moonsdior

I've given this enough time to marinate. Here's my review, and I'll try to be succinct. This was a mess of a show from the get-go, in the worst way possible. Notice how I use the word "mess", it is intentional: when the public thinks of the Only Friends IP, we immediately associate it with intersecting storylines about romance, betrayal, misunderstanding, broken trust, and difficult relationships involving morally colorful characters that are so raw and humanly imperfect, one can't help but adore them.
This show had none of that; in fact, this show made the effort to destroy all the interesting parts of the characters from this season and the previous one. Case in point: TopMew. Two very headstrong characters, now turned influencers, that are lovey-dovey sweet as candy off-camera. No banter, which not only ForceBook are great at but was also an identifying trait of their characters' relationship, and their ambitions completely tossed aside to become a narrative tool for Dean and Jack. Speaking of narrative tools: SandRay. Oh, dear SandRay what have they done to you? After struggling with addiction to the point where rehabilitation was FORCED onto Ray and Sand feeling the guilt of being part of the problem with his illicit alcohol business, you are telling me the couple are now fully committed to selling alcohol? Thank God they seem to forget all about it in the last episode, where we see SandRay doing what they actually wanted to do at the end of S1: dedicate themselves to music.
Enough reminiscing, let's talk about this season, and let's start with the best couple: RomeRaffy. I am not putting this up for debate; AouBoom did a phenomenal job, even though they were the result of the recast (which we all loved) way later and their characters barely had 20 minutes of screen time (I'm being hyperbolic). This storyline worked because it followed the SandRay formula: a lovesick boy, who is also proud and stubborn, falls for an emotionally unavailable boy, who hides his insecurities under a stone-cold facade. I loved Raffy. Defying expectations set by his mother, only to end up exploiting what he hated most about her: the managing. I thought it was paradoxical but also a way of breaking the cycle, as he is now a manager as well, but he knows what a GOOD manager has to do and be. Especially while managing someone he loves. Also, how does he step into the pampering role of the relationship after Rome's ultimatum, turning Rome into a Tan variant? Their relationship was what Only Friends is about, if only we weren't missing a key part. A key part that was missing from this show entirely.
Why weren't they kissing eachother?
I don't care about the "but the fans want the fixed couples" or "the fans are going to go CRAZY (/neg) if you don't give them the cps" excuses, because they are not true: if there is anything GMMTV is good at, it is giving us happy endings by all means necessary. Your cp will be fine by the end, I promise. We know this. Give us Dean and Raffy getting it on nasty style.There was no excuse to not do so; their reconciliation would have been more cathartic if they had just fucked their rivalry away: putting themselves in a battle for power, only to realize how the moment is truly vulnerable and intimate, and then laying their heart out for each other. They wouldn't fall in love, but it would have been, again, cathartic.
Sorry, I had better points to make, but let me just scream to the void: HOW ARE YOU CASTING DEAN AND ARNOLD AS MAIN LEADS TO A ROMANTIC PLAY, AND WE DON'T EVEN SEE THEM KISS??? That took me fully out of it. Joss and Mix are actors who are playing actors. Kissing your co-worker IS PART OF THE JOB; their whole arc is about this!! Completely unacceptable and disappointing. Think about it: Tua sees Dean kissing Arnold and goes ballistic, finds Jack in the crowd, and shoves his tongue down his throat. Chaos ensues. AND THIS IS WHAT ONLY FRIENDS IS ABOUT, GODDAMN IT.
I won't even go into Arnold and Tua's storyline because the lazy writing did these two talented boys no justice. Their slow burn was wasted; they should have been the friends-with-benefits couple of the season, and if I'm honest, I wanted Tua to be A FULL BITCH. I wanted him to be sarcastic and snappy, Boston-style one-liners and comebacks. Not his ex. Which. Again, fucking wasted. These writers hate Boston with PASSION. What do you mean, "I don't do hookups anymore"? What do you mean, "I want to commit"? WHAT DO YOU MEAN "I DON'T FUCK DRUNK PEOPLE"? Where is my Boston, and what have you done to him? A narrative point for ArnoldTua but with no clear objective, as he was a passive bystander, not even playing Cupid properly.
Speaking of happy endings, I was so happy when I thought Dean and Jack weren't going to end up together. The ending was rushed and badly written (which could be applied to a lot of arcs of this show, but this is getting too long), Jack's character's redemption was appallingly done, and his character lacked the depth they wanted so desperately to give him. Why, in the first season, do we make Ray's rehab moment the most poignant point of his character arc, but for Jack it is a passing comment that barely has any effect on his relationship with Dean? Sure, it is mentioned; sure, it gives Dean pause, but there's no follow-up. The most interesting part of Jack's character, and we aren't given any more explanation than a few lines and the understanding that he can drink safely now. Just such bad writing. We deserved better; they deserved better.
I'll stop here for now; this was so not worth the hype.