MaintainingMama

Thank you so much, Lenny!!! Good to hear from you again!! I hope all has been well with you. I had actually thought that was the drama I was supposed to be watching but the patch work story telling had me questioning if I just stumbled on one of those I may have missed some new drama trailer coming out and got the names mixed up. I am usually very up on all BL coming out so I was worried! 🤣🤣 But really this helped, but I am worried cause this has potential for a low budget production, storywise, but it looks like whoever produced this and screen wrote this took a shortcut that was not needed. Between what is being lost in translation and what is being lost writing wise, this does not look promising. As always, its nice to chat. See ya around!

Things going for this show so far.
1) Nice production. Feels and looks like a fair amount went in to this.
2) GORGEOUS actors. Everyone on is pretty, all the eye candy you can get.
3) Possibly a good story but...

Things its got going against it

1) Ummm, what the heck is going on? For all that budget, they skipped out on the writing/direction, because I have zero clue what is going on. And not in the ' suspenseful story that is going to lead you on a roller coaster ride of emotions' way. It feels lile that was what they were going for, but left out WAY too much of the story to make it work.
No clue who anyone is, who they are to each other, why they were being chased in the forest. How the HELL they survived falling off that cliff. Who is the mysterious (really pretty) man who keeps saving him. What triggered him to cry so hard. Why are there NEVER tissues in a Thai drama when crying happens? Who were the people grieving over Din's maybe body? Who were the 2 dudes who came in to tell him Din was dead? What are they to each other? Who were the men getting beaten up in the end why did they deserved to be beaten and then blown up? Who walks so slowly away from a bomb they created?

I sure there is more, but man. Despite all the questions and bad subtitles, I have just enough interest in what may be a good plot to give it up (not that I ever stop a series, even if its Physical Therapy/ Bite Me bad). Here is hoping it gets better storywise and subtitles wise.

The way every single one of these actors are showing their range right now! Sheesh! First was in this show for like 5 minutes and delivered like nobody's business. When he walked away screaming in frustration, gah, I FELT that. His eyes look so desperate, and sad and angry as he watches his relationship end. You can feel his struggle to understand why its happening, and how he can get it back. At the same time, watching Wen be so enthralled by Uncle Jim to barely tolerating Alan's presence. Chef's kiss! This whole show, especially this episode, it doesn't even feel like these are people acting for our entertainment.
When the show opened with Heart and Li Ming being so incredibly intimate with one another, I felt like I was looking in a private moment, not a tv show. GeminiFourth's acting in this is so completely different from MSP, I cannot say enough about how good they are.
I still have questions that I pray they answer soon. Why are Alan and Wen breaking up, what did Alan do? What is Gaipa mom sick with and is she dying? Why can't Uncle Jim move on from cheater boyfriend guy? What happened to Li Ming's parents?
I pray we get answers soon, but over all, this is a 10 outta 10 for me.

Hira being still obsessed and weird about Kiyoi is perfect because people don't change who they are over night or even over years. This is about them both trying to slowly change for each other, but it also has to be a problem. Hira even realized he was being like his old self but idolizing Kiyoi. Real people don't always change. Real people repeat the same mistakes over and over again. Real people are weird as hell! Both of them are weird, and that is great. Give me awkward and cringey sometimes, cause not everybody is 'normal' and they still deserve love. And I LOVE the fact that it was Koyama who pointed out that Kiyoi was taking advantage of Hira's love for him, because Hira would NEVER see it as a problem. He would happily take care of Kiyoi for the rest of his life. And if that made him truly happy, which it seemed to, then good. But having Koyama point it out amd help guide Kiyoi showed that 1) he is a true friend to Hira and 2) that he recognized that Kiyoi is just as weird as Hira, just in a different way. He had the recipe ready to go, so he understood that even just telling him to take better care of Hira would have only sent Kiyoi in panic mode. He needed a recipe to start with. Even if it didn't work out because Kiyoi is even worse than he thought. 🤣🤣 Kiyoi and Hira are perfect for each other and I want more than what tbey are going to give us.

That was amazing. The acting, the cinematography, the writing. Everyone was great. Earth delivered this week. While I liked his acting in the last 2 eps., I thought Mix was better. This time, it was a draw for me, maybe a bit more in Earth's favor. His anxiety for Li Ming's future, for his own, came across is every little sigh (right into the mic, and it drove me nuts, but it helped capture his feelings, so I am trying to ignore it), every frown. The longing and indecision in his eyes when he looked at Wen after telling his story. Notice he never answered the question about whether Wen had a chance...

Poor Khaotung! He was trying his best to hit on Uncle Jim and the sad part is, I truly think Jim gets that he is into to him. But he is older (its unclear by how much), and obviously not into him. I hope he catches a clue and moves on. I mean, I get it, Earth is hot as hell, but move on, baby.

But let's get to my favorite part/ship (in literally everything apparently) GeminiFourth. The hold they are beginning to have on me...its kind of unfair. They are definitely going to be a problem. Not only are they aesthetically pleasing to the eye (especially Fourth, his smile should be illegal), but they can ACT. The little side glances, touches, smiles. This is the perfect example of first love feels and I am pretty sure their story is gonna hurt (cause how can Li Ming go overseas if Heart cannot leave the house...) praying for a happy ending!! Throw in the fact that they can genuinely sing (unlike most GMMTV stars) and we are in trouble.
I cannot wait for next episode.

It might have been me...sorry! 🤣 Its so bad though, especially this last episode. All that angst, right in our ears. And I agree wholeheartedly about this episode. It was again me who felt Mix was better in the forst 2 episodes, but I completely agree he delivered this episode. Honestly they all did. Gemini and Fourth are going to be a problem in the future. They honestly deserve all the hype and attention BrightWin got (and currently still get) with the actual skills to back it up.

No one said experienced detective. Just do something, even if it was to just tell Nueng, I will help. If Nueng can take over his company, then Chopper can find someone to get help with his dad. And yeah its hard, but I would 100% tell on a family member for murder, even my own kids. Taking life is the most heinous act and no one should hesitate to do the rigjt thing just because its hard.

I totally get Chopper being shickef at first. But its been a few weeks. And if they showed Chopper trying to do something, I would sympathize. Or even if he had walked up to Nueng and immediately said, he cuz are you okay, my dad suck and I don't know how to stop him, but I'll help in any way, just let me know. Then Nueng would know he was able to trust Chopper. Chopper acting like Nueng had a reason to trust him is nuts. Its on Chopper to prove he wants no part of what his father is doing if he is going to approach Nueng. And I don't believe Chopper thinks his dad will kill him, because he isn't hiding how messed he thinks his dad is from him. He is openly telling his dad he sucks, so he isn't that afraid.

I am all over the place with my opinion on this episode, kind of like the story and the acting.

The good: 1) the soundtrack (except for Pond's song, cause ummmm). Whoever is in charge of music direction, good for them, cause they help to keep the emotion of the scenes, despite the poor acting in some scenes.
2) Nueng confronting Chopper was the only scene where Phuwin did well for me. And part of that is not his fault, part of that is the writing.
3) Perth and Chimmon.

The Bad 1) why was he back in school with people trying to kill him and a business to run. He is rich enough to hire a tutor til they straighten out the uncle. 2) I wish he had tortured the bully (psychologically) a bit longer, cause man...f!@k that noise. That boy delibrately tortured him knowing that his dad JUST died. I get it, he thought Nueng's dad was a thief, but even so, he didn't deseeve to die for what ever sin they think he committed and Nueng certainly did not deserved to be treated like that. Nueng should have said, 'I don't know that your father didn't do that to my family, I mean look what you did to me. The police are investigating ALL that has happened to me and my family since my father was murdered and at those people who had it out for him.' And then walked away. Let him stew in his own piss!
3) But then you get to the scene with Chopper, and the writers had him show that anger and mistrust he should have had for the bully. Even though I know Chopper is inna tough space, Nueng is right. Why didn't Chopper go to the police? He could have recorded that whole last conversation, and turned it into the police and settled the whole thing right away. His dad totally believes, despite his son's obvious disgust at his behavior, that Chopper won't tell. And Chopper could have done something before that scene, especially knowing his dad plans to kill him. Nueng had a right to be mad.

4) The story is not making much sense. 1) Why in the world would a boy who is literally hunted down go to school? He has all the money tutoring. It would also be a timesaver while he tries to run the company.
2) Glad he went to see Palm's Dad, but why not go to the police immediately and say that he was there and that Palm's dad didn't do it... 3) the acting...Phuwin did okay with that scene with Perth, but that was it. Him trying to squeeze a tear out in the most important in the episode was painful to watch and it ruined the whole scene.

I really hope both Phuwin and Pond continue with acting lesson.

I liked it until the last episode. It maybe needed a solid 10 eps to fully complete this story. Also it has to be said...the first kiss was the worst. The second kiss wasn't good, but it was better than the first. I wish dramas would realize that a bad kiss takes you out of the scene. That episode should have been about explaining why the story was about them, why he disappeared, how they BOTH felt about each other during that time. Because those flashbacks all made it seem like Ha Yeon lost a bestie and not someone who he loved, but that was because we didn't really get to see much if his perspective with regard to his feelings. The missed opportunities of this show! 2 more episodes would have made all that angst and anger make sense.

The way this was so so at the beginning and then ended so wonderfully! I did not get the high rating until I got to the end. Definitely worth the watch!

Man, this show has so much potential and yet...

Burger and King are adorable and the way that King stares at Burger is just everything. But...I wish they had taken to show where Burger's feeling went away from Pim and he started to like King back. The resume and illness helped with some of that, but a timeskip montage between those 2 events of maybe Burger reading the resume and the learning more about King and paying less attention to Pim, would have made that last scene with them plausible.

The teacher is too much even with Art there to balance out the crazy.

The product placememt is clever and well done, not crazy in your face and blends well with the scene, so I appreciate that.

The subs, while I am super grateful for them, are horrible, so ALOT gets lost in the translation.

Finally, Matteo and Shogun's story...sigh...again, it had potential, but man. Matteo does this great thing by taking the blame for the chat being exposed which leads to Shogun opening up his heart and mind to a relationship with Matteo. Then you get that lousy locker room scene and they throw that right out the window. Why would Matteo give safe words and then gag Shogun?! Why couldn't Shogun simply pull the hanky out of his mouth so that Matteo could clearly hear the safe work?! Didn't he kick him in the balls, how did his nose start bleeding?

How they are handling this is showing that they are too young to explore anything beyond 'vanilla' sex.

I keep saying this is definitely not as bad as I expected, but man, I can clearly see where it can be sooo much better and that is highly frustrating.

I just finished it today. I also hesitated cause of the censorship. And now I am dying to see what differed from the book, but overall, it was a VERY good story. Beautifully filmed, crazy good story and the main leads chemistry and acting was chef's kiss. Its totally worth checking out if you just want a REALLY good story with some good looking people doing the MOST in costumes. If you are coming for any BL hints, this isn't for you. Definitely read mostly as just bestest of buddies, with a side of lingering gazes and protective stances.

Agreed on Water Boy, what a mess! And I will say that BL actors used to not be hired for their skills and in some respects, if the budget is lower then forget about it. But I think ITSAY changed that expectation. Also, so did most GMMTV stuff. Where they fall short on realistic plotlines, most of their actors deliver decent performances. But ITSAY said, even for a smallish company, and new actors, there is no reason to produce trash. Speaking of crying, I usually hate it (mainly because most people aren't believable) and I especially hate it when the cryer doesn't get a tissue to wipe there freaking face, but as God awful as it was to see, Billkin's endless crying in ITSAY was so germaine to the story that it didn't bother me. I think crying believably on screen takes huge skills.

I agree on what range is and how it is displayed but disagree on whether Earth has displayed in his roles thus far. Not that I don't think he is capable of it, he is definitely being type casted. But I could not tell he was attracted to Wen, even during the love scene. When Wen looked up and met Uncle Jim's eyes for the first time, I wanted to see a million different emotions in Earth's eyes when he saw Mix. I didn't really 'get' that he wanted him. Same for the love scene. No quick intake of breath when he nibbled on his ear, the look in his eyes wasn't necessarily screaming 'I want this man now', unlike say compared to Boss' Phayu or even Fort's Prapai. Mix on the other hand looked like he wanted to jump that mans bones the second he saw him. I canneven argue that Phupha was just insecure as Uncle Jim, just in a different aspect of his life. Phupha was insecure when it came to his feeling for Tian, maybe in the sense that it was either his first relationship or his first one with a man. But he was so hestitant despite coming off strong. Same for Uncle Jim, I agree he is insecure in the ways you described him. Now while I agree Ohm and especially Kao seemed to keep the emotions at bay. Although I feel like when the big emotional scenes, at least for Ohm happened, he delievered. His scene with grandmother was chef's kiss (and yes, I will admit largely because of the female stress playing the grandmother)
I agree and disagree about your definition of range. Yes, crying can be cheating, but if the scene calls for it and its done horribly then the whole scene is ruined. For me a perfect example would be LITA when Prapai is reading Sky's journal and Sky is supposed to be crying. Peat and Fort said it was a hard scene and it took a lomg time to shoot. I bet money it was because Peat couldn't cry convincingly. Cause what a scene well acted by Fort was ruined by Peat's inability to cry realistically.
I agree I should be able to 'see' the character is mad without them saying a word. Hard skill, but truly good actors have it, hence having good range. But I also feel that range applies to being able to play completely different characters from what you have done before and make me believe it. Perfect representation of this is Gun Attaphan. His skill in Not Me alone displays his range. And that every role he has been in is completely different each time. I haven't seen MamaGoGo, so I don't know how Earth was in that, but so far, he isn't doing as well as Mix is in tbis series for me.

Yeesh, Mix has always been beautiful to me, but this flirty, sensual Mix is killing me!! But who could blame him, cause I would throw my self at Earth too. 🤣🤣

I was going to say the opposite about Earth and Mix's acting this. Earth seems pretty much like always is in roles, quiet, reserved, solemn but alpha male all the way, just like Phupa and just like his role in Cupid's Lasf Wish. Heck even in Theory of Love he was like this. Mix has been different in each role I have seen him in. This flirty, confident, self aware character he is playing as Wen is amazing to me. I literally hope they show Uncle Jim's walls break because of how Wen gets him to open up and experience life.
Where I will agree with you is on the AWFUL sound quality. It bothered me more last episode than this one, but I can literally hear Mix has either a cold or a deviated septum cause his breathing is right in my ear.

Also, you are so right about the cat stuff. I pray we get a another sponsor...

The other thing I agree with you on is Gemini and Fourth. They definitely are second leading the hell out of this show. And compared to MSP, their roles are so different so seeing their acting range is a delight, especially Fourth. He is definitely taking GMMTV over.
Also, yes, of course we love Mark.

Mix's flirt game was on 100. Earth and Mix are just beautiful people in general but then you add in this amazing cinematography...just stunning. For some reason Earth's scene's with Mix seem off. Like I could not tell he wanted Wen as much as Wen wanted Uncle Jim. Wen/Mix looked like he would gladly sacrifice himself at the alter of Jim/Earth.
I was extremely glad that during their love scene they did not kiss. I HATE when the show a kiss scene after someone pukes. Also, them not kissing matched the fact that they didn't even know each others names. Gemini and Forth can literally do no wrong at this point. Side note, I was furious on behalf of Li Ming. Heart would get a punch in the head the next time I saw him, if I was Li Ming.
Overall the story building is there. And I am excited to see where the story takes up.

Fair, although he didn't come off as awkward as he does with Pond, who he should be completely comfortable with by now, but I think you are right.

Yes, That is what it is called. I have only seen snippets of it, but he seems so different in this role, I have to check it out.