shriek

Oh how excited I was for this series. So many possibilites on how this could‘ve turned out.
The watching experience throughout the whole series was - generally speaking - okay to good. It made me want to continue watching. But it could‘ve been so much better if the writing would‘ve been better.
Too many characters that all had an open plotline that just got loosly tied in the end or just ended abruptly.
Let‘s go through them:
(points that start with: - are original review points, the ones with: + were added later)

Calvin and Jay
- they were pretty much irrelevant for the main plot. They could‘ve been scrapped and nothing would‘ve changed.
- their conclusion in the last episode felt very out of nowhere and not believable at all. I wished it didn‘t happen.
- what I would‘ve done: not tell anyone that Net and JJ play in this drama, only have them as cameo characters, show them meet at the academy and during the protests (Calvin trying to hide in the masses), and then maybe how Calvin watches the competition. What great promo that could‘ve been for a standalone series that could‘ve been announced during or after the airing of the series. Aah. That would mean more lore about Emmaly and Bhujar.
Because their story is interesting enough for a separate series: A prince who was sent to another country because his father and/or brother(s) don‘t want him to compete for the throne. As normal exchange student Calvin meets (and falls for) this guy who is very much not happy with the monarchy (everything Calvin stands for) and tries to change it with all he has. Calvins search for who he is and where he stands/belongs. And Jay‘s fight for justice and being in love with a royal (aka what he despises most). I would watch that.

Princess Ava
Oh Ava, you were my favourite to win the competition. I wanted her to become queen.
- I needed more of her (and her bodyguard, they had great chemistry. +the kind of chemistry I wished was between Khanin and Charan)
- for her to withdraw felt so counterproductive. She wanted that change so badly and then for her to back down because she got hurt is Argh! What was the point of her fighting in the first place then? She was just used to display the misogyny in Emmaly and her own family. To betray her motivation like that. Frustrating. Misogyny won once again.
+ her dynamic with her father is also interesting. (As a daughter myself:) to go against your parent(s) belief like that is hard. And to realise they think that way is devastating and disheartening. I thought Ava could do it. Together with Mira and the fresh outside support of Khanin.
- So her and Khanin becoming friends made sense but we saw too little of them bonding/interacting other than supporting each others standpoints during/after their speeches.

Ramil and Paytai
- there definitely needed to be more of their story. Quite the heavy story but what we got was not enough.
- their conclusion kinda made sense and was emotional but left me with questions: How are they gonna deal with all this now? Will they have to hide from Ramils controlling father? He definitely wouldn‘t let Ramil go like that. And the family of Paytai? He said he‘s the son of a politician sent to serve the royal family. Knowing Ramils father he might let something happen to Paytais family to get his son back. Their story just left so much ground for more plot. And not just for what happens after the series ended but also during. The breaking point of Paytai. Ramils breaking point. Those both needed some more time on screen.
- I wished (and kinda expected) Ramil would‘ve become friends with Khanin and also Ava (since they had a learned rivalry going on since childhood) in the end. So he could have this spark of hope of a different way of living, hope for change, some stability when it comes to support, friendship and family. And his struggle to accept this kind of acceptance and love.
+ and the abuse Paytai had to endure all these years… that must‘ve left more scars than we saw.

Khanin and Charan
- Khanin never wanted a title? Well, after being a little hesitant in the beginning he seemed to adapt very quickly and was very ready to fight for that title. Even if it was just for his family. +He never said or acted like he didn’t want the title once he was in Emmaly, until the end. Felt a little like one of those „it was all a dream“ endings. We went through all this for what?
- From Charan I needed some more visible inner conflict. Duty versus love. What seems right/appropriate or wrong to him. +his (family‘s) duty to the king versus his passion for art (what wonderful parallels). +Being the older, more mature person that is not giving in *this* quickly to Khanins advances. Also what was that all about?
- They got together way too quickly. I needed more hiding, stolen moments, yearning for each other. +Chakri getting in their way on purpose (at first) and telling Khanin off to not get involved, to act like a proper prince and all that. Which may cause Khanin to try and run away or to his new friend Ava. +for them getting together this quickly it took Charan ages to say ‚I Love You‘ back. I didn‘t really understand why.
- Although I liked the bold moves of Khanin, like them dancing with each other in front of everyone. That was a good way of making the folk warm up to him as possible next ruler. Which makes the ending of him basically giving up his title so ugh. They could‘ve done that dancing moment at the end.
+ them kissing this early in the series was exciting but then adding that Emmalian First Kiss lore to it to then not mention it again? I partially saw that Charan was working through what just happened vs. what he learned & believed that just got shattered by this London Boy. But it wasn‘t enough imo.
Could‘ve been a nice touch for Charan to mention that kiss again before he proposed…
- Them getting engaged in the end… It just felt too soon (Idk how much time has passed since the competition). That just felt like a reasoning for a special episode in which they get married. Will it be a royal wedding or a modest one in London? The latter would make more sense since both gave up their positions in Emmaly. (but honestly I would rather want to see a royal Emmalian wedding)

The royal heirs as group
- as I said earlier I wanted them to become friends. First Khanin and Ava and joining a little later Ramil. Them going out together was a good start.
- And then when the competition was won by whoever they would change the current way of ruling to them ruling together as a council. So every part of Emmaly has an equal right to have a say. But the fact that the father of whoever won would become ruler ruined this possibility from the beginning. That fact irked me since it was explained.
- I full on expected Ava to win so the other couples could go be happy without the responsibility of being the heirs.

Some more questions and thoughts:
- Why are we forgiving the Grandpa King so easily? Just because he is about to die? He was a bad bad ruler. Where are the consequences for his actions? Why did not more try to assassinate or overthrow him?
- How is Jay‘s sister doing?
- What happens to Wasins part of the country? I have a faint memory that they said something about that but already forgot.
- Were the writers too scared to write something too anti-monarchy since Thailand still has a monarchy? A constitutional one but still.
- While we got a bunch of action and some attacks I wished there would‘ve been more thrill. Thrill in who is scheming, who is attacking, is it one group or person? Will someone die? All this happened but in a out of the blue way. No time to try and figure it out yourself or to feel the thrill.
- What about Ramils father? He‘s a violent controlling person in power. How will that play out for his part of Emmaly? Will he cooperate now that he can‘t be the king or will he keep scheming to get the throne?
- the roles of the fathers were interesting but also odd. idk how to put it into words rn. Will maybe add a point about the fathers in the near future.
- There was always a a disconnection between Khanin and his biological father. That needed some better writing as well.
- all the mothers seem to have died in some tragic way. And where was Charans father? Or rest of family? Was him getting adopted by the king the only option? And would he be eligible for the throne because of that? If Khanin didn‘t want to come to Emmaly or surprisingly passed away before the competition was Charan the kings back up plan? Why else would he be trained to be good in so many things? Why was this not a part of the plot? The king constantly reminding Charan that he‘d be next in line in case something happened to Khanin. What an interesting dynamic this would‘ve created between Charan & Khanin. I never really believed the king cared about Khanin anyways, just about his family staying the head of Emmaly.
+ the title „The Next Prince“ suggests Khanin is going to keep his title… and then he leaves after he gave the people of Emmaly so much hope. Idk if I would trust the son of the King who made and kept everything so horribly. Might be a reason for a coup.
+ the detective friend of Charan was there but also not really.

And some good things to end this review:
+ creating a whole kingdom with lore and political dynamics was very fun to see.
- I absolutely loooved the costume design. They were so beautifully made. Chapeau to that.
- Loved the settings. Some beautiful parts of Thailand (I assume) were shown here. And that we started in London was very nice.
- Also loved the little „Emmaly Gossip“ segments (mainly on insta).
- the fan service was insane. And with that I mean that parade of them for the first episode airing when they were dressed in character. How can you not get excited when you see that?
- I am a little immune to noticing whether the acting was not so good unless it‘s blatantly obvious. So that was good to me. Especially liked Jimmy and Ohms performances. Bie as Rachata/Ramils father was scarily good too. +Ballchon (Chakri) and Kris (Ava) were great, too. Will look for other projects with them.

I had more thoughts than I thought and there will probably be more once I read other peoples reviews.
Anyways: Thanks for reading :)
spice level: 🔥🔥