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Nothing fancy in this ride... but it was still good

When I watch and review a Thai BL series, I would normally tell you one of 6 possible scenarios... a) the series was a total disaster because of terrible writing/directing that also affected the acting and the story itself (see "Love by Chance 2", "Don't Say No", "Tharn-Type 2", "Y-Destiny", "Cause You're My Boy", "Secret Crush on You" or "Love Area 2"); b) the series was a boring experience because of long and dull scenes that moved the story at a glacial pace or the plot was uninspired, unoriginal or it got even more boring along the way (see "Tonhon-Chonlatee", "Bite Me", "Gen Y", "Gen Y 2", "Physical Therapy", "Call It Like You Want", "Call It Like You Want 2" or "Close Friend"); c) the series had lead actors who lacked some chemistry or their acting was a bit (or a lot) underwhelming (see "My Oxygen", "Golden Blood", or "My Boy"); d) the series started with some promise, only to fade into oblivion thanks to a confusing plot/storyline and the series had more episodes than it should have had (see "Top Secret Together", "Hidden Love" or "Love Stage"); e) the series was just plain, had nice moments either in the plot or with the actors, it served as decent entertainment, but was nothing memorable in the end (see "Bad Buddy" - seriously, if you take Ohm and Nanon out, you're left with nothing, "2gether", "Still 2gether", "Lovely Writer", "Fish Upon the Sky", "Siew Sum Noi", "Hometown's Embrace", "Enchanté", "You're My Sky", "My Engineer", "YYY" or "Nitiman"); or finally, f) the series was successful, had some flaws but it was redeemed by either great acting, good directing/writing, an interesting/original plot, good chemistry between the couples and/or did not rely in the excessive use of the usual Thai BL clichés (see "Until We Meet Again", "The Yearbook", "Not Me", "Manner of Death", "He's Coming to Me", "Something in My Room", or the combo "I Told Sunset About You"/"I Promised You the Moon"). Of course, you could argue that some of these examples might fall in the middle of 2 scenarios and, in other cases, because they are coming from a small budget company, the series suffer from something that can be either poor acting due to rookie actors, bad directing and low quality due to the money constraints.

This time, "My Ride" is no exception as, in my opinion, it falls in-between 2 categories this time... it is a plain story that had some nice moments but I believe it was a bit more memorable than others in the end. Here's why (and I assume you at least read the summary of the plot)...

a. The couples: Here you have nice and not so nice... Mork and Tawan are the lead couple and I really like them in the series. Both characters are likeable and coming from such different backgrounds (one is a motorcycle taxi driver and the other is a doctor) but both have failed relationships as Mork breaks up with his girlfriend of many years, Fern, and Tawan is in a relationship with another doctor, Por, only for him to slowly find out that Por already has a boyfriend and he is cheating on him with Tawan. Both characters have to navigate through plenty of emotions dealing with their own relationships and mixed in the process, they find each other as Tawan begins using the taxi service near the hospital and Mork is his usual driver and both begin to realize they have feelings for each other. Both Fluke and Fame are the same age in real life and while I'm not sure if that actually helped their chemistry (we've seen BL couples with larger age differentials that simply don't work well together), this time it did make it look and feel less awkward when they had on-screen interactions. All their conflicts were always solved through talking (yes, maybe one or two episodes later than it should) but their feelings were sincere and they communicated unlike other couples we've seen in the past.
The other couples were the not-so-nice part as Boss and Toy and Dr. Nadia and Mayom had storylines that were not very original, had very little screen time compared to the lead couple, and their situation was nothing that inspired or excited me to see how the writer and the director would deal with it. Acting was a bit shady as well as I've never been a fan of Yoon (who plays Toy) as he has acted in quite a few BLs I've seen and I find him almost robotic... his expressions, his voice level and his demeanor barely change from one series to the next and from one character to the next. Best (who plays Boss) looked a bit stiff and awkward as he is only 20 years old and had to play a senior character to Yoon, who is 28 years old. The confession in the final episode felt a bit too dramatic and staged and Toy's reactions felt a bit fake. The other couple had few memorable moments... I would say that it was quite a contrast to see Ging (who plays Nadia) act in this series as she has a completely different role in here compared to the bitchy and whiny girl she plays in "Secret Crush on You". Pat (who plays Dr. Por) is already playing a nurse in the intriguing "Doctor, I'm Coming for Soul", so I guess doing double duty is the acting trend for some actors now.
On a side note, Mork's uncles were a delight and provided a nice comedic relief and some serious advice during the series so the characters were quite welcomed.

b. The storyline: Again, you have good and not so good... The idea of a motorcycle taxi driver and a doctor and a barista and a doctor ending up together is not as bizarre or as impossible as the rest of the motorbike gang or even Dr. Nadia kept trying to influence the lead actors during the series. The gang kept telling Mork that a doctor was more likely to get back together with the other doctor rather than choosing a poor and uneducated motorcycle taxi driver. Dr. Nadia kept telling Tawan that things between him and Mork might never work as they were different... I will never understand how social class, education or the salary you earn can play such an important role on the person I love, which made me dislike the storyline a bit. I felt that the story between Tawan and Dr. Por dragged along for a few more episodes than it was needed. We all knew that Por was seeing someone behind Tawan's back but we had to wait a while for him to finally find out and then we had to wait yet even more for Tawan to nearly beg for a second chance, be humiliated by Por's boyfriend, cry and cry and cry again, before he finally realized that Mork liked him and that he might like Mork back. Aside from the things surrounding their relationship, the main storyline of the lead couple was great as we slowly see them progress from being driver-customer to friends to possible lovers to being together for 4 years in the time jump we had at the end. The storylines of the other couples were meh, not so good, as Nadia plays hard to get and rejects Mayom only for her to be jealous of all the attention he is getting later and Toy tries to get Boss out of his comfort zone by pushing him to do things he's never done but by being annoying in the process. And in the miracle of miracles, when I thought the bitchy and whiny female character that wants the lead actor back would appear when Fern showed up to talk Mork into getting back together, I was pleasantly surprised when she reacted in a logical and cool way when he said no because he already was in love with Tawan... Fern reacted like all the other female characters (except Fon in "My Engineer" and Pan in "You're My Sky") should have reacted, accepting the fact that her relationship with the male lead actor was over and move on in a logical and mature way instead of going down kicking and screaming or plotting "evil" things that never work.

So, once again, "My Ride" ended up being a story that was certainly not perfect and it wasn't particularly original or innovative but that provided us with a nice lead couple with quite decent and entertaining interactions without having to include constant shirtless scenes, 139 kisses, one sex scene every other episode or naughty flirting to catch my attention. Nothing fancy in this ride, but it was still good.

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A total trainwreck

I will keep this review short because there is really no point on even doing one given the super mediocre and low quality of this series...

This was a trainwreck and a total disaster put together in a Thai BL series. I don't even understand why Line TV picked up this mess from yet another small company called Jumdee Film Productions who felt the need to produce a BL just because it has been the popular trend around small Thailand companies.
Well, save yourself from the pain of this series that lasted 12 excruciating episodes of useless scenes, terrible acting, no credible storyline or plot, bad directing, bad writing, bad everything.

The main couple of two newcomers in Pakoo (playing Nut) and Tawan (playing Satha) has to be the most mismatched BL couple ever. I normally do not judge a series based on the looks of the actors because that is a very superficial thing to do but in this case it really seem to affect many of the comments and reviews I've read in here as most people don't understand why these two actors were chosen. The age difference was so obvious between the main leads that it was a bit awkward to watch their romantic moments as it felt odd to see Tawan and Pakoo kiss or cuddle together. I am not against an older-younger couple but the lack of chemistry and the lack of good acting made their situation a bit weird. Plus, their relationship is always unclear because Nut is falling for Satha but Satha keeps rejecting Nut when he is confronted by others about it only to then desperately try to convince Nut that he really really loves him.

The side couple of Ing (playing Jedi) and Get (playing Nanon) was more of the traditional BL cliché of having the actors doing all cute things together. However, their relationship went from zero to 100 in about 2 minutes after they get drunk at a party and end up having sex. Then they realize they like each other and become a couple... that's it, no drama, no complications, no nothing... they just became a couple faster than I could type these lines.

The episodes were relatively short for a full 12-episode series and that made the plot and the storyline full of failures. Some of the episodes had nothing relevant happening only to fill the last 2 or 3 minutes with drama between Satha and Nut and their relationship or the side couple moments. Bad directing and bad writing had so many boring and dull moments and if you have a lot of those in a 25 to 28-minute episode then it basically fails. The actors clearly had not a lot of workshops to prepare and with most of them making their acting debut, it was obvious they lacked the proper direction to portray their emotions better and go from a happy to a sad moment more convincingly.

The only one with acting experience is Net (playing Nut's ex-boyfriend Ball) who was one of the main actors in "Hidden Love" (a mediocre show that had some nice moments) and also in "I'm Your King Season 2" (another BL disaster). However, in this series, he plays the role of the bad guy who was Nut's boyfriend, cheated, got dumped and now wants to get Nut back. But in another bad directing and bad writing moment, he suddenly appears in front of Satha in episode 12 and changes his attitude, saying he understands how much Nut did for him and how bad he treated him so he was leaving and letting him find happiness. So after several episodes of tormenting and stalking Nut and even dating one of Nut's friend (a girl) just to get closer to Nut, he just decides to quit?! Makes no sense.

As I said, this whole series had many dull moments and combined with the lack of chemistry between the main couple and nearly all of the cast, the bad directing, the bad writing, the bad acting, made "My Boy" probably one of the worst BL series I've seen in several years. So, you get a 10 just for watching all 12 episodes and not quitting at some point.

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