etoks21

I would say in this case, it was character stagnation. It was boring to watch if you actually understand what you're seeing. Many people here saw many things on the screen that simply aren't there. I'm wondering if something about this show lulls people into projecting onto it what they want to see. I have no idea.

Cinematography, lighting, all-round high production values, OST, that kind of thing. There were some scenes that moved me deeply, but I can't remember any at the moment because they were so few, I suppose. I think the lead actor is talented but miscast here. If all these men are going to fall at his feet the instant they see him, over and over, the actor has to have, at least to a significant degree, strikingly good looks.

Gay men, speaking generally, do not fall in love AT FIRST SIGHT with plain men whose open-mouthed smiles are that of Batman's Joker. Before the hysterics pile-on, let me affirm that we DO fall in love with plain and even ugly men. My deepest love has a big, French nose that I came to adore over time as I got to know him. OVER TIME, not at first sight. At first sight, I thought "well...that guy has a big nose." :) Then we met minutes later and before I left that party I was deeply interested in him because I got a sense of his heart, intelligence, wit, and his sexy, deep voice.

How many times did we watch MC ruthlessly murder a dude's soul, then head for the dance club, get wasted, and encounter his next victim; each of who collapsed into a besotted heap of jello at the sight of his drunken, plain/goofy face? FIVE times, that's how many. They knew nothing of him but that he has a goofy face, a somewhat large nose, and a scary smile. Yet, they swoon. Spare me.

OK, I grant you maybe ONE of five people might go for that look at first sight...but five in a row? NO.

But one of the most infuriating aspects of MC's character is that he would devastate some poor idiot's soul, do the club/drunk/swoon thing and enter immediately into the NEXT doomed relationship. He had zero self-awareness and seemed oblivious that he was so glaringly repeating himself, headed toward self-inflicted misery once again.

I could maybe go along with even that, if the script/plot showed me that he did see what he was doing but didn't care because of his assholery, that he was a sociopath to the core. That could be interesting. A protagonist villain can be very interesting! But I didn't see that either. I simply saw the same routine repeated five times. It was near to rewatching the first relationship arc five times, with different actors in the sucker's role. He wasn't evil, he wasn't good, he was boring and annoying.

Sadly, they are not explicit and taper off quickly from the first episode, during which the writer and director were trying to get our attention with early sex scenes, implying that would be part of the show's vibe. They certainly DID get my attention, but along with most other elements of the show after ep. 2, we settled into a boring repetition of the MC's manic-depressive, self and others-destructive behavior.

No, that would be character devolution.

lol Yeah not caring is why you keep replying.

Oh god, yes. I have and do. I would f**k myself if I could.

You know, thing is I still haven't rated the show because I've yet to determine what my bottom-line feeling about it is. It's too simplistic, at least in this case to say I "liked" or "disliked" it because I liked many elements of it, though those are less important I suppose, than the elements I disliked.

I figure any show that grips me this tightly, if even in entirely negative ways, is worth examining after my initial, emotional reactions have faded a bit, which is already happening. Though I don't feel any different about those reactions yet. We shall see.

Thank you. Interesting that happened four times today. People probably hurled insults and obscenities at me, then later thought better of it.

I get a lot of that. :)

Thank you. Interesting that happened four times today. People probably hurled insults and obscenities at me, then later thought better of it.

I get a lot of that. :)

Of course I know...you care a great deal, thus your repeated replies.
Oh dear, does someone repeating a true thing that touches a nerve upset you? I take it you ARE 14. It shows.

OK, I Laughed. :)

Hi Stubborn Obstinate A**hole.

Those who inspire insults should be ready to receive them, b***h. What's most annoying about your type is that you know you are being a dick and don't care. You know you posted a spoiler but refuse to remove it because you are mega-dick.

It's laughable that someone doing what you did here is pretending to be sensitive to insults. Your spoiler is an insult to every person who has their watch partly diminished by running across it.

omg, I hadn't noticed that. lol

Yeah, there is NONE of that in this show. However, MANY MDLers in this thread somehow saw it on the screen anyway.

Is anyone else receiving multiple reply notifications to which they cannot find a corresponding blue-highlighted comment in the thread? This has happened four times now today.

Does that indicate the person deleted the comment after posting it?

I never implied anywhere that I wish this show did not "exist," just to make that clear. I don't think that way.

I know there are LOTS of people who repeat their destructive behavior cycles over and over without learning anything or changing. Part of what I'm saying is that I would find a movie about them doing the same thing over and over to be dull and boring also.

But if you are reading comments, the vast majority do not even realize that HE was the problem and that he never grew or learned anything. They seem to think this is the story of a guy, as one deluded MDLer wrote to me, who "...is merely searching for true love in a dark world. He wants someone to love him unreservedly in spite of his flaws..."

These people didn't notice that he found FIVE guys who loved him in spite of his flaws and he shit on every one of them. They think he's the victim.

I don't need a redemption arc, but I need something to give me a reason to even be "interested" in what this guy goes through. I have seen MANY Korean films featuring horrendously horrible protagonists who do horrible things; but I still enjoy many of those films because the writer and director showed me at least a little bit of their humanity and why they became what they are. That doesn't mean I ended up approving of their actions, that would be boring, but it gave those characters depth and layers to ponder. This sociopath is tissue-thin as presented by the plot.

He had a single mom and an absent dad. So what? So did many others who didn't turn out like him, wreaking vengeance on his father by shitting on his fellow gay brethren.

What I've still to determine is WHY I kept going and watched this to the end despite my intense, negative reaction to it. Part of the answer is that I am stubborn. Part of the answer is I was hoping for that reason to be interested or see any humanity in this guy and thought maybe there was a huge revelation near the end that explained it all.

That said, I was bored to tears much of the time. I had to FORCE myself to finish two or three episodes. And I could never get through more than two in one sitting.

Hi SourPussy!

"...so as not to help people who may want to boycott with low scores due to homophobia." Spare me. Only members like you do that kind of BS. This show stands at 8.9/10. No one is down-rating this series. No one on this site is "boycotting" this series. Most people don't think that way; that's your thing.

I have not yet rated this because I am still not sure where I stand on it, so I'm letting it percolate in my tiny mind for a few days. When I rate it, I'll give it what I think it deserves.

Hi SourPussy!

I repeat: Just enjoy what you enjoy. Why are you so threatened by folks who don't love your pet shows and say so? Why do you care?

I understood what you meant perfectly well. It is you who do not understand what your own BS reveals,

I can't find anywhere I asserted that you "...only watch BLs,,," so I don't know what you're talking about and don't care enough to keep looking.

Posting one's negative feelings/opinions about a show is NOT "...going around belittling anyone's shows." lol This is NOT "your show." lol It doesn't belong to anyone. This is NOT a kpop fangirl site. You have no right to a comment section free of opinions you don't like.

How old are you? 14?

Talk to my ass.

Oh.

I thought from reading your review that it was fabulous. Hmmm...I'll have to re-read. I obviously missed something.

I love flawed characters. I adore toxic, fucked up relationships in my fiction. But I love the shows they're in only if I'm given reasons why and how this person BECAME the way they are so that I can understand, recognize the humanity beneath all the bad behaviors.

I was shown that this guy grew up with single mom/absent father. Seen that a zillion times in Asian films. Is THAT why he's awful? Well, lots of people grow up that way and don't turn out as fucked-up and self-pitying as this guy.

If I was shown that he behaved that way because inside he was a deeply traumatized person acting out, I might begin to get interested. But I don't see that I was ever shown that. There's no depth to this guy. He's a dick and that's it.

Regardless of what the substance being presented was, did it not grow dull to watch the same person repeat the same behaviors five times in a row? I mean, just out of entertainment value? My mouth dropped several times when I realized he was doing the same things AGAIN. No matter what I watch or see whatever, I don't want to watch repeats of the same thing over and over. I was bored a lot of the time.

I need to stop raving and go to bed. Good night.

You find watching the same cycle of behaviors repeated FIVE times with zero character development or growth, to be interesting?