Bad Chemistry

Going into this final stretch of Our Skyy 2, I find myself with conflicting feelings. I was not expecting to see Bad Buddy and A Tale of Thousand Stars combined. None of the other stories were connected and I'm wondering why they decided to do so here. It's not bad, but I feel like the focus is more with the Thousand Stars story and Bad Buddy is the side piece. Like many other viewers, the Bad Buddy and Tale of a Thousand Stars episodes were the ones I was looking forward to most. They're the two oldest and so the nostalgia is stronger with them since it's been a couple years since we've seen these characters. As much as I anticipated these episodes, I'm finding that they fall a bit flat unfortunately.

When it comes to Bad Buddy, I'm not sure how much of a fan I am in going back in time a bit to just after Pat and Pran pretend to break up. I feel like a lot of the plot in that first episode is a rinse and repeat of what we've already seen. I would have preferred if it was a continuation from the end of the series after they graduated. We'd seen the rift between their parents starting to heal and things had reached a point where they weren't going to need to hide their relationship. Going on from there, continuing to show that healing, the novelty that they could be together openly, all would have made for a great conclusion to their story and would have focused solely on them.

Their relationship, while very similar to how it was in the series, does have its differences here. There was a good balance in Bad Buddy of mischievous/playful and sweet moments between them. I liked that it was a series where both leads were strong minded young men. It gave a whole different dynamic that worked very well. In these episodes though the sweet moments are few and far between and the mischievous/playful moments take precedence. And those few sweet moments are by and large initiated by Pat at which point Pran pushes him away or something interrupts them. It's been a while since I watched it, but I felt like they were on more of an even keel in the series. That's not to say there aren't some sweet moments between them, there are, it just overall doesn't feel quite in harmony with the series. And I was expecting a lot more of those sweet moments once they were away from their friends and parents since they wouldn't have to pretend anymore, but they're still few and far between. As a side note, Pran's reaction to up and leave without Pat because of Pat's comment felt over the top. Since they were pretending to still be enemies, it would make sense that Pat would be bad mouthing him or making himself out to be superior. Considering that Pran typically came across as relatively level-headed previously, his taking that comment to heart and deciding to abandon Pat didn't seem to quite fit with his character.

There were a couple of other things that just didn't quite work. Pat and Pran are supposed to be broken up and back to being enemies at this point. However, they don't act like it at all. They're constantly together in public without showing a bit of animosity and yet we're supposed to believe that their friends are in the dark. Yes, they're questioning it to some degree, but seriously, those two are so obvious a blind man could see they're still together. Besides that, it also appears that they're living together. Living across the hall from each other and sneaking into each other's rooms is one thing, but how on earth does them living together work? Do they just not have any friends who aren't in on their secret over? What about their parents? The other part that didn't work for me was how little time they spend together. With the first episode they spend a good portion of it together, but once the second episode hits and they're in the village, they're pretty effectively separated for much of it. I would have preferred to see more of them working together rather than their divide and conquer strategy.

Ohm and Nanon are both very talented actors and two of my favorites. Their chemistry together in Bad Buddy was phenomenal and their interactions were just very natural. I've heard rumors of some kind of conflict between them, it's not something that I've looked into, but after watching these two episodes, I do have to wonder if there is something going on between them. The spark they had previously just wasn't quite there. I can't put my finger on it, but something felt a bit off.

A Tale of Thousand Stars was a series that I really enjoyed. I liked the story which I felt was overall well done as well as the characters and acting. I was very excited to see Tian, Phupha and the rest of the characters from their story again and I have to admit I'm a bit disappointed at how few of the characters were brought back. For their story, I was hoping for a continuation from the end of the series focusing on Tian getting reacquainted with the village and villagers and settling back in with them and into his relationship with Phupha. I was not hoping for angsty, teenage drama between two grown men.

The inconsistencies between the series and Our Skyy 2 are grating. Phupha seems to have undergone a personality transplant because he's just coming across as an unreasonable jerk here. He was a serious character in Thousand Stars, but he wasn't totally unbending and there was a tenderness about him whenever he was with Tian that was very endearing. That's just gone. Their conflict feels very contrived. In the series they generally came across as two reasonable adults, now though they feel more like sulky teenagers. I hope we get a better explanation for why Phupha doesn't want to accompany Tian than he doesn't like crowds. Which, that reasoning just seems like BS since we saw him at at least two gatherings in the series. Sticking with Phupha for a moment, his fainting just as he meets Pran also felt off. This is a man who very rarely showed any kind of weakness, so to see him keel over because he hadn't had breakfast seemed out of character. There was also Tian acting like he didn't know how to get to Pha Pun Dao when he went there alone, in the dark previously. And besides that time, he'd gone at least two other times, if not more, so his uncertainty of how to get there didn't make sense. There are a few other minor details that don't quite jive with the series which is more just annoying than causing any actual issues.

Similar to Ohm and Nanon, Earth and Mix don't have quite the same spark between them as they did in the series. Even when they were in conflict, you could feel that magnetic pull between them. Maybe because their bickering here just feels petty more than anything, that pull doesn't seem to be as present. That being said, Earth and Mix are great actors and there is chemistry between them, just not as strong as what they had in the series.

Having these two series combined did create some interesting and entertaining moments. Pat and Phupha waking up and panicking about what they may have done together was a particularly funny scene. Also the fact that Phupha offering Pat his shirt was a direct call back to a scene from Thousand Stars. I am enjoying the friendship springing up between Pran and Tian as well as the competitive camaraderie between Pat and Phupha.

While I love both Bad Buddy and A Tale of Thousand Stars, I don't know as I love them combined. At this point, I feel like we're being robbed of Pat and Pran's story in favor of one centered on Phupha and Tian. And I think with both stories, they're just missing the brilliance of the originals. I hope they find their way before the end, but right now I'm just disappointed at how this is turning out. I'll update after next week when the final episodes air.

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This Boss Has Been Dismissed

This is one of those dramas that is so dominated by attractive characters and sweet moments that you can almost be okay with all that it lacks. Almost, but not quite. This drama is lacking in a lot of areas, but that being said, I enjoyed parts of it. If you don't look too far below the surface, it's an okay drama. Not amazing, but certainly not the worst one out there. But when you begin to look deeper, you start to realize that the cute fluff was probably just a ploy to cover up the gaping holes. Based on the ratings, I was hoping for more from this drama despite the ridiculous title and I think it could have gone there, but it just didn't. It's like the writers lost their way part way through and decided the best way to finish it was with the typical dose of unnecessary drama. Still, if you don't think too hard, it's entertaining enough.

I have to admit that I'm getting really tired of BLs that almost completely lack a plot. I truly do not understand how it is so hard to write one. This one started out okay with the team developing their game and the drama of their idea being stolen and utilized by a former employee working for another company. But then it just floundered. That plot ended up not really going anywhere and just fizzled out and we were left with nonsensical drama between our two leads to take us to the finish line. Gun and Time's past relationship was never really developed or well explained. And Gun never explains that it wasn't actually him who gave up Time which, I sort of understood, but also didn't. Then there's Thup's story serving as kind of a second plot line and it also fizzled out. It didn't help that there was so little background on him. We know he's Thian's little brother and Cher's honorary brother, but that's about it. He's constantly asking Cher for money, supposedly for school, but it's not clear if that's actually the case. It's hinted that he's actually using it to place bets. And he has so much anger inside, and that's not really expanded on. It's obviously linked to his sister's death and what happened to her, but it's something that could have been explored a lot more to make him a more interesting and relevant character. His subsequent arrest on drug charges is made into a big deal and then we never hear about it again. He's seen once in the final episode and it's assumed he was cleared of charges, but how that all came about is left in the wind. We additionally have the very dark story with Thian which is absolutely heartbreaking, but was not treated with the respect or attention it deserved. If you are going to involve a story of a young woman being raped and impregnated by her stepfather and then committing suicide, you need to commit to that story. It is not something you throw in for added drama and then ghost which is exactly what happened here. Thup throws out that revelation, Cher briefly questions if the step-father can be arrested and then it's never mentioned again aside from at the end when Thup and his mother appear together and it's implied the step-father is no longer in the picture. I was not okay with that at all.

The constant push and pull there at the end between Cher and Gun got old very quickly. A lot of BLs resort to this and it's so overdone and tired. And I'm not blaming Gun here. He was consistent with his love for Cher and damned the consequences. And I can also to an extent understand Cher's wavering at least initially with one of his best friends saying that a CEO and an intern getting together wasn't appropriate. But I also think he blew it way out of proportion. The primary issue was their PDA at work, which I personally found valid. You're there to work, not flirt with your boss and slack off. So why he didn't click to that and just tell Gun that they needed to cool it at work and instead overreacted is beyond me. And not once, but several times. Listen to your man, sir, he's telling you he loves you and you can get through this. Communicate! The whole trope too of I'm going to go off and do my own thing and just leave you but then I'll come back has also been used a lot recently and is equally old. What would be a great twist is if the other person actually didn't wait for them and moved on with their life. Not that I expect that will ever happen, but it would be more interesting than, yes, I've waited for you for five years or whatever. If you've waited that long, please go get therapy, that's not healthy.

Speaking on that note, one of the things I was impressed with was the inclusion of Jack's mental health, specifically his depressive disorder. A lot of dramas skirt mental health issues, so I appreciated that it was actually discussed. What I was NOT impressed with was Cher flippantly discussing it with other members of the team without Jack's permission. That is a huge no no. You do not speak about somebody else's mental health issues with other people. It is a huge breach of privacy and trust. Another issue I took was the celebration that Jack could go off his meds. I have depression, I will be on medication for the rest of my life probably, so to have it portrayed like a depressive order is something that can be cured didn't sit real well with me. The one thing I will say though, is that it seemed like his depressive order was caused by a specific event, namely something that happened between him and a former lover, so that could translate to a different kind of treatment. I'm not a medical professional though so I don't know. Generally speaking, however, like I said, depression isn't something that's cured. Your dose of meds may be adjusted, but your doctor doesn't typically take you off of them.

In terms of characters, I was disappointed by the lack of character development and background. This was not one of those dramas that had a huge cast where it was impossible to have any detail because they were juggling so many characters. This just seemed like more of a case of laziness or disinterest more than anything else. Gun, I think, had the most character development but I didn't feel it was consistent. He came across as cold and aloof at the beginning but that attitude pretty quickly changed after he met Cher. Too quickly, in my opinion. I wanted to see a gradual softening of his attitude towards Cher and then that also translating to those around him. But while his attitude towards Cher obviously changed, there wasn't as much of a change in how he treated others. The exception would be those close to Cher. With them, he was pretty open and friendly, but anyone else outside that circle pretty much seemed to still get the cold shoulder. Cher was pretty stagnant frankly. He had some minor changes, he became slightly more serious, but overall, his character remained relatively unchanged which was disappointing. It was clear that his character started wearing off on Gun, but not vice versa. As for their relationship, the pacing was terrible. It was like they rushed into it to begin with, I mean there first kiss is in Episode 2, I think, before remaining static for a while, then there would be some progression followed by another static period and so on and so forth. It didn't have a good, consistent flow and I think it would have been better if they had developed it more at the beginning before just jumping in.

And while I loved the friendship between Cher, Jack, Zo, Three, and Tubtab, they were also very neglected in terms of character development and background. In fact, I don't think any background was given on them regarding how any of them met and formed their gaming team, how long Zo and Three had been together, nothing but the barest of hints regarding Jack's background and former love interest, nothing about Tubtab's café, etc. Having that kind of information enriches the characters, makes them seem more real and less one dimensional. Zo and Three in particular were treated as a unit rather than given identities as individuals. Basically every scene revolved around them as a pair which isn't fair to the characters. Time was another character that had a huge disservice done to him. There was so much there that could have been delved into with his past friendship with Gun, his transfer to another company, and the leaking that he had been accessing his former employers emails to gain knowledge of their game. Instead, he's given almost no screen time, he makes an idle threat that at first I thought was going to add some juice to the drama but led nowhere, and ends up getting fired and having one last fight with Gun in which Gun does nothing. I still don't understand why he didn't tell him that he wasn't the one to send the evidence. And last but not least, we have Porsche who is Gun's ex, but again, no other information is really given about him. He's basically there as a sounding board for Gun/interpreter of Cher's actions to some degree and nothing more which again was disappointing because I think he couldn't have been a really interesting character. Gun's mother was another pretty weak character. I don't think it helped that everything with her was thrown in at the end, but she came across as very no nonsense women and pretty determined that Cher was not suitable for her son. But he graduates and wins a gaming competition and suddenly she's okay with them? I'm guessing there just wasn't enough time left to really develop her character, but it felt sloppy.

This was another drama where the acting was hit or miss. Force and Book have been friends for a really long time, some sixteen years if memory serves, and unfortunately, that's what comes through. Their romantic chemistry is nil, in fact as soon as a scene turned romantic, moving from just hugs to kissing, it was a like switch flipped and all the heat left the room. I felt absolutely nothing. Their buddy chemistry on the other hand was great. I know a number of the popular BL couples these days are made up of actors who have been friends for years and some of them work really well together and can bring that romantic chemistry to the table, I'm looking at First and Khaotung. Force and Book are just two who can't. I think they'd be great together in a drama where they're just friends and one or both of them have different love interests. They're acting is nothing spectacular. I wasn't overly impressed with them in Enchante and that just continued here. Book is just kind of boring to watch. They both lack depth, but it's especially noticeable with Book. He's adorable, don't get me wrong, and plucky, but that's about it. It starts to get repetitive after a while. He can make sad faces all day, but I just don't generally feel it. He had a few instances where he did connect, so I think he has potential. Force is slightly better. His emotions at least reached his eyes sometimes and there were moments where I could feel his pain. But he's not consistent and that's a problem. And while I understand the character he played was cold, he often came off as robotic. The other actors did serviceable jobs. I don't think any of them were spectacular, but I blame most of that on the fact that their characters were so incredibly shallow.

I know this is nitpicking, but the synopsis talks about Cher's gaming and ASMR channel. Gun is interested in him from the get go because of his voice from his ASMR channel which I didn't get because while Book's voice is fine, it's not like there's anything unique about it. I mean absolutely offense, but I didn't discern any kind of special quality to it that could make me understand where Gun was coming from. Cher's ASMR channel is never featured except in one maybe fifteen second clip and is barely mentioned after Gun's initial recognition of him as the owner of that channel and his gaming also doesn't play into the story much either except as a source of conflict with his friends and as a way to show off Gun.

There were a few things that I did like. The whole husband/wife trope was nowhere to be seen here. They refer to each other as boyfriends once they reach that point and nothing else. The fact that Gun was gay and a CEO was never an issue. Aside from comments that his mother had tried to "fix" him, no one batted an eye about the two of them being together other aside from feeling it was inappropriate for the CEO of the company to be together with an intern. And while it wasn't explicitly mentioned, it is implied that Cher is bisexual. I appreciated that the fact he had liked a girl previously and was now with a guy was never questioned or even commented on.

Production was okay. There were a couple of scenes that had some really choppy editing done which was distracting. The music wasn't anything spectacular, but I always take it as a bonus if it's not overly loud and distracting.

If you can turn your brain off and just enjoy the cute moments and fluff, you'll probably enjoy this drama. If you're someone though who wants a fully developed plot and characters, I would steer clear as you won't find that here. It's one of those dramas that had the potential to be something if it had an actual plot and better writing, but lacking both, it's mediocre at best.

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La Pee-ew

La Pluie started off promising enough with an interesting concept and characters that worked within that concept, however, it quickly snowballed with ridiculous, unnecessary drama that contributed nothing to the story and eventually concluded by ghosting one of its leads for almost the entire episode. It could have been much better than it was if the creators had a more solid grasp on what kind of story they were wanting to tell as well as how exactly the "disease" that is central to the story works. As it is, it just strays into the absurd and eventually loses any kind of credibility. This is one drama that almost isn't worth the watch because the script is just so bad.

The concept of rain related deafness was interesting where the person is unable to hear anyone except their "soulmate". It's not well explained or really developed medically, but at least initially that was fine. You have Saengtai and Phat who have experienced this hearing loss for at least two years at the time the story starts and they are soulmates. However, due to his parents divorcing, Saengtai doesn't believe in soulmates any longer and actively ignores Phat whenever he tries to communicate with him. The problem here though is that Saengtai had the hearing loss prior to his parents' divorce, but Phat talks about how Saengtai never really responded to him. If Saengtai lost his belief in soulmates after his parents' divorce, why wouldn't he have responded to Phat before that? It's not a great start when there are already holes in the story from the get go. Even with the holes, I was willing to look past that because the concept was still interesting if not well planned out. And I liked Phat and Saengtai initially. The fact that both of them were determined to defy their destinies and then ended up falling for each other in the end was cute. There was a decent build up and I liked their interactions. What ended up killing it for me was throwing Lomfon into the mix. The drama that created was unnecessary, particularly suddenly having Lomfon develop hearing loss while it rained and hearing both Phat and Saengtai, which it was conveniently exempted that he evidently heard both of them. From there it was just a constant back and forth of misunderstandings that was tiring to watch. The final episode sent Saengtai on the hunt to find Phat and we spend almost the entirety of the episode Phat-less which was certainly a decision. He finally shows up with about 5 minutes remaining and they make up and everything is great. Throughout there's the side couple of Saengtien, Saengtai's younger brother, and Lomfon who start to develop feelings for each other, but it's complicated by Lomfon's feelings for Saengtai as well. Basically everything gets very neatly and conveniently wrapped up and leaves you wondering why it took so long to get to that point as well as feeling like nothing was really gained.

I do feel like a lot of issues would have been cleared up if the parameters of the whole rain deafness were defined. This is supposed to be a medical condition and yet there is absolutely no rhyme or reason to how it works and I lost interest in the idea of it as it was manipulated to forward the story. Lomfon, who has feelings for Saengtai, doesn't seem to have a chance because he's not Saengtai's soulmate until he very conveniently develops the hearing loss and can hear both Saengtai and Phat which, again, it is never addressed or explained that he seemingly can hear both of them, he just focuses on the fact that he can hear Saengtai. They also talk about how it's not possible that they can hear more than one person which makes it seem like this is a complete anomaly and again, isn't that just convenient. And then when Lomfon and Phat start fighting over Saengtai, all Saengtai has to do is yell that he doesn't want this destiny and suddenly they're all cured? It just completely strayed out of the realm of plausible within the confines of the story to the absurd and took away any and all credence it had to begin with.

I started out overall liking most of the characters, particularly Phat. They each had their own distinctive personalities and I was hopeful that there was going to be some real character growth, but I was frankly disappointed the farther along we got. Besides manipulating the rain deafness to suit the story, the characters also became a casualty of this manipulation so we ended up with several of them acting very out of character to suit the drama that the creators wanted.
-Saengtai was one of my least favorite characters from the get go, but I also found him interesting in his decision to defy his destiny. I didn't approve of his treatment of his mother and his childish behaviour regarding his parents' divorce. The fact that he laid the full blame on his mother and evidently made absolutely no effort to understand why his parents had reached the point of concluding things were not going to work out was frustrating the more that got dragged out. The fact that his parents had to basically sit him down and explain things in detail that really didn't feel like they should need an explanation was ridiculous. He was old enough that he should have been able to figure a lot of that out himself. Aside from that, I also found his passiveness to be frustrating as the story progressed. Things that seemed like they should have caused a reaction didn't and especially after he and Phat broke up, he was just far too calm about everything. I really didn't feel like he actually cared that much. And then there were other times he just made unilateral conclusions without waiting for any kind of explanation. All in all, he came across as quite selfish and self-absorbed at times. The decision to have him lie to Phat about meeting up with Lomfon was what felt out of character as he did it not once but twice. Considering his character up to that point, it didn't feel like something he would do. The events that followed could have been completely negated if he had simply been honest, but then where would be the drama?
-Phat started out pretty perfect. He was friendly, kind, compassionate, and an all around good guy. He was incredibly patient and considerate with Saengtai, he communicated and communicated well both with Saengtai and with his ex, Nara. Even with Lomfon he was initially polite. He was an absolute breath of fresh air. And then Episode 10 hit and his character went up in flames. His reaction to finding out Saengtai had lied to him and finding Lomfon kissing him was to beat the crap out of Lomfon. Um, what? The sudden aggressiveness that permeated his every action that episode was completely out of the blue and out of character. And he never shows any real remorse for those actions. He never apologizes to Lomfon for attacking him nor does he apologize to Saengtai for going off the rails. It's all very neatly swept under the rug. He later goes to try to make up with Saengtai, sees him talking to Lomfon and immediately interprets that as them being together and decides the best course of action is to disappear. We see him in Episode 12 for a grand total of about 5 minutes during which he mostly stares blankly at Saengtai while he monologues. It's a disappointing ending for the character.
-Saengtien is Saengtai's younger brother and I quite liked his character. He's a loveable, mischievous brat and I absolutely loved his relationship with Saengtai. I don't recall a good explanation being given for why he and Lomfon are at such odds initially, other than they are very different people. Lomfon is obviously more introverted and Saengtien is much more extroverted. I liked the way that Saengtien's attraction to Lomfon was developed as it felt natural. I truly felt bad for him when he saw Lomfon and Saengtai kissing and his reaction and his behaviour afterward felt justified. His obtuseness though when Lomfon showed his video didn't quite fit. He's not stupid so to have him play dumb felt out of character. I could understand him being hesitant to accept those feelings after what had happened, but to not get that Lomfon was confessing his love for him didn't work. The ending too where he suddenly develops hearing loss was ridiculous. I don't know if they're shooting for a second season or what, but that was completely unnecessary.
-Lomfon left me feeling conflicted regarding his character. On the one hand, I liked his interactions with Saengtien and I liked the build up of their relationship. And initially there was nothing wrong with him liking Saengtai because at that point, Saengtai was single. His continued pursuit though of Saengtai even after he had entered into a public relationship with Phat was over the line. At that point, it didn't matter if his feelings were conflicted as to whether he liked Saengtai or Saengtien. Even with developing the rain deafness suddenly and being able to hear Saengtai, the fact that Saengtai was already in a loving relationship should have told him that he was now off limits. His continual pushing of the matter made me lose a lot of respect for his character. And while I was glad he did apologize to Saengtai, he also owed an apology to Phat which he never does.

The acting was overall decent. I liked the chemistry between Suar and Copter. I felt it was lacking more between Title and Pee, but I think that's in part because there were times where it felt like Title forgot to emote and his expressions were just dead. They did have their moments though, just not enough to be consistent. Aside from the last episode where he just seemed devoid of any real emotion which felt out of place, I liked Pee's performance. Suar was great and I was impressed with his chemistry with everyone he interacted with. Copter was a bit wooden at times which worked to an extent with his character, but I did feel he could have given more.

There were several elements that were thrown in without much explanation that really didn't contribute much to the story. One of the main ones being that both Phat and Lomfon had history with Saengtai without any of them realizing it. It's revealed that Phat's grandmother used to live next door to Saengtai and he and Phat had communicated for some time via notes passed back and forth over the fence, however, conveniently they never saw each other which feels a bit implausible, but at this point it's better to just go with it. They both essentially see it as a further connection confirming their soulmate bond. But wait, then we find out that Lomfon also has a connection to Saengtai since Saengtai saved him from being hit by a car. And apparently that one brief encounter made Lomfon fall in love with the stranger who saved him so Saengtai is Lomfon's first love which doesn't make sense to me, but again, we'll just go with it. The only purpose it seems to serve is to attempt to give credence to Lomfon's feelings for Saengtai as if, besides his sudden hearing loss, the fact that they have history puts him on more equal footing with Phat. The developing relationship between Nara and Dream came out of left field. On the one hand, I'm all for it, but on the other hand, it didn't feel like it got the attention it needed to really make sense. It felt like Nara moved on from Phat far too quickly. I love the idea of them, I just don't feel like it was well executed. Also thrown in, in the last episode no less, are a couple who help out Saengtai when he runs out of gas. He stays with them and we're treated to this random couple's whole story which felt out of place. They get more screen time than Phat does in this last episode.

This was essentially a drama with an interesting concept and a decent cast that was just completely let down by the writing. It started out well but really went downhill during the last couple of episodes and the ending was disappointingly anticlimactic. Frankly, this is one drama that you're not going to be missing out if you skip it. There are other better dramas that have been released recently that I would watch first and leave this as more of a last resort if you have nothing better to do or watch.

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Sky's the Limit

I had high expectations for Our Skyy 2, too high, it turns out. I was looking forward to a continuation of stories I had come to love or at least tolerate. Unfortunately, the powers that be decided to get creative or lazy, depending on the case, with a number of these stories and those mostly failed to deliver. It's not all bad, there are some that are absolute gems, but it's not what I was hoping for and I am a bit disappointed in how it turned out.

Episodes 1 & 2 - Never Let Me Go - 5.5 Stars
Of the dramas being continued with Our Skyy 2, Never Let Me Go is my least favorite. I didn't think it was a great drama to begin with and it's one that seemed to have a pretty conclusive ending that didn't need any further embellishment so I didn't have high hopes for these two episodes. That turned out to be a very good thing as they were completely underwhelming and frankly, quite tedious to watch.

The story just seemed ridiculous. To go from the more serious tone of Never Let Me Go with being hunted down and trying to survive to these two episodes where we suddenly have fortune tellers and magical bracelets and curses and jumping through time, it was incredibly jarring. There are far too many plot holes, too many questions left unanswered and not nearly enough time to properly flesh everything out.

The few things that I liked were that Palm and Nueng did communicate. Not necessarily well all the time, but they made the effort. It was certainly an improvement over their almost total lack of communication in NLMG. Despite not feeling like it really fit with the drama, I was intrigued by the historical setting. If the special had fit in better with the original drama, I think I could have liked it. The power swap was interesting with Palm suddenly being the rich and powerful one and Nueng as a servant. It created a different dynamic between them at times though I think it could have been played with to a greater extent. I liked the side couples of Phum/Petch and Kan/Kla. I found them more compelling than Palm and Nueng, particularly as Petch and Kla. And while they couldn't be together due to the time they lived in, it was gratifying to see their descendants able to be together without fear.

These two episodes were just a mess. They didn't add anything of value to the story and just felt really out there and disconnected from the drama. If you're like me and not a fan of Never Let Me Go, don't waste your time on these episodes, you won't be missing anything.

Episodes 3 & 4 - Star In My Mind - 7.0 stars
Between Star in My Mind and Sky in Your Heart, I much preferred Sky in Your Heart. So going into watching these two episodes, I didn't have high expectations. Imagine my surprise when I found that I actually overall enjoyed them and found them equal parts funny and endearing.

These two episodes are essentially just fluff without a whole lot of substance. Nothing dramatic happens, it's basically just Khabkluen and Daonuea being in love and telling each other how much they love the other. I liked that what was showcased was a healthy relationship. They actually communicate with each other and when things turn romantic, Khabkluen makes sure that Daonuea is okay with what is happening.

Their friends were entertaining. Their antics and the way they teased their two friends was amusing. I also liked the way Typhoon was handled. They could have made him sad or bitter, unable to move on from Daonuea, but instead they not only showed him moving on but even revealed that he was able to be friends with Daonuea.

These two episodes exceeded my expectations which, to be fair, wasn't hard since they were pretty low. Still, they made me laugh and smile and delivered some good moments. I think they demonstrated how to write a romance without the need of a lot of skinship to distract from the substandard plot or characters. I would recommend these episodes as they just tell a feelgood story.

Episodes 5 & 6 - The Eclipse - 8.5 stars
The Eclipse is one of my favorite BL dramas and I was really looking forward to these two episodes. I found what they did interesting and creative and even though it wasn't a hit with every scene, the characters are what really made these two extra episodes special. It was the characters that I fell in love with in the drama and they are what made me really enjoy this continuation of their stories.

Of the episodes that have aired thus far, I felt these two had the best combination of story and fluff. I thought going with a continuation of Wat's moviemaking was a unique choice since it played a relatively minor role in the original, but a good one. The scenes with the characters imagining themselves in various movies was incredibly cheesy, but also somewhat entertaining. It does feel a bit rushed at times, but with just two episodes, they didn't have a ton of time to fully flesh out the story and it's still good as is.

I did like that there was a clear progression in the characters' growth. They were not exactly the same as they were in the original. I liked that Akk and Aye were shown as having to actually work at their relationship. They were always a study in opposites, but with the drama from the series behind them, that comes to the fore, and they need to learn to communicate and compromise. I do wish there was more of a focus on them learning to communicate. Akk keeps things bottled up and there's no way for Aye to learn from or try to rectify the problem when he's being tight lipped. Kisses are great, but they don't solve the problem. On the flip side, I liked that Thua did communicate his feelings to Kan. There was still the element there that kisses solve problems, but I felt it was a better progression than with Akk and Aye.

I love the friendships here, especially between Akk, Wat, and Kan. The way they support each other is just so wholesome and I really love that even though Akk and Kan aren't into the indie movies that Wat is, they are still willing to encourage and support him in his dream.

My biggest qualm, honestly, was Aye pretending not to remember it was Akk's birthday. I know he was trying to surprise him, but every time I see that come up in dramas, I can't help but think it's just a recipe for disaster as it nearly always leads to issues.

I really enjoyed this special. Some of the lines from it just really hit home, like when Aye talks about the difference between "place" and "space". I think its safe to say that The Eclipse and many of these other dramas became a space for a lot of us where we feel warmth and love and I think that is just beautiful. This was a wonderful addition to The Eclipse story that you don't want to miss.

Episodes 7 & 8 - Vice Versa - 8.5 stars
Of the stories told thus far, this was the most wholesome and the most well done. It had twists and turns that were fairly well done and entertaining, good character development, good music and generally just told a very endearing story. I wasn't sure what I would think of this one based off the trailer but it completely surpassed my expectations.

I loved that the story didn't go where I thought it would. I honestly thought it was going to revolve around Tess or Pakorn's love child and Talay and Puen left having to raise the kid. And that's certainly the initial impression. But then there's the twist that he is actually Tup's nephew and he and Tou had the brilliant idea of having the kid pretend to be Talay and Puen's son to help them reconnect since work has been pulling them apart. And then there's an added twist when it comes out that Puen is in on it and a further twist when Talay overhears Puen, Tup, and Tou's conversation and puts the pieces together. He and Jigsaw plotting together was the cutest thing ever. Though I would have loved to know how Tup convinced his sister to let him kidnap her kid for who knows how long.

Again, everything about this special was so wholesome. I appreciated that Talay and Puen recognized that there was a problem and actively sought to fix it. Focusing too much on work and neglecting a partner is a fairly common issue, I feel, and I liked that it was addressed. I loved the creativity of the calendar and giving each day of the month a theme of sorts. And then when Jigsaw landed in their laps, they pretty much took it in stride. They worked together to take care of him and even when he went missing at the zoo, they really didn't blame each other. Things weren't blown out of proportion, they each took responsibility for the fact that they got distracted and apologized to Jigsaw for neglecting him.

I was impressed with the character growth of Talay and Puen. It's nothing astronomic, but it's there and with such a limited time frame, it was well done. I appreciated that they communicated with each other and had an actually healthy relationship. I loved getting to see more of Tup and Tou in this universe. They added a good dose of entertainment.

This was an excellent follow-up to the drama. I really did enjoy every moment of it and any complaints I might have are miniscule. I loved the relationships both romantic and platonic, the family dynamic between Talay, Puen, and Jigsaw, the realistic challenges faced, and the way that the characters interacted. This is one that I may come back to in the future.

Episodes 9 & 10 - My School President - 7.0 stars
There is one reason and one reason only these two episodes are getting as high a rating as they are and that is solely because of the cast. I had serious concerns after seeing the trailer for MSP and those concerns were absolutely valid. This special could have been so much more than it was and I'm truly sad at the lost opportunity.

I cannot even begin to explain how lazy the premise of this felt. They could have jumped to them in college or after college, though age wise that would have been a stretch, or, heck, the summer after they graduate. Just about anything else they could have come up with would have been more interesting and creative than what we got. It's not a word for word or scene for scene copy, but it's close enough that I struggled to stay invested because it's already been done.

Everything felt rushed, probably because they were trying to fit a 12 episode drama into 2 episodes. It also felt choppy for that same reason. The continuity was lacking and it just felt like we were jumping from one scene to the next. There needed to be a bit more filler to join everything together. I also felt like the quality was just lower. The music was pretty decent, but there were multiple times where the instrumental parts overwhelmed the vocals to the point they were very hard to hear. There was also the ballroom dance exam scene which dragged on far too long and it was painfully clear they hadn't had nearly enough time to practice because their movements were so stiff and clunky.

Now when I say the cast was the one saving grace, I am not even kidding. They were literally the only reason I persisted through both episodes. They are all so charismatic and they do have that ability to draw you in. But even they seemed to be lacking the energy that was present in the drama. Everything just felt subdued. I think I really noticed that with Sound and Win. They were such firecracker characters in MSP and it felt like the fire had gone out of them and they were a shadow of their alter universe egos. Same with Tinn and Gun to an extent. They just didn't have that same spark. I did like the Tiwson and Por got to be realized as a fully fledged couple. Their interactions were adorable and I'm happy they got more screen time. I do think trying to throw in Khajorn and Phat as another couple, albeit more of just a suggested one, was unnecessary.

The one other aspect that I actually quite enjoyed was the inclusion of other BLs in their MV there at the end. I thought that was cute and clever.

These episodes have some cute and funny/cheesy moments. They do change some things up so it's not a carbon copy of MSP, but if they wanted to go with an alternate universe story, there were so many more creative ways they could have gone about it. I didn't hate it, but neither did I love it and I think I'll always be left thinking of what could have been.

Episodes 11 & 12 - A Boss and a Babe - 7.5 stars
Starting this drama, I had a moment of dread thinking they were going with a body swap story or even another alternate universe a la MSP. However, I was pleasantly surprised when that was not the case. Considering that I wasn't a huge fan of the drama, I wasn't sure what to expect from this, but it was worth watching.

One of the biggest problems I had with the drama was the almost complete lack of sensical plot. Here, there was a more clearly defined plot and it worked pretty well. The focus on getting Gun to understand that he didn't have to be so overbearing and harsh towards his employees and that work is for work hours allowed us to get to know the characters better, Gun especially. It also allowed for some genuinely comedic moments with Cher acting as the boss and Gun as the intern.

Character wise, I liked getting to know Gun better, his way of thinking and perceiving people and actions. I also appreciated getting to know Cher more. He's more perceptive than you would think and sometimes his antics can make one forget that he's actually pretty smart. While that's not shown extensively here, he does have his moments to show that intelligence. And the length he went to both to help Gun destress and show him that he needed to be more attuned to his employees feelings and needs showed how much he cared. It was very wholesome to see. And of course he got to have fun bossing his boyfriend around and getting to be the boss for a day, but it's pretty clear Gun doesn't really mind. I also enjoyed the return of Cher's friends, especially Three and Zo. That scene with them pretending to fight was pretty entertaining. The group's friendship was one of the positives from the drama and it remained so here. The fact that they were so supportive of Cher, even agreeing to his ridiculous plan, just showcased that they're the kind of friends everyone should have.

I think this addition to My Skyy 2 is my favorite thus far. It was pretty much what I was hoping for from the entirety of the series and I have my fingers crossed that they won't annihilate Bad Buddy or Thousand Stars and will stick to this formula. I enjoyed the fact that these episodes were more than just pure fluff, they actually had some depth to them. It was a good way to conclude their story and it seems fitting that they're sent off with a dash of humor.

Episodes 13 to 16 - Bad Buddy x A Tale of Thousand Stars - 8.5 stars
As these two stories were so tightly intertwined, I'm going to rate them together as it's difficult if not impossible to separate them. As every series previously had their own two episodes, I was not expecting the combining of these two and while there are aspects that I ended up liking, in the end, I do feel it was unnecessary and I don't understand why it was done.

These are two of my favorite BL dramas, so I was very much looking forward to the continuation of them. However, I found myself in many ways disappointed, particularly with the continuation of Bad Buddy. Rather than continuing where the drama left off, it decided to pick up after Pat and Pran pretend to break up. With all that goes on, it didn't really make sense from the stand point of them having to hide their relationship because they don't really seem to be trying that hard to hide it. And then trying to combine their story with that of Tian and Phupha's felt forced. There didn't seem to be a purpose for combining these two stories which made it harder for me to get on board with. After Episode 13 which was focused on Pat and Pran, the remaining three episodes felt much more focused on Tian and Phupha which means we didn't get to see as much of Pat and Pran as I would have liked. There also felt like there were multiple discrepancies between A Tale of Thousand Stars and these episodes which really pulled me out of the moment. The disagreements between Tian and Phupha felt poorly developed, ridiculous and not really in line with their characters.

Episodes 15 and 16 are where things picked up and I started to enjoy it more with Episode 16 giving us a solid ending. The story got a bit repetitive at times with them getting lost, but once that part was over, we started getting some of the sweet scenes that were generally lacking in the first two episodes. Episode 16 was my favorite both due to the play, which was very fun to watch and made me weirdly emotional, I don't know why, as well as Phupha giving Tian their thousandth star which was incredibly romantic. I also found it entertaining the nods to they gave to Bad Buddy between Tian and Phupha with Phupha asking Tian to rate his "performance" and the ending which was a combination of the endings from both Bad Buddy and Tale of Thousand Stars.

Character development felt a bit slim with all parties. Bad Buddy mostly because they didn't really have any way to grow since we already know how things end between them so it left them a bit stuck. I also didn't feel it much with Tale of Thousand Stars since I didn't feel like the characters were quite the same as they were in the series so there was a bit of a disconnect for me.

This joint venture started on a bit of a low note, but managed to end on a high note and served as a fitting conclusion for Bad Buddy/Tale of Thousand Stars and for Our Skyy 2 as a whole.

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Lightyears of Poetry

I believe everyone at one point or another in their lives has wished for the chance to go back and change the past, do things differently, fix past mistakes, etc., I know I certainly have. What Be My Favorite does so well is show that making those changes isn't as simple as we might like to think. It requires personal growth, pushing outside our comfort zone, thinking about more than just oneself and sticking around to maintain those changes, plus a touch of magic, of course. This drama was so beautifully done, so well thought out and executed, it has certainly become one of my favorites.

The story, dealing with time travel, could have been great or a total flop. The way it was handled made it great. Rather than getting into the mechanics of time travel and trying to make it too sci-fi, it explained just enough for things to make sense and didn't go any deeper. The story as a whole though did feel deep. This isn't just a fluff drama, it actually has substance and quite a lot at that. It touches on various issues, but rather than being preachy like some dramas get, those elements were added in an organic way that flowed and worked within the story. Those issues included LGBTQ+ rights both as a whole and more specifically the lack of those rights when it comes to medical care, alcoholism regarding both the pros and cons of drinking alcohol and why some may choose not to drink and that is totally okay, and grief in understanding that there are some things that simply cannot be changed and learning to grieve for that loss, but also accept it. Despite the sci-fi elements, there was a very realistic feel to everything. Aspects such as the gap between the rich and poor were shown, how someone does in school does not define them or their abilities, that we won't succeed at everything and failure is a part of life but doesn't need to define it, and our actions truly do have consequences both good and bad.

The pacing is very nearly perfect. There are one or two spots that are a touch slow, but not obnoxiously so. One aspect that I really liked was the way the passage of time was handled. Comments, brief shots of calendars and the like helped make it clear that time was passing. But the crowning touch was the montage in Episode 10 which was absolutely perfect and so much better than a sudden time jump. Not only did it provide a myriad of cute moments between Kawi and Pisaeng, but it also showed how their relationship had progressed over time. Other dramas should take note, this is the way you do it.

I don't think there was a single character that I didn't like in some capacity. No one felt superfluous, they all served some kind of purpose. What helped was keeping the cast pretty tight. Yes, there were scenes with more characters, but they kept the core group small. Not having a second couple helped a lot and allowed the full focus to be on Kawi and Pisaeng which was good since the build up of their relationship was a bit of a slow burn. That focus enabled them to better show their changing feelings, particularly with Kawi. The best part of their relationship though was the communication between them. I cannot even describe how refreshing it was to see such a healthy relationship portrayed where both parties truly respected each other and actively sought to communicate with each other. Even better was that it was shown throughout and was a core aspect of their relationship. And the importance of communication was echoed in other relationships, between Pisaeng and his mother, Pear and her parents, and even with Kwan and Knot.

Kawi was a great character. His growth was so well done as he learned to step outside himself and take his life in his own hands to influence it rather than just letting things happen to him. He made conscious decisions to fix things and make changes to himself. It was his willingness to acknowledge his faults and then correct them that enabled him to change his future. Pisaeng was another great character. Similarly to Kawi, he had his faults, but he too was willing to address and correct them as he actively listened to the criticisms he was given. His obvious respect for Kawi as a person and as a lover was clear and refreshing. Also refreshing were the characters of Max and Pear. Max was not just the token gay friend, he was a fully realized character who served as a sounding board for both Kawi and Pisaeng. And his advice and comments were usually pretty on the nose. He supported them both unconditionally while adding a good dose of humor at times. Similarly, Pear was not the token female friend. Again, she was a fully realized character and, as a woman, I cannot describe how much I loved that. She wasn't the jealous ex-girlfriend or wannabe girlfriend and her only purpose wasn't to be a supportive friend, though she was that. She had her own hopes and dreams as well as struggles that she had to deal with. Communication was again a key element with her in regards to her relationships with both Kawi and Pisaeng. Pisaeng's lack of communication regarding his feelings towards her was actually a source of pain for her, despite the fact that was exactly why he hadn't said anything, so he wouldn't cause her pain. It showed that sometimes silence is not golden and being open is actually the better option.

I've seen most of the cast in at least one other drama if not more, so I had high expectations for them and they did not disappoint in the slightest. Having only seen Krist in SOTUS, I was excited to see him play a character so polar opposite from that of Arthit. He was phenomenal, completely embodying the character of Kawi with all his quirks and awkwardness. And his chemistry with Gawin was fantastic. They played off of each other beautifully and had such a great connection. I will say it's a subtler chemistry than seen in other BLs, but I really liked it and felt it worked within the context of the story. I've seen Gawin in a few dramas and was thrilled that he finally got a leading role. He acts a lot through his eyes and he does so effectively, this time was no different. Despite having less experience than other cast members, he absolutely held his own. Aye is a seasoned and talented actress that I've seen in several dramas. She did a great job at giving Pear depth and really making her emotions and turmoil understood and felt. Similar to Gawin, Aou is less experienced, but I've found him to be quite a versatile actor. He gave a grounded feel to the character of Max as well as a certain level of assuredness that gave his character more substance.

The production was very well done. The cinematography was beautiful and the music was fantastic. Both Krist and Gawin are very talented singers and they certainly did the soundtrack justice.

Despite the numerous lessons and themes woven into the plot of Be My Favorite, I think one of the biggest takeaways is simply to live in the present. Too often we look to the future, imagining how things might be and we miss what's right in front of us. Kawi's life improves when he stops looking to the future and instead lives in the present. I think it's a good reminder for all of us. I cannot recommend this drama enough, it is truly one of the best I've seen, one that I foresee I'll be coming back to multiple times.

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One Step At A Time

Step By Step is one of those dramas that I feel you either love it or hate it. I found it to be different from most standard BLs with it's office setting and focusing on the office dynamics and work relationships as well as the romantic ones. It was initially pleasant that the leads' relationship wasn't rushed and had time to develop, but I do feel that it lost it's way towards the end. It's not a perfect drama by any means, it didn't always seem to know what to do with it's side characters, there were plot lines that popped up out of nowhere and others that were simply ghosted, there weren't always good explanations for why characters reacted the way that they did, etc. Still, I personally enjoyed it and thought it was a pleasant diversion.

The plot is nothing fancy, essentially an office romance between a boss and his subordinate, which of course is going to cause drama. What I liked about it though was the attention to detail in regards to that office setting. We actually get to see the characters working, going to meetings, presenting, and so on. Maybe because I'm at the ripe age of 32, I didn't find it boring, but I can understand those who did. Personally it felt like a slice of life drama with an office focus, but more realistic than others I've seen. Yes, there's the ridiculous and over the top moments and things that would never happen in actual office, but I enjoyed that quality of peeking into a world I'm not at all familiar with fictional though it may be. It did feel like the story started to lose steam a little over halfway through and didn't seem to know where to go from there. And then there at the end there was a lot of drama thrown in which, besides being unnecessary, felt rushed. And I have to say that the ending, while cute, was rather anti-climatic. Despite it's length, it still felt like there were unanswered questions.

The pacing was a mess. Most of the drama and actual issues with our leads' relationship were relegated to the last three episodes and that's because they didn't actually get together until Episode 10. I have no issues with a slow burn which this definitely was, but I think the story could have been better spread out, allowing them to get together sooner and actually have some time as a couple before the drama started and then showing them handling those issues as a couple or delving into their characters more to show why things ended between them the way that they did prior to the time jump. Time in general was a struggle with this drama as it was hard to tell how much time had passed. It didn't feel like much time had passed, but then things like Ae's pregnancy would make me realize that a lot more time had gone by than I thought. Especially in an office setting, it felt like they should have been able to more clearly show that time progression. There was also the issue with the side couples/story lines not getting the attention they deserved which, again, could have been rectified if the pacing and story planning had been better. As it was, we were left with a very unsatisfying ending for Jaab and Jen who essentially just disappeared as the story progressed, Ae, Khanun and Beam were also shuffled off to the side and only showed up on occasion after a while, Chot and his boyfriend were thrown in at random times, and there were other parts that just needed better planning.

One of the biggest things I felt was lacking was insight into the characters' thoughts and the reasoning behind their reactions. Two examples would be Jaab's sudden rejection of Jane and Pat's reaction to finding out Jeng was gay. Jane was a fairly minor character throughout the series, so I can understand to an extent not going in depth with his emotions and mental state, but given that we are given the impression that he is in a happy, committed relationship, I do think there needed to be more insight into why he was so swayed by Jaab. With Jaab, he's liked Jane for a while, so why when Jane reveals that he and his boyfriend broke up, does he say they should just be friends? They shared a kiss, it was obvious Jaab still had feelings for Jane so what was with that? There was no explanation, no reasoning, nothing as to why he didn't want to give a relationship with Jane a shot. Similarly, Pat's reaction to finding out Jeng was gay seemed over the top and unnecessary. Why was he so shocked and put off by that revelation? Pat's reactions to things involving Jeng didn't always make sense, but this one and his decision to ghost Jeng for two years felt like taking things to the extreme. There needed to be more explanation as to why Pat reacted the way that he did for me to understand and sympathize with him.

The characters ranged from good to mediocre. There were a couple of gems in there, but most of them didn't leave much, if any, of an impression. Overall, I found the way characters were treated to be a bit disappointing just because it was so all over the place. Some characters had great character development and others were left stagnant.
-Pat was definitely more on the mediocre side for me. His childishness, tantrums and changeability made him a hard character for me to really get on board with. More insight into his character, why he was the way that he was, would have been helpful. As it stands, he really did just come across as immature and there were times that I really struggled to understand what Jeng saw him in aside from that he is a cute kid. Jeng talked about how smart he was and that's something that should have been shown and utilized more because while he did seem intelligent, it didn't seem like he was extraordinarily so. There also needed to be more insight into his feelings for Jeng. While initially he was obviously attracted to Jeng before realizing that he was his boss, once that revelation came about, his interest seemed to cool. Afterwards, there were a few hints that maybe he was developing feelings for Jeng, but when he went back to Put, it put those feelings in question. Regarding Put, that conflict felt like it resolved far too quickly. We went from Pat not wanting to see him, speak to him, anything, to, what felt like in a very short time span, being willing to start a relationship with him again. And then Pat goes from crying over their breakup to confessing he has feelings for Jeng. I almost felt like I had whiplash with the way Pat's feelings seemed to keep jumping around. I also wanted to explore more as to why Pat didn't believe that Jeng's feelings for him were real and why he didn't feel like he deserved Jeng initially. I was frankly a bit disappointed in Pat's character growth. He talks at one point about he's grown so much and is no longer as emotional, but I didn't really see that a whole lot. He still seemed overemotional and overreactive to the end.
-Jeng was definitely one of the best characters. He was very interesting to watch, especially as his feelings for Pat developed which I felt was well done. His feelings were clearly built up, starting from polite interest which then grew into romantic feelings. There was never any doubt regarding his feelings for Pat. I wish they had done as well with Pat and his feelings. I also appreciated his character growth from no nonsense, perfectionist boss to someone who was able to let loose a bit. Part of what also appealing about him was that he wanted to change for the better and he made an effort to do so. There's the element that Pat did inspire those changes, but he made the conscious decision to change on his own. His maturity especially in contrast to Pat was refreshing especially when it came to things like Pat blaming him for essentially not being a mind reader. Pat seemed to think that he should be able to change with a snap of his fingers, not realizing that change does take time, and I was very impressed with Jeng's patience. I would have liked a little more time spent on his background and his relationship with his parents, especially his father. A lot of that was just skimmed over and there at the end, it didn't really feel like things had been resolved between him and his father. Still, I felt that he was overall a decently well-rounded character and I really liked him.
-I didn't have particularly strong feelings about most of the remaining characters save for a few. I found Jaab to be a weird combination of interesting and boring. He had moments where I was invested in him, but there were a lot of other moments where I almost wanted to skip his scenes because he wasn't doing anything for me. Once his relationship with Jane petered out, I really lost interest in him. I did like some of his interactions with Jeng though and the support he was willing to provide eventually. Jane could have been a much better character if he was fleshed out more. As it was, there just wasn't much too him and that made it difficult to relate to him or really feel anything strongly about his character. I was disappointed with that because I did like his relationship with Jaab and I wanted to see more of it's development. I really liked Ae and I wish there had been a bit more of her. Her confidence was awesome as was her obvious love for her friends. She was always ready to go to bat for them and she was just in general an awesome character. I like strong female characters and I feel like they tend to be lacking in a lot of BLs so she was a pleasant surprise. I did find the revelation that Beam had been in love with her to be a bit out of the blue since I hadn't gotten that impression earlier on and it just felt unnecessary. Chot was another gem, I loved that he had a well balanced personality. He had just the right amount of over the top without it being grating. Plus he was just a sweetheart in general, always there to listen and be supportive, an understanding friend and lover, and just an all around lovely person. I could use someone like him in my life. The last character I want to mention is Jeng's father. He was too much of an enigma for me to really appreciate his character and he definitely needed a bit more fleshing out. His actions and thought process were left very ambiguous which works sometimes, but not here. I wanted to understand his treatment of Jeng and Pat as it felt more than a disapproval of his son being gay and getting involved with one of his subordinates.

As for the acting, can I just start off by saying how refreshing it was to see them cast an age appropriate actor for Jeng's role. I couldn't help but thinking about like Moonlight Chicken and how they tried to convince us that Earth could pass for an almost 40 year old. Hair, makeup and clothes can only go so far and trying to make actors look and act older than they are really does not work. Man was perfect because he both looked and acted the part. He gave a certain maturity to the role that someone much younger simply can't. I enjoyed the nuance of his performance and thought he played the part perfectly. This was Ben's first acting role and it showed. He wasn't bad per se, just compared to Man, he felt green. His expressions didn't vary a whole lot and some of the emotional scenes felt forced. I do think if he'd had more experience, he could have better conveyed some of the emotions and thought processes of his character. I was pleased that they cast two actors who are clearly comfortable speaking English since the fluency matched both of their backstories. I've seen far too many dramas where they give their characters backstories of having grown up in the US or spent a lot of time there and are supposed to be fluent, but the actor is clearly not comfortable with the language. I completely understand that learning another language is a challenge, so no disrespect to those actors, it just personally pulls me out of the story when it's clear that they're not as comfortable with the language as the story is trying to make them seen. Both Man and Ben were articulate and clearly understandable and delivered their lines effortlessly.

Despite it's flaws, I overall enjoyed Step By Step. It's not perfect by any means and could have been better with some tweaks, but for what it is, I found it entertaining for the most part. The build up of the characters' relationship, the setting, and the characters themselves had a different feel from other BLs I've watched recently and I liked that. It felt distinctive in it's own way. As I said before, I think this drama is rather polarizing in that you will either love it or hate it without a whole lot in between. If you go in without any major expectations and understand that it is flawed, I think that can stave off the disappointment that some might feel. For my part, I wouldn't discourage anyone from watching it, just be aware that it's not for everyone.

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A Lighter Click and A Piggy's Dream

Watching the trailers for Lighter and Princess, I was deeply hopeful that it was going to be as good as it looked. Neither the synopsis or trailers gave a great idea of the true story, but I was very intrigued by what I read and saw. It surpassed my hopes and expectations completely. Once I started it, I couldn't stop. It drew me in and refused to let me go until the end. No drama is truly perfect, but despite its few flaws and imperfections, the impressions it left me with and the way it mesmerized me from the first scene to the last, it earned that 10 completely.

I love the story. I love the depth of it, how everything connects, how there is a reason for everything. Something you don't think much about comes back around and is explained and does mean something. It is such a beautiful puzzle and I adored seeing it come together. The pacing was nearly perfect. That is nearly always an issue for me in dramas, but here they did such a good job of keeping the pacing on track and moving at a consistent pace. There wasn't a slump after those emotional high moments and no matter what was going on, it kept me engaged.

The acting was phenomenal on all fronts. I wasn't familiar with anyone and they blew me out of the water, particularly our leads, Chen Fei Yu and Zhang Jing Yi. Both together and separately they were so good. Their chemistry together was absolutely electric. They played off of each other perfectly and they were completely believable. Chen Fei Yu has the most amazing intensity with his eyes, regardless of what emotion he's portraying. He also made good use of microexpressions and his body language to convey his emotions and intentions. Zhang Jing Yi was equally good. She struck that perfect balance of being innocent but not naïve. She brought such a strength to her character and I really loved that. I also really appreciated that I felt like there was a very clear cut difference between how she acted as college age Zhu Yun and adult Zhu Yun. It fit the character perfectly. Like Chen Fei Yu, she could convey some really great intensity with her eyes alone in certain scenes that was fantastic to see. The supporting cast was equally amazing. I really enjoyed all of their performances as well, but these two just really stood out the most to me.

The characters were such an interesting and diverse group, I really enjoyed getting to know all of them and I appreciated that we were given the opportunity to actually get to know them. Obviously some characters got more screen time than others, but no one really felt neglected, even with the time jumps. Those who didn't make appearances again were still briefly mentioned with where they were in life so they weren't forgotten which I really liked since a lot of dramas and shows do tend to just forget characters when that happens.
-Li Xun and Zhu Yun are obviously our main characters and main couple. I loved their romance, the slow burn of it. I know the hate to love trope is overused, but when well done like it was here its quite enjoyable to watch. They're a prime case of opposites attract. Li Xun is a genius, but cold and detached, arrogant and condescending and completely independent. He doesn't need or want anyone. Zhu Yun isn't a genius, but she's smart and unlike Li Xun, she's warm and friendly, helpful and supportive, and her life is being controlled by her mother. In Zhu Yun, Li Xun finds the warmth he's lacking, someone to draw him out his shell, who will stand by him no matter what and love him unconditionally. And in Li Xun, Zhu Yun finds her independence, the strength to begin to stand on her own, something outside herself that's worth fighting for. In essence, they complete each other. My biggest qualm is that I do feel Li Xun could have had a little more character growth although I do feel like that's part of the point and Zhu Yun does make a point of saying that she thinks he'll continue to soften, it just would have been nice to see a little more of that.
- Gao Jian Hong was such a complex character that I'm left not entirely certain how to feel about him. He's not fully villain, but also not fully a good guy either. I do like where they left him, with hope for the future. I honestly find him to be a bit of a tragic character. So much potential to be wasted. And I think he is a prime example that we have to live with the choices we make. The flashbacks to his times with Li Xun and Zhu Yun were hard to watch because they did have so much potential together and it was sad to think of all that was lost. I was really not expecting things to turn out the way that they did with the three of them. I do think overall though, his character was well-developed. My only slight complaint is that his emotions seemed a little all over the place there in the last episode or two, but that could also be attributed to the brain tumor, so I can't complain too much.
- Xu Li Na started off as a character I was not a fan of at all and ended as a character that I came to respect. When she was initially introduced, I thought she was going to turn out to be far smarter than she acted and was going to try to steal their app. When that didn't turn out to be the case, it became obvious she was going to be another woman in love with Li Xun. I felt bad for Jian Hong because he obviously really liked her and it kind of felt like she was leading him on. When she rejected him, I thought that was the end of it. But with the time jump, I was surprised to see that they were married and as events unfolded I wasn't sure who was more pathetic in that marriage: the man who married a woman he knew didn't love him or the woman who married a man she didn't love. Either way, neither of them came off looking good. I was proud of her though, when she finally let go of Li Xun and seemed ready to free of herself of Jian Hong. Until she finds out about his tumor and has a change of heart which leads to some very sweet moments between the two of them. I liked her ending and the idea that she and Jian Hong can actually find love together and start over. I didn't like her at the beginning but she had some really great character growth and by the end, I was absolutely rooting for her.
- I really enjoyed the other side characters as well. Ren Di was such a bad ass, but I loved that she was also willing to always listen to her friends and be there for them. Even with gaining fame and fortune, her character remained relatively unchanged which I thought was awesome. Fang Shu Miao was so funny and cute. I really enjoyed their friendship both in college and as adults. I also appreciated the realism of their friendship, that it wasn't always sunshine and daisies, that there was the occasional conflict and then they figured it out and moved on. Fang Zhi Jing made for an interesting, well-rounded villain but also in a realistic manner. He wasn't a villain in that he was plotting against everyone or coming up with evil schemes, he was a villain in that he was simply a selfish, cruel, greedy man.

The OST is gorgeous. There isn't a single song that I dislike and I felt like they were all used well. They worked well to heighten the mood of certain scenes. I enjoyed the opening song in particular, but honestly you can't go wrong with any one of them.

The cinematography is equally gorgeous. This was clearly a very well thought out production and it shows. The aesthetics are nearly perfect, everything is in its place, well-proportioned. The lighting is very well done, particularly since there are a number of scenes in darkened rooms, I was impressed that they were able to give that impression without obscuring the actors' faces at all.

It seems a good way to start out 2023 with a drama that is so nearly perfect. I truly cannot recommend it enough. I know it may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I loved the story from the romance to the friendships to the characters and everything in between. This is one drama that I will be coming back to again and again I'm sure.

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Venus in Retrograde

It's always disappointing when a drama doesn't live up to expectations, but usually there's at least something redemptive about it. Venus in the Sky though just bombed and it bombed hard. It's glacially slow with episodes that are far too long with far too much repetition. And once the leads finally get together, we get multiple NSFW scenes that seem more about pushing the limits than showing that these guys are actually in love. I just did not feel the chemistry. It's a pity because it did have the potential for more.

The story is lacking severely. There's not much of a plot and the drama suffers because of that. Venus and Sky were college friends until Venus confessed that he had feelings for Sky which Sky didn't reciprocate. Venus's response was to block Sky and cut off all contact. Three years later they meet again by chance at which point Sky has realized that he actually does have feelings for Venus and sets off to win him back. The first episode isn't bad. It sets things up decently, though there's some confusion regarding time frame and what's past and what's present. From there though it becomes a slog of increasing repetition as Sky tries to win over Venus and Venus repeatedly rebuffs him. It would have helped if there was a bit more variation to how Sky goes about this, but there's not, and it's not until around Episode 7 that things start moving along which is far too little, too late. While Sky does eventually wear Venus down and they do get together, the story continues to drag as repetitive drama with the side couples is brought up and Venus and Sky act like horny teenagers. It's tedious to say the least. I suppose the ending could be considered cute, but I was so done with everything that frankly I was just relieved to be done with it.

I didn't find myself particularly interested or attached to any of the characters. I generally liked Day, Bom and Kla, but not to any real degree. They just served as the occasional pleasant diversion from the constant annoyance of Sky and Venus. The characters lacked depth and it made them feel quite superficial. Venus's anger towards Sky felt excessive. I get it, he broke your heart, he was giving mixed signals previously (they really did act like a couple, so I get that Venus thought Sky might reciprocate his feelings), but three years is a long time to hold onto that much anger. And even if he was hurt by Sky's rejection, it wasn't as if Sky deliberately led him on. Without a better reason for his anger, it created a disconnect for me as the viewer. Otherwise, I just did not find him to be a particularly compelling character because there was so little to him. He was boring to watch and his reactions felt repetitive. Even after he and Sky got together, I just could not bring myself to care about him. Sky spent most of the time acting like a whiny child. I was over him within the first couple of episodes. He had zero respect for Venus's boundaries, physical or emotional, and essentially stalked him. Maybe it's because I'm a woman, but I found his approach to be disturbing and deeply concerning. And his pushiness continued after they were together. There were times where it felt like he cared more about his physical needs than what Venus actually needed. The scene where he lets Venus initiate physical intimacy while he's sick and doesn't stop him is a prime example. There was also the element that his feelings for Venus were not well explored. The realization of his true feelings obviously came after Venus cut him off, but was that the catalyst for that recognition or was it later? I think that's something that should have been given time to look into. The communication between the two of them was alternatively decent and then completely lacking. Sky had a tendency to misinterpret situations and then go sulk about them without actually discussing anything with Venus. The side couples really didn't interest me much. I initially liked Janus, but eventually got tired of the repetition with him promising to tell Bom about things and then proceeding to tell him nothing. That inevitably led to a fight and Bom storming out the door. I did like Bom. I appreciated his patience and kindness. He was a sweet guy and I felt bad that he had to deal with Janus's determination to take everything on his shoulders. Tong and Kla were even less interesting. Again with the repetition of not communicating and then getting into fights. Kla was a cutie though and he did try so hard to make things up to Tong and make him happy. I will say that the side couples did have some good conversations and at least with Tong and Kla there felt like there was progress made in the relationship on that front. Janus and Bom also made some progress, but part of me wonders if Janus really learned his lesson.

For all that they had some very steamy scenes together, I really did not feel the chemistry between Tod and Cheque. Part of it could be that I simply did not like their characters, but I also found their acting lacking. Neither one showed much range. Cheque seemed to alternate between looks of condescension and scowling and maybe two other expressions. Tod was either overly perky, moping around, or sleepy and he just cycled through those expressions as needed. They were just boring to watch. Most of the other actors struggled with the same lack of variety of expression.

While there is a fair amount of product placement, it doesn't feel too in your face mostly because of the way it's promoted with Janus's business. It still took more of a priority than it should have though. One thing that really stood out to me and that was off-putting was the almost complete lack of background characters. Sky works in a hospital, Kla works in a hospital, Janus owns a 7-Eleven, and yet the hospital always looked practically empty, we never saw any other doctors or medical staff aside from the main cast and one or two nurses who were there and gone and there were rarely any customers show in the store. It made the world feel very isolated and unreal.

There is nothing about Venus in the Sky to recommend it. It's a long slog with very little reward. If NSFW scenes are your thing, I would recommend watching Episode 1, maybe 2, and then jumping to Episode 7 or 8 through to the end, you won't be missing anything by skipping the rest. Otherwise, I would say best to just avoid it.

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The BL to End All BLs

Enemies to lovers is a fairly common trope in BL dramas, and I've seen it used with varying degrees of success, but never as well as in this drama. Here it was very nearly perfect because for once, we have an actually healthy relationship. The story didn't feel cliché, the reasoning behind people's actions while, perhaps a bit overblown, were still understandable to an extent, and the development of the leads relationship felt very natural. This was just a very well done drama that was a joy to watch.

The story is centered on our two leads' families who have been enemies for years due to business reasons. Or so the boys were told. They were raised to constantly compete with each other and thus have been enemies since childhood. However, there have been moments when they've connected and had a tenuous friendship during this time, though its doubtful either one would admit that it was a friendship. Once they reach university and their two faculties start to collide and they also discover they live right across from each other, feelings start to emerge and the rest is history. One of the things I really appreciated about the story is the parents' rivalry wasn't over a failed romance. I feel like that is used a lot and is extremely cliché. I think what actually happened is so much worse and is far more justifiable for what transpired afterward. Don't get me wrong, they blew things way out of proportion with dumping their problems on their kids, but by the same token, I also kind of get it. The pacing was quite good. There were a few draggy moments, but for the most part, the story moved along well. I really enjoyed the relationship build ups of both Pran and Pat and Ink and Pa. I felt they both developed quite organically, and I was excited to see a well done lesbian relationship in a BL. The few times I've seen them in BLs, they've been done pretty badly. And the ending was hilarious and so very them.

The acting was quite good all around but Nanon and Ohm definitely take the cake with their chemistry. They are both talented actors together and apart. Together they just play off of each other really well, their interactions are very natural, and, again, their chemistry was fantastic. Apart, Nanon I feel is very expressive with both his eyes and more subtle facial expressions while Ohm is more open with his facial expressions and uses his body more. I enjoyed watching both and the supporting cast was great as well.

The characters were all so varied and interesting. I really enjoyed getting to know all of them and see them grow. The character development was great and the best part for me was that while all of them grew as people, they also stayed true to themselves. For example, while Pran and Pat figured out their relationship, realizing that they loved each other, the potential consequences of that love, and developing a mutual respect for each other, they still ultimately remained true to themselves and I appreciated that while their attitude towards each other obviously changed from enemies, there were some things, like their competitiveness and way of speaking to each other that really didn't. Pran though is overall just such a sweetheart and his fear of them being found out just kind of broke my heart. He's loved Pat for so long and now that he has him, I think he's just terrified of losing him. Pat is also a sweetheart in his own way. He's a prankster, but he has a good heart and he'll do pretty much anything to help Pran or one of his friends. With Pa and Ink, I found their growing relationship to be very sweet. There were hints of it when Pa was still in high school and then once she was in university and the two were able to spend more time together, it became quite obvious that there was a mutual attraction. I liked both girls' characters. They were both strong women which I definitely appreciated and Ink's possessiveness of Pa made for some pretty hilarious scenes. Korn was just adorable as Pat's friend. I loved his loyalty to Pat and how supportive he was of his relationship with Pran once it was revealed. That scene with him refusing to let Pat sit with them and then popping up ten seconds later to give him food was so freaking cute. I also really enjoyed his relationship with Wai there towards the end. I almost could have shipped him with Wai, but I think I prefer that they left them as friends and colleagues. Wai has me a bit divided. On the one hand, I overall liked his character. On the other hand though, his exposure of Pran and Pat's relationship was super messed up. That's not something you do to your best friend. However, I can also understand how betrayed he must have felt and in the heat of the moment, he wasn't really thinking through his actions, so I'm willing to give him some grace. He came through with the video to clear Pat which he didn't have to do although an actual apology would have been nice. Again, I really enjoyed his friendship with Korn and their banter at the end of the drama. I don't really have much to say about the parents that I haven't already said other than that I thought their acceptance of their kids' sexual orientation was awesome.

The best part of this drama, besides the fantastic story, acting and characters, was just how many stereotypes that typically pop up in BLs that it absolutely destroyed.
-The husband/wife labels that pervade most BLs were chucked right out the window. Pran calls Pat out for calling him his wife and when they reverse the roles, Pat realizes how it sounds. His reasoning was simple enough, he just wanted to show that they're closer but Pran essentially says they don't need to use the label of husband/wife, they're close enough as is as boyfriends. It's a sweet moment that also highlights that there really isn't a need to place labels in LGBTQ relationships as to who is perceived as stronger/weaker.
-The only gay for you stereotype is also removed here. Not only does Pat candidly state that he is bisexual saying that he likes all genders but Pran also essentially states that he is gay while saying that he may someday like girls as well. Pa actually makes fun of this stereotype within the same episode. The whole scene is pretty great.
-Enemies to lovers relationships seem to always have some degree of toxicity to them. Writers and directors are good at making them look cute and fluffy on the surface when in actuality they're very unhealthy. I have definitely fallen prey to some of those in the past. What is so refreshing about Bad Buddy is that there is none of that here. There is no toxicity, their relationship is genuinely healthy. Yes, it has its ups and downs like any relationship, but they work through their problems together, they actually communicate with each other. Neither one forces himself on the other, there's a mutual respect and love, despite their bickering and occasional disagreements.
-The defined top and bottom stereotype is gone. In every BL I've ever seen, one character is always the top and the other is always the bottom. From my perception, they completely tossed that in Bad Buddy and went with a versatile relationship which was super interesting and also refreshing. I think its something that should definitely be more common.

The OST was fantastic. Music honestly plays a subtly major role in this drama. It's music that initially brought Pran and Pat together as they wrote Just Friend?, music that broke them apart when Pran's mother found them playing together and transferred him, and then music that brought them back together when seeing Pran play their song made Pat start to realize his feelings. Besides that, there's also the song that Pran writes for Pat declaring his love. And the scene there at the end of Pat and Pran singing together was so sweet with Pran's mom hearing them and leaving them be. I loved her little smile. Nanon's voice is amazing, I could happily listen to his songs on repeat for days.

This is frankly the BL to put all other BLs to shame. It has set the bar so high that it will truly be hard for any others to top it. Everything about it was just so incredibly good. I honestly wish I had watched it sooner because this is what a BL should be. I cannot recommend this drama highly enough and it is one I will absolutely be coming back to in the future.

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No Love Lost

I was not expecting greatness from Love Syndrome III. I had watched Unforgotten Night which was pretty much trash, but I actually liked the characters of Day and Itt, so I was interested to see a drama with them at the center. I knew they were going to be different from the characters in Unforgotten Night since it was a different production company, but I was not expecting the characters to be essentially polar opposites with nothing in common. I was unprepared for the extreme toxicity that permeated almost every relationship in this drama and left me with a sour taste in my mouth. This is not a drama worth watching.

Again, I came into this because I liked Day and Itt in Unforgotten Night. They are absolutely unbearable here though. Itt is a man child throwing temper tantrums and stomping his feet, obsessing over cake like a two year old and Day is his mother indulging him one second and then scolding him the next. What the heck kind of relationship is this? They scream toxicity from almost the second they are together on screen. They are both extremely jealous and possessive. After two years together there should be a degree of security in the relationship and there is none.

Following Day's accident, Itt becomes more bearable as he takes on more responsibility and becomes less selfish, but it's Day's turn to become a raging asshole. We're treated to multiple episodes of him taking Itt for granted and using and abusing him basically seeing how far he can push him before Itt throws in the towel. His asshole level slowly goes down as he begins to regain pieces of his memory and then just to spice things up a bit more because this drama isn't ridiculous enough, we have a random villain from Day and Itt's past return. Of course everything turns out fine and we end things with a wedding. It's a ride to say the least.

The biggest issue with this drama is the toxicity. Essentially every relationship is toxic in one way or another.
-Itt and Day are toxic in pretty much every way possible. Their relationship is toxic at its very core. It began because Day wanted to get revenge on Itt for masterminding a plan to have his friend Gear rape his brother Night. I mean, it's essentially a case of Stockholm Syndrome. They are both possessive of each other to an unhealthy degree. If anyone even glances at the other, they get jealous to the point that they're ready to throw punches and they get angry at each other. Also, things like Day pretending not to remember Itt again to punish him is unimaginably cruel and not something I could ever imagine doing to someone I professed to love. They're communication is yelling at each other and fighting. There's no, let's sit down and have a reasonable conversation. It seems at the end like maybe they've progressed to that point, but certainly not at the beginning or while Day's lost his memory. The biggest concern is that there's this underlying sense that their relationship is something to aspire to, that having a boyfriend who is both fiercely loving and possessive is desirable, and tries to sweep the ugly parts under the rug out of sight.
-Gear and Night have a toxic beginning, but at the time of the drama actually seem to have a very healthy relationship. They are very much the exception. Very little is given regarding their background aside from the fact that Gear did rape Night and then somehow or other they did move forward from that to a relationship. I have mixed feelings regarding that. I don't think it's realistic and I think there are connotations with that that could be damaging, but within the context of this drama, there is also part of me that's glad that there is one relationship that isn't drowning in problems.
-Nik and Neil are the other couple that seem relatively healthy. On the one hand, you do have Nik who likes to flirt apparently to get Neil's attention, but I think Neil does mention that there's a reason for his behaviour and they do seem to overall be a happy and solid couple and I do adore how Nik sticks up for Itt against Day.
-Mac and Nan, okay, this one is the most disturbing to me. It is heavily implied that Nan has been holding Mac against his will for some time, not allowing him to go home, presumably keeping him as essentially a sexual prisoner and really no one bats an eye. Itt clearly doesn't like it and he does protest it, but he also doesn't really do anything about it. And it turns out that Nan has been blackmailing Mac with a fake video. He does eventually let him go home, but then Mac comes back to him? Like what? We have another Stockholm case? It was just so messed up I could barely comprehend it.

One thing that really bugged me was the inconsistency with Day's recovery of his memory and his behaviour. It felt all over the place. There were some scenes like the one at his cast removal party between he and Itt that felt far too intimate for where they were at the time with getting to know each other again. They just ran hot and cold and I felt like I was getting whiplash sometimes. Flashbacks were heavily used which were useful to some degree but quickly became repetitive when the same scenes were shown multiple times. Practically every guy they met was in love with Itt which was unrealistic and weird. I mean seriously, he had four or five guys falling for him. Please, he's cute, but he's not that good looking.

Throwing a villain in towards the end was pointless, particularly such a weak villain. There was absolutely nothing threatening about P. He was cartoonish with his maniacal laugh and the camera angles used. He was just boring. Literally the only purpose he served was to give Day the bonk on the head he needed to get his memories back. That whole plot line was so nonsensical, particularly their plan to get P to surrender. Did they actually think Itt was just going to sit back if he thought Day was in danger? Did they not consider that maybe if they explained their plan, that maybe he could help out? They literally only had themselves to blame for it all going south.

The acting wasn't as good as it could have been. I was disappointed in Frank. I've seen him in other dramas and thought he was a pretty decent actor but he seemed to struggle here, especially with the more emotional scenes. His crying was painful to watch, very forced and fake. I first saw Lee in Tin Tem Jai, another terrible drama, and I think he's a good actor who has yet to be given a role where he can really stretch his wings. He didn't have a whole lot to work with here, but he made do with it and I think he did a decent enough job. The chemistry between Lee and Frank was hit or miss, sometimes I could feel it, sometimes it felt contrived, but they have another upcoming project so hopefully with continuing to work with each other, that will all come together. I hadn't seen Kokliang since his turn as Tar in TharnType and I actually really enjoyed him as Nik. He was so sassy and fun and one of the few positives in this drama. I loved him standing up to Day for Itt. The others were decent in their roles but no real standouts.

This was just an all around toxic drama (I know I've said that word a lot, it's justified) that's not worth your time. There is really nothing redeemable about it, in my opinion. Evidently they're supposed to be dramatizing the other web novels as well. I sincerely hope they don't because it sounds like the story only gets worse. Unless you like garbage dramas, I would recommend watching something of a higher quality.

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More Home, Less School

Home School is in no way a perfect drama. It has a fair number of flaws, but despite those flaws, I enjoyed it immensely. There were aspects that were done quite well and though it completely goes beyond the realm of possibility or reality, the fact that it was committed to that absurdity and as long as I went with the flow and didn't question too much, it worked. I found it to be interesting, heartwarming at times, mysterious at others. There weren't any huge surprises, I felt like most of the plot twists were relatively simple to either have figured out by the time they were revealed or have an inkling so that it wasn't a total shock. Considering some of of the disappointing dramas I've seen recently, it was refreshing to have one that kept me hooked.

I enjoyed the story for the most part. I felt like it did try to make things out to be more dark and mysterious than they really were, but I didn't hate that. The one thing about this series is that it really requires you to take things on faith. I know basically nothing about hypnosis, but I am almost 100% certain that the way hypnosis is used and treated in this series is not the way it actually works, otherwise we'd have people running around hypnotizing others right and left. It was an interesting and unique take though and once I stopped asking too many questions about it, I found it interesting. Same with the "medicine" that Master Dilak and several others were taking. There's no real explanation regarding this medicine, how it was scientifically formulated or anything like that. It's another part that you just kind of need to go with. The school part of Home School was largely absent. There's very little shown of the students actually studying and more of them playing "games" that are supposed to teach them something. There's also a distinct lack of knowledge regarding time progression. Given the school setting I feel like it should have been relatively simple for them to give hints as to how much time was passing, but nothing of the sort is given. There were a few plot holes and some things that didn't make sense. One of the biggest ones was why anyone, including Master Amin, ever thought Master Prasat was in any way trustworthy. The man seemed unstable even in the past so why anyone thought it was a good idea to let him hypnotize Master Amin and why no one, other than Master Puth, connected the dots between this and Master Amin's change in behaviour is beyond me. Touching back on the hypnosis, the fact that some were apparently immune to it's effects like Run, was not well explained. I do feel that things were wrapped up a touch too neatly. I found it hard to believe that the parents gave in that easily to having their memories erased. Considering what we knew about some of them, it felt like a stretch. The pacing was a bit laggy at times, mostly about halfway through. There were certainly episodes where it didn't feel like anything of real importance occurred, but the beginning and ending episodes I felt were pretty well paced.

This was a large cast and I thought they did a decent job of balancing out the characters, better than a lot of dramas I've seen. The students, none of whom looked 16 except maybe Phleng and Pennueng, obviously got the most focus and I really liked how in those first couple of episodes they allowed the audience to get to know them and understand how their personalities and behaviour were developed by the abuse of their families. It explained a lot and in some cases made me feel a tad more sympathy for them like in the cases of Hugo and Jingjai who I had really disliked up until that moment. They were never my favorite characters even afterward, but I at least could understand them a bit better. My biggest qualm was the lack of background on any of the Masters other than Master Amin, particularly Master Prasat. Considering he was the big bad, I really wanted to know his story and what made him tick/made him so deranged. We get one comment that he was abused by his father, but that was it. I wanted more. Same with the other Masters. We got a brief snip that Master Champ was a national athlete, but again, that was it. And with him I wanted to know why he was so loyal to Master Prasat. Was it strictly because Master Prasat didn't oppress him and gave him an outlet or was there more?

I thought they had a good diversity among the students in terms of character and personality. No two were quite the same. I enjoyed the build up of their friendships, though that did eventually fall to the wayside. I will say, for all that Master Amin kept praising them for being exceptional, I didn't actually find them to be that clever. With the majority of the games they played, I had the answers figured out pretty quickly and I would not consider myself particularly smart. I suppose you could say that environment played into it and I was certainly not in the same situation as they were which could affect one's ability to problem solve. Even then, they made things far more complicated than necessary most of the time. I did find it interesting how they separated them into groups to an extent. Obviously there was our main group of four with Maki, White, Tibet and Nai. I liked their dynamic together and thought they made a good, central group where most of the focus stayed. They were occasionally joined by Pennueng and Phleng who were quite cute together and I did like when they joined the main group. Neither was particularly strong, but they were incredibly loyal and their bravery came out when it came down to helping or protecting their friends. The others were a bit more scattered. Hugo and Jingjai paired off pretty much from the beginning and Jean and Biu paired off eventually as well. Mek and Mork, despite their initial animosity, did still stick together for the most part and Fuji was her own woman for the most part. The fact that they ended up removing half the cast in the last five or six episodes was a bit odd and could have been done better. I can understand why they did it to streamline the plot, but it was also jarring.

I did feel that pairing everyone off there at the end was unnecessary. Hugo and Jingjai again had been together pretty much from the get go with Maki and Tibet and White and Nai's relationships developing over the course of the series. Pennueng and Phleng I felt could go either way. I liked them as platonic friends but didn't necessarily object to that turning romantic since their relationship had also been built up. Jean and Biu though and Fuji with Mek and Mork was not my cup of tea. We knew that Biu liked Jean since she had mentioned it at one point, but aside from their one conversation, we didn't see them together much. And while Mek and Mork defended Fuji to her father which obviously endeared them to her, the seemingly pairing her up with them felt like a stretch. Now their relationship could very well be platonic and nothing more, but since they were showing all the various couples, it seemed implied.

In terms of individual characters, there were some that I really liked and others that I didn't. Some characters had some really great character development and others not so much.
-Maki was a character that I actually liked for the most part. I think they tried to make her seem far more clever than she actually was and she was a little too perfect, but she worked. Her backstory gave her layer of interest as she worked to uncover her past as well as find her brother. That being said, her character development felt pretty minimal for the most part which was a bit disappointing. On the other hand though, she stayed true to herself, so there's something to be said for that.
-Tibet more appealed to me because of his relationship with Maki than as individual. I felt they played off each other well, but otherwise he was a bit bland. I felt his reactions to finding out about his mother's as well as his father's deaths were a bit too subdued. Personally, I felt he should have had more emotion with finding out that his father probably hadn't committed suicide and had more drive to find out what happened, but given that it's implied his father was absent for a large part of his life, I also can't totally find fault with his having other priorities at the time given everything going on. His character development also felt pretty minimal.
-White was fantastic. I loved her badass attitude and the way that she didn't take crap from anyone. She was definitely a hot head, but she was also intelligent and under the attitude, she really did care about others. I enjoyed her friendship with Maki and the way they supported each other. Also, her punching out her aunt was a great scene. As much as I really liked her character though, she was another one that didn't seem to have a huge amount of growth.
-Nai was a lot like Tibet for me. I liked his relationship with White and with their group of four, but as an individual he was a tad boring. I also felt he was more inconsistent in terms of his character. He would go from chill to ready to punch someone out to trying to be funny. And it didn't feel like it was deliberate, more like the writers forgot how his character would typically react. He also didn't have a whole lot character growth.
-Pennueng was precious and I was almost immediately protective of him, like do not mess with him. I liked how it was portrayed that just because he was different, didn't mean that he was stupid or incapable. He was in fact quite smart as well as caring and brave. His development was great, going from someone very fearful who struggled to talk to anyone to someone who had friends and could communicate with and help them.
-Phleng was another character I liked and thought had decent character development. She started out so innocent only for it to be found that she lied and even hurt herself to gain attention. Of course, we learn that this is because she found that was the only way to get attention from her mother. She grew from that though and turned into a very sweet person who wanted to help others and worked to better herself.
-Fuji was hit or miss for me. Sometimes I liked her, other times I found her infuriating. There was a part of me that applauded her down with the patriarchy attitude, but I also felt she overdid it. Just because your father is a world class ass doesn't mean every man is and I thought her finally figuring that out when Mek and Mork defended her was a bit late considering most of the guys were pretty decent and had proven that multiple times.
-Biu started out bubbly and sweet, but after finding out the Phleng was a liar, it seemed like her whole attitude changed and she was much less pleasant. I don't have a whole of an opinion regarding her, especially since she was one of the characters who disappeared there towards the end.
-Jean really didn't leave much of an impression. He was one of the least featured students and aside from him being a real jerk there at the beginning and then going head to head with Fuji, he just wasn't that memorable.
-Hugo was one of my least favorite characters because he was such a total ass. Finding out his backstory helped soften my feelings towards him some, but there was also an element of too little, too late. Also he was bullying Pennueng who I loved so I wasn't willing to feel too sympathetic. That being said, he did have a good character development and while he was still very much himself there at the end, he had also softened and wasn't the sadistic tool that he had been.
-Jingjai was in very much the same boat as Hugo. She was my least favorite character along with Hugo because she was such a total b***h. Again, finding out her backstory helped some, but did not completely alleviate my dislike. Like Hugo though, I found her character development to be positive and liked that she remained herself while still growing and becoming a better person.
-Run was an interesting character. I liked him, but I also wanted to know more about him. I felt like there was a lot left unexplained with him that would have been helpful to know. Still, he was a good character and while I didn't necessarily see how he was as exceptional as everyone seemed to think aside from being able to hypnotize others and succumb to others attempts to brain wash him, he did come across as intelligent.

The acting was a mixed bag as usual, but there were a couple of standouts. Gun as always was fantastic. I don't think I've disliked his acting in any drama I've watched him in, he always brings his A game. Chimon blew me away. I've seen him in a couple dramas, all of which I've found him to be a good actor, but nothing exceptional. If I ever had any doubts that he could act, they are gone because he was just brilliant as Pennueng. Chalad as Prasat was also excellent. That laugh of his was positively mental and everything about him just screamed that he was unstable, but in the best way. Papang surprised and impressed me as Master Champ. I've liked him in the dramas I've seen and thought he was a talented actor, but his performance here was unlike anything I've seen from him and he was delightfully deranged. Someone please make him a lead, he deserves it. And finally, Khaotung who came in during the last minute or so and almost blew everyone out of the water. I knew that he had a bit role and wondered if it was Zero since his character was mentioned several times, but was surprised when I was right. Another actor that I know is talented, but had never seen in this kind of role and holy crap did he own it. Just absolutely insane, both literally and figuratively. Film's acting was nothing spectacular, she seemed wooden at times, but there were other times when she did quite well. Jane was good, again, I really liked White's character, however, she seems to act about the same with a number of the characters she's portrayed, so I wouldn't call her acting spectacular. While it was fun to see Joong and Sing as young Amin and Bodin respectively and they did act well, I thought they both looked too young for the characters they were portraying. I felt like they worked initially with the 1980 timeframe since it sounded like they should be in their late teens/early twenties, but when it jumped to 1991 and they still looked exactly the same, it stopped working. I feel like GMMTV has a bit of a habit of casting actors who aren't age appropriate, I'm thinking of them trying to make us believe that Earth could pass as an almost 40-something in Moonlight Chicken, and, for me at least, it really pulls me out of the moment. They could have used makeup or something to make them look older if they wanted to stick with those actors but it didn't look like they made any effort.

To sum it all up, I really enjoyed this drama. I found it to be lightly dark and moody with a pretty decent cast and some interesting characters. Like I said at the beginning, it's not perfect, but it is fun. The ending sets up a second season which I would not object to provided it has a good story. A second season could also be used to fill in some of the holes and give better clarity to other aspects. This is a drama that I would certainly recommend and one that I will be rewatching in the future.

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My School President No More

There is one reason and one reason only these two episodes are getting as high a rating as they are and that is solely because of the cast. I had serious concerns after seeing the trailer for MSP and those concerns were absolutely valid. MSP was one of the dramas that had a lot of places it could be taken, so to have them choose to do an alternate universe with essentially the same story, just some roles switched, felt indescribably lazy, not to mention boring. This special could have been so much more than it was and I'm truly sad at the lost opportunity.

I cannot even begin to explain how lazy the premise of this felt. I know I've already said it once, but seriously. They could have jumped to them in college or after college though age wise that would have been a stretch or, heck, the summer after they graduate. Just about anything else they could have come up with would have been more interesting and creative than what we got. It's not a word for word or scene for scene copy, but it's close enough that I struggled to stay invested because it's already been done.

Everything felt rushed, probably because they were trying to fit a 12 episode drama into two episodes. It also felt choppy for that same reason. The lack of continuity made it feel like we were jumping from one scene to the next. There needed to be a bit more filler to join everything together. I also felt like the quality was just lower. The music was great as always, but there were multiple times where the instrumental parts overwhelmed the vocals to the point they were very hard to hear. And while in MSP it at least looked like they were actually performing live, I didn't get that same impression here. It really just seemed like they were lip syncing and quite obviously too. There was also the ballroom dance exam scene which dragged on far too long and it was painfully clear they hadn't had nearly enough time to practice because their movements were so stiff and clunky. There just wasn't any smoothness or grace in the moves and transitions.

I haven't felt the product placement thus far was super obvious or annoying in Our Skyy 2, but I felt it in these episodes and it was annoying. The commercials are more than enough, blatant camera shots of products are not necessary and they just detract from the quality.

Now when I say the cast was the one saving grace, I am not even kidding. They were literally the only reason I persisted through both episodes. They are all so charismatic and engaging , but even they seemed to be lacking the energy that was present in the drama. Everything felt a bit subdued. Don't get me wrong, they still did a good job with their various roles, it just wasn't as strong as MSP where they pretty much all rocked their characters.

I think I really noticed the off energy with Sound and Win. They were such firecracker characters in MSP and here it seemed like the fire had gone out of them and they were shadows of their alter universe egos. Same with Tinn and Gun to an extent. They just didn't have that same spark. Part of it with them, I think, is that Fourth and Gemini didn't seem at home in their alternate characters. That could just be my perception, though. Fourth just has that mischievous, chaotic energy that really lent itself to the character of Gun in MSP. And while Gemini certainly has his own mischievous moments, he lacks the same chaotic energy and appearance wise, he comes across as more mature. I'm sure they had a lot of fun swapping roles, but I didn't find it fully believable. I did like that Tiwson and Por got to be realized as a fully fledged couple. Their interactions were adorable and I'm happy they got more screen time. I do think trying to throw in Khajorn and Phat as another couple, albeit more of just a suggested one, was unnecessary. Honestly, and absolutely no offense to Aun as an actor, but they could have just removed Khajorn completely and nothing would have been missed. He just didn't add that much other than showing how his alternate universe character is a complete 180 from his MSP character.

The one other aspect that I actually quite enjoyed was the inclusion of other BLs in their MV there at the end. I thought that was cute and clever. He's Coming To Me is on my list of dramas to watch so I didn't catch that reference, but Bad Buddy and Tale of Thousand Stars were obvious and fun to see.

These episodes have some cute and funny/cheesy moments. They do change some things up so it's not a carbon copy of MSP, but if they wanted to go with an alternate universe story, there were so many more creative ways they could have gone about it. And that really is the biggest thing for me. It lacked the originality, the fun, the creativity, the very vibrancy of MSP and instead what we got was a shallow facsimile of the original. I didn't hate it, but neither did I love it and I think I'll always be left thinking of what could have been.

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Between Us, It's Not Worth The Wait

Creating spin offs focused on the side couples that captured the audience's hearts has been a thing for a while. Sometimes it's done really well, but in a lot of cases as showcased here with Between Us, it just ends very poorly. The thing with side couples is that they're just that, side couples. They can bounce in and out as needed to provide whatever is needed, some levity to keep the show from being too heavy, a nudge to keep the plot rolling, a touch of ingenuity to get the lead couple together or back on track, etc. They're not central to the story, but they do play an important role. The problem comes though, when you try to take them and make them the leads. Unless both stories are planned out at the same time, it's bound to get messy which was the case with Between Us.

I watched Between Us and then promptly went and skimmed through UWMA which means that the differences between the two were positively glaring. Since these two dramas were obviously not planned out at the same time, there were inevitably going to be differences, that was unavoidable. However, with that being said, I think they could have done a much better job of making those differences less obvious.
-The most obvious were characters that were prominent in UWMA that were just completely omitted in Between Us, namely Dean's sister, Del. She became a good friend of Manow and Pharm and was frequently seen with them at the swim meets and such and with Manow in the drama club. I don't know if the actress was unavailable, uninterested, or if they deliberately omitted her but it was weird to have her absent. Same with Alex who was also part of the drama club and again was almost completely omitted aside from one comment about him that Manow made in Episode 1. If they didn't want those characters in there, then so be it, but find a way to explain why they don't show up. Pretending they don't exist is not the way to go. Your audience isn't stupid.
-Similarly, part of Manow's journey was her discouragement of not getting any acting parts and just working backstage. This was another fairly major change since she acted in a short film that won a prize in UWMA and acted in something for the club's open house as well. Don't get me wrong, I actually liked the change, but it just felt like they didn't care about consistency and staying true to the original story.
-Sticking with Manow for a second, her and Pruek's relationship was also completely different. This is another change that I liked, I actually adored their relationship, more than Win and Team, if I'm honest, they were so wholesome, but again, nothing like what transpired in UWMA.
There's definitely more but I'll stick with those so I don't keep rambling.

The biggest problem though with Between Us, is that there simply wasn't enough story to stretch for 12 episodes. There just wasn't. Again as side characters, as a side couple, Team and Win were fantastic, they were the comedic relief together, separately they were confidants for Pharm and Dean respectively. It worked. But with them as the leads, their characters also changed. Team was almost infantilized. He was whiny and childish. His constant complaint of "Hia" became increasingly grating as the drama dragged on. And Win, who was teasing and mischievous in UWMA, was suddenly possessive and overprotective. The teasing came out as well, but to a lesser extent and as the drama went on; their relationship took on an almost parental note which was weird and felt unnatural. Their relationship in UWMA, for as little as we saw of it, felt natural. That's part of why it was so charming. What we needed was something that told us why they worked. Not a one night stand, not family drama, or a traumatic back story, just them, what was it about their personalities, who they were, that just clicked and unfortunately we got everything but that.

But while I feel like starting their relationship with a one night stand wouldn't fit with the narrative initiated by UWMA, it could have worked. If they had showcased what started out as just sex slowly developing into something more. But instead, they kept their relationship painfully awkward, particularly on Team's part, hesitant to touch or be touched, and the kisses were just not great. There should have been a steady improvement, but there wasn't. I'm going to guess neither the writer or director have ever been in relationships and have no idea how they work because seriously, there should be growth and development, not just physically, but emotionally. But again, we have the weird parent/child dynamic between the two that never goes away. We have Win's apparent fear of commitment that's never really addressed. There's also Team's completely unfounded fear that he's not truly special to Win that's also not addressed. Those are two aspects that would have been interesting to explore and could have given insight to the characters, providing growth for them as individuals and as a couple. We also have scenes like the one where Team apparently sits in the rain for two hours waiting for Win to rush to his side. Really? You're visiting your parents, they're probably 10 minutes away, but you're going to call your boyfriend who's two hours away. And then Win, who has a car, decides to ride his bike. The levels of stupidity in that one scene were just off the charts. And then the episode where they finally admit they love each other but spend half of it chasing each other around. Basically, by the end of the drama, I wanted to bash their heads together, not that I think it would have actually done any good.

The other thing bogging down this drama was, as usual, the myriad of side couples. Now the two I didn't mind were Manow and Pruek, as I already mentioned, and, for the most part, Tul and Waan.
-Manow and Pruek had a good, steady development in their relationship and I loved his endless support of her. Seriously, Pruek is boyfriend goals. If he has an older brother exactly like him, I want him as my boyfriend thank you very much. I also loved how he just accepted her as she was with all her quirks and oddities. He took everything in stride no matter how weird and it created some truly adorable scenes. I just cannot describe how much I adore them. I liked the depth given to Manow. I loved her in UWMA, but there was more to her here. She wasn't just the funny friend, she was a whole character. And she had so much personality! BL's and dramas, in general, take note. A woman does not have to be a skinny, pretty little thing with no personality to be appreciated. Not that Sammy isn't pretty, she is stunning, but I love that she doesn't fit that typical mold. I wouldn't have minded more of a focus on her struggles and efforts to be an actress despite not fitting society's idea of how an actress should look, but I'll take what I can get.
-Tul and Waan, for all that they didn't have a whole lot of screen time, were an interesting couple if nothing else. They added an element of intrigue with the whole will Tul get the cajones to tell him who he really is or not. They reasonably developed characters with a mostly believable story. I liked their interactions both through their game and in person. Their ending was a bit rushed for my taste, definitely a 0 to 60, and the chemistry seemed to be a bit lacking there, but I didn't hate it.
-Bee and Prince were my least favorite side couple. They had some cute moments, but I didn't feel their relationship was well developed. When I first wrote this review, I really didn't get Prince's struggle and it seemed over the top. Now, having seen more how celebrities in Thailand and Asia are treated, I have a much greater appreciation for his dilemma and the trials he and Bee were bound to face. So that aspect I felt was well done. But as a whole, their relationship felt choppy. They hadn't interacted enough before they were in love for me to believe it was something lasting or to even fully see how they got there. Still, I did find myself rooting for them and for their future together.
-Pharm and Dean are of course in there, but they're not added into the story very well as a couple. Honestly, they're just kind of there. Dean, as president of the swim club and Win's friend pops up more than Pharm, but past the first couple of episodes, he's mostly there as a sounding board for Win. Since his and Pharm's story has already been told, I don't really have anything to say about them, other than, I did like Pharm more here. I don't know if it was because I can tolerate him better in smaller doses, he seemed more mature, which he did, or there were a lot fewer scenes of him being all shy with Dean after they'd been together for a while. Whatever the reason, it worked.
-They weren't a side couple but I was not fond of A and Sea. Frankly, they were jerks toward Bee and if I was him, I would have dropped them as friends. There is good natured ribbing and there is bullying/mocking. In my opinion, they went past good natured straight to bullying/mocking. He was obviously serious about Prince and rather than offering their support, they just mocked him. Who needs or wants friends like that?

And this was yet another drama that clearly thought its viewers had short term memories and so must show flashbacks at least once every ten minutes. I'm exaggerating, but the number of flashbacks really was unnecessary and excessive. Other than the music reused from UWMA which was just as lovely as I remembered, I wasn't overly impressed with the OST. It was mostly pretty forgettable and there were definitely moments where the music was too loud and it made hearing the actors' voices hard. The cinematography varied. Some of it was really great and beautiful, but then there were moments of shaky camera work, some awkward shots or lighting that really detracted from the quality.

The acting is honestly pretty mediocre. I didn't find myself impressed with any of the leads, no one really jumped out to me which was kind of disappointing. But then again, that's pretty much how this whole drama sums up. Boun and Prem for all that I did like them in UWMA lack chemistry. They have a couple of scenes that should have been hot, but frankly I didn't feel anything. Other scenes, where they were messing with each other or even when they were having a few heartfelt conversations, there was chemistry. They just severely lacked it physically. And should say that not everyone was mediocre. Sammy was once again a delight as my girl, Manow and Bosston kept giving me warm, fuzzy feelings every time he was on screen, so I will give credit to those two for keeping me invested.

I came into this drama really wanting to like it. I was excited for Win and Team's story, to see it unfold and develop. Unfortunately, I ended up disappointed in so many ways from the change in both their characters to the lack of development in their relationship to just how bland the story was overall. If you enjoyed UWMA, I really can't recommend watching this. Actually, I just can't recommend watching this period.

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Utterly Forgettable

I wasn't fully sure what to expect with this drama. My sole interest was in the casting of First and Ja as Gun and Golf, respectively. I think I was expecting more romance than there is. Ultimately, this is less of a BL drama and more of a coming of age drama. It's not totally devoid of romance or BL moments, but if you're looking for steamy moments ala Don't Say No, Love By Chance, etc., you will be sorely disappointed as thus far there has been a single, very chaste kiss. What it does have is more depth to it and unique, compelling characters. It doesn't always seem to know how to use said characters and it does seem to leave some of them in the same place for periods of time with little development, but ultimately I've enjoyed the diversity. That being said, it has also struggled with pacing, conflicts between characters being dragged out, character development, the costuming/makeup and being downright predictable at times.

The story really is more about the friendship of the five central characters than anything else. While Ja's character Golf is considered a main character, even he's more on the fringe. Gun, Em, Name, Champ, and Nan have known each other since they were kids and that's exactly the age the viewer meets them, as little boys. The fun part of this drama is seeing the boys age, from little kids, to high schoolers, to college students and then after. This drama is definitely a slow burn and sometimes it feels like its about to go out. There are definitely scenes that could have been shortened or cut completely that would have streamlined the story without leaving anything important out. Time in general is just kind of an issue with this drama from the slow pace to all the time jumps. Some of them are well documented with a title stating that time has passed, but other times you have to try to figure it out for yourself from what the characters are saying. This is primarily during their college years where it gets confusing. In terms of romance within the story, again that really does take more back of a back burner. While romance is central to some character's stories, since each character has their own story, that's why I don't I feel like the romantic aspect itself is central to the drama.There are three couples: Golf and Gun, Nan and Chompu, and almost-couple Em and Name who I trust will get there before the end. Their relationships are all unique in their own way and I've enjoyed watching them grow. My favorite time period with the group has been their college years. I feel like this drama has a more realistic depiction of college than others depicting the struggles of burn out, school/life balance, working on projects, etc.

While I came to this drama for First and Ja who have been wonderful, the actor I truly have to give kudos to is Title Teshin. While his character was one of the ones that was left stagnant for a while, his acting is anything but. I can only imagine the challenge of playing a mute, since you can't use your voice to convey how you feel or what you want to say. He absolutely blew me away with the level of emotion he was able to convey just with his eyes and body language. The scenes when Gun and Em leave for college and when he was telling his mom that Em had promised him to stay in contact were so incredibly powerful to me. They just broke my heart and I wanted to reach through the screen and give him a hug. The other actors have been great as well, but he's the one who stole the show for me.

This drama has such a diverse set of characters and I love it, particularly the inclusion of characters with disabilities and the treatment of them as actual human beings. At the beginning of the drama, it was so heartwarming to see the boys accept Name so completely. Just a "he doesn't talk much" and they were all totally fine with that, he was instantly one of them. And with Chompu, I appreciated seeing a woman in that role and not as a recluse, but as a woman in college who knew her worth. What I haven't loved as much with these characters is the lack of character development. With some characters there's very obvious growth, but with others it doesn't seem like there's been much of a change from their high school selves to where they're at now.
-Gun is a very likable character, he's adorable and he really is a sweetheart, but he's definitely one of the ones I don't feel like had a whole lot of growth. To be fair, he didn't get as much screen time as an adult aside from his break up with Golf. But aside from the lack of acne, there didn't seem to be a huge difference between where he was in high school and where he was at the end. At the time of their breakup, he still wasn't really communicating and was still keeping things to himself. He obviously loved Golf and didn't really want to break up with him, but rather than sit down and communicate how he felt, he immediately jumped to breaking up. I was initially very disappointed with how that was resolved because it seemed far too easy, but I was glad that Name's narrative at the end gave some further insight into their relationship and that they had learned from what happened and set some boundaries. Not the most satisfying way to resolve it, I would have liked to see the growth myself, but it works.
-Golf is a little more interesting since, while he is billed as a main character, his storyline was shorter, completely tied to Gun's without a chance to really see him as a character on his own. So the change seen is more tied to his relationship with Gun than directly to his character. When first introduced in high school and college, he's fairly carefree, I didn't get the impression that he was the kind of student who studied all the time and his relationship with Gun was sweet and easy. Fast forward to after college and suddenly he's a workaholic, forgetting or ignoring important dates, not checking in, essentially completely neglecting his relationship with Gun without an apology or any signs of remorse until Gun breaks. Now I mentioned above that Gun fails to communicate how all of this affects him, Golf, in turn, fails to recognize how he is neglecting his relationship and the damage he is causing by doing so. They ultimately fail each other. I would have liked to see more character development of Golf as his own person, however, that really never happened. I was glad to see that he had some self-realization that he had been neglecting Gun, but also his thinking didn't make sense to me. He was working so hard so they could move to the US, but he hadn't run this by Gun? Moving to a whole other country is a huge decision and not one made lightly and without your partner's input. And then to suddenly spring a proposal out there was a bold move that somehow worked out and again an extremely unsatisfactory ending to a conflict that deserved an actual sit down conversation to figure things out. I liked Golf, I just wish more was done with him.
-Em is one of the characters who I felt had more character development. He actually seemed to grow as a person. I loved his relationship with Name, both as a friendship and with the way I felt it pretty naturally took a romantic turn. I really appreciated how he implicitly accepted him when they were children and the fact that he didn't talk wasn't an issue in the slightest. While he came across as very easy going, he also struck me as a deeply empathetic person. He understood Name when others didn't and I think that empathetic nature is what allowed him to do so. I do, however, take issue with his plot with Name's mom. While I understand he had good intentions, I found it manipulative and damaging. Considering how close the two are, he should have been aware of the damage it could cause and he should have steered Name's mom toward a different solution. I was glad that he told Name everything, but that whole conflict was dragged out for far too long. I was glad that he stuck by Name afterwards and again, his feelings turning from friendship to romance felt pretty natural although I wouldn't have minded a little more of a gradual build up there though I understand why they couldn't. I did find it very sweet that his gift to Name was the hourglass and he told him that he was giving him the rest of his time. Very smooth. I think ultimately, what I love most about his character is his unwavering support for his friends, but particularly Name. No matter what, he is there to help and support them.
-Name has the greatest character development out of anyone in this drama with overcoming his fear and beginning to speak. Him speaking to Em before anyone else was the sweetest and most heartbreaking thing to watch, especially the bus scene when Em leaves. While he does have the most development, he is also left stagnant for several episodes during his conflict with Em and his mom. That got frustrating to watch seeing him in the same place after a while interspersed with great moments like when he tries to speak in front of the mirror or when he's writing on the sticky notes to his mom. One of the hardest scenes to watch though was when he contemplates suicide and is only prevented from taking the pills by his mother's collapse. That was never mentioned again which, on the one hand, I understand because he's moved past that, but on the other hand, I think is something important that should be addressed. And while I don't condone Em's or his mother's actions, it was sweet to see him realizing how much his mom really does love him. Since overcoming his fear, it was lovely to continue watching him grow and try new things, aided and encouraged by Em, of course. His conversation with Champ was fantastic to watch, to just see how far he's come, from not being able to speak for himself to actually being able to help others speak for themselves. I'm not a huge fan of Champ, but that was a great scene. And, of course, I was happy that he and Em finally got together and, in the end, apparently open a café together.
-Nan probably has the second greatest character development, changing from a self-proclaimed playboy to a man devoted to only one woman. I found his development really interesting to watch mostly because I felt it was portrayed in a relatively realistic fashion, going from woman to woman to finding one who finally fully captures his interest. His pursuit of Chompu after their breakup feels less realistic. Part of the problem is that whole time issue I mentioned. I never got a good sense of how long the two of them were together. The translation I watched said years at one point, but something said later on contradicted that, so I'm not sure. My general impression though was more like months maybe, in which case his pursuit of her seemed a tad aggressive and kind of stalkerish, honestly. I get that its supposed to be romantic, but it did lean a tad more towards creepy. That being said, I do like his relationship with Chompu, particularly that he realizes that she wants to be seen as normal human being and that he doesn't immediately jump in to help her. I don't think he would have had that level of perception when he was younger. And on the flip side, he finally realizes that she loves him just as he is and wants him to be himself as well. You can definitely see that he's matured while he's also still his goofy self. Now if Chompu would just rip off that stupid wig...which thankfully it looks like she eventually does since its gone during Name's final narrative. Thank god!
-Champ is probably my least favorite of the gang. I feel like his character is the least interesting and frankly could have been completely omitted with very little lost. His claim to fame is really only his grandfather's pickled fish and the fact that he's the smart one of the bunch. Aside from that, I don't feel like there's much to him. I don't feel like he's really developed as a character, certainly not positively. He went from being a sweet kid who loved his family to treating them like dirt. I still don't fully understand that. I get that he was angry that they didn't tell him about his grandfather being in the hospital, but they were doing what they thought was best and trying not to cause him undue stress and he's been punishing them ever since? For years? That's a lot of anger and resentment. I'm glad they get things resolved in the end and he goes back home and reconciles with his parents. The scene with his parents eating dinner and having the pickled fish again was sweet, but he remains my least favorite character and the least developed, in my opinion.

The nostalgia is strong with this drama. I'm at an age where a lot of this was relevant for me growing up so it's been fun watching it. The letters, in particular, got to me just because it used to be such an exciting event to get a letter from someone or even to write a letter to someone. Now all I get is bills. lol

The music for this drama has been unusually bad. I'm used to the repetitive soundtracks with Thai dramas, this one just feels more tedious than usual. And the background music is way too loud. Whoever did the editing did a poor job of it because it is incredibly distracting and annoying. Also, repetitive, again.

Probably the worst part of this drama though has to be the makeup and the wigs. I don't know who looked at these men in those wigs and said, yup, that looks good, but they should be fired. They are god awful and they both distract and detract from the quality of the drama. If you want them to have different hairstyles to show passage of time, then get some decent lace front wigs, not cheap anime cosplay wigs that wouldn't fool a mannequin. Ja's is probably the least offensive. Honestly, he's giving me serious Sin vibes from Until We Meet Again with that look, but the wig's so ill fitting you can his own hair at the nape of his neck that the wig doesn't cover in one scene. I honestly don't understand why they needed wigs in the first place. Besides the wigs, Gun's acne was nearly as bad. Besides the fact that it would change between takes within a single scene, it looked so fake and really nothing like acne. There are literally YouTube tutorials that show you how to do something more realistic. I just, I don't know with this part of the drama in all honesty.

While I am enjoying parts of this drama, there are other parts that I have not enjoyed as much.
-The predictability of some parts was just a little too obvious. For example, Champ's grandfather's death. As soon as the grandparent starts coughing or something, I'm calling it. It's an overused trope, in my opinion, and an unnecessary one at that. The fact that N was Name's mom was also pretty obvious. There were a number of other moments like that where it was just very obvious what was going to happen. Subtlety is definitely not this drama's strong suit.
-Probably my biggest issue though is the manipulation of Em and Name's mom. I understand they had good intentions, I understand his mom was at her wit's end and she wanted her son to open up to her, but seriously, that was the best idea you could come up with? To further isolate him and take away the one friend he had? That I don't get. It has to be the worst thought out plan ever. There's no doubt that they both love Name, but they seriously went the wrong way about helping him.
-I nearly always have this issue with Thai dramas, so this really isn't a surprise, but too big of a main cast. They are trying to cram in too many characters and stories into too short of a time period and it doesn't give time to do them justice. This is where removing a character like Champ who, in my opinion, adds very little to the story, would give more opportunities to develop the other characters stories and relationships which I'm far more interested and invested in.
-This is my nitpicking more than anything but the pointed time period references are a tad annoying. I feel like they could have found less obvious and repetitive ways to do so.

Overall this wasn't a bad drama. I can't say it was a great one, but the concept was interesting and I really did enjoy the coming of age aspect of it even though I wasn't expecting it to play quite as much of a role as it did. I don't expect that I'll come back to this drama, there just wasn't enough about it that I liked as a whole to pull me back. It really is a slow burn and while those are fine to watch at least once, sometimes twice if exceptional, this drama is not exceptional.

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An Eternal Nightmare

After watching Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms when it first streamed, I was very excited to watch Eternal Love of Dream despite the change in story. However, I was very disappointed in it and found it hard to watch. It took me several months to get through it which rarely happens.

Pros:
- Bringing back Vengo Gao and Dilraba Dilmurat was the best part of the show and frankly the only reason I persisted through it till the end. Their chemistry, as before, was flawless and their acting was on point. No complaints there!
- The cinematography was lovely and I found the sets to overall be more realistic than in TMOPB.
- As always the OST was beautiful.
- Costuming, again, was perfect. I appreciated how each tribe had their own general but unique style without all looking the same.

Cons:
-This may seem minor or petty, but I was not fond of some of the recasts, Cheng Yu in particular. The new actress appears significantly younger and some of her scenes with Lian Song just didn't work for me with the obvious age difference, she just seems too young for him. The actress in TMOPB seemed to be a more comparable age and the two actors played off each other much better, in my opinion.
-The plot positively dragged for me. The constant misunderstandings between Feng Jiu and Dong Hua from the very beginning to quite literally the very end got exhausting after a while. The fact that neither seemed to learn from past mistakes was also frustrating and that more than a few of their misunderstandings seemed very forced, that if they had just used some common sense there wouldn't even be an issue, just compounded the issue. A'Lanruo's Dream was a particular challenge to get through. There were aspects that were not explained well and it got confusing at times with what was going on and who was who and what their relationships were. Most of it got ironed out in the end, but in the moment it was confusing and frustrating. I also never got a very clear picture of why A'Lanruo was hated so much by everyone or why she was abandoned as a child. There were hints, but nothing definitive so the blanks within her life were another source of frustration.
- I very much liked Feng Jiu in TMOPB, but I realized very soon after starting this drama that part of that was because she was seen in small doses overall. With her as the lead in this drama, I definitely found her to be a little more over the top and annoying at times. When she's a fox towards the beginning was particularly cringy and a challenge to watch. I would have really liked to see her character develop and mature and mellow from the childishness to a more measured level.
- The side characters were a mixed bunch. Ji Heng in particular annoyed the crap out of me. She was a basically pointless character whose only purpose was to sow discord between Feng Jiu and Dong Hua. Xiao Yan deserved so much better than her whininess. Xiao Yan on the other hand was a lot of fun and I enjoyed seeing Lian Song and Si Ming back. Chong Li was a welcome addition as was Qing Ti. As a side note, I found the dismissal of the deaths of Meng Shao and his family more than a little irritating. I came to really like Meng Shao and appreciate his character development so the fact that his death was barely mentioned and even then just in passing as part of the royal family was off-putting. He wasn't a main character, but he had enough of a part to deserve a little more recognition.
-The villains were okay but not particularly impressive. Miao Luo's obnoxious evil laugh got old real fast and I never found her to be particularly threatening or interesting. It could be that I'm just forgetting, but I didn't get a real sense for why she was evil or what her motivation was other than because of how she was created. At least with Nie Chuyin his motivation was clearly power and the desire to rule. I honestly would have found it more interesting to have him as the main villain as he was far more compelling and interesting to watch.
- As with pretty much every drama I've watched, the CGI definitely leaves more than a little to be desired. The episodes with Feng Jiu in her fox form were a bit painful to watch, in more ways than one. The bad effects and her behavior combined made those some tough episodes to get through.
-A relatively minor issue, but I always get frustrated with these fantasy dramas and how unclear they make the passage of time. You watch a few episodes and think a few days or months have gone by only to find out that nope, its been a few hundred years. I feel like they could make that a little more clear.

In the end, did I hate it? No. Did I love it? Also no. It wasn't a bad drama, but it wasn't a particularly good one either. It pales hugely in comparison to TMOPB in pretty much all aspects. It's certainly not one that I'll ever have the desire to rewatch but I also don't necessarily regret watching it either. It simply wasn't quite my cup of tea.

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