P.S. I Hate You (2022)

IF YOU DON'T LIKE SH!TTY CHARACTERS... THEN BACK OFF. THIS IS NOT FOR YOU!!!

STORY: i have to admit... i assume this is more of a pll ripoff story (sarreh, im a pll fan) but definitely exceeded my expectations for a thriller/mystery genre series but still bringing the same vibes (there's murder, betrayal, s3x and definitely secrets) but created in the most maturest way and the most havoc way for the characters to ride on. many fans mentioned that they changed a few parts of the story from the novel to the series version (sarreh again, im not thai and haven't read the novel ☹️ so i cannot judge the changes), but ntl, this is still good regardless of the changes occurred.

ACTING/CASTS: might make this short for all characters to be mentioned.
Prae/Pantiwa: kinda iffy? i knew she wants to defend her friends but still, she did it in a wrong way. so her role is a goody-two-shoes here. as for Pearwah, good job reprising Prae to the point of making me hate you cuz of Prae.
Meen/Meena: might pity her, she doesn't deserve too much suffering even during her highschool days but still, she isn't the kindest of them all. a 50/50 for her. for Jan, hoping gmmtv give her big roles like this, she deserves it and she slays in here.
Wanwan/Tidawan: the most psychopathic and selfish of them all but still a loving sister, so that part is a green flag. but overall about her, she's the most disliking character here. Pat did really excel among the rest, her acting is somehow superb yet convincing (disclaimer: not stating that the rest weren't good but pointing that she shines on her own without outwitting the rest) so great for her, hoping she get projects like this, inside or outside gmmtv.
May/Maytacha: definitely has the most realistic realizations and happened to be my sudden fav character among the rest. i like her pov the most for realism from this in-denial and sometimes a head-turner and biased to more understanding person she can be. Fah slays here and her clothes really suits her appearance so its an added points why she was a perfect choice for the character (i can imagine Namtan excelling as May also but Fah is the perfect standard of Maytacha Kantisena and i thank you...period).
Saras/Sarasawadee: probably has the shocking pov, especially i happened to like her the most before due to sudden change of personality for Term but not anymore. she may be the kindest in the friends' cycle but definitely one of the most unlikeable characters here for identity theft and frustrated murder. so kinda iffy as well like Prae, they had good characteristics but dislikeable flaws. good job for Aye, she definitely slays here as well, might be one of her best series so far.
Pal/Palana: the most mischievous yet intriguing character of all. her character is somewhat pitiful yet doubtful to help for being manipulative to get her wants. overall, she is a 50/50 also for me. wishing for Jamie to have more big roles like this.
Pitch: definitely hate him eversince, he's not sincere and such a sadist, i didn't wonder that much about his role since Lee even mentioned before that his role will be the fiasco maker. yeah, as much as i love Lee, this is definitely one the roles i hate him the most. job well done for an effective hidden antagonist.
Non/Chanon: like May, has the most realistic realization throughout the series yet still being a d!ckhead as he is. from this hard-headed to humble is a green flag for me. wishing also for Pluem to earn bigger roles, he deserves to be a leading actor.
Term/Tapanon: the only light in their world full of darkness, definitely the most green flag of them all, his mistake is to fall for Saras without even knowing her in the first place, good thing he has the guts to know the truth about the latter's deceitfulness. good thing Mond reprised Lieutenant Term, a big role for him like he deserves. hoping for more bigger roles for him, its been years since he had his last lead role and i think he deserves more for this future projects.
Khun/Khunphol & Pu/Pureenut (gonna judge them the same time, they have the same judgement for me): i doubted their identity at first for being secretive but later revealed their true intentions: they were kind-hearted for helping Meen and those secrets were hidden to avoid bad publicity especially for Pu. for their bl part, i admit they're kinda beefy for this but ntl, the chemistry is somehow surprising since i never though it would spark that much. for Guy, i hope for more projects for him and hoping for a lead role, like Mond, its been years since he had his lead role so gmmtv better give him one, the same as Papang, he deserves a bigger role and be a leading actor soon.
Win/Tanawin: when will you ever gonna woke up for your coma? that is my question for you. but tbh, his role is kinda sad for being a fool out of love, to the point of giving up on life. like Meen, he didn't the sufferings he is experiencing. his role is not that big but let's still appreciate Pawin for reprising Win, i guess it is hard to portray a role who's under coma but he make the viewers convinced for portraying that kind of role. may he get a lead role once again, maybe a bigger role than this.
Wee/Korawee: i still hold a grudge against him, i never feel remorse for him. a sexual predator, manipulator and i guess a pedophile(?) don't deserve death that way, he is still filled with hatred on his heart but i guess its karma who give him a taste of his own medicine so i guess he still deserves to die? probably the character shouldn't be tolerated is this guy (worse than Wanwan and Saras tbh). overall, Nat astounds yet given the fact that this is his 1st gmmtv project, hope he work with gmmtv once again in his future projects, seems like they giving him an intriguing role.
Chanutda, Tarinee and Saras's grandma: hate them, they were cold-hearted and full of hatred for their son/daughters/grandchild and hoping for a positive changes at the end (Chanutda for acceptance beneficial for herself. Tarinee for accepting her fate, whether good or bad. and Saras's grandma for life choices and visions). gonna give a round of applause for the ones who reprised them.
NOTE: the guest casts did great job for spicing the story even further, they still excel here afterall.

MUSIC: the musical scoring is great especially in the ep. 11 4/4 (timelapse: 0:59), the ominous sound, the melancholic, the suspense, etc. were great, wish to have the copy of those so i can enjoy doing some edits trololol-. the ending song sung by Aye suits the series especially the lyrics but the thing all the viewers of this want is the "in Your Eyes" song and hoping it might get released after the finale of the series so we can enjoy listening to the whole version of the song afterwards.

REWATCH VALUE: a 10/10, might watch this again after finale. this series questions on how friendship are glued and how much you trust people.

OVERALL: this is a great series overall, there are some loopholes but only minor part and aren't really necessary to be told too much (like most casts' family identity specifically Meen, May, Saras, Pal, Pu and Term's). if you're planning to watch this, you should definitely bring your theories and assumptions in every twists. might miss this ☹️

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dark and messy soap opera style series with cute side m/m couple

Overall: this isn't the type of plot (dark/murder mystery) that I enjoy, but I think they did a good job with it. Wish the side m/m couple would have had more screen time. Watched on YouTube.

Content Warnings: pretty much every single one, this could be really triggering for people so please take care if you watch the whole thing

Timings for the side m/m couple (in case you'd like to just see their scenes, I think I got most of them). The best are episode 5 part 4 and episode 6 part 1.
ep 2 4/4, 3m30s
ep 3 2/4, 1:30
ep 5 3/4, 4
ep 5 4/4, beginning
ep 6 1/4, 9
ep 8 3/4, beginning
ep 14 2/4, 4
ep 16 3/4, 13 and 16
ep 17 2/4, 1m10s
ep 18 4/4 4m30s

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Such Messy Fun

When GMMTV aired their first trailer for PS I Hate You, I was immediately intrigued and added it to my Plan to Watch. When I finally had time to sit down and check it out, I couldn't take my eyes off the show! The story's twists and turns are unpredictable, and every episode ends in a cliffhanger. I truly could not believe who ended up becoming the ultimate villain.

What makes PS I Hate You such a good show are the clues that the writers planted in each episode. The clues build up more and more as the episodes go on. Just when you have an idea who is really at fault of each of the characters' suffering, new information is uncovered and you don't know what to believe.

This show is unsettling, the characters become more and more sinister as the episodes go on. It's fascinating watching these characters ruin themselves over and over again, trying to atone for their sins and mistakes from the past but ultimately burying themselves deeper in their own mess.

You do have to turn your brain off at some points. For example, everyone just seems to agree that Meen is the one to blame for Prae's death. The evidence points to Meen but despite Meen being Prae's best friend and literally no motive, no one seems to question the evidence.

Despite these issues, I would say a fairly neatly written series (with some odd bits and pieces that aren't really explained but they're small enough to not ruin the experience). The main characters are consistent throughout the series (except one character at the end but I'm going to ignore it lol) but have very believable character development. The bad things they do are with (mostly) good intentions, and although I want to wring their necks at times, I found myself rooting for all of them at times.

(And just to be clear, I'm talking about the main characters. There are some rotten, ugly-hearted people in this show that deserve no sympathy and only a slow, painful demise.)

Don't even get me started on the acting! The only one of the main characters I wasn't familiar with was Pat who plays Wanwan, but I would say she was the strongest actress of the bunch. I hated her character to pieces, but Pat delivered! Wanwan's pain was my pain. All the actors were at their absolute best!

I wholeheartedly recommend this show. It was a blast to watch and 18 episodes went by in a flash. The last episode does end in a cliffhanger, but honestly, I'm not mad. What would this show be without cliffhangers!

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Two can keep a secret if one of them is dead!

A soapy mix of friendship, lies, death, sex, family and abuse. And secrets! It is very difficult to watch because it is relentless in a negative way: bad things are happening all the time and nothing good happens to anyone. Ever! There is no time to breath, to rest and it did take me almost a week to go through first eight episodes. The rest I finished in a day. The pace got a bit slower and the suspense a bit lighter as the secrets were starting to be revealed one by one. Just like in any drama, the misfortunes have to keep on piling up for a long period in order to have them sorted out slowly.

This is a story of five best friends whose friendship was put on a test and eventually destroyed by the sixth girl. All characters are flawed, trying to survive in a jungle they were thrown in. They are all controlling and trying to manipulate each other with more or less success. They also thought that knowing each other's secrets protected them but it actually made them more vulnerable. And the secrets kept coming to the very last minute of the drama where the grand manipulator was revealed. There was not a dull moment or any major inconsistencies or plot holes. Everything was wrapped up nicely. The only shiny moment in this drama is the cute bl couple who had too few scenes for my liking but luckily for them they were not too important for the plot so they survived.

The acting was perfect. The writing and production flawless: I particularly liked the short pauses between the scenes with a few seconds time lapse views of the city.

PS I Hate You was an excellent single watch , but I do not wish to watch something like this again for a certain amount of time. It is just like korean makjangs: one revenge melodrama every six months is more than enough.

SPOILERS BELOW

WATCH DIARY
The plot: with friends like these, who needs enemies!
Question: who is the Narrator of the series?
So after three episodes here's what I see: on the surface best friends, but really hate each other immensely. The girls cannot stand Meen. She was in love with Pitch but his sister told her friends he was off bounds so they broke up. The sister is dead. Pitch is still in love. Meen has been dating Non for years (since high school) but refuses to be intimate with him. Non sleeps with Wan a rich entrepreneur. What I don't understand is why does not Non break it off with Meen? Does she have something on him? Does not look like it!
The hatred the three girls have for Meen is rather impressive. Why do they hate her so much? Because she's kind and honest (at least so far!)?
There was a 6th girl in their group who dated Wan's brother Win but died and shortly afterwards Win had an accident which left him a vegetable!
Each on their own, Meen and Pitch are investigating what happened at Prae's wedding and why?
The series is amazing: there has not been a dull moment so far as they are hitting us with one revelation upon another constantly! I realized I cannot multitask while watching this!
Can someone explain to me one thing: why are there two women hell bent on keeping Non? Have they actually looked at him? He is a sleazeball, ugly, squishy and at a first glance not worthy of trust. He is not even a handsome bad boy, so why? He looks like an incompetent mob offspring! And squishy! In those godawful tiger & leopard shirts!
And why is Saras scared to death of her grandmother?
Questions just keep on popping in my head while watching but for the moment, no answers!
Ep 5 and Meen is slowly starting to get on my nerves with her self righteous attitude; she's been dating Non for years, barely letting him kiss her let alone more, not really in love with him but refusing to let him go. And then she cries because he cheats on her?!?!? Non is a wimp. Why is someone like Wan in love with him, go figure! Meen is not a nice person behind her sweet attitude!
We found out that Saras has a rich grandmother from hell who never accepted her and who has been abusing her and her mother for years. She is so creepy!
Thank god for Khun and Phu: they are comforting each other. After the initial jerk phase, Phu turned out to be just a little boy lost! Maybe there's more than meets the eye between those two?
Ep 6 and I am starting to feel sorry for those four women: unappreciated and abused by their families and the society: it is no wonder why they turned out to be so hard and unforgiving!
Ep 7 slowly but surely the cracks are starting to show and the girls' real personalities are coming to light! Meen is the first one. She does not love Non, does not want to sleep with him in spite of dating him for years and has the audacity to feel hurt when she finds out he'd been sleeping with her friend. What does she do? Goest to see her ex sleeps with him and then cuts him off because he slept with another one of her friends before they knew each other! Get off of your high righteous horse, Meen and feel the real life!
I am impressed by the way the rape storyline was presented and victim's position made clear. But also, the whole thai society's position on rape and the obligatory woman's fault! It was clearly stated that it is wrong!
Ep 8 and I want to drop this so hard! I cannot stand the creeps surrounding the girls using the fact that they are weaker physically to threaten them and to abuse them. The worst, so far is Wee. He was a charmer but he is actually the most venomous snake.
I know I am only halfway through, and the drama needs to reach its peak for the things to start getting sorted but this piling of misfortunes and extremely frustrating and instead of wanting to match more I want to watch less! The balance in the events is missing!
When they are together the girls are invincible and they managed to save May but it is not enough. Definitely not over yet!
Ep 9 and Prae's mother hears some home truths but does not accept responsibility. What a surprise! And of course she goes off and blames Prae's friends, Meen in particular! What a horrible mother!
Sidenote: maybe I should make a list of others from hell?
Thai men are such machos: they fall for the "damsel in distress" play every single time. I guess the women have learned how to use the downsides of being females in a very traditional society to their own profit. And the men eat it up and ask for more! Goody!
Ep 10 They ALL hate Meen. Why so much hate? Everyone seems to blame her for everything since high school. Prae's death was just the last drop. But...Nothing that she's done so far justifies such amount of detestation. So why? We do not know everything but so far Meen seems to be an honest and a nice person.
And that Wee is a sleazy creep still going around and threatening Wan mostly!
Is there anyone nice in this drama beside the bl couple who is there just to look happy? What's with Wan's mother and her scheming by keeping her son sick? She's a real snake! Just look how Wan recoils when her mother hugs her! Motherly love is hard to find in this drama! The richer they are the worse they behave! The amount of abuse the characters are subjected to is insane! I guess this is a lakorn, right? And this is just 10min into ep 11! Insane!
And don't get me started on incompetent and corrupt police! It is in every single asian drama: a lone wolf policeman fighting against against the entire organisation which is corrupt !
Ep 12 seems like calm before the storm. Some secrets came out in the open. Suicide, abortion...what we need now is a little known trope called amnesia even though it does not fit with the plot here. Maybe the brother when he wakes up will remember nothing.
With the following episodes more and more secrets keep being revealed: drugs, addiction, sex, blackmailing and everything wrapped in dysfunctional parenting with young people trying to break free but using the wrong tactics.Prae was obviously in love with Meen, of the unrequited kind unfortunately. Meen and Pitch are in an on again off again kind of relationship: one secret: we get together, another secret: we break up, the next secret, get together again and so on.... Pal seems to have been a deeply unhappy girl who searched for love and friendship by blackmail. Saras's secret (fake name she gave the policeman boyfriend!) is also about to be found. The final showdown is approaching but the pace of the drama is somehow slowing down. Which is good: I can binge watch it now!
Ep 15 does not matter the circumstances but murder is a murder so how are they going to get away with it? Because they certainly will....
PPL: for the last couple of episodes or so, we are seeing a lot of ads for Suzuki cars which are nicely fit into the plot: a getaway car!
Another thing I need to mention is the short city view time lapse intermissions between scenes: really pretty scenes of Bangkok skyline at sunset or sunrise!
Back to the ep15: they are not getting away with anything, it's impossible!
Ep 16 and Wan's mother is shedding crocodile tears because she messed up and the company is going down the drain so no more money for a lazy drunk like her!
So people are dropping like flies. But Saras managed to tell her grandmother from hell to go to hell. Poor May. But we get to see our cute bl couple bickering at a funeral. We definitely need some light relief because this drama is relentlessly throwing complications and revelations at us.
And again in ep 17 flashback there is that girl with glasses watching them. Who is she? A red herring! In present, in spite of everything that's happened, they are all moving on with their lives, unafraid of any consequences for their actions (dead people keep piling up on their path: they just keep stepping over them going forward!) WOW!!!
What a mother! Stealing her son's inheritance, framing her daughter for murder...Well she's not their real mother! But the kids' father is the worst of them all, taking the easy way out in order not to deal with the toxic family he created!
The only character here with a bit of conscience and naivety is Saras. Though what's with her hair in the end: frizzy but coloured and with visible roots.....
Meen is on her high horse but it somehow seems to good to be true! She's being lied to as well by the person she trusts the most.
The Narrator was finally revealed to be Palana writing a suicide note to her father but ending up changing her mind when she saw the Blossom Squad and decided to create the mayhem which resulted in a number of deaths. All the time looking like an innocent child with a lollipop: Lolita!

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A truly compelling show that keeps you guessing until the very end

The show starts off with 5 friends, a leaked sex tape, and a death at a wedding. While the initial mystery revolves around “who leaked the video at the wedding?”, that would be a gross oversimplification of PS I Hate You’s plot.

A line in the initial episodes (“You all did this to yourselves”) would foreshadow the eventual conclusion of the show. To what lengths are people willing to go to in order to protect their secrets?

Because of how the storytelling is structured, there are few obvious (main) villains in the show since everyone is a complex human being, driven by self-preservation and hidden agendas. Non, for instance, initially appears as a highly obnoxious, unlikeable person, but he later redeems himself slightly in a subsequent relationship where he displays maturity.

With nearly 20 episodes, it takes a while for the pieces of the puzzle to come together, but the story is in no way slow-moving.

Every episode drops just enough crumbs for the audience to learn more about the truth. But with every new development is yet another twist (read: betrayal) around the corner ready to complicate things, so don’t think you know it all just yet.

Full review: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2022/09/28/ps-i-hate-you-review/

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it's a great series trust me

𝐈𝐭' 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐢 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝 ,𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 ❤️𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐝 ,𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠.𝐈𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩

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One of the best Thai dramas of the year, and the best suspense Thai drama of the decade. Bravo to GMM, the SNAP25 team and cast for taking Thai dramas to the next level. I finished this last night, and let me tell you, I’m still blown away.

Whether you like this drama is really gonna come down to what kind of stories and characters you like. If you are a fan of suspense, thriller, revenge and flawed characters, PS I Hate You is gonna be right up your alley and possibly the best ish you’re gonna watch.

First episode starts off strong. I was not a fan of the story arc that followed but once that was over, the rest of the series got a lot more interesting and intricate in ways that I did not anticipate. How various events, past and present, emotionally affected each of the characters, and ultimately their actions that unfortunately led to tragic unintended consequences going so much further than any of them could ever imagine.

Some stories drag towards the end, but this one only got better. I’m definitely going to watch this again in a couple days now with the lens of knowing what happened.

If you decide to watch this, do yourself a favor and avoid spoilers at all cost until you’re done watching. You really don’t want to deprive yourself of the experience of watching how things unfold with a blank slate.

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Puts the Pretty Little Liars reboot to shame

Initially, I was reluctant to give this series a try. I don't like women tearing each other down for no reason, and I was afraid it might go in that direction. But after a while I started watching for the cast, and honestly, I don't regret it. The story is messy in the best ways, all characters are flawed yet relatable, and the cast is phenomenal.

The plot revolves around five close friends and a secret they've shared for a long time. When a tape is leaked at a wedding, everything comes crashing down and the group is confronted with decisions they made years, ultimately leading to the question: “Did we create the demons that haunt us?” What seems like a premise reminiscent of Pretty Little Liars (and that's also how I'm trying to sell the series to my friends) actually goes way deeper. And along the way, the series tries to tackle some serious and possibly triggering topics, mostly being thoughtful about it, but some plot points could've used more exploration.

The same can be said for some characters, I suppose. While I love all of them deeply, especially for their flaws and the very human mistakes they make throughout the series, I would've loved to get to know some of them better. I can't say much without spoiling some plot points (and avoiding spoilers is crucial for this show, believe me), but of the main five, some got more background than others. Which is a shame, because I loved them so damn much. I mean, they're also kind of terrible, but I seriously rooted for them.

So, without spoiling any of the plot twists and reveals: If you're intrigued by the premise or just the queer (side) characters, give the series a try. I'd definitely recommend it!

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