What Is Going On? The Series (2025)
Okay let's do this with full honesty and no biased opinion.I'm a huge fan of LingOrm, love everything they have been doing so far, BUT! I came here to share my thoughts and frustration.
Before I start with the positive I want to add that I just came back from writing a full 10 stars review under the series The Secret of Us for the same couple in this series. (A masterpiece that one is, you should definitely watch it).
Positive thoughts about the this series so far: Uhhmmm the only positive things I could think of are probably the fact that Ling and Orm have absolute phenomenal chemistry between them. If they keep acting together forever I would never get bored. Their visuals are insane, they're talented and lovely to see on screen. They always make me blush and feel as if I'm interrupting them when they have an intimate scene. Oh and the side characters are also sweet and fun to watch, especially the Gang (the bodyguards) they're so funny it's refreshing.
I can't believe that's the only positive thing I just wrote about the series when I was, moments ago, writing a whole paragraph about how much I loved TSOU.
NOW....after writing the positive, I want to be honest about why I'm truly here and why I'm frustrated so much after watching 6 episodes of the series (what has been aired so far). I had such high hopes for Only You because it's an original by the production company CH3 Thailand which is one of the biggest channels and production companies in Thailand and the same agency that produced TSOU One of the best GL's out there. Also, the same production team, director etc. were the ones who made this series, so as you already guessed I was so excited after watching TSOU thinking this series would be as great or better. Yet, I was so disappointed starting the first episode.
The production is so weird.
It looks a low-budget show directed by a completely different director and team (the editor was either high or bored with their job). The shots and camera angles, the color palette used to convey the theme (too bright and plain, light rings everywhere it's hard to miss, you could see them in the actors eyes lol), the FREAKING MUSIC that's on repeat (I love Ling but that song was really nice until they played it in inconvenient scenes ON REPEAT every single episode that I rolled my eyes whenever I heard it, they literally played it while Tawan and Ayla are having a love scene on bed!.....that ruined the scene for me). Other background music is meh. Sometimes they use good music suitable for the scenes and many times they don't. And don't get me started on the acting.
What the heck happened that made all the actors especially Ling and Orm act that way? I cringed so many times watching them. Their acting in this series is lacking real emotions. Facial expressions are just.....forced. No genuine movements. They're either cold or too much. Nothing feels real, as if I'm watching a low-budget YouTube show created to only entertain. Orm on the other hand is what surprised me most. She's a great young actress. I personally think she's very talented, loved her acting in the TSOU, it was flawless just like Ling's and all the side actors/actresses, but in this series? She made me cringe so hard every episode with her overreacting. Her childish behavior and facial expressions. She said in one of her interviews that Ayla is supposed to be less childish and more stubborn unlike her other character Earn but Earn in my opinion, is honestly mature and wise, that character was so good. Ayla is just cringy, too jumpy, too hyper, too loud as if there's electricity in her body that I kept pausing the series to take a impatient breath (they did mention that the characters are based on the real Ling and Orm lol but Orm's personality in real life is way better and lovely). Ling's acting here is okay, she's supposed to play the "cold" character, although I see nothing cold about her role and only see forced acting but she's fine I guess. The side actors are doing an okay job too tbh so no comment on that. And the dialogues?
As boring and bland as the color palette in the series. Nothing deep, nothing makes you emotional or feel related. Everything keeps happening so quickly I'm not able to follow. The styles used for the characters are too much or badly suited, unrealistic too (Ayla's nails are too much but too much is so common in everything in the series lol). The scenes are badly edited, camera shots are my main issue. It's like the director lost touch and wanted to just finish the scenes and be done. The romance is probably another positive thing I forgot to mention above. It's cute, makes you smiley, happy and want to see more of it. Truth be told, the story has potential, I loved the idea of a bodyguard and a superstar romance but these things aren't well executed. The production team and agency ruined everything with their bad work....and they had one job to do.
Overall, I will keep watching because I truly love LingOrm and do enjoy seeing them on screen together. However, this series sadly (I can't believe I'm writing this) doesn't deserve 10 stars. Five is even a lot but I rated it 5.5 because the series hasn't finished yet. I might come back and edit this review for the better or worse.
BTW, If you wanna watch the series, please do and don't make my review stop you. Watch it and judge it yourself. And if your thoughts and opinion match my own after you do watch at least watch 5 episodes.....come back here and let me know under my review :)
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A GL Masterpiece
Okay so here's a paragraph of my thoughts and feelings about The Secret of Us the series. (100 percent honesty and no biased thoughts)The reason why I love and have watched this series more than 10 times in the past few months (despite not being the type to watch GL series but somehow ended up watching a few of the popular ones). The Secret of Us, in my opinion is a masterpiece!
Unlike most GL Thai shows that focuses on the sexual attraction and love scenes and barely focusing on the plot and story, TSOU is heavily focused on the bond, the struggle, the obstacles and connection the main characters have and go through. If they were to not include any love scenes between Ling Ling and Orm in the series, I believe these two women would have still crushed it with their perfect and beautiful chemistry as well as performance they have in every scene, whether in a scene of them talking, arguing or just staring at one another. I have never seen such a phenomenal acting and chemistry between GL actresses after watching a lot. In my personal opinion there are many GL actresses with great acting skills and pretty visuals, however, none would make me rewatch their series as much as I have with TSOU with me kicking my feet in the air and giggling like a little girl haha. This series has a k-drama vibe to it. Directed beautifully, the story is heartbreaking but sweet, dialogues between characters are sooooo good, well written and really eye-opening. The Side characters are nice, funny and all have a reason to be. Every sad scene made me teary and every love seen made me blush so hard although love scene are not long or too much which is so nice to see (we don't always need plus 18 content to feel happy lol at least I don't need that). The color palette used to convey the mood and tone throughout the series is a beautiful choice, very natural but also warm and soft. The music, whether the main songs/Ost of the series or the background music, all suited every scene and added depth to them.
I am well aware that there are some plot holes here and there and some events left unfinished, but the series is too short (8 episodes) and it's based on a novel, so I guess they didn't really have much time to wrap everything up so they just left some small details for us to figure out which is fine since the series is well executed.
HOWEVER, I am well aware that there's an issue to many of us which is the main characters behaving in a way that might feel or be toxic when it comes to their romance, which lead to viewers disliking the series and rating it low, but I decided to ignore that because not everything we see should be taken seriously.....such dramas and productions are mostly for fun, to enjoy your free time watching a sweet show. Thinking too deeply always ruins the fun and mood, so I advice new watchers, those who discovered the series and want to give it a try to take it with a light heart. Don't overthink what you watch and just enjoy the drama.
Next review......Only You the series! :)
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