Samee See Thong (2019)

Kinda like a Thai Desperate Housewives but much better and much more realistic

This series is a revenge for every woman who's been somehow abused by her husband (with other ways than insults or beatings), for every time an unfaithful husband was not held responsible for having several women, for every time a man thought a wife should mostly behave like a governess or a nanny ; for everytime a woman complaining about her husband being a player would be judged as being exceedingly jealous and temperamental ; for everytime a woman's pain of having to share her husband with shameless mistresses would be belittled ; and for everytime a woman who would be upset about her husband requiring from her to be nothing else but the perfect housewife, even though he himself knows nothing about chores and never did these ; for everytime a husband would think he can treat a wife as a servant or disrepect her because he's the one bringing money at home ; for every wife who was forced to give up her career for marriage ; and for every mother who would do the real job when raising the kids, doing the annoying but important stuff, and would still have to stand to see their husband get the hugs from the kids alone, all because they would only be here for the fun stuffs with the kids, like playing or buy them things, while they would only get annoyed glances from their immature kids
I also liked the fact that the series pointed out that physical, verbal abuse or infidelity were not the only things that could make a relationship toxix (through Jiad and his ways of constantly belittling his wife and treating her like a servant, forgetting she was a woman with self-respect, feelings and dreams and not just a housekeeper and nanny for his kids)
The series also shows out that even if you're old enough to be a mother, it's still not too late : if you're unhappy and want to change your life, want to go back having a career and work again, want to leave your husband, then your age doesn't matter, only your will.
And the series certainly does not forgive those abusive husband and leave them no possible redemption for having treated their wives wrongly for about 20 years : they do not treat their wives and end up paying the price, eventually losing their wives to then realize they were actually precious to them. It is also interesting to see how different their reactions are : amongst the three husbands, two of them seriously repents (one realizes how much he hurt his wife and decides to let her go for her sake, no matter how his hearbtreak, because he knows he owes it to her while the other one somehow still hopes for a second but nevertheless realizes that what he considered as insignificant problems eventually made him lose his most precious woman ; and you have the third husband who not only loses his wife but everything else and yet refuses to admit that this is the result of his actions. He is openly shown as et he most selfish and irresponsible one).
The characters are also awesome because they are realistic : they have qualities but they also have flaws. For example, Pan, the wife who has a partier for a husband, has big troubles controlling her temper and her feelings, which makes life sometimes extremely difficult for as she can’t let some things alone but mostly because with a player for a husband, her marriage life is extremely difficult since she’s unable to keep her calm when he’s out partying or playing with another. So, basically, she maintains herself in a toxic and unhappy relationship (she and her husband are passionately in love but like teenagers, with big fights and useless reconciliations and so on and on) and many times, us viewers wonders why she stays with him, since it makes her so unhappy (especially at one point in perticular of the drama, when their relationship faces a big revelation) and since her husband is obviously very disrespectful of her feelings : so when she finally admits that no matter how much they love each other, their relationship is very toxic and that this has to stop, this feels like a big step for the viewer.
As for Nira, the hi-so woman, this is the same : although you can’t help but feel pity for her situation, as a woman who has to accommodate with her husband’s affairs and his illegitimate children, but also fight with his mistresses, sometimes you can’t help but feel she has a share of responsibility in her situation, especially when you learn of her past, about how she and her husband's met and got together ; moreover, too often, you feel like she makes her marital fights pass before the sake of her children. However, despite her flaws or her past faults, this certainly does not excuse or justify what her husband puts her through, especially when you later see how she evolves, her character growth and the efforts she does to make up for her past mistakes, towards her children, towards her husband’s illegitimate children and towards herself.
These two are the best example of these characters who have both flaws and qualities but all characters are as realistic as this, making them so complex, and yet understandable
I also liked how the show pointed out how the various actions our behavior of the parents influence their children, something that is too often put aside : the angst, the shame, the anger, the suffering, the sadness that they may feel when they see their parents behaving shamelessly, deliberately causing their own unhappiness, or simply when seeing their parents’ abusive relationship and/or how it sometimes also pushes them to develop bad behaviors that are only the result of the bad teaching (or lack of teaching) from their parents.
The series also has the great point of reuniting veteran actors from the thai industry, actors who once played young leads in romantic series but still stand firm in Thailand and show their talents as experimented actors playing experimenting parts
It's not my usual cup of tea (I like romantic things) but I have to admit : it was brilliant !

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