This review may contain spoilers
Sweet relationship. Boss was cold but not cruel, with a softy interior.
There were a few scenes with good consent: asking for consent prior to kissing and stating that he’d take no for an answer, respecting a “no touch” boundary when he’s upset, and accepting no for an answer when physical affection is rejected.
There were scenes with poor consent as well, though: locking Cher in the car and refusing to let him out to force a conversation, dubcon kissing him when he wasn’t completely comfortable to provoke some type of reaction from him, and demanding answers about his feelings in a tone like a parent scolding a child. There was also a scene where Boss gets upset and shakes Cher, to the point that Cher says he’s hurting him. He also hugs and refuses to let Cher go during that argument, even as Cher struggles to push him off. Boss also grabs and pulls Cher along to get him to come instead of just asking him in some scenes.
The relationship was overly chaste. Very tame kisses, and the type of relationship where mentioning sex or asking for a kiss on the cheek in public is scandalous. Cher kept rejecting Boss’s affection. There were so many scenes where Boss would say something sweet or say that he loved Cher, or would hug and cuddle Cher, or would ask for a kiss, and Cher wouldn’t reciprocate whatsoever. He’d shrug Boss off or respond with a sarcastic comment. Boss would be so head over heels and meanwhile Cher would be questioning if it was really love or not. It was frustrating.
In terms of the story line, there were two things I didn’t like. First, the whole Tian story line. She’s a girl Cher used to like but she rejected him and later committed suicide after being raped by her step-father and getting pregnant. I didn’t like the set up that Cher always had and always would love her. They were kids, at the time, and they could have written it off as puppy love and instead portrayed their relationship as friends or family that he’d always love. Honestly, they could have cut the whole him liking Tian part out altogether and still had the exact same story line. As it is, I didn’t like feeling like Boss was the second choice. Also, in the end, the mom who knew about the 3 year long persistent rape by her husband of her daughter and did absolutely nothing is forgiven. And the step-dad’s fate isn’t addressed.
Second, the break up was so unnecessary that it made Cher look selfish as hell. Boss’s mom tells Cher he doesn’t deserve Boss and that he should back off. So he does. He chooses to leave and better himself. What does “better himself” mean? Winning a gaming championship and graduating college. Both of those things would have happened anyways even if he had stayed with Boss. Neither of those accomplishments had any impact on the mom’s opinion of their relationship. Cher left Boss for the second time after promising over and over to always stay by his side. He didn’t tell Boss that he was coming back. He was happy and functional during their time apart, while Boss was falling apart, and Boss just immediately forgives Cher. I didn’t believe any of Cher’s promises of “forever” in the finale after he’d already promised and broken that promise a million times during the series.
There were a few scenes with good consent: asking for consent prior to kissing and stating that he’d take no for an answer, respecting a “no touch” boundary when he’s upset, and accepting no for an answer when physical affection is rejected.
There were scenes with poor consent as well, though: locking Cher in the car and refusing to let him out to force a conversation, dubcon kissing him when he wasn’t completely comfortable to provoke some type of reaction from him, and demanding answers about his feelings in a tone like a parent scolding a child. There was also a scene where Boss gets upset and shakes Cher, to the point that Cher says he’s hurting him. He also hugs and refuses to let Cher go during that argument, even as Cher struggles to push him off. Boss also grabs and pulls Cher along to get him to come instead of just asking him in some scenes.
The relationship was overly chaste. Very tame kisses, and the type of relationship where mentioning sex or asking for a kiss on the cheek in public is scandalous. Cher kept rejecting Boss’s affection. There were so many scenes where Boss would say something sweet or say that he loved Cher, or would hug and cuddle Cher, or would ask for a kiss, and Cher wouldn’t reciprocate whatsoever. He’d shrug Boss off or respond with a sarcastic comment. Boss would be so head over heels and meanwhile Cher would be questioning if it was really love or not. It was frustrating.
In terms of the story line, there were two things I didn’t like. First, the whole Tian story line. She’s a girl Cher used to like but she rejected him and later committed suicide after being raped by her step-father and getting pregnant. I didn’t like the set up that Cher always had and always would love her. They were kids, at the time, and they could have written it off as puppy love and instead portrayed their relationship as friends or family that he’d always love. Honestly, they could have cut the whole him liking Tian part out altogether and still had the exact same story line. As it is, I didn’t like feeling like Boss was the second choice. Also, in the end, the mom who knew about the 3 year long persistent rape by her husband of her daughter and did absolutely nothing is forgiven. And the step-dad’s fate isn’t addressed.
Second, the break up was so unnecessary that it made Cher look selfish as hell. Boss’s mom tells Cher he doesn’t deserve Boss and that he should back off. So he does. He chooses to leave and better himself. What does “better himself” mean? Winning a gaming championship and graduating college. Both of those things would have happened anyways even if he had stayed with Boss. Neither of those accomplishments had any impact on the mom’s opinion of their relationship. Cher left Boss for the second time after promising over and over to always stay by his side. He didn’t tell Boss that he was coming back. He was happy and functional during their time apart, while Boss was falling apart, and Boss just immediately forgives Cher. I didn’t believe any of Cher’s promises of “forever” in the finale after he’d already promised and broken that promise a million times during the series.
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