Reve

I enjoyed this episode so much. It was a nice change of pace after the more angst-heavy storylines of the past few episodes.

- I’d really been looking forward to Tiger and Lynx becoming a couple in part bcoz FirstKhao are SO good at gentle, soft intimacy and they did not disappoint. That morning after scene especially gave me butterflies the whole time.

- Tiger and Lynx navigating the complexities of the early stages of their relationship was well done - the mismatch in expectations w.r.t. how much you’re willing to share in public, worrying about how others might view you, the fear that one isn’t being a good enough partner or that there’s a difference in commitment levels, figuring out how to compromise and go out of your comfort zone. It was all very realistically depicted and relatable.

- I’m really enjoying Satang as Leo. He was so funny in this episode and his infectious, puppy-like energy is a nice counter-balance to Tiger and Lynx’s more subdued demeanours. Also, the man has game. The confidence with which he just goes for it when he likes someone is impressive. That Winny cameo though, ouch.

- There’s no way Lynx has been running the café for over a year. 😅 The timelines just don’t match up. I’m consigning that bit to the “don’t think about it too much” box along with Tiger’s “cat allergy”.

- We finally get to see First and Khao’s characters get engaged in a show! The sequence where they were singing together as a montage of their scenes played on screen made me emotional. Especially because they’ve both worked so hard to get to this point. Tiger with his gentle, kind patience and persistence and his warm, comforting, dependable presence. Meanwhile, we have Lynx slowly overcoming his fears and insecurities and changing his views around love and letting down his walls. It really felt like they’ve earned this moment.

Just two more episodes to go. Sigh. I’m going to miss this gem of a show.

It’s a fluffy, sweet romantic comedy with talking cats that’s at its core an exploration of grief, loss, regret and complicated family dynamics. The acting is excellent, the writing, direction and cinematography are great and the fantasy element is executed much better than I think most people expected. The show is a little slow paced and the romance can get a bit cheesy at times so ymmv on that. It’s also one of those rare shows that imo gets better with each episode. Personally, I’m loving it so far and would recommend checking it out.

Thank you. And yes! First when he's playing angry or being a badass is just 🔥🔥. More please!

This show just keeps getting better and better. So much happened in this episode and a lot of it hurt to watch – in a good way.

- The way the present mirrors the past with both Je Meow and Lynx providing comfort and a shoulder to lean on - while trying to maintain a brave front - even as they struggle with their own grief, anger and resentment.

- Lynx trying to be a good older brother to someone he didn’t even know existed a few weeks ago even as he grapples with issues around his self – worth and the idea of his very existence being a “mistake”.

- Leo’s grief and pain as someone who’s lost all the emotional anchors of his life and his guilt at the havoc wrecked on the cafe. He’s young and desperately trying to find a place where he belongs and his lashing out at Lynx while occasionally annoying is very understandable.

- The parallels w.r.t how the father dealt with both the women and his sons - his unwillingness to take accountability for his actions and his attempts to use money as compensation to not only ensure their silence but likely also as a way to assuage his own guilt and make up for his inadequacies as a partner and a father.

- The themes around found family and of healing what’s broken that ran through the episode.

- Tiger showing his debt collector roots was so fun and hot to watch. The action sequence was well executed esp in comparison to a lot of other GMMTV shows. His badassery aside, he was such a calm, steady and comforting presence through all the chaos that was unfolding. I love him so much.

- Kudos to Khaotung for managing to portray cat-like vibes without it being cringey or over the top. His subtle mannerisms, his body language – it’s all so well done. And poor Tiger was really going through it in that last sequence. Such a great scene. I had butterflies throughout.

The way this show manages to be a fluffy romantic comedy with talking cats while also being so painfully real and human is impressive and I’m loving the journey so far.

One of the things that really impresses me about this show is just how cohesive and consistent the writing is. The various elements of the show interweave beautifully to serve its multiple plotlines. The talking cats could have so easily been used just for comic relief. If anything, I feel like the show hasn’t mined their comedic potential enough tbh. But that aside, the human-cat parallels are very well done.

Every episode is self-contained to some degree in that it has a storyline built around a specific theme(s) that’s paralleled by or in some way tied to the cats – the blinking in ep 1, the nose bumps as well as Lynx’s character growth after the cats’ rebellion in ep 2, John Wick/Lynx’s aversion to touch in ep 3, Jenny/Tiger’s hesitation around confessing and Dr Pom/Jiro playing cupid in ep 4 etc to name a few examples.

Dr Pom could have also just been a catalyst to fuel Tiger’s jealousy and drive the romance forward - and in many BLs that would have been his only role - but the way they integrated him into this episode and its broader themes of family, love and loss was wonderful.

The show also does a great job of balancing its exploration of grief and loss and mourning as well as the painful rebuilding of familial ties with its comedic/fantasy/romance elements. It could have so easily felt tonally jarring but it all flows together seamlessly. This is a show that has been crafted with a great deal of care and attention to detail and I’m loving it so far.

If I have one big pet peeve though it’s that the background music and sound effects are too loud a lot of the time. It’s honestly giving me war flashbacks to Our Sky 2’s Eclipse episodes. 😅

Woah, lots to unpack there. 😅

I personally love subtle acting as well and First is so good at it. And gawd, how I adore the things he can do and convey with his micro-expressions. 😍

W.r.t. to social media, yeah, I get the impression a lot of what you mentioned is likely more of a tumblr thing. Though I do wonder if the toxicity towards First on there feels so ubiquitous bcoz social media tends to create echo chambers and often amplifies negativity.

I’m not on tiktok either but I don’t really see this strong bias on twitter, IG or reddit. Not that there isn’t any toxicity ofc, but a lot of what is there is by fans of different cps just bashing each other’s faves and/or their on-screen characters/shows. Or fights centred around discussions about a show in general.

If I was to give a couple of examples to illustrate the difference in our experiences, it would be that I've seen plenty of criticism directed towards Ray and some of his actions – at times even too much imo bcoz again, some ppl do struggle with nuance and often leave their empathy at the door. I also haven’t seen any retconning of Akk, which thank god for that.

Within the fandom itself, I’d say I’ve noticed a slight bias towards Khao but that’s more w.r.t. them as actors as opposed to as individuals. And it’s possible some of this stems from ppl’s personal preferences w.r.t. acting styles as well as how portrayal of heavy drama/angst and loud emotions in general often tends to get more lauded. There might also be some recency bias at play here. First can scream and cry with the best of them and portray emotional breakdowns really well but “The Eclipse” was a while ago and public memory is short.

That’s not to say the bias w.r.t. them as individuals doesn’t exist at all on the platforms I'm active on. It’s quite possible it does in small pockets and I’ve mostly missed it (outside of the occasional one-off comment) bcoz social media does tend to create bubbles. I can only speak from my own experience though and I feel like if it was even a fraction as pervasive as you find it to be on tumblr, then I would have seen more of it by now.

Regarding fan preferences towards First’s characters as a specific type of love interest both within their shows and fanfics, I feel like part of this might stem from certain factors all feeding into each other - some overlapping aspects of their onscreen character and relationship dynamics in multiple shows, FK carrying over these dynamics to some degree while doing promo and during fan interactions which in turn influences fan preferences which then further fuels how they do promo and so on and so forth. And all of these factors have been building atop of each other for three shows now.

As to if all this has also played a part in the writing for “Cat for Cash” and whether it will have an impact on the roles that First is allowed to have, I have no idea. Though I can see why one might think so.

I do wonder though whether there’re cultural aspects at play here. I haven’t seen many shows from Thailand that aren’t BLs, but from what I understand, lakorns are very popular there and these typically feature high melodrama, heavy conflicts and intense emotional scenes. A lot of the media in my own country is similar and that does influence viewer preferences w.r.t. acting styles imo. I’m curious as to whether that plays into any bias that might exist towards Khao’s acting style - IF it does exist at all - amongst Thai audiences and the decision makers at GMMTV. Khao portrayed intense emotional storylines in “The Eclipse” and “Moonlight Chicken” and was deservedly extensively praised for this both by viewers and P’Aof. Which I imagine led to another angst-heavy storyline in OF and that trend seems to have continued.

I should say here that I don’t necessarily agree that Khao is the only one “getting to have characters with personality”. Sand, Kant and Alan were fleshed out characters and I do think Tiger has some depth to him too though I know we have different opinions on that 😂 which is totally cool ofc.

But if you’ve got one half of a cp constantly playing the more angst/trauma-driven character, I can see why the other one often ends up being more of an emotional anchor/support. It doesn’t have to be that way ofc – Ayan played that part in “The Eclipse” and he had plenty going on in his own life. But well, this is GMMTV – I don’t generally tend to expect a lot from them.

//The hilarious part is people are *still* finding a way to hate him and call him a red flag. Weird how it's always a pattern with First's characters.//

Tbh, I haven’t seen anyone criticize Tiger or call him a red flag atleast not on any of the social media I’m active on. You mentioned tumblr in your original post. I’m not on there but I’m wondering if maybe it’s just a narrative within the fandom bubble(s) there.

As for there being a pattern with First’s characters, leaving aside Tiger – coz maybe that’s just a tumblr thing, idk tbh - it does frustrate me to see the way many have stripped away a lot of the nuance, complexity and layers to Sand, Kant and even Alan to a degree.

Whether that’s bcoz it’s First playing these characters, I’m not sure. Possibly within a small section of the fandom. But I’ve seen this phenomenon happen even with people who aren’t part of the fandom per se but just BL watchers in general.

I’m inclined to think, that for the most part, it’s because of how some people interpret characters. Heavy drama, angst, loud internal/external conflicts and struggles etc often draw more attention and are harder to ignore when interpreting a character.

In contrast, Sand and Kant (and First’s portrayal of them) were fairly restrained in terms of how they expressed their inner turmoil, emotional struggles, moral conflicts, character motivations etc. And as a result some ppl tend to overlook a lot of their complexity. Also, BL watchers are often primarily here for the romance so they’re already more inclined to view characters through the lens of a love interest. Which then leads to a multidimensional, layered character like Kant for ex to be seen mainly as a red flag betrayer/liar by some.

With Moonlight Chicken, Jim and Wen were the romantic leads and ppl were invested in them and their romance which I feel like played into how some viewed Alan and why they bashed his character so much. It’s unfortunate esp since I thought the progression of the relationship between Wen and Alan and the emotional journey and character development that Alan goes through were well written and beautifully acted.

//Tiger has zero depth and does nothing but nudge Lynx's plot along.//
//My beef is that he's been given pretty much nothing and he has to basically create the character himself. //

I wouldn’t necessarily agree with this.
Tiger does have some depth imo. He’s kind, patient, perseverant, empathetic, non-judgmental and radiates this warm, steady, reliable presence. You can see this not only in his interactions with Lynx but also with Je Meow, Leo and even the cats.

He’s also not just a paragon of virtue. His jealousy w.r.t Dr. Pom for example and his insecurity around Lynx possibly preferring someone with a medical degree unlike let’s say a debt collector like himself. His resentment towards Lynx when he didn’t really know his side of the story and the poorly-timed expression of his anger during the funeral in ep 1. His frustration & annoyance with Lynx occasionally bubbling over in ep 3 & 4 (that scene in the car when he asks when Lynx would stop being stubborn etc for example)
(Sidenote: Mad First = hot First. More angry First please. 😊)

Aside from all this, there’s also his quiet determination – the scene where he thought his Dad might oppose a relationship with Lynx for ex. We also see this willingness to push back in some of his interactions with Lynx and Leo. And then there’s his frustration with his job as a debt collector.

All of which is my very long-winded way of saying that Tiger does have some personality and depth.

//Tiger is not a character - Tiger is a plot device who exists to push Lynx's actual plot and characterization forward.//

Again, my views on this are somewhat different.
The show isn’t just about Lynx and his mother and everything surrounding that.
It’s to a large degree a romance/comedy/fantasy and Tiger plays a major role in driving all of these elements forward. He’s the one pushing the romance more. He’s the one who can talk to cats. And as I mentioned earlier, a big chunk of the show’s humour stems from him.
It’s primarily in the storyline about Lynx and his complicated relationship with his mother (and now his brother) that Tiger plays more of a support system.

//I DO hold the show responsible for the fact that hardly anyone exists outside of Lynx. It's a vehicle for one actor and one actor alone, and I DO blame the writers and directors for it. Producers too.//

Again, I don’t think it’s just a vehicle for one actor for the reasons I’ve already mentioned. Also, Satang’s character Leo seems to be having his own mini-arc and I’m guessing there’s more to come there based off the scene we saw in the trailer of the men attacking the café.

All this said, I do understand where you’re coming from. Do I wish we got more of a backstory for Tiger? Do I want a storyline for him that isn’t directly connected to Lynx? Would I have preferred a more equitable distribution w.r.t. characterization and plotlines? Does First deserve better? Yes to all of this. But tbh, the writing for most GMMTV shows is often sub-par. It’s extremely frustrating, but it is what it is. Sigh.

//The hilarious part is people are *still* finding a way to hate him and call him a red flag. Weird how it's always a pattern with First's characters.//

I have some thoughts around this but will share them in another comment. I’d prefer this one to be just about this show. Plus, it’s long enough as it is. So sorry about that btw. It turned out way more verbose than I originally intended. 😅

I agree with a lot of your thoughts around the show esp w.r.t. the nuanced relationship between Lynx and his mother as well as his complicated feelings towards her. The show also did a pretty decent job illustrating Leo and Lynx’s complex emotions about each other in this ep imo.

That said, I feel like saying that “First seemed to have nothing to do while filming” is doing him a disservice. Do I wish Tiger was more fleshed out as a character – absolutely. But First has done a stellar job with the material he’s been given. A fair chunk of the show’s humour for instance stems from Tiger. It’s not easy to do comedy and one of the reasons a lot of it works is because of how First has chosen to portray those moments. Also, many of the show’s romantic moments could have come off as way cringier than they do and that again owes a lot to First (and Khaotung’s) performances.

W.r.t. First always being on twitter while filming "Cat for Cash", I’m speculating heavily here but Khaotung has talked about how he was going through a really difficult time personally during that period, Someone please correct me if I’m wrong but from what I can remember he wasn’t too active on social media back then so it’s possible First decided to try and balance things out a bit. Again, this is pure speculation on my part. For all I know, it could just have been his way of killing time while filming. I imagine there’s a lot of waiting around on set esp when shooting with cats.

Great is definitely going to be back. There's a scene in the trailer at 3.10 where he's dressed in brown and cuddling a cat that we haven't seen in the show yet.

As for Tiger taking Jiro along for Jennie's confession scene, I did wonder about that as well and I figured it was probably to reinforce the parallels between the human love story and the cats' romance with Jiro having played Cupid similar to Dr Pom in this episode.

For anyone interested in watching the show (with English subtitles), I’d recommend doing so on the “MangoTV English” Youtube channel and not the “芒果TV青春剧场 MangoTV Drama” that’s linked here on MDL. The subs on the latter are for the most part atrocious from Ep 7 onwards. They’re much better on the “MangoTV English” channel.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKvQf7JNnWS3HXYUI14YK4QxyDRnW0iOl

Also, there are two special episodes set in an AU. You can find fan-subbed versions of these online.