Real messy and random at times, but good chemistry (Special Cut)
First of all, I dropped the drama once because of the silly censoring (I don't know if it was like that when it released, but it was at the end of March). I'd rather watch a drama with no intimacy at all and in which everything's implied than one that has whole scenes with the complete screen getting pixeled out as if there were 10 couples having sex all at once just because of a kiss. And all that in a supposed "uncut" version if we want to believe the title of the YouTube video. Makes it look ultra cheap, like a secret freshman project in a Chinese university. What I really don't undertand about that is, Thailand legalizes marriage equality and then they go and so that when two women kiss? Nobody would even think about pixeling the whole screen if this was a heterosexual couple, so where's the equality?
But then they released the Special Cuts, so I thought "why not" and bought a month of membership and gave it another shot. They removed the censoring in it, changed some parts and added quite a few scenes (at least in the first few episodes). So if you liked the university freshman version, I really recommend buying a month of membership, if they ever reinstate it because it seems to be closed/on hold at the moment, for whatever reason. Edit: Seems like they got hit by Youtube because of "overtly sexual" content. That's also why there's no new content except for live streams.
Let's talk about the drama: It's a webdrama, so I think we shouldn't be as critical of the production or the acting as we would with a tv drama. For a Youtube series it's average when it comes to production and acting, I just really wish they would've put less money into houses and dresses and a bit more into their sound production, but well. I would've also liked if they gave a bit more attention to realism. Mook was supposed to be a "lesbian player" (sorry, don't know how to phrase it otherwise) with those fingernails?
The story execution was all over the place at times. Why the hell is the mom of the dude saying "he must marry, he must marry" when he's already legally married? Does she think they legalized polygamy at the same time as same-sex marriage in Thailand? Sure, later on she insisted on divorce, but she still wanted to go through with the other wedding even when the guy was still literally already married. How was Mook still employed? With that many scandals she would've been cancelled and black listed everywhere, especially as a woman in Asia, and every agency in the world would have fired her about 19 times already but she still got model shoots and tv roles. Also, some characters were extremely random. Some got introduced as pretty important helpers of the villain and then got dropped before half of the show was even over without any explanation, like this reporter who stalked Mook incessantly and then was never seen again after "Nitta" (?) first talked to Mook face to face. Or the Mook's grandma and mother of the dude situation. Why did the grandma lose her memory? Why didn't the mom find out about their connection sooner, she was in the hospital she owned for months, after all. Was there any importance to that gossip lady on the internet? By the third time I saw her I wanted to slap some sense into her that's how annoying she was. These days it's enough to just post clips and let the internet do their thing, you don't need any gossip mongers anymore to help.
This review is already way too long, so let's end it with some good things. The story itself was really interesting. The fake-married actress and sister-in-law is a really cool concept if they keep it at consented fake-marriage level. I probably would've hated it if one was in love with the other and gets constantly taken advantage of while the other has a lover behind their back. Their chemistry was really good and, even if I wanted Prangdao to resist and fight back a little more sometimes, I really liked their power dynamics. Of course, Mook was a walking red flag and Prangdao was way too forgiving, but I think in the limited time they had it was the only way to get the story across. All in all those things alone were enough the keep me engaged, root for them and give it a 7.5. But if this would've been a tv production with bigger budget and still look, sound and be executed like that I don't think I would've given it more than a 6, regardless of how good their chemistry was.
But then they released the Special Cuts, so I thought "why not" and bought a month of membership and gave it another shot. They removed the censoring in it, changed some parts and added quite a few scenes (at least in the first few episodes). So if you liked the university freshman version, I really recommend buying a month of membership, if they ever reinstate it because it seems to be closed/on hold at the moment, for whatever reason. Edit: Seems like they got hit by Youtube because of "overtly sexual" content. That's also why there's no new content except for live streams.
Let's talk about the drama: It's a webdrama, so I think we shouldn't be as critical of the production or the acting as we would with a tv drama. For a Youtube series it's average when it comes to production and acting, I just really wish they would've put less money into houses and dresses and a bit more into their sound production, but well. I would've also liked if they gave a bit more attention to realism. Mook was supposed to be a "lesbian player" (sorry, don't know how to phrase it otherwise) with those fingernails?
The story execution was all over the place at times. Why the hell is the mom of the dude saying "he must marry, he must marry" when he's already legally married? Does she think they legalized polygamy at the same time as same-sex marriage in Thailand? Sure, later on she insisted on divorce, but she still wanted to go through with the other wedding even when the guy was still literally already married. How was Mook still employed? With that many scandals she would've been cancelled and black listed everywhere, especially as a woman in Asia, and every agency in the world would have fired her about 19 times already but she still got model shoots and tv roles. Also, some characters were extremely random. Some got introduced as pretty important helpers of the villain and then got dropped before half of the show was even over without any explanation, like this reporter who stalked Mook incessantly and then was never seen again after "Nitta" (?) first talked to Mook face to face. Or the Mook's grandma and mother of the dude situation. Why did the grandma lose her memory? Why didn't the mom find out about their connection sooner, she was in the hospital she owned for months, after all. Was there any importance to that gossip lady on the internet? By the third time I saw her I wanted to slap some sense into her that's how annoying she was. These days it's enough to just post clips and let the internet do their thing, you don't need any gossip mongers anymore to help.
This review is already way too long, so let's end it with some good things. The story itself was really interesting. The fake-married actress and sister-in-law is a really cool concept if they keep it at consented fake-marriage level. I probably would've hated it if one was in love with the other and gets constantly taken advantage of while the other has a lover behind their back. Their chemistry was really good and, even if I wanted Prangdao to resist and fight back a little more sometimes, I really liked their power dynamics. Of course, Mook was a walking red flag and Prangdao was way too forgiving, but I think in the limited time they had it was the only way to get the story across. All in all those things alone were enough the keep me engaged, root for them and give it a 7.5. But if this would've been a tv production with bigger budget and still look, sound and be executed like that I don't think I would've given it more than a 6, regardless of how good their chemistry was.
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