jpny01

I think you're right about that - I'm not sure why BL is that understated. I'm guessing it has to do with cultural assumptions about emotionality, which is equated with effeminacy. That's why women and effeminte gay/trans characters are OTT but the male leads are so reserved - it's already "too gay" because of the content. I appreciate Japanese and Taiwanese BL for being more lively. Look at Love Stage - the original is an outrageous comedy, but the Thai version is a sedate drama.

Thank you! The best BLs almost invariably have good acting and directing. Sometimes the audience even forgives some bad writing if those two qualities are there. It certainly doesn't hurt if they have the abs and pecs - but if there's nothing else, why not just check out their social media instead of slogging through a bad series?

Yes, exactly. This has been interesting so far, so this ep was disappointing. It did get back on track in the latest episode, though, and in fairness they seem to be giving us a revolution with Amber - I can hardly believe it.

Has the screenwriter even glanced at the original story? Ep 9 was excruciating, especially Bank's manager - that was unwatchable.

This is truly terrible - you can't take a comedy and turn it into a drama - it just doesn't work. A drama can have funny moments, but when you take a fairly outrageous story and then try to make it serious, it's just schizophrenic.

The premise of this is OTT, and it needed to be OTT. And throwing in this homophobia angle is a real bummer. What is with BL and its Penultimate Episode Syndrome? This isn't a lakorn, it's a light romantic fantasy. Why does the dramatic tension always have to build up to everybody crying against a montage of happy times together with a sappy ballad playing? Ugh. The way the drama in the original was resolved actually made sense in the story and was built up to. It had no crying, was theatrical, and funny. Because it's a comedy.

Ep 5 was fairly startling in the direction they're taking - not in the scary sense, but going somewhere that you wouldn't expect in a BL. I mean that in a good way.

That hit us over the head a little with the Amber thing, but if they're really doing that, major points for breaking what is essentially a taboo - the unexpected tie-in with the secondary couple was also nice. There's is some tonal disconnect between the last two eps and the first three, almost to the point that it feels like a different series, but I suspect this ep's revelations will play into the storylines pursued earlier.

I'm glad to see a return to original thinking and pushing boundaries - I was afraid last episode they'd given up and were going for the usual formula.

Got it. The second ep was much better than the first for me - I didn't think the transition from hatred to sulky grumpiness was handled well, but I'm just glad they did it so we can get to the story.

Yes, Mix's character was still a dick, and the transition from utter hatred to whatever you'd call it now was too clumsy, but as long as they got it out of the way it's a big improvement.

I want to say yes -the first few eps are pretty good, and then there was a real clunker (IMO), but that doesn't mean it won't get back on track. The plot is interesting and different. It's low-budget, but fairly ably produced.

I really hope we get to see Son in a better series - I can't even tell if he knows how to act because he hasn't been called upon to do it yet. His role is to just stand around while random things happen.

I have elderly parents that I have to drive around a lot and I'm doing my best to bury the expression "If you don't fasten your seatbelt in the next 5 seconds I'm going to commit suicide." (I'm not good at tolerating repetitive alarm bells).

Other sentences that don't exist in Thai are "Did you lock the door?" and "Don't touch my face." (for when there's a piece of food stuck at the corner of your mouth). Oh - and "Look out!" (when a basketball is barreling toward someone's head.)

I just want to know what Dr. Yang did. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, I don't really care. I think I just want Dr. Pun to take another shower. I liked that.

I certainly will. I'm planning to watch an ep shortly.

I like bickering - that won't be a problem. Here's what my worry was, and it sounds like I don't need to worry: Mix's reaction was so strong that it didn't really feel emotionally authentic (and was unpleasant to watch), and TBH, Mix overacted it (sounds like he was directed to) - that is a sign of bad writing, i.e. having people behave in a way that's not driven by character but rather by plot requirements. Good writing marries both. Especially given how Enchante turned out, I didn't want to get stuck in a dull and nonsensical mess like that, and with the Cupid cast I have expectations to disappoint. I didn't want to watch a heavy drama full of screaming and melodrama, so it that's not going to happen, then I should enjoy it. Sulky and grumpy are fine. Visceral hatred is not fine.

OK, I'll give it a shot!

Thank you. I will give it a shot.

I can't get anyone to tell me if the tone changes - everyone just keeps defending Mix's character.

I actually forgot I did this while watching - the next segment usually starts with music so that's when I noticed.

Yes, but the person he trusted and loved DIDN'T betray him. In fact he betrayed Earth by making such ungenerous assumptions - after decades of loving behavior. I understand him reacting that way initially, but his anger didn't diminish after a year - in fact it got much worse to the point he was abusing his family and destroying his legacy out of spite. It was far too carried away - straying into psychotic.

If his father had completely written him out of the will in Earth's favor, then I would understand - but unless money is so much more important to him than love and family, his reaction shouldn't have been that crazed. Either option makes him a person of dubious character. All that really happened is that instead of it being split three ways, it was split four ways. So he got 8% less.

I get the initial anger, but it hadn't diminished at all after an entire year - if anything it got worse and he was abusing his own family members over it.