare occasion of coming into contact with Tong’s blood. Those are not the sexy vampires I imagined that would fit a daring gay love story, passionate, spicy and full of lust – this is a golden opportunity which was missed (or maybe deliberately abandoned). These vampires have been washed and bleached, deprived of feelings and senses – and became boring. Vampirism in MGB is like a curse: an eternal life of feeling nothing. Sure, this image is inconsistent (Thara has a genuine lust for power, Nakan seems to have some emotions and desires, Wan gets all teary in ep. 12 etc.), but heavily influences how Mark is presented and the love story progresses: it’s not taming of a wild beast lusting after Tong – it’s waking up a man’s sex drive and getting it to hum (instead of roar).
Another issue I have with the love story is its length – there simply doesn’t seem to be enough of the story for all 12 episodes. This leads to inclusion of filler elements; some (like most of ep. 4) are dull and unnecessary. This also gives room for subplots, chief among them the Tonkla subplot – which seemed to be important to the writers until they killed off Tonkla in ep. 9. Did it have a lasting impact on the story or characters? Not really.
The second main plotline – the vampire story – is messy, vague and inconsistent. Since MGB is not a show about vampires and this plotline is only meant to provide setting and obstacles for the love story, I’m not bothered by the aforementioned flaws; this is less important than the portrayal of vampires themselves, which I complained about above.
Characters
Both Mark and Tong are written in a proper manner (contrary to some opinions I read on MDL, I didn’t find Tong’s character to be annoying or subpar), fitting the love story plotline. Thara – as a villain – is a bit generic, but passable; revealing her as the main baddy of the show was foreshadowed in ep. 10 by some ominous music, which actually made me laugh. Tonkla is irritating and generally useless; I begin to understand why some comments express regret that Tonkla wasn't paired with Nakan – at least that would give Tonkla something to do in the show. Nakan seemed plausible as a villain, but then ep. 11 and 12 happened. I’m unsure whether that was plain old bad writing or an attempted redemption arc; whatever it was – it didn’t work for me. That character had potential, clearly, but it was wasted – mainly because it wasn’t developed properly. Seeing pictures of Tonkla and Nakan displayed next to each other with flowers in front of them (ep. 12), as for some cherished fallen comrades or good friends, left me with a bad taste in my mouth.
Acting
As much as I enjoyed the Mark-Tong dynamic I have to point out that Joss gave a flawed performance in MGB. It’s something I noticed in ep. 1 and what did not change until the very end of the series: Joss was good at being hot&sexy, cool, manly, funny, caring or vulnerable – basically in almost every scene Mark interacted with Tong; the opposite happened when Mark needed to be serious, angry and “mature” – Joss kept missing the beat, becoming (unintentionally) funny: becoming lifeless and stiff or reciting his lines in a weird, solemn manner (as to underline that what he says is important). Fluke’s performance was much more consistent and without major flaws; same can be said about Um’s performance as Thara. Mond, whom I learned to respect a bit after “Only Friends” (while disliking the show itself and most performances in it), is all over the place here; much of that is due to the writing, but some has to attributed to the performer. Mond seemed sleepy, stoned or bored for much of ep. 1-10 and his face looked swollen – all of which made me think he was having some health issues while MGB was filmed. Fortunately this was no longer the case in ep. 11-12.
Visuals
Much was said about CGI in MGB – and how it (supposedly) was indicative of a low budget. While I wasn’t bothered by the use of special effects nor their quality, I do believe that – with writing adjusted in this regard and consistent use of more traditional means, like filming after sunset, proper lighting, filters and color grading, MGB could have created a better, convincingly “vampiric” atmosphere. Same about locations: while I applaud some choices in this regard (in particular Wan’s flower shop), others were baffling. Speaking of which: what’s with the wedding venues used by BLs recently? First “The Next Prince” located the interiors of the Emmalian royal palace in “La Chapelle”, a “unique luxury venue for weddings” in Bangkok, and now MGB used what seemed like two wedding venues (or just two areas within one venue) in ep. 12.
Final thoughts
Is MGB bad? No, it’s above average – mainly because most of its flaws have nothing to do with the love story while Joss and Fluke work so good together that they sell that story. My biggest issue with MGB is that it could have been much more – given its potential; instead it’s a half-hearted bite: you felt it, but it’s painless.
The good stuff
There’s plenty of things in this show that I liked a lot – mostly the interactions of Mark and Tong, especially once they became an item. Fortunately that makes up a big portion of the series – it is a BL after all (no, it’s not a show about vampires – that’s just a pretext to tell a love story). Joss and Fluke work well together and their chemistry is MGB’s saving grace (that and Joss displaying his flawless physique). Another thing I enjoyed: the OST, consisting of “Closer” by Fluke (heard during opening credits), “Just You” by Joss and “Ever After” by Joss and Fluke. Pretty modest by GMMTV’s standards – and that’s also okay.
Writing
The show’s script is based on two intertwining storylines: Mark’s and Tong’s love story and the golden blood vampire story.
The love story is a variation of a well-known trope of a protector becoming a romantic interest/partner of the person he’s protecting. Inserting a vampire into that pattern doesn’t change a lot – after initial problems Mark becomes a rather traditional bodyguard-turned-lover character. Here’s where the vampire aspect of the show fails the most: once he overcomes his lust for Tong’s golden blood, Mark becomes so mundane that it’s easy to forget he’s a vampire. This is not an isolated case: all vampires in MGB seem weirdly bland, tamed and controlled, turning violent only on the rare occasion of coming into contact with Tong’s blood. Those are not the sexy vampires I imagined that would fit a daring gay love story, passionate, spicy and full of lust – this is a golden opportunity which was missed (or maybe deliberately abandoned). These vampires have been washed and bleached, deprived of feelings and senses – and became boring. Vampirism in MGB is like a curse: an eternal life of feeling nothing. Sure, this image is inconsistent (Thara has a genuine lust for power, Nakan seems to have some emotions and desires, Wan gets all teary in ep. 12 etc.), but heavily influences how Mark is presented and the love story progresses: it’s not taming of a wild beast lusting after Tong – it’s waking up a man’s sex drive and getting it to hum (instead of roar).
Another issue I have with the love story is its length – there simply doesn’t seem to be enough of the story for all 12 episodes. This leads to inclusion of filler elements; some (like most of ep. 4) are dull and unnecessary. This also gives room for subplots, chief among them the Tonkla subplot – which seemed to be important to the writers until they killed off Tonkla in ep. 9. Did it have a lasting impact on the story or characters? Not really.
The second main plotline – the vampire story – is messy, vague and inconsistent. Since MGB is not a show about vampires and this plotline is only meant to provide setting and obstacles for the love story, I’m not bothered by the aforementioned flaws; this is less important than the portrayal of vampires themselves, which I complained about above.
Characters
Both Mark and Tong are written in a proper manner (contrary to some opinions I read on MDL, I didn’t find Tong’s character to be annoying or subpar), fitting the love story plotline. Thara – as a villain – is a bit generic, but passable; revealing her as the main baddy of the show was foreshadowed in ep. 10 by some ominous music, which actually made me laugh. Tonkla is irritating and generally useless; I begin to understand why some comments express regret that Tonkla wasn't paired with Nakan – at least that would give Tonkla something to do in the show. Nakan seemed plausible as a villain, but then ep. 11 and 12 happened. I’m unsure whether that was plain old bad writing or an attempted redemption arc; whatever it was – it didn’t work for me. That character had potential, clearly, but it was wasted – mainly because it wasn’t developed properly. Seeing pictures of Tonkla and Nakan displayed next to each other with flowers in front of them (ep. 12), as for some cherished fallen comrades or good friends, left me with a bad taste in my mouth.
Acting
As much as I enjoyed the Mark-Tong dynamic I have to point out that Joss gave a flawed performance in MGB. It’s something I noticed in ep. 1 and what did not change until the very end of the series: Joss was good at being hot&sexy, cool, manly, funny, caring or vulnerable – basically in almost every scene Mark interacted with Tong; the opposite happened when Mark needed to be serious, angry and “mature” – Joss kept missing the beat, becoming (unintentionally) funny: becoming lifeless and stiff or reciting his lines in a weird, solemn manner (as to underline that what he says is important). Fluke’s performance was much more consistent and without major flaws; same can be said about Um’s performance as Thara. Mond, whom I learned to respect a bit after “Only Friends” (while disliking the show itself and most performances in it), is all over the place here; much of that is due to the writing, but some has to attributed to the performer. Mond seemed sleepy, stoned or bored for much of ep. 1-10 and his face looked swollen – all of which made me think he was having some health issues while MGB was filmed. Fortunately this was no longer the case in ep. 11-12.
Visuals
Much was said about CGI in MGB – and how it (supposedly) was indicative of a low budget. While I wasn’t bothered by the use of special effects nor their quality, I do believe that – with writing adjusted in this regard and consistent use of more traditional means, like filming after sunset, proper lighting, filters and color grading, MGB could have created a better, convincingly “vampiric” atmosphere. Same about locations: while I applaud some choices in this regard (in particular Wan’s flower shop), others were baffling. Speaking of which: what’s with the wedding venues used by BLs recently? First “The Next Prince” located the interiors of the Emmalian royal palace in “La Chapelle”, a “unique luxury venue for weddings” in Bangkok, and now MGB used what seemed like two wedding venues (or just two areas within one venue) in ep. 12.
Final thoughts
Is MGB bad? No, it’s above average – mainly because most of its flaws have nothing to do with the love story while Joss and Fluke work so good together that they sell that story. My biggest issue with MGB is that it could have been much more – given its potential; instead it’s a half-hearted bite: you felt it, but it’s painless.
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