Rachel Sing

It needed either tighter writing or more time

I love the setting. From the start we get to see very different sides of society. The posh parties and the working class servants. The strict military regime and the students fighting for more rights. The serious hardworking society and the rich hippies without a care in the world. The expensive villas and hotels but also poorer homes of the working class. It was incredibly entertaining to find these different sides of Thailand in the sixties through out the show. Everything in it could be compared. Everything was a foil.

I didn't expect to get hooked into Krailert and Naran's secret drama but I did. I loved that these were older characters meeting through their shared interest in music. I loved their music commentary, their secret meetups in the library, the cinema dates... I love how fast their fall into romance was. They didn't think. That's what caused the drama in the later half of the show. We all knew they weren't going to last, but it was a train wreck I couldn't look away from.

Krailert and Naran's relationship was a foil to Trin and Tanwa's. This relationship was a slowburn and at first I enjoyed it. Trin was recovering from the death of his fiancee and needed time to come to terms with his own sexuality and feelings. Unfortunately, when the time came for the writers to really cement this relationship... they left us hanging... They needed more serious scenes together after their first kiss but before their NC scene or we needed more scenes with them in the first three spisodes. They needed less love triangle drama and comedy. I think the amount of comedy was detrimental to me enjoying and believing their relationship. Still, I'd like to point out Tanwa being there for Trin at the end of episode 6 as my favorite part of their relationship. Trin crying in his arms and Tanwa bringing him back to his aunt and uncle was very powerful.

I really disliked everything that had to do with the love triangle. Victor's character was so interesting when he was trying to change the system. He should have inspired Trin out of his passivity and naivety. I would have loved for Victor to be Trin's window into the reality of Thailand at the time and for Trin to help Victor finally stop seeing the world with a "black and white" mentality. Unfortunately, Victor became a love sick puppy who couldn't take no for an answer. I was getting second hand embarrassment from him, constantly cringing at his attempts at forcing a romance. His and Tanwa's "fights" over Trin were annoying as hell too.

I liked the student protests, the media coverage, the military scheming in the background. This should have been a bigger point in the end. They just glazed over it... We should have seen the students succeed, not hear about it through a letter to a dead friend.

Krailert being saved by Dhevi and Moira was also a wonderful way to highlight the female characters of this story. Dhevi had some screentime, but Moira should have been used a lot more. All in all, the female characters were underused and often ignored. The story would've been better if they had more time to shine (pun unintended).
Naran's relationship with Dao, and more importantly, her family, was also a great way into seeing the differences in Thai society back in the 60's. I wouldn't have minded for more of Dao.

Krailert was my favorite. I liked his character progression from someone living in his own world, ignorant of what was going on around him, to someone taking matters into his own hands and realising he has power to make Thailand better for its people. I would have liked to see this shown not told, but the end really undervalues everything. Him taking a stance against those further up in the military chain of command was also great to see. He started fighting not only for others but for himself. I liked his artistic side. I liked him playing the piano and writing about music (even composing in the end). I liked how well read he was and how he owned his own library. I liked his passionate and daring side. He initiated the meeting with Sarasawadee and was the one to initiate the kiss. The gratification of seeing him smiling and laughing and being free in the last episode was incredible. He felt like he could finally be himself and so we were rewarded with seeing him with all his walls down for a short period of time.
I loved his relationship with Trin. I would have loved to see more of it. This uncle nephew pairing deserved more scenes together but those they had were incredible. I hope we get to see Son and Apo in more projects together because they have really good chemistry. The bridge scene where Krailert is trying to figure out and comfort Trin was lovely, but that last scene of Trin hugging his uncle in the last episode and supporting him was incredible. When he commented on that backroom in the library to comfort his uncle and make him feel scene... I'm getting teary eyed just from thinking about it.

Dhevi takes a special place in my heart. She is the unseen housewife living behind closed doors, underappreciated and stuck in a loveless marriage. Every time Trin and Krailert refused her food I wanted to hit them with a pan over the back of their heads. So many times she was treated as an afterthought or not remembered at all (until Veera). I loved how she tried to make the best out of it. She loved the boys very much. She showed it in every way she could. Finally, she found someone who saw her. She started looking at the outside. She went out. She danced. She perhaps started to love someone else and was most definitely loved in return. She suffered in the end, but couldn't show it because nobody could know about her and Veera.
Her brothers leaving her hanging in the time of need and her taking matters into her own hands, finally leaving the house alone and looking for another woman, Moira, to help her was powerful. She was finally someone who can stand alone in her own right. Her actions could finally have a big impact! She not only saved her husband but helped the common man by destabilizing the military.
Unfortunately, someone in the writers room felt the need to demonize her and make her, not a victim of the patriarchy, but someone who doomed herself 10 years before due to her own stupidity and obsession. They didn't need to do that. After ten years unnoticed in a loveless marriage, her husband's cheating and Veera's death, her getting angry was justifiable and possible without destroying her character. Krailert leaving her would have brought shame upon her name. She could've fought him because of it anyway. After finally starting to depend on herself and not the men in her life, she starts threatening Krailert with her three brothers??? Character regression!!! And in the end she gets everything she wanted and Krailert is crying in front of a piano... What a stupid way to destroy a character and make the fanbase hate her.
We all knew there was no future in Krailert and Naran's relationship. The writers didn't need to throw Dhevi's character into hell as well. I'm so over BL's making female characters evil... It's so stupid!

I did not expect to like Trin as much as I did. He started off as someone too westernized to understand the plight of the Thai common man. He was an outsider in his own country, an idealist without a clear vision. I would've loved more time with him getting to terms with what happened in France. Him getting an existential crisis after Tanwa kissed him and even staying up the whole life to organise his books and thoughts was a very clever way of externalising his inner troubles. (Not important to his character but I loved the origamis in every episode).
I loved his interactions with students and the bit with Victor first cleaning his shoe and later stepping on it to show where their characters stand. Him going to the village with them really endeared me to him. Him sitiing with the students and starting a food competition with Victor to get them all to understand that he is not the enemy really showed his character in a positive light. Him later running off into danger, not to repeat the same mistake from France, and trying to save his students in episode six was amazing. I loved how the students went directly to him and asked him to save Victor. They trusted him! I loved how gently but firmly he dealt with Victor's love confession. I loved how he fell apart only after making sure Victor gets home in ep 6. Him finally breaking down and crying in front of his uncle's house was probably the best scene in the show and Apo and Mile really played it well. Unfortunately, the breakdown in episode 7 felt a bit too much after that. It was cheapened by ep 6 even though I totally understand why Trin fell apart again. It was too much too soon though and I would have liked a bit more time between the breakdowns.
His and Tanwa's parting makes sense. The story set up his departure so I wasn't surprised but I was still annoyed by it. After everything that happened, Trin just packs up and leaves Thailand? I get it, but I don't like it.
The ending kiss in Paris was underwhelming but I'll talk about it more in Tanwa's part.

Naran is a great character, but less interesting to me than the three I already spoke of. He knows the society he lives in. He also wishes and believes that society can change for the better. He takes matters into his own hands and asks the uncomfortable questions. It's such a disservice to him and Trin that they only met in the last episode. I would have loved to see how they play off of each other. I enjoyed the problem of Naran either protecting the man he loves or hurting him by writing the truth and revealing his involvement in illegal activities of the military. It ended too soon. His ending is the weakest in my opinion. The audience will never know what happens after he leaves the library.

Tanwa was the character I believed would be my favorite after watching the trailer. He was never a big part of the storyline. He never really got involved with the protests and the students. He never had meaningful interactions with characters other than Trin and Victor (and he and Victor were mostly just getting jealous of each other and fighting for Trin). He was used as character relief for the most part. I love his quirky side. One of my favorite scenes in the show is him showing up at the university to flirt with Trin and knowing everyone there. Later we come to know there is something hiding under the surface. His relationship with his father was interesting but resolved to cleanly and quickly.
The nail in the coffin was him not really telling what was going to happen on the protests the night that Victor died. Victor wouldn't have stayed home, but Tanwa's warning was meek and poorly worded. He had the chance to explain it better but he didn't want to take the time.
The character progression came too late and was quickly replaced with a timeskip. We never got to see Tanwa become a more resolute man. His best scene was him destroying everything in the shop after Victor's death.

Moira was a cool character and we deserved to see more of her. I loved her friendship with Krailert and Dhevi as well as support for Tanwa.

Veera was adorable and I think no one expected that ending. He was so loving and supportive and he deserved the best. I loved his loyalty, dependency, thoughtfulness and discretion. He was an incredible friend and I can't imagine how incredible he would be as a husband and father. The savage way in which he was killed is painful to remember. He deserved more.

I really hate the reliance on English in this show. Most of the time it felt out of place and was taking me out of the show. Just use Thai! I was okay with a bit of Russian for Victor and his father's interactions, and some French for Trin and Chloe... but that should have been all.
Also, the American propaganda was very weird. I know that people like to idealise what they see as better but it was a bit too much...

The costumes, set design and LIGHTING ESPECIALLY were incredible and I enjoyed every episode for the cinematography alone!

This is the first show in which the music made me so excited. It was maybe even the best part! My personal favorites were Far Side of the Moon, Am I in Love, and Hold Your Hand (this one being the absolute best!). I fear I will never experience music enhancing scenes in such a way again.

The show would sometimes end an episode in a very subdued tone but would return completely opposite (such as ep 6 to ep 7) which cheapened both episodes and made it seem like the ep before was overreacting. The comedy took me out of the show too many times and could be cringy when it absolutely shouldn't. They should have trusted their actors to deliver serious scenes. They were all capable of it.
I think most of it's problems could have been fixed if it was a longer show (12-15 episodes in total). We could have more meaningful character interactions and it would have meant the world to me.
All in all, it was a show that left me thinking about it for months now and remembering most plotpoints perfectly. The highs are high and the lows are not so low that I won't return and rewatch my favorite parts again some day.

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Could have been great but they just kept going...

I finished the show and I just had to create an account to rate it after seeing the amount of praise it got...

This show had so much potential. It could have been great. It could have been one of my favorites even! When I started watching it, I yapped about it to anyone willing to listen... but then it just wouldn't finish...

THE STORY: I enjoy the beginning. I love the secrets, the mystery of who poisoned the FL, the attraction between her and the ML, their lies and plotting and the ML's revenge plotline. This should have been the entire story. It should have ended around the time the ML takes revenge on his dead master.

I could feel the chemistry between our leads and they were so fun to watch. The way they both had their own agendas and were using the other to further their own plans without any shame was great entertainment. They both knew the other was up to something too and I applaud the writers for not making them clueless.

Unfortunately, the show just didn't know when to end. The first three antagonists were great and the third one should have been a bigger problem for longer. There was still potential with him causing more chaos, but they just had to finish him off...
When the problems become grander and the plot introduces an enemy from another realm, it looses my interest. That part of the story should have been introduced at an earlier stage and executed better for me to care for it. Every time they finished a storyline, they just had to introduce something else out of thin air to the audience... Every plotline should be established before we get halfway through the show, but no... Suddenly the SML decides to turn all wacko on us, the ML's previous golden millet dream was not the complete cure, our leads have been switched as babies, there's an array in the fighting arena that will suck up everybody's powers, the ML becomes a prince of another realm, the FL suddenly has no loyalty for her previous realm, the divorce like 6 episodes before the end and on it goes...

Many decisions characters made didn't make sense and we're there just to prolong the drama (the FL continuing to lie long after she could have confessed, the ML suddenly starting to lie after finding out who his parents are, for example).
Big plot points didn't make me feel anything. The FL's "younger brother" started her entire journey but his demise was almost an afterthought. The FL's father reveal was underwhelming. The second leads getting together and everything that had to do with them afterwards was boring. The death of the final big bad had no impact.

Also, they introduced new artefacts to help them deal with problems way too much (the umbrellas to fight the netherbeasts, the sudden appearance of a long dead plant that can heal our main lead but that's by chance in the hand of the enemy, something to show who controls the netherbeasts, something to find Ming Xian and Ming Xian only, something to make the interrogated party speak the truth, the mushroom to bring a dead familiar to life... Every time the plot demand something, an artefact specific for the situation appears... If it happened one or twice it would have been okay... But it was every other episode...

It could have been so great if they finished it after like 22-25 episodes with only a few changes to wrap it all up. Or... making the second half of the show a second season (but that's wishful thinking with C-dramas for the most part).

THE CHARACTERS: The leads are incredible. By the end, as I've gotten bored with the plot, they too didn't seem to shine so much in my eyes and yet I cared enough about them still. I love their chemistry and tension (which was better at the beginning), their intelligence, resourcefulness, independence (and dependence in moments of weakness).

The dragon, 27 and the moth lady were entertaining and I loved seeing them. Honestly these characters needed bigger and more important roles in this drama. I loved their interactions with each other and our main leads. The dragon needed more character development and his relationship with his lordship could have been expanded. 27 and Ming Yi had a wonderful relationship, but I think his sacrifice lost meaning with his imminent return to the land of the living. The tragedy of his death was a heart-wrenching but incredible conclusion to his character and it could have helped further develop the dragon and given another reason for the FL to continue fighting her demise.

I did not care about the princess. I liked her once she took her fathers place at the throne and was trying to bring peace and prosperity to her realm. Before that she was whiny and arrogant and wanted too much out of every other character without ever offering anything in return. I think she and her love interest should have been older and wiser. For her love interest... I kept confusing him with Situ Ling. He didn't leave a lasting impact.
I liked their third friend and how naive and endearing he was.
I also liked the kid who was hanging out with him and later became Ming Yi's student. I would have loved to see more scenes with him and Ming Yi.

Situ Ling was cool at first. I liked how he had his own agenda. He wanted golden millet dream but that posed a problem for out FL as she needed it too. Unknowingly, they met when they were younger and Situ Ling held Ming Xian in high regard as the teenager inspired him to keep fighting for his place under the sun. Unfortunately, the writers just had to make his love for Ming Xian romantic the second it turned out he was in fact a she... And then Situ Ling just had to become an obsessed brat who would do anything to get Ming Xian to be his, started colluding with a nether beast, became our biggest bad and turned out to be a prince of another realm... If he just stayed a loving younger brother type of character, someone who supports the FL and is there for her, someone who our main leads can count on to have their backs for sure... It could have been great.
I didn't care for the fox girl.

The master turned father was an unlikeable character from the start. He was too unserious and annoying. The father reveal was an unnecessary plotpoint. I liked him sacrificing his hand to get the knowledge needed. There should have been more situations like that for our characters.

As already mentioned, the first three antagonists were very fun and I'd like to point out that the fox was my favorite. He was so messed up. The Emperor's brother was also cool as well as his loyal subordinates.
The girl who was a witness against her father and who died a tragic death was a wonderful side character and it's a shame there weren't more side characters that held such importance to the plot and bettering of our leads.
The ML's master was cool too. I like the messy-ness of their relationship in the end. She made mistakes, but she tried to right her wrongs.

Other characters were annoying or unimportant.

THE SET AND CHARACTER DESIGN was gorgeous. I loved every scene and almost every outfit. 27 had the best character design. I adore his make up and clothes but he looked better with his original hair color. The fox antagonist is my second favorite. He was just perfect. Situ Ling and Yan Xiao had wigs that were too similar. I confused them often at the beginning. They should have kept Ji Bo Zai's outfits darker in the end.

THE MUSIC was nothing to write home about but it is recognisable and soothing. It didn't distract me from the plot nor was it an annoying addition. It bettered the scenes it was in.

THE CGI was great when used sparsely or smartly. For the most part it was done nicely. The dragon form, for example, was cheap looking and distracting. I hated how it looked.

REWATCH VALUE: For those who find the plot enjoyable to the end, it's probably rewatchable, but that isn't me. I'll never return, but there are scenes that I'd love to see again on my fyp.

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