This review may contain spoilers
The Shallow Game
Honestly, this series is a mess. Unfortunately, there's not much to salvage here and it's sad to see protagonists with so much chemistry wasted in such a poor series.
The biggest problem here is that the series doesn't know how to work with suspense and create a coherent narrative. Everything is thrown onto the screen and shown right away. All the conflicts, all the secrets, everything is revealed at the start. Everything is obvious and blatant.
And this makes the script spin in the same place the entire series. It's the same dynamic and the same dialogues all the time.
It's downright boring how many times Chet tries to kill Pheem. Or the countless times their father hits Chet and his bodyguard. Or Chet yelling in every scene.
The characters lack depth. It's all too shallow. The revelation that Risa was behind everything should be the plot twist of the series, but it's just another piece of information that's blatantly revealed from the beginning.
And unfortunately, not even the incredible chemistry between the protagonists can save the series. The entire construction of their relationship is lazy and relies on this cliché of their past as children – something I deeply hate in BLs.
It makes no sense for Pheem to shoot Than, then apologize, then fake Than's death, then run away with him and then suddenly they're getting married!! Only for him to run away in the end, fake his death and change his name – which certainly means their marriage certificate is no longer valid.
The script fails to dissect and elaborate on each moment with the necessary depth. The series tries to be edge and dark by including random fight scenes and shootouts with amateurish CGI but that's not enough.
And the ending... all this only for everyone to die in the same way and the hospital to be deserted.
It's a series that tries but falls short due to a weak script that fails to develop the plot in an interesting way, a direction that doesn't know how to extract complexity from its actors and a repetitive storyline with washed-out cinematography and a production that tries to be deeper than it actually is.
Honestly, the relationship between Chet and the bodyguard would be much more interesting than this whole boring plot about inheriting a hospital.
The biggest problem here is that the series doesn't know how to work with suspense and create a coherent narrative. Everything is thrown onto the screen and shown right away. All the conflicts, all the secrets, everything is revealed at the start. Everything is obvious and blatant.
And this makes the script spin in the same place the entire series. It's the same dynamic and the same dialogues all the time.
It's downright boring how many times Chet tries to kill Pheem. Or the countless times their father hits Chet and his bodyguard. Or Chet yelling in every scene.
The characters lack depth. It's all too shallow. The revelation that Risa was behind everything should be the plot twist of the series, but it's just another piece of information that's blatantly revealed from the beginning.
And unfortunately, not even the incredible chemistry between the protagonists can save the series. The entire construction of their relationship is lazy and relies on this cliché of their past as children – something I deeply hate in BLs.
It makes no sense for Pheem to shoot Than, then apologize, then fake Than's death, then run away with him and then suddenly they're getting married!! Only for him to run away in the end, fake his death and change his name – which certainly means their marriage certificate is no longer valid.
The script fails to dissect and elaborate on each moment with the necessary depth. The series tries to be edge and dark by including random fight scenes and shootouts with amateurish CGI but that's not enough.
And the ending... all this only for everyone to die in the same way and the hospital to be deserted.
It's a series that tries but falls short due to a weak script that fails to develop the plot in an interesting way, a direction that doesn't know how to extract complexity from its actors and a repetitive storyline with washed-out cinematography and a production that tries to be deeper than it actually is.
Honestly, the relationship between Chet and the bodyguard would be much more interesting than this whole boring plot about inheriting a hospital.
Was this review helpful to you?
