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This review may contain spoilers
YinWar doing what they do best
YinWar have few roles but a big presence, for me, and Jack and Joker is no exception. They stole the show doing what they do best. Traumatizing us.
This special starts the way the series ended, with Jack and Joker, very much in love and living their day to day lives calling each other 'baby' and showering each other with kisses and affection, which I found very cute.
In the opening screen, we are given the setting that there is a new gang in town and they are causing havoc, and J&J are trying to bust them. Apparently the rest of the gang were there as well but we dont see it. It's only mentioned a little later.
The first half is then spent showing us Jack and Joker's love and proposal of marriage, randomly at the dinner table, as well as the general lives of the other characters of the show. Hoy is still a driver, Arun and Tattoo are still not a thing but even the rest of the characters see it, and Hope and Save are pretending they're not assholes by continuing the debt collecting business they were left with, Toi Ting is Sass and Rose is trying to stay active in the community.
When Jack and Joker visit the temple for a fortune reading of their marriage, they are told that there is no auspicious dates for them, that they are both lovers and enemies. To be fair, that's very on brand for YinWar in general LOL
Joke scoffs at the idea and persuades Jack to continue with their plans, despite the foreshadowing of death in the script. In the second half, files are stolen from Save's office, and the gang track down the thief.
They come head to head with an old enemy and it results in tragedy. Or what would be a tragedy followed by the saddest and most twisted wedding I've ever seen, as Jack grieves his loss. No really, I get that Jack is having a mental break over Joke's 'death' but that the rest of the cast just sat in watched him marry and kiss a doll had me feeling a deep void a BL has never made me feel before. I didn't know how to react. The sensual Jack and Joker kiss was overshadowed by knowing that Jack is kissing a doll and everyone is just......watching.
Using Joke's 100 ways book from the series, Jack uses it to help grieve and move on. If the show ended there, I'd be sick to my stomach, but the after credits scene shows us that Joke is in fact alive, and potentially being held prisoner by an unknown person. Did Carbon survive, again? Alice wasnt seen in the show but was mentioned, is it him? Is it one of the horsemen again? As Jack mentions to Rose that her 'game' hasn't been cancelled.
This special is a prelude to a season 2 and no one can change my mind. However, there was still a lot lacking in this show. How did Carbon die? if he even is dead. Joke was shot twice and survived. Carbon falls into the river and somehow dies? They say they found a body but my drama rule is, if I dont see a body, then that character is not dead. And who has Joke in a shed could be a few characters that may have it out for Joke, or Jack. It could even be someone we've never met before, someone Joke knew in prison, which would be another set up for a season 2.
The sets and music are all the same and carry the same vibes as the shows. This is the inbetween arc of season 1 and a season 2. So it is possible that some might want to wait until an announcement, or a release date for a season 2. For those who want to watch it now, I would recommend if you were fans of the show. The humour isn't too heavy this time around, and doesnt distract from the plot, which i felt it did in season 1.
Overall, it is a mess of a show but I found Jack and Joker to have been that way anyway, so this isn't any different. It does get very sad towards the end in typical YinWar fashion, and leaves us with a very heavy cliffhanger, so some might want to wait it out, or skip all together.
This special starts the way the series ended, with Jack and Joker, very much in love and living their day to day lives calling each other 'baby' and showering each other with kisses and affection, which I found very cute.
In the opening screen, we are given the setting that there is a new gang in town and they are causing havoc, and J&J are trying to bust them. Apparently the rest of the gang were there as well but we dont see it. It's only mentioned a little later.
The first half is then spent showing us Jack and Joker's love and proposal of marriage, randomly at the dinner table, as well as the general lives of the other characters of the show. Hoy is still a driver, Arun and Tattoo are still not a thing but even the rest of the characters see it, and Hope and Save are pretending they're not assholes by continuing the debt collecting business they were left with, Toi Ting is Sass and Rose is trying to stay active in the community.
When Jack and Joker visit the temple for a fortune reading of their marriage, they are told that there is no auspicious dates for them, that they are both lovers and enemies. To be fair, that's very on brand for YinWar in general LOL
Joke scoffs at the idea and persuades Jack to continue with their plans, despite the foreshadowing of death in the script. In the second half, files are stolen from Save's office, and the gang track down the thief.
They come head to head with an old enemy and it results in tragedy. Or what would be a tragedy followed by the saddest and most twisted wedding I've ever seen, as Jack grieves his loss. No really, I get that Jack is having a mental break over Joke's 'death' but that the rest of the cast just sat in watched him marry and kiss a doll had me feeling a deep void a BL has never made me feel before. I didn't know how to react. The sensual Jack and Joker kiss was overshadowed by knowing that Jack is kissing a doll and everyone is just......watching.
Using Joke's 100 ways book from the series, Jack uses it to help grieve and move on. If the show ended there, I'd be sick to my stomach, but the after credits scene shows us that Joke is in fact alive, and potentially being held prisoner by an unknown person. Did Carbon survive, again? Alice wasnt seen in the show but was mentioned, is it him? Is it one of the horsemen again? As Jack mentions to Rose that her 'game' hasn't been cancelled.
This special is a prelude to a season 2 and no one can change my mind. However, there was still a lot lacking in this show. How did Carbon die? if he even is dead. Joke was shot twice and survived. Carbon falls into the river and somehow dies? They say they found a body but my drama rule is, if I dont see a body, then that character is not dead. And who has Joke in a shed could be a few characters that may have it out for Joke, or Jack. It could even be someone we've never met before, someone Joke knew in prison, which would be another set up for a season 2.
The sets and music are all the same and carry the same vibes as the shows. This is the inbetween arc of season 1 and a season 2. So it is possible that some might want to wait until an announcement, or a release date for a season 2. For those who want to watch it now, I would recommend if you were fans of the show. The humour isn't too heavy this time around, and doesnt distract from the plot, which i felt it did in season 1.
Overall, it is a mess of a show but I found Jack and Joker to have been that way anyway, so this isn't any different. It does get very sad towards the end in typical YinWar fashion, and leaves us with a very heavy cliffhanger, so some might want to wait it out, or skip all together.
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