ShanTeaTime

Give 'The Gifted' A Chance People!

Didn't know much going into this, other than that it involved high school students with powers. This series definitely exceeded my expectations I can proudly say! Love the use of individual episodes for each student/students so we learn more about them. The plot keeps you engaged as to what's going on in the school and who to trust. Even though the visual effects are nothing outstanding, they use clever camera tricks and lighting to help with the illusion of powers or "potentials". I hope the second season got a bigger budget though because it deserves it!

Some deep and dark themes in this, including mental health and unfair treatment/bullying. Also using students as guinea pigs essentially to help the "gifted" ones accel past them. I love that they actually discuss the idea of since the "gifted" students are treated better how the other "normal" students feel about it and take out their anger on those kids who literally had zero choice in the matter. Its corrupted and very interesting. So my favorite characters were Gun as Punn, I knew him going in and he didn't disappoint. His episode was my one of my favorites hands-down, I love anything having to do with psychological effects on a person and he played the various emotions perfectly. His potential is the one I would personally like to have in real life, without the psychological side-effects though of course! I also really like Sing as Ohm, his character had me cracking up especially in his episode. Nanon as Pang was really solid too, the leading up to his discovery of his own "potential" was great and I noticed the hints along the way. His potential is honestly to me the scariest and the most powerful. Everyone did a great job though in their respective roles, I just have my faves.

So I think the individual episodes are where the series is at its peak and the episodes involving the teacher (Mr.Pom). Holy crap did his background get dark, we knew the "non-gifted" students were treated unfairly...but damn this is when we really LEARN how messed up the misaligned treatment really is. His character had so much buildup of being a cliche villain with poor intent, but he ended up being just another pawn in the heads plan. I ended up really feeling terrible for him, it gave him that added layer that he needed to be a character you can latch on to. The only critiques I had in this show were the pacing sometimes was slower, the headmaster was too stereotypical evil for me and the ending felt copoutish. I know there's a second season now airing, so its clear they were planning that from the start but still. I hope the second season gives more background to the headmaster and doesn't end in such a jumbled way.

Random thoughts during the show; The best friend character Nack looks straight up like Bam Bam sometimes in this show from Got7, it threw me off so much lol. Also I feel stupid for not knowing the twins Jack and Jo were played by actual twin actors. I've seen them both in so many shows and I thought it was one person! But nope, this show also taught me that it is two actors who are twins. Go figure.

Finally, don't not watch a show just because you see BL actors in it and it's not a BL. That's stupid period, watch it because it's a good show!

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"A Harsh Dose Of Reality: The Series" So Good But Rough To Watch

So I'm writing this review after my second viewing of this series. The first time I watched it I wasn't fully invested, so I missed A LOT of plot you cannot multitask during this show. So be prepared to sit down and really pay attention. I also watched this before its prequel movie "Kinematics Theory" which is a whole different entity. I wanted to go in fresh and to be honest I don't think it's necessary to watch that first, it wasn't my cup of tea anyway. I followed everything well enough and it can stand alone as its own story. I was told beforehand that the series and movie are hella different in tone too (weirdly lol), so depends on your preference. I much prefer this 1000% in every way and I think it deserves more credit than its given! Fluffy stories are fun sometimes, but don't overlook these absolute gems as well in storytelling and relatability just because it's "depressing" or "uncomfortable".

This series takes place 10 years into a relationship between Zhe and Nan. So from when they were 18 until 28, that's a pretty mature concept right off the bat because people can change a lot in those years. Then we add onto a plot of "cheating" coming from Nan. Which if you've watched this, you know isn't actually the case but that's what were presented with initially. So it's not deceiving at all with what's to expect from this show. However, I wasn't expecting the show to present so many complicated situations that honestly were fantastically presented in every way. It's heartbreaking, frustrating, complicated, messy and really rough to watch at times. But it felt real, so real at times that I felt like I was invading into someone's privacy. Going into more detail, there's already this huge blow to this relationship from the beginning. But then we get Zhe cheating back and for real not a red herring like Nan's. Listen, I get it but that doesn't make it okay. Especially because Nan's cheating wasn't even real! It was great storytelling, but holy crap I wanted to scream. There's quite a bit of back and forth between Zhe and Nan, to where you will get so frustrated with them guaranteed. Nobody is "innocent" they are all very much human beings making mistakes and I really appreciated that aspect of the characters developments. Because overall, this show is about them finding themselves without each other.

So I will say this. Without the talent of our two main actors, this series would've crashed hard. The actors didn't pull any punches, in many ways. There's so much love and care there from the characters, from the flashbacks (that swim scene with the kiss was super cute) and even from more present day exchanges. Like so so much, little things too that you kind of forgive the misgivings this couple has because you want so badly to see them work out! Which is the point I know, but my god it was really something. Like when you see Nan (played perfectly by John Wu) look at Zhe (also played beautifully by Huang Li Feng) its magical and obvious that the love never goes away between them. Even after the forced breakup when there's healing going on and then eventually reconnecting after all that they fall right back into place. If the actors weren't as good I wouldn't of felt so invested, but because they are it actually hurts to see them in love and hurt each other. Hurt themselves too even in the course of the story! Like my heart was aching dude. Especially during Nan's perspective, holy fu**. That phone call scene was roughhhhh. "Can't you fell how much I love you?" Yes Nan I can feel it. Some of the best and most believable romance acting I've ever seen, let alone in an LGBTQ centered story.

So last thing I'll say about the acting specifically may sound weird, but hear me out! So like I said the two main actors did a great job at presenting as being realistic. So that was also during the scenes where they were gettin down (you know what I mean lol). It looks pretty real first off, I was whiplashed in the first like 10 minutes of the show and later on after the bench reunion. My lord give me warning first! So the reason why I bring this up is because there's even explanations of where the characters are at emotionally in those scenes too. Which is interesting. Like whether it be feeling distant and broken (ie. the cup) or needing to take control (ie. "wrestling" lmao). Its adult and very much needed in the story for it to make sense. Moving onto some of the overarching themes. Like I said before, self-discovery apart is HUGE in this. Dependability vs. love, feeling needed vs. being taken care of. All fascinating concepts and HEAVYYYY. Even just trying to move on from a breakup and find independance again. This is stuff that a lot of series or films about romance/love will avoid because it can be so dark and dreary but you know what! It's reality baby and it needs to be discussed. I loved seeing Zhe realizing he kinda needed that pull away to find himself again, even if it's done in not a good way at all.

Although Zhe was mostly the MC of the series I would say, I loved let me repeat LOVED that we got Nan's side too. Made me think of "Theory of Love" but obviously much darker. So we transition from Zhe to Nan after they "run away together" after the...bench and reunion lmao. This made the title of the series much clearer to me, since obviously "ambiguous" means more than one interpretation. There's never just one side. He literally just wanted to surprise Zhe with a house and here comes Jimmy (demon embodied) bribing him with money for that and blackmailing him with his father's illness, medical bills and outing "scandal" eww. Jimmy's character made me feel so gross, I wanted to fight I swear. It also made me so mad and devastated for Nan's character whom was my favorite (and Chunzi, whom we'll get to). He never cheated! I wanted Zhe to prove Jimmy wrong by not cheating "back" but again this series isn't trying to sugar coat stuff. We're getting deep ya'll and it sucks. Heart broken many times. The first time I cried in the show was learning the truth about Nan and having to see him suffer being so in love.

Alright, so we all know I had to talk about Chunzi. Best friend Chunzi, who had the sass and determination to snap Zhe out of his funk so he kept his dignity after the forced breakup. Good friend and deserved better. Chunzi was such an interesting character to throw in at the side and throw me off. Because I was already so invested and then I got even more invested! It made me want to cuss out Chao, because seriously f*** him! Making Chunzi think they finally found a hubby and dude is texting Zhe being like "believe me you're the one I love." F*** you! He wanted love for once and this was the last shot. TRASH! Also Chao saying he was staying with Chunzi because they're depressed and lonely. Ooh I was so heated. Great topic of discussion and presentation in the plot, but ooh I saw red. Again I have to say, poor Chunzi. I felt for them I really did poor baby. What a devastating storyline ending. That was the second time the series had me bawling.

In the final act we get a callback to peeling the shrimps, but now Zhe is independent and does it himself. Jimmy confessing to what he did, which should've happened earlier dbag. Canada doesn't want you dude trust me! We learn he's a literal sociopath, whose had some awful things happen to him. But it's not really meant to make us sympathize with him, more understand the motives. And we get a flash forward to a few years later. The characters needed time and as "open" as the ending wanted to be, it was pretty clear to me what this was. Zhe and Nan crossing the bridge at the same time means they will always cross paths. It's time to start anew with each other based on the looks they give and saying one anothers names. There's a lot of hope there and the love never went away, as it wouldn't and shouldn't. Circumstances or not, like Zhe said it's in the past and they can move on together again. Hopefully this time they can actually get married though. Damn, I wouldn't change anything about this other than the dialogue being really really fast. Which made it hard to keep up sometimes. So rewinding will be needed to watch this lol. But do watch it, please. Especially if you need a good cry.

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What Even Was This Trying To Be?!

Well...I watched this...barely. I, like many it seems, watched this series to see Mild as Tee. Well he was indeed the strongest part of the series. His character was cute and he actually got a good dramatic scene in this to show off his range more, which was shocking because that is not the tone of this show at all. But other than him, I can't really find much else positive to say about this series unfortunately.

There was wayyyyy too much going on in this that it's so confusing and chaotic. The overuse of sound effects was obnoxious as hell, more so than other series I've seen. There are not many likable characters in this, many of them are either doing way too much or not enough. The sister character I literally wanted to strangle all the way until the end of the series. Also wtf even was "Thor's" plot line with the gym owner friend? I'm sorry but that was so dumb. The show struggled clearly to try and be funny and quirky, but it just missed the mark by a mile. Nothing could be taken seriously or by face value even. The fake-out romantic moments were so fu***** annoying! It's fine if it happens once or twice, but holy sh** it was endless!

Though I thought Pond's character was okay, albeit dense and treated as eye-candy a lot which irritated me. He actually looked good with Tee by the end, for example that post-it wall at the end was cute. But dude, close your damn eyes when you kiss. That always bothers me in any type of romance, especially if it doesn't change by the end and it didn't. So basically I ended up skipping soooo many scenes in this because it just dragged on and on, and I could not handle it anymore. I don't really think missing those things affected my overall feelings of this show, because if I couldn't get into it by episode 5 it was a lost cause anyway. I got the gist of it and I think it's definitely one to skip altogether. Watch Mild in "TharnType" because that's his best role to date. I also have to leave off with how LineTV needs to fix their subtitling issue BADLY. This show's subtitles were so off I had to rewrite them in my head to make sense! It's not a fan-made site and tons of international fans use it now (like me!) so please double-check your translations and hire new translators if that's the issue! Be like Viki even and have reliable fans input their own! It messes with the viewing experience.

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Cute Little Side Story, Not Enough Development

Yes I watched "Reminders" first, now that we've got that out of the way. This little mini series was cute. I thought Mean's character 2 was way more likable in this series than in "Reminders". Sure the character is still a total goof, but he's lovable and squishy! They also fixed his hair, thank god! No more weird semi-mullet. Plan's character Wish continued to confuse me. I never ever found him attractive physically in LBC, but in "Reminders" and this he was? Maybe it's the dyed hair? Other than looks though his character was more understandable this time around. He wasn't overly cruel or kinda using 2 for his kindness. I understood his frustrations with feeling useless without a job and jealous when 2 lied to him. Though I think it was slightly overboard at the end, it resolved pretty quickly though that felt like because of the time constraint of the series itself. Either way, this was alright!

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Why Only 3 Episodes!?

I think this series had a lot of potential...if it was longer. 3 episodes does not make a cohesive story arch, let alone 3 seperate ones. I will say, I loved seeing Perth and Saint play a couple again. I miss Ae and Pete so much! Though this couple (Pin & Son) they played was nothing like Ae and Pete, they still worked off of each other very well. Perth is a fantastic actor and he shows that again in this series in the final episode. Even if there wasn't much screen time given to showcase much! However, I appreciate that of the 3 couples the 1 that got a love scene was them. Thank you lol!

They brought back Mean and Plan as well, though this time around I wasn't feeling it. I enjoyed seeing them on the same screen, but the characters they played in this kinda sucked. Wish (played by Plan) had fantastic hair lol which threw me off because he looked pretty fine and I never saw him as attractive in LBC, but the character was pretty cruel for no contextual reason. Unless I'm missing something? Then Mean as Two was just really really strange to see. Two is kinda supposed to be a little dumb and naive, which doesn't suit Mean at all. He's better off playing strong silent characters. This entire series felt like a weird alternate universe of LBC and I was both intrigued and confused. Noh and Phun I have never seen before because Love Sick never intrigued me, but in this they were alright! I liked that they were pretty level-headed. I wish the series had gone on longer, but I get this was kinda just an actor promotion. I wish Saint was going to be in LBC season 2, but if there is a season 3 DON'T RECAST HIM or try to have Pete gone again! I'll be pissed and I want more of Perth and Saint.

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Disappointing But 1000% Better Than The Sequel Series

"What The Duck" had so much promise at the beginning. I was actually really interested in each of the characters stories and was also anticipating Mew coming into the show (love him so much!) First things first, this show is shot really well. More cinematically than many other television drama programs. It also has a solid cast, though I wish they would've utilized some of them more. Like my man Mild Suttinut Uengtrakul, whom I know from TharnType when he played Techno. He's got such a presence on screen and his character kinda sucked, all of the side characters felt pretty weak.

I will say also I think Pree and Rambo's storyline overall was stronger than Pop and Oat's who annoyed me after awhile. I may be biased, but Pree was my favorite character in this show. Him and his sister Mo. They had the most common sense, they were likable throughout the show and they are both so beautiful to look at XD. Mew again got me with his acting as well, he broke my heart in this series and so did Art. Those two also went all out for this show, like dang that first scene of them was...something lol I wasn't expecting it! Though their story line was kind of a letdown at the end (the godawful sequel series made sure of that) it was interesting enough throughout for me to be okay with it. However, Pop and Oat never got there for me which is a shame because they had moments. I almost turned off the show though when the Oat sexual-assault implication was revealed, thank god it wasn't true because I would've never gotten past that! I would say overall watch the show, but expect a lot of plot that's unfulfilled and not a whole ton of romance from the lead leads. You'll get that from Pree and Rambo in a few episodes but that's about it. Also beware of the shows crudeness, it's frank and doesn't really bat an eye at it!

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Plus Cameos, Minus Chemistry

This show was the epitome of aight. The stories didn't really grip me, the couples were both okay. This show just wasn't really memorable, except for the numerous cameos from other actors in it. Which was hilarious, considering I reacted outrightly stronger to seeing them than anything going on in this shows plot! I saw Aaron and Hank from 'Be: Loved in House' which I loved. I saw Charles from 'HIStory 4' which was a callback to him working in the wedding industry. And finally WAYNE and HUANG from 'HIStory 3: Make our days count' which as many know is one of my favorite BL's ever. I almost cried seeing them, what random appearances by all of these guys! Either way, this show is worth a watch but there's much better Taiwanese shows out there to binge.

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I Wanted to SEE More Love, Less Trauma

So I love complicated stories don't get me wrong. I want a well-versed story, with relatable-ish characters. I really enjoy Peat and Fort overall, I think their chemistry is amazing. I also think their previous series is far superior to this, adding more "spice" doesn't change that fact. Though both series include trauma with Peat's character, whereas this show it felt forced and rushed, "Love in the air" had half the time and managed to do the story more justice than this ones. The plot also ended and it was only for the favor of the special episode. Without that special episode I was sat there on the couch like...that can't be it? It made zero sense. This was watchable but I want to see so much more with these actors, and not just trauma dump.

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Fighting The Urge To Rewatch The First Season (Again)

I'm not sure why I never wrote a review for this? Probably because I was upset initially that our main boys were split up for like 5 years from the first season to this season! I understand why (stupid father) but it felt unnecessary. Although without it I'm not exactly sure where this season would've went. It's no secret that We Best Love is one of my top BL series. Its got amazing acting, storyline, chemistry, music, etc. So this second season was probably never going to live up to that. However, it was still pretty darn good. So watch it! Just be prepared to be frustrated for a bit before things go back to where they need to be.

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