Or maybe symbolism and metaphors take time and the longer the time takes, the more the audience can feel the characters…
"They tend to use insults and emojis as "arguments." LOL I get a lot of that too. It's an MDL thing. There are a lot of 13-year-olds here watching shows they haven't the capacity to appreciate. Either that, or they're watching utter, brainless trash and rating it 10/10.
TOTALLY agree about the metaphors. I liked the Creation of Adam reference until the director decided to ram the point down our throats by showing an image of what I think was a copy of the Michelangelo original. He should have left well enough alone and allowed those who picked up on it to appreciate it as offered, while other viewers would be moved by their gesture as a stand-alone bit.
Likewise, the apple reference was clunky. Barth offered the apple to Tan, making him the snake as you said, but Tan refused it and Barth was the only one who took a bite. So does that mean only Barth will ultimately accept his true nature, and that Tan will remain pure (gag) inside the church (double gag)?
This episode's plot isn't strong enough to sustain a full hour, which is why it feels noticeably slower than the…
I thought this episode dragged a bit, too, and unrealistically shied away from the physical/sexual connection they had made in episode 3, and which would be prominent in a gay love affair at their age, which is unusual for a Thai BL
My God, love this show... I haven’t enjoyed watching a series this much in such a long time, and I look forward…
Interesting. I say that because TTH is the first Thai BL in a great long while that I haven't dropped after one or two episodes, or one or two minutes. I get vibes here that recall ITSAY and IPYTM, the two greatest Thai BLs of all time.
On the other hand, Bad Buddy sits at the top of my Worst BLs of All Time list. So, it's interesting that you equate TTH with BB, and I admire one and loathe the other.
OMG THE APPLE?! I didn't catch it at first but it's giving Adam and Eve and the forbidden fruit!!! Aof knew exactly…
Nice catch. :) I missed that.
I just went back and reviewed that bit because I was uncertain about something. Actually, Barth offered the apple to Tan first, Tan refused it, THEN Barth took his bite. Does this make Barth the snake AND the only one who will ultimately accept his true self?
I suffered 8 years of Lutheran parochial school, so I know all the mindfuck Biblical bits, too. :D
I've had a sense of foreboding since episode 2 that this will not end well. :(
wow so much symbolism! interesting how they visualised so many religious themes disguised as easter eggs
Agree! The most lovely for me was the finger-to-finger bit between GemFourth from upper to lower bunks. I do wish the director hadn't cut from that directly to a shot of the Michelangelo painting detail that bit alluded to. That was too on-the-nose and unnecessarily hammered home the reference.
Episode 4: hmmm...I expected things to slow a bit for this second middle episode, but they may have slowed a bit too much. My standards for this show are high as a result of the quality of episodes 1-3, so it's on that curve that I'm grading episode 4, and it gets a C+ from me.
The + is for Gemini's upper lip, which drives me wild with desire. Can one of you GeminiForth shippers tell me, has his upper lip always been that protuberant, or are we looking at collagen here? This is Thailand, after all, no stranger to cosmetic enhancements.
Another drawback to this episode is what I see as an unrealistic cooling of TanBarth's sexual heat. It's a simple fact that two young men of this age, as handsome, sexy, and in love (young, dumb, and full of cum, as they say) as these two are, would be making out, embracing, and having whatever form of sex was possible in the moment, because that's what teenage boys do, and there is zero shame in it.
Their sexual feelings are as much god-sent as their romantic ones, and deserve as much celebration. In the real world, it would be all they could do in each other's presence to NOT fall into each other's arms. Given this is a Thai production, I'm a bit surprised to see that element toned down at this stage.
Now, before you MDL Church Girl Prudes swarm me with your "if you want gay porn, go find a site for that!!" silliness for daring to state the obvious, read this part: There were at least three meaningful, revealing convos between GemFourth here that were pivotal.
No, I'm not suggesting those should have been abbreviated for extended f**king scenes. You can indicate in 30 seconds or a brief montage that the guys are going at each other whenever they can. I'm suggesting that the romantic/sexual heat established at the end of episode 3 should have carried over into this episode. With that underlying tension of near-uncontrollable attraction underlying all we saw this week, everything else would have been twice as impactful.
Another advantage to my suggested approach would be the added element of danger, the danger of them being caught in the act. As it is, we're seeing a few of the supporting characters catching on. Were I the director, I would have taken that up a few notches. Yes, we saw Master Phuk, I mean Phak, raise a suspicious eyebrow again, but it would have been nice to see him just almost catch them making out. As it was, we got him sneering at them for doing nothing other than goofing around, like all guys do. I wonder if Master(bator?) Phuk might not be a little in love with Panrak, and thus resentful of Barth...? Thoughts?
That little Ryu kid is adorable. It seems highly unrealistic that Father Arnon is not banging him and/or three or four other youngsters in his care. This is a Catholic school/church, after all.
I do feel bad for Kondech. He is watching his best friend pay more attention to someone else, and that's hard for anybody, gay or straight. Even 100% straight guys often get jealous of a buddy's attentions to his new GF. "Bros before hos," as they say.
The ongoing focus on how institutionalized Christianity, especially the Catholic or Evangelical strains, tortures its congregants with guilt and shame, fomenting unnecessary/unwarranted self-flagellation, continues to be spot-on here. Believe me, I know. The Missouri Synod Lutheran Church, nearly as Christo-fascist in its own way as the Catholics, did a number on me that I still live with. After a childhood of shaming, the self-loathing is so ingrained that the best one can do is accept it as a fact of life and learn to manage and minimize it.
Jesus Christ would have nothing to do with these horrible organizations and it always pains me to see the hatred they preach in his name.
A lot of potentially gripping ideas and some excellent acting from the young leads, unfortunately, all gone to waste as a result of weak direction, some sloppy writing, and shallow/nonexistent character development.
some people might get me, some wont, but im telling you for me its so irritating when chinese dramas have dub,…
Dubbing is the WORST. Nothing pulls me out of a story like obnoxious, over-the-top melodramatic voice actors, frustrated that they can't be on-screen, trying to steal the show from the live actors with their histrionics. :) It would be funny if it weren't so gross.
And they usually sound as if they were recorded in an echo chamber for added, unnecessary dramatic effect. This is extra-extra stupid when the characters are outdoors. lol Lord.
I recently somehow made it through all of Double Helix, but the dubbing kept me at arm's length the whole time. That, and the terrible acting of the little bottom actor.
1 
1 
I get a lot of that too.
It's an MDL thing.
There are a lot of 13-year-olds here watching shows they haven't the capacity to appreciate. Either that, or they're watching utter, brainless trash and rating it 10/10.
TOTALLY agree about the metaphors.
I liked the Creation of Adam reference until the director decided to ram the point down our throats by showing an image of what I think was a copy of the Michelangelo original.
He should have left well enough alone and allowed those who picked up on it to appreciate it as offered, while other viewers would be moved by their gesture as a stand-alone bit.
Likewise, the apple reference was clunky.
Barth offered the apple to Tan, making him the snake as you said, but Tan refused it and Barth was the only one who took a bite.
So does that mean only Barth will ultimately accept his true nature, and that Tan will remain pure (gag) inside the church (double gag)?
It's that fear of what might happen that makes it interesting, no?
Or will the actual sea rise up to drown one of our boys? :(
Thank you.
I say that because TTH is the first Thai BL in a great long while that I haven't dropped after one or two episodes, or one or two minutes. I get vibes here that recall ITSAY and IPYTM, the two greatest Thai BLs of all time.
On the other hand, Bad Buddy sits at the top of my Worst BLs of All Time list.
So, it's interesting that you equate TTH with BB, and I admire one and loathe the other.
OK, that's it.
I just went back and reviewed that bit because I was uncertain about something.
Actually, Barth offered the apple to Tan first, Tan refused it, THEN Barth took his bite.
Does this make Barth the snake AND the only one who will ultimately accept his true self?
I suffered 8 years of Lutheran parochial school, so I know all the mindfuck Biblical bits, too. :D
I've had a sense of foreboding since episode 2 that this will not end well. :(
The most lovely for me was the finger-to-finger bit between GemFourth from upper to lower bunks.
I do wish the director hadn't cut from that directly to a shot of the Michelangelo painting detail that bit alluded to. That was too on-the-nose and unnecessarily hammered home the reference.
You're going to pop a tear duct and/or have a fangirl stroke. :)
I kid.
I know what you mean. ;)
hmmm...I expected things to slow a bit for this second middle episode, but they may have slowed a bit too much. My standards for this show are high as a result of the quality of episodes 1-3, so it's on that curve that I'm grading episode 4, and it gets a C+ from me.
The + is for Gemini's upper lip, which drives me wild with desire.
Can one of you GeminiForth shippers tell me, has his upper lip always been that protuberant, or are we looking at collagen here?
This is Thailand, after all, no stranger to cosmetic enhancements.
Another drawback to this episode is what I see as an unrealistic cooling of TanBarth's sexual heat.
It's a simple fact that two young men of this age, as handsome, sexy, and in love (young, dumb, and full of cum, as they say) as these two are, would be making out, embracing, and having whatever form of sex was possible in the moment, because that's what teenage boys do, and there is zero shame in it.
Their sexual feelings are as much god-sent as their romantic ones, and deserve as much celebration. In the real world, it would be all they could do in each other's presence to NOT fall into each other's arms. Given this is a Thai production, I'm a bit surprised to see that element toned down at this stage.
Now, before you MDL Church Girl Prudes swarm me with your "if you want gay porn, go find a site for that!!" silliness for daring to state the obvious, read this part: There were at least three meaningful, revealing convos between GemFourth here that were pivotal.
No, I'm not suggesting those should have been abbreviated for extended f**king scenes. You can indicate in 30 seconds or a brief montage that the guys are going at each other whenever they can. I'm suggesting that the romantic/sexual heat established at the end of episode 3 should have carried over into this episode. With that underlying tension of near-uncontrollable attraction underlying all we saw this week, everything else would have been twice as impactful.
Another advantage to my suggested approach would be the added element of danger, the danger of them being caught in the act. As it is, we're seeing a few of the supporting characters catching on. Were I the director, I would have taken that up a few notches. Yes, we saw Master Phuk, I mean Phak, raise a suspicious eyebrow again, but it would have been nice to see him just almost catch them making out. As it was, we got him sneering at them for doing nothing other than goofing around, like all guys do. I wonder if Master(bator?) Phuk might not be a little in love with Panrak, and thus resentful of Barth...? Thoughts?
That little Ryu kid is adorable.
It seems highly unrealistic that Father Arnon is not banging him and/or three or four other youngsters in his care. This is a Catholic school/church, after all.
I do feel bad for Kondech. He is watching his best friend pay more attention to someone else, and that's hard for anybody, gay or straight. Even 100% straight guys often get jealous of a buddy's attentions to his new GF. "Bros before hos," as they say.
The ongoing focus on how institutionalized Christianity, especially the Catholic or Evangelical strains, tortures its congregants with guilt and shame, fomenting unnecessary/unwarranted self-flagellation, continues to be spot-on here. Believe me, I know. The Missouri Synod Lutheran Church, nearly as Christo-fascist in its own way as the Catholics, did a number on me that I still live with. After a childhood of shaming, the self-loathing is so ingrained that the best one can do is accept it as a fact of life and learn to manage and minimize it.
Jesus Christ would have nothing to do with these horrible organizations and it always pains me to see the hatred they preach in his name.
Looking forward to next Saturday.
6.5/10
Nothing pulls me out of a story like obnoxious, over-the-top melodramatic voice actors, frustrated that they can't be on-screen, trying to steal the show from the live actors with their histrionics. :)
It would be funny if it weren't so gross.
And they usually sound as if they were recorded in an echo chamber for added, unnecessary dramatic effect. This is extra-extra stupid when the characters are outdoors. lol
Lord.
I recently somehow made it through all of Double Helix, but the dubbing kept me at arm's length the whole time.
That, and the terrible acting of the little bottom actor.