naki_Mushi

Hahaha, did not expect this exchange to yield a rating downgrade (⌒_⌒ ; )

Fully agree on 2 and 3. And Thank You for 1. I have never thought of the possibility of Day projecting. Projection isn't really a behaviour I am familiar with until recent years when I see it been mentioned more frequently on social media. If the show doesn't explicitly portray it as an issue that they are tackling, this doesn't really come across my mind to interpret a character's actions.
This is an interesting take that I will look out for when I watch other shows~

The real pity for me was The writing, it definitely did take a wrong turn at the end of the show. Could have been a non-complicated, no drama, and simple romance show.

It was fun conversing with you about this~

Yes yes~ As the show progressed, the discrepancy in effort put into the r/s by both of them was jarring. I thought Mhok was a green flag until the very last few episodes that I just kinda think he is just a doormat or something. He was always the one pursuing and taking initiatives. I could understand doing all that sweet stuff at the start to pursue a love interest, but even after making it official, It is still one sided effort. Even with the conflict between Day's Mum and Mhok. Day couldn't even defend Mhok? How did the show started with Day being so defiant and his mum and brother has to give in to him, and then somehow when it comes to Mhok, he couldn't put a word in?
It felt like the show couldn't maintain the characters' persona well to the end.
And that one time Day actually did a hand painted present for Mhok, the scene was interrupted by the cornea donation news....
If the show wanted to portray how the visually impaired can also lead an independent, fulfilling life, maybe they should have shown Day being able to do MORE for Mhok.
If I wasn't interpreting his trauma, Mhok's character would have been extremely flat to me. Mhok's whole existence was just to be with Day. There was no focus on anyone in the show other than Day. The show could have allocated some time to expand on Mhok and even Night, but they rather spent it on August....

The first red flag the show had was the dialogue that Day vomited on Mhok's first day as caretaker. Something along the lines of "why not you take all my family in exchange for my sight?" in response to Mhok's consoling statement of saying at least he has family to accompany him during this challenging time?
Like I understand emotions were running high, and from Day's POV, losing sight, and all forms of normalcy is very hard to accept, Mhok's words weren't exactly empathetic, in fact he was a man of few words, so it didn't come off like a consolation too. But that's besides the point, I thought that scene was valid in that moment. But what was not valid, is the show not addressing how that statement is actually hurtful to Mhok who has no living family left. Would he have not yearn for that exchange? To have all his family, especially his sister back alive, in exchange for only his sight? I thought the show would address this precise conversation a few scenes later, giving Day (and the audience) more insight on Mhok's psychological state and also add more depth to character... But they just continue on to focus on Day and his struggles and acceptance.
Then the show got all fluffy and romance focused, so I thought fine, is good, no drama, I can let the above missed opportunity for character development slide.
But the ending.... wow
To bring back Mhok's sister death (suicide) as a plot point to use it so messily is just disappointing.
Bringing back a traumatic lost of a love one, and having Mhok using that as a basis to forgo a career opportunity to be by Day's side is not in bad taste, but the show obviously did not think through from the POV of Mhok, just from the POV of Day. They just wanted a reason, for Mhok to forgo that career opportunity, and they thought the sister's death is a good idea???
Hello, the fear of losing a loved one then not able to see them for the last time (he was locked up), and the guilt of not being available when needed (calledfor) of someone who passed by suicide is immense! If anything, Mhok not wanting to leave Day speaks more about unresolved grief than pity????? Pity is the last thing he would have felt. He just wanted to be close to Day in case he might lose Day to death on short notice, and going abroad would means too far of a distance to cover if ever he would get news that he has to return ASAP. Using the sister's death as a basis here is not Pity, is fear. Fear of not seeing your love one for the last time like he couldn't see his sister. How ridiculous the show is. To reduce all of this to Pity?
The show needed an excuse for the breakup and used "Pity", then the basis of it is the heavy subject of Mhok's sister's death. But honestly, I don't see why they needed to break up? Just have a LDR? or go to hawaii together? or have a quarrel and miscommunication happen during the LDR which lead to breakup (Is this not more natural??).
I cried so much here for Mhok. No one took his feelings seriously. He didn't deserved that breakup, or being pushed away after coming back and wanting a second chance.
Why did he even apologise?
If the show had really wanted it to be "Pity", they really shouldn't use the sister's death.
Also is way out of character for Mhok to suddenly feel Pity towards Day.....

There is only 1 favourite child in the show, and is Day. all other characters are just side characters.

Felt so bad for Mhok that I ended writing a long essay and couldn't help getting repetitive at some parts....
====End of rant====

This would have been the best fluffiest Thai BL I watched thus far (in fact, might not even be just within the Thai industry), if not for the disrespect the show has on Mhok's feelings and experiences. The show lean so heavily on Day's psych... The last episode was hard to watch...

I was hoping so hard that one of the main characters or friends of Pharm is actually related to Intouch's bestfriend (Somkrit). He deserves as much closure as the surviving family of Intouch's and Korn's. His dialogues hurt me the most~
Other than this slight disappointment, this is honestly a very intersting story.
A multifaceted story with complex emotions and entwined relantionships.
Pharm's actor did well in presenting the layered emotions of Intouch's and Pharm's whenever Pharm gets his past life's flashes, especially the whole sequence from when he found the tinbox near the end of the show.

I was lazy to add on, but after I posted my thoughts on the wedding scene, I recalled the next meal scene where both Jack and his Grandma actually laid out a bowl and utensils for Joke, and Jack even knocked on the table to "called" Joke to eat. That is actually a rather clear display from both of them (and the show) that they are inviting a spirit to the table to have a meal. Hence, it is a clear sign that Jack does acknowledge Joke's "passing", and he had a Ming Hun with him, not a mortal marriage.

But yea, the show didn't really incorporated all the Chinese cultural elements that they mentioned well. They just sort of used them like props.
Coming from someone who had some knowledge of Chinese culture, the wedding scene was actually just incredibly heartbreaking when I saw it. When I first saw the paper doll, the first thing that came to my mind was Ming Hun, and it just speaks volume about Jack's love. Hence the audience's calmness didn't felt ridiculous to me like all the negative reviews seemed to had an ick about.

A little spoiler/ summary/ synopsis:
2 actors working on BL projects together fell in love and have to navigate their relationship hurdles together as their career plans take shape.

The 2 actors working on BL show idea is not new, there's several in JBL. But the story telling for this makes this one exceptional.
The 2 actors work on several projects. and each projects is portrayed as a complete standalone mini BL in the show. And the audience do not know that the mini BL is part of the bigger story at first, which is why is sort of interesting. I thought I was watching a compilation of 1 volumes BL novels up until episode 4.
Maybe the synopsis was literal nonsense to not spoil the story telling art here? lol

Each mini BL in the show had a really good story flow and unique characters too. The overarching story was also distinct. I could instantly tell when the actors were acting as the main story BL actors or as the leads in their mini BL series (sounds kinda inception here).
Very well created characters and stories here.

And I agree with a comment below about how each mini BL story possibly represent the stages of their r/s. Though we might have different interpretations.
This is because the mini BLs project that they did just get progressively more intimate after each one. So the first one stops at a shy kiss, like a budding romance. Then the second mini BL, the characters had more skinship, and the kiss was more passionate. The third almost had some bed scenes. The intimacy level of each BL projects they did represents the intimacy level of a typical romantic r/s from it first begins.
Side note: The intimacy correlation is just a minor "interpretation", not my main interpretation. I might have to sit on my thoughts for a while for that lol

This is one interesting story telling format. The synopsis is trash. Might as well leave it empty.
I like how the story unfolds, is a little different than what we get from similar tropes, but is definitely coherent. The mini stories within are all executed really well and complete despite the short time frame. Really well done.

Will leave a 1 liner synopsis in my spoiler comment lol~

Jack's family is of Chinese descent as expressed multiple times in the show, and the area they live in seems to have a lot of chinese cultural background and beliefs . Though tarot reading is not part of chinese culture, I don't know how that part made it in the show lol.
In Chinese culture, there's a thing called "ming hun" or Ghost Wedding. Where you marry a ghost/deceased. There's a Taiwan show (Marry My dead Body) that can explain Ming Hun really well, and there's a Thai version coming soon (The red Envelope), both are Ming Hun between men btw. In Summary, Ming Hun is carried out when a person passed away before marrying (this tradition evolves and changes through time how and why people wants to do it, but ultimately is always to let the deceased child RIP) and the family will search for a suitable partner to conduct a Ming Hun. During a Ming Hun, the deceased can be represented by a "paper doll" like how this show tried to do it.
BUT BUT BUT. This is just my personal thought when I saw the scene. That they were conducting a ming hun. Even though an actual ming hun involves MUCH more things, alot of ceremonies and traditions to properly pay respect to the deceased and call upon them to get them ready for the marriage, not just walk down the aisle lol. But then, throughout the WHOLE series, every dialogue and indication of chinese culture they have tried to incorporate was very vague and rather inaccurate, so I am not surprised if the show wanted to used the Ming Hun idea but didn't want to do it properly.

Just want to put this Ming Hun possibility out here as I saw a few reviews that seemed to think the cardboard wedding was very nonsensical though from a cultural POV, is actually very heavy hearted and respectful.
If the show was actually properly done, this could have been a very emotional plot point, to marry even in death.

Honestly, felt so cheated by MDL rating, should have trusted the reviews. If this series was 8 episodes long, I could have let it slide, but this was a lot of time wasted. Anyway, despite how I feel about the series as a whole, I just want to provide my 2 cents (personal interpretation) on the wedding scene.
May or may not be spoiler, not sure how sensitive people are, so I will just put in the spoiler tag in the reply below.

This is such a good one, I am glad I chanced upon this going from recommendations to recommendations (I don't follow social media on what's new, I just rely on titles /recommendations and synopsis as though I am browsing the library 20 years back lol) . Definitely more romcom and fluffy romance than heavy, dark, and dangerous love like what the synopsis hinted. The "heavy, dark and dangerous" element is there, though not of their romance, but of their circumstances and the situations that the story uses to move the plot along. I just really like how they deal with the traumas. The self blame, self isolation, and self sacrificial mindset, then the healing for both of them at the end, they are all portrayed really well? At least to me it was very well presented.

Read the comments and reviews > Got intrigued by how bad can this be with such a safe enemy to lovers trope > Watched it > Ended up loving it > Came back to rate and saw the criticisms again > Now thinking I might just have trashy taste hahahha

In my personal opinion, is a cute, fluffy love story that is executed rather decently. Story telling is more coherent than some other higher rating BLs out there lol. Acting was above decent too lol~
Glad I took my curiosity seriously and gave this a try. Enjoyed it so much

Added some personal interpretations of certain scenes and symbolism in the symbolism discussion board that might have some FYI stuff, but is a lengthy post lol

After Teh returned home from giving up his allocation, and he had his instastory argument with Oh aew, he opened up his tattered textbook. The largest (and camera focused) 2 chinese words on the left page, then later refocused again after his cries when he lay his head down on the book meant .
Then at the very end, the final scene where the workbook shows a repeated practiced writing of a single word. The word is Love.
These are just 2 scenes that don't seem to have been translated, so I thought I will write it here as an FYI.

Teh's mum, though, gave me anxiety every time she appears on screen lol. Celebrating before any results are out, then announcing(bragging?) all her great assumptions to the whole world... That's some stress.... That kind of "oversharing" somehow made me doubt the timeframe this show was supposed to unfold in. Several times I thought is the 1990s. Everyone was too nice.
A pleasant surprise in this cross cultural plot is that Teh seems to be of Baba/ Peranakan descent (His mum wearing the Nonya traditional clothing, unless there are other cultures with similar clothing that I am unaware of) . Not shocking, since Thailand is literally just above Malaysia, but I guess is a little amusing to "see" supposed Baba people speaking Thai (natively) .
Getting the feels to plan a trip to Phuket lol~

This is beautiful. Just so intricately beautiful. Like a delicately stitched embroidery. The actors and the cinematography and the music and the dialogues etc etc are the yarns and threads. Such a beauty

Even up till now in the working world...lol~ Was labelled rude when I was young because I don't "mingle" with the others (Similar to the Jane storyline, except I was scolded and reprimanded by adults for not playing with the other kids). Had a fun combination of being painfully shy and introverted when young.

Not sure about the budget difficulties that comes with a series/film production, but I hope the situation gets better for yall. 《Bad to bed》really has depth to it. Thank you for producing the show despite the limits in budget, Looking forward to the next show the team produce, Jiayou~

Needed to add: I love the last episode of the scene where Kangaroo helps pack the clothes of Racoon into the luggage for their upcoming trip. IYKYK

Definitely should add a psychology/mental health (idk what tags there are here on this site) tag to this series, the element of psychology(MH) is slightly greater than the romance, which happens to be my cup of tea lol. The BL romance is a great supplement to the plot of the psychological struggles of both MLs (especially the main male lead). Transition between reality/dreams/past/delusions could have been more distinct though. First 3 episodes was definitely like a walk in some house of mirrors, extremely confusing. Story telling could be better, but I do like the style of not showing the mental health issues clearly on screen, even though everything that happened, happened precisely because of it (i.e. Many dramas like to let the audience know exactly what is wrong with their characters by adding in some diagnosis scenes etc, so we get the clear idea behind certain behaviours). Very much like real life. More often than not, we see the action and behaviours of people more than we see the underlying reason for said actions and behaviours.