this show ended up being miles better than what I expected from the trailers tbh. the acting was great, the characters very well written & overall this was so freaking entertaining!!! a really fun show :)))
what a beautiful movie! in a way it reminded me of the work from another director, joe apichatpong weerasethakul (tropical malady, uncle boonmee) but just way less surrealistic. I love movies that are so anchored in buddhism & thailand's beautiful landscapes. the performances were great, and even though this isn't the type of movie to be easily watchable (or rewatchable), I'm so glad I was finally able to watch it :)
since the first season until now, I've had so many mixed feelings about this series. I still liked season 2 better because it focused more on bas who is the only carried the show, as well as his relationship with marco that started forced for the sake of the plot but was actually amazing thanks to the great chemistry the actors had together. I wanna give this show the credit it deserves for talking about the real issues of the bl industry in an honest way that felt way more authentic than in lovely writer for example. that being said, I think that was undermined by two things: first the james & ait couple which we can all agree was forced as hell & just not enticing whatsoever. their "hidden love story" couldn't even compare to the actual torture bas & kaprao went through, yet even the finale that should've been about exposing p'tee was about them. I also feel like it completely ignored the power imbalance that there would be if a director was with an actor while the show was filming, but anyway they balanced that by having ait being the pushy one even though realistically he should've cared more about his upcoming career than a guy he's known for a day. and the second thing is the want for everything to have a fairytale happy ending. in the end, nothing has changed, everyone ends up happy & in the exact same place, except that p'tee is gone. the issue is that for a show that tried to be realistic and succeeded in a lot of it (thanks to michael kittisak's insane acting, he blew me away), them facing no consequences at all feels naive at best. in real life, james & ait would've been fired and ait's career wouldn't have recovered for a couple of years. also sad to say to bas's career would've been put on hold bc victims are very often not taken seriously, even with proof. and p'tee probably would've laid low before coming back as if nothing happened & lived his life normally. now I'm not saying I would've wanted such a dark ending, but it could've been a bit more bittersweet & I feel like it would have been better. overall this show is very flawed, yet no one can deny that it's still incredibly important. I'm very glad it exists.
this is legit my second time rewatching this already lol. the story is simple but so heartfelt & the chemistry between the leads is incredible. the acting is also so natural & full of emotion! I simply adore the last sentence of the show "how could I run away from you... when my heart is already right here." GIRL THAT'S ONE OF THE BEST ROMANTIC LINES FROM A BL! AND DELIVERED WITH SO MUCH LOVE TOO!!! anyway I love this show :')