strawgal

Strong start and then it fizzled into meh. You know there is something wrong when the sub plots are more entertaining than the main plot.
It seemed not to be able to tackle the the theme of loss and memory neither seriously or an entraining way. The actors did what they could but there was no real drama for them so show contrast. I just lost interest by ep8 and flicked through until the end. perhaps it was 10 eps it could have been better.

There is a saying all cats look grey in the dark, a policeman is no different from anyone else on a basic level. He would have a good idea how far to test him out.

I first saw him in Lovely Writer, and has the skill to change himself completely.

First of all no one should be yelling at anyone at work and if it's a female employee that is even worse.
When a character has been abused financially and also emotionally by her ex husband you would think she would be looking for someone better, at least at the outset. In my experience if they do not treat you well, even with basic respect at the start of a relationship the most likely end is it is not going to get any better. The honeymoon period if you are lucky lasts two years.
The idea he has supported her in advancement. Well she is good a customer service, works hard and is diligent, so supporting her is actually beneficial to the hotel and help him look good, she has enabled him to get better contracts. Perhaps he has a small amount of remorse because his actions helped her ex husband but really his helping is also helping himself.
I just see a him as having a huge character flaws. He appears to have no responsibilities apart from work, doesn't have to cook, clean and yet only thinks about her when she is in and extreme situation when he knows she is so eager to please that she will literally break herself to complete a task.
She is a people pleaser, I hope she gets the money out of the ex and starts her own business because if she has learned so much in a short amount of time she will out grow him quickly.
The great skill that most women have is being able to adapt and she has it, he is stuck in his ways, a lot of men do not like change.
If the script does not tackle how competent she has become and how he going to 'let her' change to an equal partner, no sweet talk is going to make the relationship last.

Do you not think that in a forty something male that is childish, and certainly IMO not flattering, because what right does he have to be jealous?
He is her boss, and his actions were not professional, he didn't investigate but was willing to reprimand her.
He is completely wrapped up in how her actions affect him, and never thinks knowing her past how his actions affect her. Who wants a partner who thinks like that.

Talking to my male friends that is pretty tame. Subtle is looking at your crotch or following you in to the toilets.

I liken to deciding which sofa to buy. Is it comfy, will it fit the space, instead I need that sofa, how much do I have to move to make space, because once it gets a bit a bit worn if you do not love it you want to replace it.
Who ever has written this seems to think women have to earn love by being good and worthy of love, being beautiful is just not enough. While men can be average, have little personalty and we are supposed to be grateful that they try. Does either love interest have a personality outside of work.
No wonder the birth rate is falling.
The trope of ex that the man has to be polite to a blurs boundaries, who in reality would put up with that. I would have his head on a stick.

A proper script with well fleshed out characters, I hadn't expected how funny and well observed it would be.
Up has the face of a shape shifter, that changes depending on the role, with every emotion written across it.Poom has nailed the knowing charm, testing but not over pushy.
For once there appears to be a female character who is not deluded or hysterical.

I am enjoying this but the ML character is a bit of whiny petulant self absorbed man baby, who could not decide if he wanted butter on his toast and then once decided would blame someone else for his poor choice. As soon as he thinks the FL has made a mistake or does something he doesn't like he has a face like a slapped a!se. She could do better.
I actually think FL the should choose herself, because the men only like her because she appears to the intelligent helpful handmaiden, and she will end up in the same hole she was with her ex.
When men to get to that age they even more self centred, neither is a real catch.

The FL as written is still too passive, if a man can not decide, or is not clear I think you draw a line, because when things get bad you someone that will choose you, not weigh up the situation and think twice before acting. I think she is allowed to have a bit of fun before making her mind up.

I think since Heated Rivalry GMMTV have realised there is a bigger market outside what they normally cater for, and those fans are not normally interested in fan service type interviews and questions.

Their are some better Thai interviewers but they are harder to find, and the subject is almost treated just as entertainment not a 'serious' drama.
The type of interviews Thai tv do, if it was on US, EU tv I think there would be a huge backlash, I can not see someone like Leo Woodhall who seems to be everyone's love interest in form or another ATM being interviewed in that way.

I liked this more than I thought I would, I just think considering the theme of scamming which a large problem and causes a lot of heart break the script could have been a bit stronger.
It seemed to propagate the idea that you have to be a bit naive/ or lacking in some way to get scammed.
The actors did their job well it's not their fault it was written as a not very dark rom com and managed to give it more subtilty than was in the script.

If you looked a the plot synopsis you would think where is the plot, and what plot there is we have seen it before.
What it has got is in the confines of the style which is never going to be hard on realism, is character and world building, where no one character is so extreme in their personality or behaviour that they are not like anyone you have met, or believe you could have met. It has characters with flaws, but they are understandable, so you can empathise with them. Some are annoying ,but never full deluded sociopaths.

What I particularly like was the use of the camera and direction, so you not just watching static shots as in a play. The pop corn making scene really shows skills that are not usually used, with a tracked camera.
Yes it does have a few tropes, but most drama now seems to use them as short cuts. What is perhaps strange it's one of the few depictions of a healthy relationship in any sort of drama where conflicts are resolved and no one resorts to the storming off in a huff indefinitely just to fulfil the doom laden ep11 trope, or ep 9 if it;s a shorter drama. A world where you be cross with someone, often, and still they make you world better.

They say misery loves company and certainly the writers decided to give most of the characters long term problems that are not even going to be solved quickly.
Its just lazy writers, love will solve every problem. The characters just make me feel tired.

It's just a bit meh. Lacking in pace and looks like they have padded the script to fill the eps.
There is nothing wrong with it really, it just could do with a trim as it wanders.
I seems to be unable to decide what it's main theme is, and tries both to be a serious drama about memory,trauma and a fluffy romance and does neither that well.

FYI
A serious interview in English about their work with Zack Sang
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlMUz_lyMlA

If you look at the play list there is also one with Jeff Satur and LYKN

Sorry I do not understand the reference.
I think most production companies are mainly concerned about making money for their shareholders, like any other business. Netflix is very good at tracking what sells and ditching what it's not making enough profit.
Most of the bigger studios are suffering because costs are going up for production and are relying on old IP, like Stars Wars and to draw an audience.
Mergers are happening because of the debt burden, and the use of AI is going to change the industry. To misquote All About Eve,' It's going to be a bumpy ride."

Your right, I was uneasy about making this subject a rom com because it destroys peoples lives.
Perhaps the only plus about Tim is in the past it was a job, acting the part and not feeling anything, if someone dumped him he just lost an income stream.
This time he is dumped, he feels loss and also he is confronted with what he had done. If he really loves Pai and its the first time he has been in love just seeing Pai heartbroken would affect him. The confrontation with his parents when he thought he was helping them, just a punch to the gut.

Watched with my husband, as it was a action, and he enjoyed it. The fight sequence are so well directed they are cinema standard, that you are in the action and feel every punch. which depending on your taste can be a good or a bad thing. It not high art, yes the plot has holes, but it doe what it says on the tin. Action drama.
The main point of difference from the normal the action genre is you really care about the main leads, even if you have not seen the first series, you are attracted to their bond.
If I have a negative a bit like US drama they have to make some bits too sweet and sickly.

Rain is so effective as the villain, like an attack dog, that enjoys aggression. The addition of other seasoned K drama actors playing against type and the open ending means their could be Season 3.

There is a lot of doom and gloom about Netflix, but they give actors a chance to make money and get a mass audience, in the Top 10 in the UK, so it's reaching people who would not usually watch k drama.

I just found this tedious. Its unbeautifully filmed and the production values are great. I think my biggest problem although the FL did a good job,I just found the character irritating. I used to work with very sick teens, with the hyper vigilante parent type, and the management of long term healthconditions and they can be a bit self centred but this character takes it to another level. They say misery loves company.
The ML. TBH I watched it because I had seen old clips of him on Youtube and wanted to see what all the fuss was about. His acting OK, what he had to do but wardrobe and hair, particularly the hair reminded me of some 90's boy band. The messed with head band like Ben Stiller in Tropic Thunder, I just wanted to laugh.
The romance part, was it a romance, because it was almost like she targetted someone she could control, love bombed and only thought about herself, and left him even more effed up. Her actions caused him more harm, in her effort to be seen, and what ever 'charm' she had can not cancel that out.
Really well made but that story just terrible, I think was trying to be a serious drama but had to put in so many tropes to justify the plot, and the end was the only way out. 7.5

The OST has some pleasant songs but the over use of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons as incidental music shows perhaps the underlying lack of attention to anything that did not sell the project.
Love The Four Seasons, but it has been done to death by clips in drama, but it has no copyright so its a lazy fix.

No, everyone has a choice. I am just pointing out the advantages of seeing of what the directer intended the finished project to look like.
Even major international movies have directors cut's which some people think is better than the commercially released and promoted film. A lot of the decisions on editing are made for convenience and promotion,
YouTube is a simple way for the companies to generate income, but sometimes the way they cut the episodes doesn't do the drama any favours, especially if the eps do not end up in sequence