jpny01

Yes, the one flaw in this is that was 3 tired cliches in one ep. At least they weren't the worst ones (piggy-back ride, which actually fit the characters in this case, blow-drying uke hair - what is with that lately? - and the fake out kiss. At least it wasn't the fastening the seatbelt variant.)

Yes, he's very cute - he needs more screen time.

That is kind of weird, but this series appears to have been written by drawing random plot points out of a bag,

Who is Nam?

I think maybe the problem is the characterization. BL always has an element of fantasy - and I'm fine with ghosts, reincarnation, etc. - but people still need to behave like people. For example, 20-year old men generally don't have fights with 9-year old girls or have to be carried to bed every time they're upset. Or sulk, literally for hours, because his bf's brother teased him. This is the captain of a college basketball team, not a small child.

In this ep, what Fiat is dealing with is serious - emotional abuse as a child - but we've gotten absolutely zero set-up for this - it just dropped out of the sky - and they way eveyone talks about it is ridiculous. It makes zero sense that his father and stepmother just make vague statements to someone about why he should stay away from his own mother, when they could just tell him.

Everyone says this is the most wholesome BL relationship they've seen - well, no, it's not. Leo's infantilization of Fiat is a classic symptom of a major narcissistic personality disorder, and Fiat's tolerance of it is likely due to very low self-esteem, because people are generally rather upset about being treated like that, but he seems to love it. It's a creepy codependent relationship.

That's what I was thinking. That's all they let him do (and pout and sulk), and he went from kick-ass star athlete to totally useless person who has to be carried like a baby whenever he has a setback of any sort. Does nobody ever talk about anything on BLs? How has everything that went down this ep never turned up in conversation? "Hey dad, what happened to my mother?" "She's insane and in an asylum. She tried to brainwash you into slavery, so I think you might want to steer clear of her." "Thanks dad, that's good advice." What grown man doesn't know that forbidding something with no context will 100% make them do it?

Or "Can you please try to be nicer to your stepmom? She forgave you for trying to kill her while pregnant, so maybe you should cut her some slack." "Gee dad, you're right - I'll pick up some flowers on the way home."

I guess they took him to the vet offscreen and then forgot about him.

I don't think the cat was in this ep - they were never at Pob's apartment. I'm a little afraid for next episode, though, based on the preview.

Thanks. I just think it's strange that Leo treats him like a child rather than a boyfriend - if Fiat were a woman, I think it would bother a lot of people. Fiat used to be an interesting character, but now he seems like he's just an uke on steroids (i.e. totally useless and unable to deal with anything unless his seme saves him). It feels like we're going in circles - something upsets Fiat, he sulks, Leo rescuses him. Something like that can be dramatic if it happens once, at the climax of a plotline. Here there's no plotline, just a repeating series of crises that a grown man can't handle by himself.

That was actually fine, and interesting for once - it's the other stuff. And it also doesn't explain the being carried like a baby thing.

Can someone who likes this explain why? I'm trying to understand. I can see why people love Leon & Pob - they're really wonderful. But Fiat & Leo are almost unwatchable to me - it's always Fiat crying over something silly and being treated like a small child by Leo - how many times is Leo going to carry a 20-year old star althlete because he's too upset to walk? Leo doesn't interact with him like a bf, it's a parent-child relationship. I actually find it creepy, and that shower love scene was really weird - even in a cramped space they keep a foot between their bodies. Leon & Pob have some sizzle - I don't feel any between Fiat & Leo.

I actually laughed at one of Fiat's upset moments it was so poorly acted. I don't get it - First is a good actor, but not lately in this - but then he's a grown man being asked to act and pout like a small child, so it's hard to blame him. It would have been better to use that child actor more - stick him in First's place often so we can see that there's a damaged child in him, rather than having a man behave like a child.

5% is Leon & Phob wonderfulness, 50% is unwatchably boring, and the rest is Fiat crying about nothing and Leo treating him like a small child.

That was a little sarcastic, but in seriousness, I found Fiat LOL funny with his crying. I don't think it's very heavy, but you may feel differently.

Totally agree. I just skip through Leo & Fiat and watch Leon & Pob. And Bite Me is much better, although there's a bit too much staring and talking extremely slowly.

That's why I'm pretty sure he's not a romantic interest. He's not one of the main cast, and he's too young to be depicted in a romantic situation.

The acting is pretty good and the cinematography is excellent, but there are times when it's form over substance, so it's not for everyone. The very first scene of Ep 4 is what we need more of - after that it doesn't really seem to develop.

The kid that got hit by the car that King is sketching. Here is his listing - the age is listed to the left under his photo in the "Details" box.

https://kisskh.at/people/52687-aton-thanakorn-techawicha

I do, but the problem I'm having is not just the slow pace. While I definitely prefer actors to convey what they're thinking & feeling through their acting, rather than sound effects, voice-overs, and flashbacks, I don't get anything from Mark - his stare is just a stare. A range of emotions passes over Zung's face, but the overall effect is weird.

I think we've all said the cinematography is wonderful, it's a seriously refreshing cnange to have a series that's not crammed with into a checklist of tropes (accidental kisses, trip/catch, etc.), I love the chef theme, and I could stare at Aue all day - but the staring is not a small issue, and it takes over the show.

We've gotten no insight into Aek's feelings, and then after all the staring, the first time he opens up, he says something absolutely outrageous to someone who has been totally kind and giving to him. And then it ends. We've never gotten the tiniest hint that he's been feeling that way (other than we saw it in the preview), so the line wasn't set up at all and made no sense, which is frustrating.

People are commenting on the chemistry between the mains - I don't get any at all, at least not from Aek, and so I can't invest in them as a couple - I just don't care. Actually, I wish Aue would slap Aek in the face for that rude comment and go fall in love with Gameplay and they can cook into the sunset and live happily ever after.

I'm seeing fairly balanced commentary in this thread - in fact, almost everyone begins with positive qualities before they comment on the pacing. There are a few that are too negative (and maybe those are the ones you're talking about), but the problems prevent this from being first-rate, IMO - but it's still vastly superior to almost everything else. And it certainly deserves much more than a 7.7 rating.

This was better than last ep, but it's still too slow. When a scene is slowly paced and given time to build, that's a good thing. But it's not a good thing if the PLOT takes forever to build. It's a third over and almost nothing has happened.

Other than the almost obscenely phallic cooking scene at the beginning of the ep (which was clever and funny), this isn't even a bromance, let alone a BL. The first scene was quite good as it involved cooking, together, was beautifully shot, and touched on the central dramatic issue of the story (that Aue has lost his wow somewhere).

But then we returned to form over substance. Example: Who wears a tux to a daytime art opening (and in a hot and humid climte!)? Certainly nobody else that was there. So much of the ep centered around something that only existed for the image of them in tuxes, which is a marriage metaphor, yet made no sense in itself.

I'm almost, but not quite, over the PTSD about sharp objects. Today's ep was better than last ep, but nothing really happened, except Aek's last line, which was in the preview. I don't know if there's a translation error, but Aue said he INTENDED to enter Aek in the contest, which IS asking him first, so Aek sounded like a total dick. If what he said in Thai is "I have entered you in the contest", then what he said is justified.

I'm OK with this show and I'm enjoying it, but I'm not really looking forward to it anymore - I'm actually more excited about Leon/Pob, even though this show is much, much better.

What? How can you say that? So much happened! They bought a suit and cooked food. And took an exam. That's almost too much for a 45 min episode. That was sarcasm, in case it wasn't obvious.