Second Chance (2021)

Slow and predictable, but safe

I'm not going to lie, I really had to force myself to finish this series. The first episode throws a lot of information and plot at you and then it just really slows down after that.

So I'll just go through each category individually.

Story:

Pretty bland, milquetoast if you will. Pretty standard use of tried and true BL stereotypes and tropes. Doesn't really do much expanding on them. Nothing too out of the box, but it's fine if that's what you're wanting.

Acting/Cast:

The main male leads were all pretty good. Some of the female side characters were pretty cringe, and not really in an endearing way like I think they wanted us to see them as. My biggest gripe is who thought it was a good idea to cast two brothers (who look nearly identical) and then never explicitly state the difference in their characters (who aren't related in the show btw) and then wait until the very last episode to even put them in the same room together? I saw so many comments stating that people thought they were the same person for basically the whole show. (I could only tell them apart from their different colored book bags). Whoever decided to do this was foul.

Music:

Eh. It was fine. The main theme wasn't really anything spectacular. I don't remember any other music so it must not have been that memorable lol.

Production Value:

I swear every single Thai BL show that I have watched thus far has had bad audio mixing for at least a few scenes (if not the entire show). I'm pretty sure in the good year of our Lord 2022 that production companies should be able to afford decent microphones (or better yet quality sound engineers) There was a scene in an early episode where a teacher was addressing a group of students at the front of the classroom and whenever it switched between the two scenes, there was a very noticeable change in audio quality. For me that just completely takes me out of the story and makes me question just who directed this and listened to this scene and thought "Yeah, that's good." and then just kept it in?? Maybe I'm just nit-picking, but I digress...

There were so many plotlines (and potential plotlines) that were touched upon or mentioned, but never explored deeper. Just to name a few:

-Arthur?? My guy?? Like I get he's there to move the plot along but that sudden 180 he did at the end really threw me for a loop. Then he just dumps all his feelings out and complains that nobody loves him? Where was the character development? Where was the exploration of how/why he felt genuinely bad for how he treated Jeno and truly wanted to repent? He plays a main role in the first two episodes, then gets expelled (we are led to believe) and then just shows up at the prom and airs it all out? They could have done so much for with him as a character but I guess it is what it is.
-Chris and his studies. It's brought up multiple times throughout the show and we are made to believe it's a very important part of Chris' story: What exactly does he want to study at University? The answer is...We don't know! He never decides, or at least he never states it out loud. Guess it wasn't that important, but then why dedicate multiple scenes to him lamenting on it? Wild.
-What actually happened to Tong Fah in his accident? They didn't want to dedicate any screen time to it, so did it get mentioned, even in passing, what happened to him? Absolutely not. I guess it's up to our imagination.
-Literally what is the point of the pool scene in the first episode? It's never explored or even shown again in the series later on, until the very end of the last episode, and I guess it's then that we learn it didn't really ever happen? Maybe it was just a metaphor for Tong Fah's feelings. Still, it felt a little out of place.

Overall:

Pretty standard, safe BL trope. It didn't quite give me the warm fuzzies and I ended up having to try and convince myself to even finish it. Maybe it was a bit boring for me? Either way, it was fine for what it is. I probably won't end up re-watching it though.

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Likeable Series but Should Have Aged up the Characters

This was a surprising good little project. The acting was very good, and even the villains were redeemable. The elephant in the room is, the actors are way too old to be playing high school students. This would have been better in a university setting, since the plot was mainly about falling in love right before graduation. Unless I missed it, I still have no idea what Chris and Tong Fah will be doing at university, just one of the loose ends that was left unresolved.

Run from TharnType and his real life brother play unrelated characters in this series. Their characters do not interact that often, otherwise their obvious resemblance would have been a distraction.

It would be nice to have a special episode to tie up loose ends. For example, Near's co-workers complained about his work performance, but besides being late, he seemed to provide good customer service. Does he get rehired after quitting? Will Jeno win a Muay Thai match? Hope to see more of this series in the future.

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Not for me, I'm sad to say

God, I feel really mean giving this show the lowest rating out of all the shows I've reviewed, but this just missed the mark so thoroughly for me.

I usually love slow-paced, character-focused stories with an emphasis on human connection and the varied queer experience, but personally I got none of that from this show.
I couldn't really connect with any of the characters, as sweet and harmless as they are.
The visuals and music were alright but nothing specifically stood out to me.
I didn't really like the pacing or any of the character arcs, they all just left me feeling indifferent at best and dissatisfied at worst.

But it's not like the show particularly does anything wrong either. Almost all of my gripes with it come down to taste and what didn't work for me might just be perfect to someone else.
And I'm really glad that this show seems to have a small but dedicated audience that clearly got a lot out of the story and really seem to love it with all their heart. It genuinely makes me happy to know this show is making someone's life a little better even if it did nothing for me personally

So if you like sweet, low-drama high school romances or Thai dramas that don't feel like an endless parade of product placements (not to rag on those types of shows too much, they've got their perks too) then I'd suggest giving this a shot.
There's clearly something worthwhile hidden in this show if some people adore it this much - who knows, maybe you'll find it even if I couldn't.

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Really good story, acting good, casting is hard to believe

I really really liked this show. It has a good plot, nice cinematography, good acting, and nice little details like all of the gay movie posters in the gay dudes' rooms. The only thing I wish was different is that some of the actors do not pass as high schoolers which I can overlook but they would have been better off with making this a university story like just aging up the characters. I also wish they had a discussion of sexuality a little bit because they do not mention it at all which is a little hard to believe. I also wish we could have gotten a little bit more in the way of cute scenes between the couples. I also would like to have seen a little bit more of near/em their storyline was cute and it could have been stretched out . Overall a really cute and mostly fluffy show. Recommend you watch!

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my source of comfort

For the past 6 months I have tried to put into words the way this series made me feel.

I'm not going to lie, I started to watch it with little no expectations. I even thought it was one of the bunch, but as the episodes went by, I grew fond of both the characters and the story.

Maybe it was because I find out about it at the right time. It gave me the calm and comfort that I needed so much back then. It made me laugh, cry, but above all, it reminded me how nostalgic hightschool love can be.

The characters are (for the most part) endearing and the relationship between them is probably one of the healthiest I've seen on bl series in a long time. The dynamic between couples is one of the strengths of the series, imo. The chemistry between the main leads was off the charts!

I don't have much to say about the other pairings, especially M and Near. I feel like they would have worked better as an established couple or with the occasional hint to make the viewer understand that there was some mutual interest between them. Their story was too confusing for me, and the way their conflict was resolved felt forced. Although it may just be me, since I could not connect with them as characters or a couple.

Considering it was a short series, they could have used their screen time to focus on the main couple and give the characters a bit more background. Especially Paper. I feel like a lot of people couldn't empathize with him as a character because not much of his story was shown, aside from the fact that he was just as lonely as Tongfah.

The script is nothing extraordinary and some things could have been handled better, but despite its ups and downs, it's a pretty solid series. I always find myself going back to the moments that made my heart skip a beat.

Definitely, one of the series that I could watch over and over again without getting tired of it.

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Very sweet! So much nostalgia!

This series was so so so and sweet, yes its very short but it still made me feel nostalgic.Glad I found this series by chance, all the couples are sooo cute and their acting was really good, its a simple romance story that explores how 3 different couples approach and deal with love, but has a different feel from other GMMTV BL. The OST is also as sweet as cotton candy, whenever the background music played I was like awwwww. Love it love it!

Wish love irl was as sweet as this, too bad I fall in disgust at first sight irl, no wonder I indulge in so many romance as an escape from reality lmao jkdvkshskskn

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Just skip the cringe stuff and you’ll discover something sweet

I don't know why, but through the whole series, I felt like I was watching something similar to Dream Night.Although, I am not the biggest fan of the plot that works with best friends turn lovers' kind of thing, I have to admit it was delivered well here. It had great potential and could have been even better. Still, I understand that some factors possibly worked against it. Like budget etc. I just wish that they would stop putting this kind of cringy, comical stuff like the girls and the screaming and the unhinged laughing, if you know what I mean, but I enjoy watching it in the end.

I love the tension between the main couple. They worked well together, and it was one of the best kisses I have seen.

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Forget it; I did.

This show is forgettable. And I mean this in the most literal way: I first watched this series some time the summer of 2022. When I came across the title again in the autumn of the same year, I had no idea what story this was supposed to be -- only during watching had I the feeling that I knew it somehow. And that happened again a few weeks later.

I have no idea why the series was such that I forgot about it -- even after I watched it a fourth time. This is what could have contributed:

* The storylines are stereotypes -- friends to lovers / trusting a new relationship after a bad one / secret identities; they all seem to develop slowly but fast at the sam time? Maybe three couples was a bit much for 6x40 minutes. I am not even able to give a description of the stories (see above).
* The actors all look the same to me. Not only those who are brothers IRL, but also Chris and Ton Fah looked rather similar.
* The music was amazing in itself but made the whole show feel a bit dreamlike and apart from reality. I think a second soundtrack for the more dramatic and the emotionally heavy scenes would have helped.
* It feels as if there's a lot of backstory that we don't see, and there are also several inconsistencies.

All in all, I don't think I've made a connection to the characters in the series, maybe due to one of the points above, maybe not.

That said, the show is not bad, even mediocre is not the right word for it, it's just ... bland.

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Very sweet and gentle

Second Chance The Series is absolutely worth a watch, besides it's short and sweet, really no reason not to watch it!

I initially wanted to watch it because of Tong whom I love in Tharntype but everyone in this is really cute. I liked how different he is in this series despite their characters not being that different in themselves, he somehow manages to convincingly act younger. Mawin and Run as well, who are much cuter in this one!

The soundtrack is really sweet as well and compliments the mellow vibe of the whole series. It's not the kind of show with ridiculous sound effects; it's just very real and down to earth. Despite being pretty plain in terms of storyline, the main couple genuinely delivers some really memorable scenes.

Some issues I had was how long it took me to understand that Run and Games were not in fact playing brothers, but the thing is for me, they look too similar to be cast together as anything other than brothers. I also could not tell you when the first scene takes place. Was it not a flashback? I'm confused... It maybe lacks consistency in terms of the characters' intentions which can easily be explained by the fact that the plot isn't much to go on, while it's eventually explained for Jeno, not really for Paper, but hey... The editing was off at times, and yet despite all that it was still really enjoyable.

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This is just for the first 2 episodes

GUUUURRRlllll... Im liking this. I know im only like 2 episodes in but this is quality. First off, the scenery, lighting, aesthetic of the set...gives me chills, so darn beautiful. And wow not them bringing up topics that needed to be brung upppp. Starting some conversations I see...like bullying, toxic/abusive relationships, grief etc. And based on what ive watched so far the couples have amazing chemistry soo...All I know is will be watching this till the end. I guess right now in the show were getting angsty and cute moments, but based on the trailer i know some stuff finna happen so im preparing myself to cry for a week or two. All i know is this drama really makes you comeback the next week, with its slow paced yet plot packed episodes

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Not bad, but not the best

This series as a whole flip-flops between the good aspects and bad aspects of a series.

The good is how they articulate the typical Thai BL school setting but under a different scope of perspective. There's bullying that is acknowledged, there's the raw and truthful feelings of fear as these late teens approach adulthood, and there's relationships that tie into the title itself. The chemistry/intimate moments is another plus that I was quite shocked with. In a sense, it's a new form of characters displaying affection with their partners. A lot of these characters are portrayed as young, so their experiences feel just about as awkward and rushed in as any late teen would be. There's a lot of nostalgia that goes hand in hand with Second Chance as a whole, which is why I kind of sympathize and relate to some of the characters.

The okay of the show is the acting. Part of this plays in with the length, but there's quite a bit of scenes that have pauses, under or overacting. There are some good actors, but there's also some that need to work on their craft. It's not terrible acting, again, just needs to be improved upon.

The bad is, as I've stated one, the length. It just does not cut it. At first it seemed to be 8 episodes, but then it got shortened down to 6. And while it could've worked with only 6, there were too many filler scenes or characters that tried to fit into a scene but didn't work out. Much of the story relies on the character's interactions, but there were characters that felt too flat to understand. Another thing is the music, it was just a complete distraction. But the biggest distraction is that in most of the scenes there's very loud background noise that many times took away my focus from the scenes. Likely some editing error, but also likely a simple fix that somehow went over their heads.

Overall, this series is still worth a watch. It's a nice show to sidetrack from another if you want something happy, short and sweet.

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