Bed Friend (2023)

From FWB to a happy ending!

Let me start off by saying this- I shockingly actually like this. Is it perfect? No. Is it getting a perfect score from me? Absolutely not- it's not wven getting a 9. But out of the three Thai BL series that I have been watching for 2 months now (Chains of Heart, Love Syndrome III and this)- this one is actually the better one out of those 3.

Story- 8/10

I give this series an 8 out of 10 because y'all had my boy Uea go through hell and back. He really didn't have itveasy with a sh#$y crappy mom, a crappy ex-bf, a predatory step dad AND boss. Like- he couldn't catch no break. But he actually got one in the form of King. King may have started off as a Casanova but over the episodes you can see how much he cared for Uea. Would I have liked for them to suffer more? Yeah, I actually would because I felt the four of them (ex-bf, ex boss, mom and step dad) were kind of let off easily and they deserved to be punished. And I was so happy that King's parents accepted Uea as thier aon's boyfriend and then fiancée because I would have thrown a fit if they had to go through another obstacle.

And while I usually quarrel about what was the point of the last episode because it really did not add to the series- I'm not going to do that here. Why? Because Uea deserve his happiness and that's what basically that last episode was about (plus we get to see a few seconds of Mai. And now I am eagerly awaiting for 'Middelman's Love!').

Acting/Cast- 9/10
Hey, all the actors portraying these characters made me feel how I believe they wanted me to feel (extreme hate for Uea's mom and step dad, happy at seeing Jade, sad/upset at Uea's storyline, etc). And because they were able to make me feel all of these emotions through thier acting, I'm giving them a 9.

Music-8/10
The music was addictive every week and for that I'm going with an 8.

Rewatch Valu-8/10
I do actually see muself rewatching this in the future. Because as stated befor, it had a good storyline with good actors.

Overall-8.5/10
Overall I give this series an 8.5. And as I stated before this is really due to the storyline and the actors. Some of the NC-17 was a little bit ridiculous to me and really did nothing for me.

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Well hot dayum...

So.. this was a lot to process, especially after binge-watching it over the span of 2 days. One of the rare times I actually see the merit in taking breaks between episodes but I guess if I had watched it while it aired, it would have been weekly breaks.

Anyway, going into this series, I hadn't seen any trailers or read any reviews though I kind of had an idea of what to expect.
Especially with a name like Bed Friend, I pretty much assumed it would be spicy though sometimes the spice is lost if the actors don't have the chemistry. But let me tell you, they had the chemistry in this series and then some. I like that the writers didn't put such a stigma around sex without love or looking down on the whole FWB arrangement. It was straight forward and, as far as their intimate relationship was concerned, they had fantastic communication with their expectations.

I kind of found it funny how in the opening credits, they had Tutor as if he were a major part and yet he only shows up in the last second of the series and says one line. I mean, I know they have their own series coming out but it just kind of stood out to me as if he was supposed to have a bigger role here than he really did. Likely they filmed the two series at the same time as they probably used a lot of the same locations and actors for both.

But I digress. The things I didn't like about this series: Pretty much everyone who interacts with Uea other than his work colleagues. Seriously, I feel like the writers were trying to think of all the possible negative relationship experiences a person could have (IE abusive parent, abusive step-parent, cheating ex, obsessive ex, sexual harassment in the workplace) and threw them all at a single character one after the other. And not every one of them gets resolved which is super frustrating. It's like they were addicted to traumatic drama without the redemption/resolution or lacked the creativity to actually give each problem a solution.... or both. By the second or third incident, it's obvious that they just want to show that King is there for him and is his rock. But by the 3rd or so time it's like "okay, we get it. Now can you please bring justice to these people?"

I also don't like that Uea never once thought to try and get his sister out of that situation as well. Plus the sister never really stood up for him either even though she saw what was going on with the mother and heard Uea's claims about the step-father. And yet she still asks him to come visit on behalf of her mother? That's messed up.

Even with all of that, I still really enjoyed the series and I would definitely watch it again. And yes, I admit, that's mostly for the hotness between the two main characters. They had a great push and pull dynamic going on outside of the bedroom, sure, but dayum the bedroom dynamic was off the charts. Give me a soft daddy and a power bottom combo and I'm a happy guy. LOL

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An interesting story whose end is unfortunately botched

What is interesting about this series is that it shows how a person tries to get on with his life by dealing with his own past traumas. We learn again that it is difficult to cut ties with our parents even when they have been and still are abusive. We also see how difficult it is to deal with harassment at work.

We also see a story where FWB relationships are not incompatible with caring, which is appreciated.

The problem is that by the time all the issues need to be resolved - I'd say by the middle of episode 8 - everything is rushed and glossed over. There are no details and it seems that the only objective, all of a sudden, is to make fan service with scenes all more sweet than the others. The last episode, which is not unpleasant to watch, has not an ounce of realism. Too bad for a show that was trying to show aspects of life in a somewhat credible way.

In conclusion, this series loses an opportunity to stand out positively from other series of the same style.

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Green Flag King and Sad Baby Uea

King is so gentle to Uea. He understands his trauma and makes sure that whenever Uea is around him, he feels safe and comfortable. King is a green flag; he was a player in his past life and slept with many different people, but as soon as he realizes he likes Uea, he changes himself to be the person that Uea can like because he knows that Uea hates players. King also remembers little details about Uea - like when they are eating after giving the blood test, and he tells the waitress to make the food less spicy because Uea doesn't like spicy foods - King is always there when Uea is in trouble even if he's not with him, he always finds him and gives him comfort. He accepts his trauma and doesn't make him feel ashamed or inadequate - Like when King was behind him drying Uea's hair, and Uea had a flashback to his stepdad and freaked out. King looks so sad and concerned about him -

I liked that they showed us the trauma that Uea went through (even though I skip every rewatch with this family because I hate them) because it paints the picture of why Uea is timid and scared to love someone and receive love. After all, his family never showed him love; they also made the trauma realistic because Uea went through Sexual assault as a child, and sometimes that carries into adulthood, and unfortunately, it happened to him at work. Uea (as a character) needed someone like King to show him love, kindness, and compassion.

I think this has the best spice. You can see that they both really care about each other. You also see Uea slowly giving in to King, letting him into his world, and letting himself fall in love with King.

I wish we could've gotten a wedding special or had one in Middleman's Love because I would've loved to see them get married with all their coworkers/friends, with Jade and Gun being King and Uea's best men. Unfortunately, that probably won't happen since James is doing his own thing now, but we can never say never.

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Not too bad but also not good

First of all this could be a nice series but there was a lack of story line. There was no base in the story and it felt like the writers tried to show lots of stuff in less time or they had enough time but it was badly written. One thing i liked about bed friends are the nc scenes i could watch them without getting cringed other wise I always close my eyes when this types of scenes come. The actors are great but not properly used they didn't get the chance to explore their emotions it felt like king is always in a grumpy mood or something maybe I am the only one who felt this way.

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she might be trashy, but she's also terribly cute, sooo ?

look, imma be honest with you: she's trashy, she's lowkey traumatising (all those fucking FLASHBACKS bro- shit was literally triggering), & she's terribly style-over-substance, but she's fun!

'bed friend' is not gonna be doing anything grandiose like change the landscape of BL or whatever, but she's there to hold your hand when you wanna watch something mindlessly fun & floofy & if you wanna watch this painfully cinderella-but-even-MORE-traumtised little baby grow from his abusive, awful past & find true love in the form of this 'player' who we literally never see flirt with ANYONE over the course of the show since he's so fucking whipped for his boy, 'bed friend' is the show for you !

so yeah! you're definitely gonna have to skip past sizable chunks of the show if specific topics trigger you (I AM *SO* SERIOUS ABOUT THIS- THIS SHIT GAVE ME THE WILLIES) but it's overall a really cute little bl to binge as your bad decision of the night!!

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Good series, better than expected

To be honest, I expected this series to follow in the footsteps of KinnPorche with lots of sex scenes and very little of anything else, but I was pleasantly surprised. First off, it has an actual plot, or at least a story that goes beyond the simple friends with benefits/romance. The characters faced some real issues and on the whole, it was well done. The actors were really good with the exception of one. Net and James were adorable and had amazing chemistry while the villains were easy to hate (which is the way it should be). The supporting cast was good, with one minor exception. Is it just me or does the actor who played Jade (I think his nickname is Yim) seem like he is way overacting pretty much all the time? Like his head bobs forward and he seems way too excited about bringing his friend a coffee. I'm not trying to disparage, because I thought what he did in Cutie Pie was good, so I'm guessing that was a directorial choice and as far as I'm concerned, it wasn't a good one. Other than that, though, all the actors were so good. Also, just want to point out that Mark is so good looking -- would love to see him in more shows. (Realizes that was slightly too much fangirl. Clears throat awkwardly. Back to the review!) Music was pretty good and I actually thought the addition of the "meows" during the kitten scene was so sexy. I really did enjoy their main theme song as well, though I don't care as much about the OST as others might. For me, the rewatch value was high. I thought the show really set itself above the others by actually having a relatable story and a decent romance at the the same time.

Now on to the spoilers! (Which means, if you don't want spoilers, don't continue reading.) The story involved a lot of trauma for Uea and I really felt that James did an amazing job of making those emotions feel real. The child actor who played young Uea was also simply amazing. Having the grace to act that out at that age shows that he has a lot of talent. I think that showing that Uea was still dealing with the trauma long after the event was realistic. So many writers want to move on from the trauma so that the story can develop without it, but in actuality, if you've experienced this kind of thing, you know that it stays with you forever and informs your choices and becomes part of your self. That isn't always a bad thing, sometimes it makes you so much stronger, but it does inform who you become and falling in love with someone, no matter how good that person is, does not automatically erase all the bad things that have ever happened in your life. So I was grateful that this was treated with more realism than you often find in a romance. The way Uea continues to have relationships with people who hurt him is a reflection of reality as well. Many people who have been abused might become abusers or continue to chose partners who abuse them. I don't like it, but it's the truth. Then on top of that, Uea also met with more trauma at work with his new boss. While I don't fault the writers for adding more trauma (since it is a tv series and if nothing ever happened in the series, no one would watch it), but I did have one problem with King at this point. Uea is taken into the office by Krit and almost raped, but when he gets away, he has to deal with King shaming him for his behavior. As if he had a choice and could have said, I refuse to go to your office, boss. The mom did the same thing (victim shaming Uea when his stepfather sexually assaulted him) but when she does it she's the villain and when King does it, how are we supposed to feel? I honestly wanted to hit him and I really wouldn't have blamed Uea if he never spoke to King again after that. Then it got weird when Uea apologized to King. I don't understand why King wasn't the one apologizing as he was the one in the wrong. So that was one little problem I found with the writer's handling of this issue.

Also technically, though no one ever talks about it, Uea was also drunk the first time he had sex with King. Really, King took advantage of him, which could be considered rape. It was weird, because they even brought up a similar situation later. King finds Uea flirting with some guy at the beach bar and takes him back to their room. He doesn't have sex with him, because he's too drunk. Then the next day, he asks Uea for a reward and Uea says that not taking advantage of him when he's drunk is how it should be. So why wasn't that brought up after their first time together? Just a question. I'm going to just be personally annoyed by that and not try to call it rape, but I wish writers would stop using that trope unless both the participants are drunk. Then it seems less like one taking advantage of the other and more like a mistake they both made.

They also touched on mental health, because Uea seems to be taking a medication for depression. At least that's the conclusion I came to based on the subtitles. I love that they put that in this show. I mean what person who goes through that amount of trauma in his life and doesn't need therapy? I'm glad more writers are including mental health as a real issue without giving it a stigma and making it seem like a failure of the person who needs help.

There were some problems with things being disjointed and/or not being sure how much time has elapsed since the last scene. Especially at the beginning. Like why did Uea seem to hate King so much? Why not just be annoyed at having a playboy flirt with you and then leave it at that? Instead, for what seems like no reason, Uea really dislikes King and behaves that way. Also, I would have liked to see a little more development with King. It seems like he likes Uea a lot, more than just flirting but he knows that Uea doesn't like him. But there is no back story. When they start with the bed friend idea, it seems to me that King was thrilled because he already really like Uea and wanted to be with him, but knew that Uea wouldn't date him because he was a playboy so he uses the idea of friends with benefits to get closer to the guy he likes. Is that just me? Anyway, I think we needed a little more in the beginning to set that up better.

The NSFW scenes were good. Thankfully, they were not the entirety of the show and if you don't enjoy them, you can skip them pretty much entirely without missing anything. I think it's great that they included them, but they weren't the main point. Overall, the show was terrfic and because the character interactions and overall plot was interesting and emotional, there is a high rewatch value.

Lastly, this doesn't effect anything with the show, but does anyone else think it's weird that when you look up the cast, Tutor and Yim are both listed just after Net and James, but Tutor wasn't in the show at all except the very last minute of the very last episode? He had one line! I mean, why list him so prominently when he was basically not in the show at all? Sorry, just asking.

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Flawed in writing and editing but still highly entertaining BL office romance

This drama is foremost an office romance between two colleagues who become friends with benefits. It is quite classic in its content but there are still some interesting topics approached in the series in terms of safe sex, STD testing, consent... The office plot itself is lacking in terms of development: the writing is kind of minimal regarding the work environment as well as the relationship between the colleagues. It is difficult to understand what they do, why and what are the stakes but it remains thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable for sure.

The scenario is one of the weaknesses of the show: despite some good ideas, the traumatic events depicted in the show can feel a bit all over the place. There are so many unfortunate circumstances that it is a bit too much and over-the-top. Often, the transition between some scenes does not make a lot of sense because a quite choppy editing.

There are some pretty hot scenes: the chemistry between the 2 main leads is believable and oozing through the screen. I love the standoffishness, cat behaviour of one of the protagonist and the eagerness, puppy eyes of the second. I found the acting of this pairing quite good even if it could get better for sure with more experience (especially for the more dramatic scenes).

The secondary cast did an average job. The antagonist characters were too exaggerated, it was a bit of a miss for me but it might be more linked to the script than to the actors themselves. The role of the best friend as a comic relief was not that well acted, the actor seemed a bit awkward: I'm curious to see if he will be able to improve in the sequel as he will become one of the main lead.

The production is pretty great with some beautifully filmed intimate scenes, there seem to be a lot of trust between the main leads allowing them to be vulnerable with each other. The main song was nice but also an overkill. It was overused and very literal with the thematic of "wanting to be more than just a friend and becoming a boyfriend".

The flaws in writing does not prevent the drama to be super exciting to follow and I for sure will be looking forward the new work of this director and/or this pairing. With a more fleshed out script less caricatural in terms of obstacles, I'm sure it can get better.

I would recommend this to people looking for a hot and highly entertaining BL romance in an office setting and who do not mind a bit of choppy editing and a over-the-top storylines. Given the traumatic events happening repetitively to one of the character, you might want to check the triggers out before watching the show.

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B F to BF (If you, you know)

The series had a good start, and the story's pace was slightly fast. The chemistry between Uea and King is captivating. The whole cast did an outstanding job with their characters.

Plot:
It is different from my usual preference.
Net and James were the perfect choices for Uea and King. I loved the scene between Uea and King. Uea had a terrible history with his family, and his sister Tonkhao was the only one who truly cared about him. All his exes cheated on him, while King is a player with an overprotective family. Jade was the only supportive friend they both had in common. So, the story revolves around how they became boyfriends from bed friends.

Uea and King had sizzling chemistry throughout the series. They had their fair share of problems (Uea's mom, stepdad, ex, Krit, King's possessiveness, and inability to accept their true feelings), but they overcame all this. They also had well-wishers who directly and indirectly helped.

Well-wishers:
Jade (Yim) was fantastic and was always there for his best friends. Gun (Thomas), Faii (Dada) and Muay (Bookko) were funny.
Tonkhao was a sweetie and could have got more screen time.
Uea's aunt was a lovely addition and could get more screen time.
The Boss is a sweet and straightforward supportive character.
Based on King's conservation with Uea, I thought King's mom might cause trouble in King-Uea's relationship, but she was a fantastic addition and a true boss lady. King's mom warmed up towards King-Uea's relationship.

Baddies:
Krit character was a great addition. Though Krit was so damn annoying, he did an excellent job. Because of him, Uea was able to move on. His cousin Mongkol was lazy. Krit and Mongkol got want they deserved. But Mongkol realised his mistakes, while Krit got kicked out.
Uea's mom has never cared for or protected him and is very selfish.
Uea's stepdad was the devil with an angel's face. Both mom and stepdad got what they truly deserved.

OST: Phenomenal. Net and James has an exceptional voice, and all the other tracks were also excellent.

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I will remember this as one of my favorites

This drama got a lot more hate than I think it deserved. Although this drama was not perfect, it gave people exactly what they asked for: a sweet, supportive relationship between two imperfect people, amazing chemistry, hot NC scenes without being vulgar, real kisses, supportive friends, trauma/psychological management, gorgeous settings, beautiful visuals, and more. While I did not read the novel, which apparently has the storyline and characters more in-depth and fleshed out, I am satisfied with this series.

You can't please everyone, and there were things that even I did not like. My biggest complaint is Jade. This best friend, portrayed by Yim, was a constant irritation to me. He was supposed to be comedic relief and make the show lighter. Instead, he generally just came off as stupid and whiney, and it didn't fit the overall theme of the show. Yim is a good actor and his more serious scenes were spot on. I just didn't like his interpretation of the character or the direction of the character as a whole.

I didn't start out as much of a Net/James fan, but I did end as one. Their chemistry is undeniable, both on screen and off. James does a great job playing a pretty yet stand-offish character who naturally exudes sexual attractiveness. He is wary of others due to his traumas, both past and present. Net portrays a playboy type character with animal-like sex appeal who is utterly smitten with his hard-to-get target. Together, they navigate a FWB relationship, learning to support and trust each other.

I looked forward to this show and was not disappointed. I think both Net and James are good actors who will continue to grow their skills as they get more experience and learn to trust their own instincts better.

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