KingC

No worries, I get what you mean. :D
Dialogues and direction are important because they share a lot of insight into the characters. Particularly for a series such as this. I'm quite curious how things are going to turn out as I read the novel.

The introduction of the main characters as well the rather ominous grey opening credits perfectly captures the gist of what awaits.
What I like is that the writers and the actor made Ing a likable individual. He has his negatives, but he isn't evil.

Yes, I wanted to smack him for his shameless advances towards Yok, but he also doesn't let his attraction get in the way of work. (He did manage to meet Yok's brother and has that project fresh in his mind, regardless of anything else. I'm almost certain that he would leave Yok alone if he politely asks him to, but Yok is busy letting prejudice get the best of him. )
Ing rewards hardwork, and let's his guard down around a few people - his secretary, his Grandpa. Itt is not his favorite person, yet he gives him a suitable position in his company. He hides emotions, works hard and worries about it.

iQiyi has a whole page giving off warning signs and synopsis about what the viewer is signing up for. So, I feel like we are in for a rather very stressful ride.

I love this show. But, I've your exact same questions. The writers wanted to provide a closure for the characters, not the audience.

These are just my speculations... But-

1. I don't think James's father was a Nour. But, they didn't explain why he got killed. And James himself tells Chita that it was never supposed to be his father.

2. As for Ken turning into a Nour... That's still vague.

[EDIT: Someone mentioned that both Ken and his lover were humans. So, that throws a loop on the Nour transformation theory.]

- I have a feeling that his lover was the Nour and he was the human. He was unconscious and his lover seemingly "gave" his heart somehow to him and ended up dying. Or was it the other way? He seems to be grieving after receiving immortality and not the other way around.

We'll never know. But, there was a synopsis that said Ken cut off his emotions because his life was sustained through love. Which means that his partner might've been the Nour.

3. I initially assumed that Chita's motive must have had a deeper meaning cause there is no way he let Ken and Prae roam around freely, yet he killed Tee. (I feel like his power activates only when he feels intense emotions.)
But, if he did simply waste his life, then Dr. Ji's plan was the best for him. RIP.
I think the sad part about Dr. Ji was that he was ready for a life with Chita, even if it meant that he had to live without his family. The trouble was, Chita had left a trail of horrors in his wake. It simply couldn't be brushed off. Plus, Dr. Ji can never go back to who he was once he was associated with him. Running away meant getting chased and killing more innocent people along the way.
I felt that Dr. Ji was too kind. His character never once hurt a fly until he became a nour and he had to resort to violence to stop the attacks. He and Chita going off and having a happy ending didn't seem possible "because" it was Dr. Ji. It would've been possible with anyone else. But, not with him.

4. I personally never felt that James was a half nour. His power seemed more like how characters such as Daotok and Thup had powers. They simply had something special, but they were human. Not to mention, he was in the police and I've heard of real incidents that are unbelievable.

5. Arthit wasn't James (Chita's ex). But, Ken's true love definitely looked like him. It could've been someone else too since they didn't focus on his face.

7. After the flashback to Ken's origin and James waking up "Tangled" style.... I'm not sure about anything anymore. But, they have a lot of options in front of them. And they seemed to be already five years into the future according to the radio. So, the story is in their hands now.

Chita told Jirat about his ex in EP5 while dropping him off at his dorm. And yep, Tee killed Ming after he lost control and drained all her blood. (His DNA matched with the evidence from Ming's fingernails in EP4. This is how they decided to conclude all cases and Ken decided to boot James back to Bangkok.)

And you are not alone when it comes to Chita. 😁
I don't see him having an easy way out, particularly since James is hell bent on finishing him off. He has murdered far too many people to simply brush it off.

Either both James and Chita are going down cause I don't see any other ending for those two.

I'm with you on this. I understand that Chita was blinded by hatred after realising that his lover had turned him into one, but who could stand watching their loved one lose their life before their eyes? I expected some form of empathy from him, Nour or not.

Athit desperately wanted him to live, same as what Chita did to Jirat, so I hope that some bulb had sparked in his head by the next episode because right now, he is not the brightest character in the show.

There is a possibility that he found himself alone in this new world without his soulmate by his side; this might have driven him mad, but he told Jirat that his ex had lied to him. He was also attacked by another Nour -- so maybe his ex had secrets? We can only speculate now.

And even his murder spree isn't consistent - I understand him killing Tee (since he killed Ming), but why would he simply go after any Nour under the assumption that they are waiting to turn their person into one?
He hadn't gone after Prae or Ken. (Which essentially lead to Dr. Ji's death.)

Chita finds himself despicable, but that doesn't justify his 40 year long murder spree. It's plain selfish. Hopefully, his encounter with Dr. Ji opened his eyes.

I don't think he is a Nour. It is more likely that he may end up as a meal for some nour or end up becoming one because the trailer mentioned that he is going to solve the mystery 'for love'.

There is another worst case scenario available too.

And with Prae on his tail and Dr. Ji hiding information about nour - they both are hiding dangerous information.

I think it's because "death" and "loss" are some of the undertones in this drama.

James advices Dr. Ji and mentions how life is too short and that one must confess and not regret. He is the perfect example of someone just living his life with the motto 'carpe diem'.

He lost his father and his home and who knows what else in the fire. He knows that if he dawdles and plays along with Ken's pace and demands, he would never find any answers and innocent people would be imprisoned. (EP1 and EP2. And to an extent EP5 with the bullet.)
He jumps into situations and already escaped two Nour attacks within four episodes and landed on the sights of another Nour for snatching evidence from the crime scene.
James is intelligent and diligent, but he doesn't care what price he has to pay for the mystery to get solved. All justify why Ken made certain decisions.

He forces Ken out of his shell to rattle him. Ken just gives in to whatever he demands, because his happiness is what makes Ken happy. In that sense, they definitely had 3 months together.

But, with only 5 episodes remaining, I think the pacing was for the good. We are still looking for clues and we still have the final nail on the coffin reveal left.

Seems like everyone is suspicious of Chita. I just know that both Dr. Ji and him are on the killer Nour's hitlist if anything goes awry.

But, Prae wouldn't have confronted him like that if she knew he was a Nour.
- Chita fell ill the day following his encounter with Prae.
- Tee was murdered the same night as his encounter. (The body being burnt recently was mentioned.)
- Prae wasn't lying when she said she escaped from the trunk of a black van. (Beginning of EP4.) She just managed to escape the fire.

- Or Chita is a really good actor playing the innocent victim after attempting the murders.

- Thangmey and Phong are my favorite side characters - so I fear for their lives and the trailers are not helping.

- Ken's fear that James will dispose off the Nour before attaining his life's wish is highly possible. I have a feeling that he might try to stop James from catching the killer and that's when the truth comes out.

Also, the Nour will definitely kill James. (Look at what happened with Tee.)
Ken tells him multiple times that the case wasn't for him to meddle with.

I might be wrong. But, EP4 is titled "Shades of the Soul". So, I think it's unique for everyone.
Ping with red is the only one who was actively lying. That is, the colour changes when he lies?
So, unless another instance pops up where James uses his powers on a liar, we can't be sure.

And James used his power thrice on Ken; he detected the same green color twice, but maybe he did not make the connection until he saw Tee's after he finally began to believe in the existence of the Nour. And both instances, where he saw the color was when Ken had sucked the blood away.

I think he might have joined the Police after finding out that there was a Nour killer. He has information about every similar arson case, including James's father's.

I thought that Dr.Jirat was a Nour, too. But, after seeing his brother and all...
There is a dialogue in the trailer in which someone tells that everyone working on that case are monsters, but I don't know in which context it is being told.

For your last point, in EP1, it was mentioned that no police would make a move as they all knew that a Nour was behind the killings. So, they were planning to sit still while Joe was put behind bars for killing his wife - somebody had to take the blame. (And they can't put a Nour in jail.)
It wasn't until James stepped into the picture that the police began gearing up.
From what I guessed, Ken's plan was to personally catch and dispose off the killer after learning the secret. James threw a wrench in them.

Dean is open about his method of dealing with people, but I do think that he is a genuinely nice person. He might be trying to shift Moth's attention away from Pun (unnecessary, since Moth is literally using Dean for the same thing), but he made sure that he had a good time with Moth, regardless of the underlying reason. And he knows that there are certain lines that he shouldn't cross when it comes to Moth.
And to me, he replied that he likes Moth 'so damn much' not because he truly does, it's just that he saw how desperate Moth looked and decided to give a positive response.
Not 100% true, but not a complete lie either.
As for Moth... I need a couple more episodes to understand him.

After seeing two disasters happen to actors where fans were the perpetrators at the begining of the year, this show has all my attention as it seems to have the potential to shed light on the unsavoury aspects of the entertainment industry.
On an additional note, I'm also impressed by the trailer and the actors.

Thanks for reading! 😁

You have a point... Sort of.
Plus, Duang with You (and all other lower budget/modern series) was easily available on YouTube which made it accessible to many.

Simultaneously dropping one episode of LUAT and then disappearing pretty much takes away a lot of viewers. (Casual viewers who seek a break with no excessive investment on time.)

Also, this is a historical drama, which is not much popular among regular viewers unless they are freely available somewhere.

Thanks! 😄

The last episode is obviously for fans.
And like I said in my review, it was intended to be fluff for brains.
Most people won't be able to digest this drama unless they like either Duang or Qin.

I liked how they managed the last EP in Khemjira although those two dramas can't be compared, but it still shows that you can fit in a finale without losing direction. The trip, I'm sure was a last minute addition -- it felt disconnected.

I don't know if the writers wanted it to be this way, but by the end I found Qin to be the more clingy and obsessed one -- yes, Qin changed. But, we barely got to see him out with his own friends after he and Duang got together.

The way the issue with Qin's parents was handled didn't sit well with me at all as it was dropped like a bomb - there were glimpses in the beginning, but shaping it as a major plot point for like an episode didn't work out for me. (In the novel, Qin simply tells Duang about it. Nobody attempts to solve anything. The novel itself had no substance, if I'm being honest. Just a slice-of-life account of two people in love.)

All the friend groups uniting was definitely the build-up for their reunion at the Freshy Night 2026; like a closed circle in reverse, just like in EP1.
Frankly, it left a lot to be desired because I felt like they attempted to put too much thought into making the last episode go back in reverse (Loy Krathong to the Freshy Night) and didn't know how to smoothly transition.

But, it sure is good if you simply want to watch something without overanalyzing anything.

After watching 4 episodes , I think the writers purposefully wrote it this way. I don't find it bothersome as I've read the novel, but it can definitely scare off a lot of viewers.

That is, the viewers are as stuck as Nakhun is in the past. If Nakhun gets some crumbs about Klao, we do too. If Nakhun meets someone suspicious, we become suspicious with him. We as viewers only know what Nakhun knows and pieces together. Nothing beyond that.

I personally think that the plot is going at a faster pace than the novel because they dropped some stuff really early whilst in the novel Nakhun doesn't figure them out until much later. Probably to adjust the pacing?
And the Nakhun here seems more careful because he observes people more than interacting with them. (Cherd, Han, Wanna.)

So, yes, it can be either frustrating or interesting.
I'll give this drama the benefit of doubt, considering that this is a time travel one. The book was a nice one, so the writers have to seriously mess it up for it to be unsatisfactory.

You can't take MDL ratings as a gold standard for quality because most of the people rate it based on their enjoyment, that is subjectively. Not on the quality.

Pretty sure that most of the top rated dramas in MDL like Hidden Love, When I Fly Towards You, Me and Thee, Lovely Runner and now Duang With You are all fluffy dramas that are an escape from reality. Like @ohani_jay mentioned, they are not meant to be nitpicked and critically analysed. Actors' performances are the ones that buoy the quality.
Most viewers prefer light hearted dramas and they attract more traffic. Not to mention, they are easily accessible on YouTube.

Dramas such as Love Upon a Time and Khemjira are on leagues of their own. They are intended to attract different viewers. For example, if you don't prefer mystery, there's no point in suggesting LUAT since mystery is the backbone of the series.

Thanks for reading! 😄