This review may contain spoilers
a solid series until the last two episodes.
this is another series that i have been screaming, crying, itching, & throwing up to watch, figuratively. i made the unwise decision of watching the first five episodes after they released then i made the grueling decision to wait to binge the final five. it was agonizing, to say the least. i would say this show went from pretty good to fairly decent. i think i was a tad generous with the rating because i liked the series but objectively the rating is probably lower.
the first eight episodes were ironclad. episode eight being the breakout because of the fluidity and numerous intimate scenes. toptap & minlee delivered in episode eight. the bus scene was hilarious and gut-warming. the reluctance of sun, his worry for jay, and then his eventual submission were displayed well. also, i resonated with the audition scenes regarding suicide and both jay's / sun's reaction + interpretation of what that meant. sun was clearly not a bad person but a good one who made horrible decisions in order to care for his family. i think it was interesting how sun was so traumatized by the result of his actions that he was okay with being used and abused, as long as others were not. i am glad he chose to live his life, in the end.
unfortunately, episode nine and ten were rushed. i have never read the source material but it was still evident. the pacing was just way off and things were not concluded properly. to give some examples, who actually murdered pawinee [songphon partially admitted to it but we never saw the murder or how it transpired]. why was bank suddenly out of his career with no repercussions or explanations? how did the corruption even unfold? why did wave randomly appear again but in death due to an overdose? who is responsible for the killing of the gray haired former executive in the car [MDL, please credit all talent in a work] out of nowhere? i could ask more questions, which is not good.
when adapting from manwha, these thai creatives need to take into consideration how to properly consolidate, if need be. they also need to ensure they have appropriate air time for adapting. this rushing throughout or at the ending is a terrible habit that basically ruins the overall score and effect of the story they are attempting to showcase to the audience. i also noticed that whoever was responsible for translating payback into english did an awful job which is unacceptable for paid users. more importantly, the themes of sexual assault in this are grossly unacceptable but most would not comment on that considering the leads are attractive.
the first eight episodes were ironclad. episode eight being the breakout because of the fluidity and numerous intimate scenes. toptap & minlee delivered in episode eight. the bus scene was hilarious and gut-warming. the reluctance of sun, his worry for jay, and then his eventual submission were displayed well. also, i resonated with the audition scenes regarding suicide and both jay's / sun's reaction + interpretation of what that meant. sun was clearly not a bad person but a good one who made horrible decisions in order to care for his family. i think it was interesting how sun was so traumatized by the result of his actions that he was okay with being used and abused, as long as others were not. i am glad he chose to live his life, in the end.
unfortunately, episode nine and ten were rushed. i have never read the source material but it was still evident. the pacing was just way off and things were not concluded properly. to give some examples, who actually murdered pawinee [songphon partially admitted to it but we never saw the murder or how it transpired]. why was bank suddenly out of his career with no repercussions or explanations? how did the corruption even unfold? why did wave randomly appear again but in death due to an overdose? who is responsible for the killing of the gray haired former executive in the car [MDL, please credit all talent in a work] out of nowhere? i could ask more questions, which is not good.
when adapting from manwha, these thai creatives need to take into consideration how to properly consolidate, if need be. they also need to ensure they have appropriate air time for adapting. this rushing throughout or at the ending is a terrible habit that basically ruins the overall score and effect of the story they are attempting to showcase to the audience. i also noticed that whoever was responsible for translating payback into english did an awful job which is unacceptable for paid users. more importantly, the themes of sexual assault in this are grossly unacceptable but most would not comment on that considering the leads are attractive.
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