Pinoy BL Series

Even though Episode 5: Scorpio had issues with scene sequence and had a sad ending, I still liked this episode. Pisces and Scorpio had good dynamics during their interactions. Script was generally conversational. Acting was alright. Kelly and Arjay did well. Audio-visuals were quite uneven though. There were distracting echoes and some camera shots and split-screens covered part of the faces. But overall, this was still a good episode.

I was pleasantly surprised with Episode 1: Hidden Desire. The plot/storyline, about love, friendship, and betrayal, was a bit shallow but the screenplay was conversational enough and acting was quite good. Kaleb, Jao, and Mitch were all natural with their performances. I've watched Kaleb ("Meet My Angel," "Alter") and Mitch ("Amore," "L.A.F.S") before so I know they can act but this is the first time I've seen Jao. He has potential. I hope he's given proper direction on this series. Audio-visuals were ok but editing needs work. The scene with Chona was a bit long. The soundtrack "Di Pwede" (Can't Be/Not Possible) by Lady Martin was ok. Overall, this was a good premiere for this series.

Sarah and Elmo's cheating and lying scheme was finally exposed with Nathan confronting Sarah and Jessie about it on Episode 6: Face-Off. After sometime, Jessie reconciled with Sarah while Nathan confessed his feelings to Elmo which the latter rejected for Sarah's sake. Screenplay was conversational enough but the delivery of lines was over the top at times. Acting felt scripted. There were still issues with the audio-visuals. Overall, this episode was at least watchable.

Episode 1: CUPID the Vloggers was a solid pilot episode. This episode gave a peak into Curt and Sid's lives including Sid's coming out story through the pair's first vlog. While there were serious dialogues about coming out, lookism, etc., screenplay avoided being preachy. In terms of acting, Aejhay and James Andrew were alright. Audio-visuals were fine. Soundtrack "Sa 'Yo Lang Walang Iba" (Only for You, No One Else) by Liezel Vasquez was ok. For the next episodes, I hope this series becomes more interesting.

Episode 2 regressed from the the pilot episode. There were too many silly scenes that didn't really advance the plot/storyline. The handling of the issue of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) was a bit problematic. Script wasn't funny enough. Acting was tolerable though. Production technicals need improvement. I just hope this series improve in succeeding episodes.

Episode 1 was campy. It wasn't super entertaining but it was tolerable enough. At least at the onset, we have a general idea about this series' supernatural plot/storyline that focuses on a fairy's vengeance. Screenplay was mostly fine. Some comedic lines hit the mark while others didn't. In terms of acting, most of the actors need improvement. But Lester was alright. Audio-visuals were uneven. There were distracting background music and sounds. And while there were good camera shots, there were also poorly edited scenes. All in all, this episode wasn't good but it was watchable.

Episode 5: Last Breathe depicted Kenneth's experience of abuse and his death. Kenneth's death was senseless and reflective of the lack of clear direction for this series. Screenplay had corny lines. Acting was at least tolerable on this episode. Audio-visuals were the same as previous episodes. Overall, I'm just hoping for a modicum of improvement in succeeding episodes.

Episode 4: Sacrifice was a cringefest! While there were bits of background for some of the characters, especially Mico, the scenes were still very much disjointed. The characters' reactions on some of the scenes defied logic. Script was cringy. Acting was terrible. The actors went overboard with their performance a lot of times. Production technicals were still poor. Frankly, I'm beyond disappointed with this series.

As Kiko and Mark grew closer to each other, Episode 3 featured relationship development that brought complications to their lives. Kiko's past as a masseur threatens whatever they have. Roy, Kiko's former customer, is an impending problem to their relationship. Script was mostly ok. Acting was also fine. Audio-visuals were alright. Based on the preview, next episode will showcase the main conflict of this series.

Only 3 episodes so far. It seems they release just 1 episode per month. Not clear how many episodes.

Episode 2: Pagbabalik Alaala (Recurring Memories) provided some details about Rich's past with his ex-boyfriend Teejay. At least there's progress in terms of plot/storyline. Script still needs to be more conversational though. The delivery of English and Taglish (code-mixing/code-switching in the use of Tagalog Filipino and English) lines wasn't natural enough. Although this episode was better than last episode, acting still needs refinement. Production technicals also need to be better. All in all, I hope this series continues to improve in the next episodes.

Episode 3 didn't improve on the previous episodes. Substantive and technical issues remained. While there were some encounters for the couples (Art/Mack and Khel/Sai), the plot/storyline didn't really move much on this episode. There were dispensable scenes. Screenplay was still boring. Acting was still underwhelming. Audio-visuals were still problematic. Lip movements and spoken vocals didn't quite jibe. Make-up was still excessive. And editing, especially scene transitions, was still bad. Overall, this series needs to be better on succeeding episodes.

Episode 1: Captive Strangers introduced the main characters of this Filipino (Pinoy) boys' love (BL) series. This episode focused on the aftermath of So's breakup with Pablo. There were numerous belabored scenes on this episode. The scenes that were supposed to be daring and provocative came across as tasteless. Because these unrealistic scenes were unnecessarily prolonged, they bordered on being exploitative. Screenplay was generally conversational at least. Acting was largely uneven. Vincent's performance was alright but Kevin's acting needs a bit of work. Vin's performance was quite caricaturish. Audio-visuals had issues. There were distracting echoes. While the drone videography was able to present some good camera shots, editing, especially scene transitions, needs refinement. All in all, it wasn't a solid pilot episode but I'm hopeful this series will improve in succeeding episodes.

Episode 2: Unexpected began with an annoyingly long 6-minute recap. Excluding the opening sequence, recap, post-credits, and next week's episode preview, this episode was only 8 minutes long. This episode featured part of Hanson and Sam's backstory. An effeminate gay character, Nathan, was also introduced. I hope he's not treated as merely this series' comic relief. Screenplay wasn't conversational enough. Acting by AC and Axel needs improvement. They sounded scripted. They also made unnatural hand gestures as though they're on a school declamation contest. Kid was the saving grace for this episode. Production technicals were still ok though. All in all, this series needs to be better in succeeding episodes.

On Episode 6, Zander died while Efren and Carlo ended up together. Kamisetang Papel is definitely a candidate for the worst Filipino (Pinoy) boys' love (BL) series of all time. Everything about this series spelled mediocrity. Plot/storyline, performance, and production were all poor. I would like to congratulate all those who were able to get through this series!

By Episode 5, there's still no sufficient character background, no character development, and no relationship development for this series. Suddenly, characters were gone (dead?). Screenplay was cringy. Acting was horrendous. Production technicals were poor. Images were blurry and pixelated. Finally, one last episode!

Episode 4 was full of gaps and jumps. This episode was disjointed with very little sense. There were repetitive scenes. Script was bad. Acting was awful. Jomari and Jordan overacted a lot. Audio-visuals were annoying. Background music and sound effects were irritating. Last two episodes!

Episode 8: The Farewell was a bad finale. Damon died and he's bound to go to heaven where he'll eventually reunite with Angelo. It's another one of those Filipino (Pinoy) boys' love (BL) series that employed the tiresome bury your gay trope in line with the equally wearisome too good for this problematic earth narrative. It's just unimaginative. Similar to previous episodes, there were stretched out scenes. Screenplay had repetitive lines and corny dialogues. God's script was cringy. Acting was still on point though. And thankfully, we got a better looking Enzo with his new hairstyle. Audio-visuals were still uneven. Sound wasn't consistently clear. There were poor camera shots (e.g. shaky rotating camera shot; salacious camera shot between Angelo's legs). Soundtrack was also overplayed. Overall, this episode wasn't a good ending for this series.

This series was recently cancelled: https://twitter.com/boholfilmOFC/status/1376724655742980099?s=20

Episode 4: Gemini was a bit cheesy. This episode was about childhood friends/lovers, misunderstanding, deception, forgiveness, and rekindling feelings. Screenplay had numerous corny lines. Sky Peiman didn't really fit the role of a popular actor in Canada. Kelly needs to challenge himself more to come up with different characterizations. His acting's fine but his roles lack variety. While not being limited to split-screen video call conversations was refreshing, editing of all the scenes still needs work. Overall, this episode was underwhelming.