Absolute Zero (2023)

absolutely needed better writing (watch suggestions)

Overall: I enjoy a series with a different premise, but unfortunately the writing/world building/pacing did not work for me. 12 episodes about 50 minutes each. Aired on iQIYI. Re-aired on Studio Wabi Sabi YouTube channel.

Content Warnings: past death/grief, dub/non con touching, 10 year age gap with a highschooler*, manipulation

Watch suggestions: unless you enjoy very slow pacing, characters doing nonsense things, a bunch of crying and untold flashbacks here is my suggestion
1. Watch episode 1, at the end tell yourself that Ongsa died
2. pretend that Suansoon goes back in time and tries different things like having Ongsa avoid that location/day/time but none of them work, so then he tells Ongsa to not meet him at the movie theater
3. Ongsa ignores him, watch episode 7 (basically a retelling of episode 1 from Ongsa's perspective)
4. watch episode 8 where Ongsa learns the only thing to do is for them never to meet when in high school
5. Ongsa time jumps to the present, start watching episode 11 at 19 minutes (although there is a cute high school moment at the very beginning of episode 11)
6. Watch episode 12

What I Liked
- mysterious vibe/present
- how what happened in the first episode related to later episodes
- sweet moments
- Karn (Dear Doctor I'm Coming For Soul) in ep 12

Room For Improvement
- character actions didn't make sense, if Ongsa had actually died and then Suansoon went back and told Ongsa not to drive that day and he didn't but still died and we see Ongsa repeatedly going back trying to change things that would be interesting (like The Butterfly Effect) however Ongsa wasn't even dead and instead of being by his partner's side Suansoon started a romantic relationship with high school Ongsa in the past...
- *age gaps generally don't bother me but the adult Suansoon actor is 36 and he looked like it, past Ongsa is in high school (actor is 25 but looks much younger), it was very uncomfortable to see the adult Suansoon in a romantic relationship with a teenaged Ongsa (who didn't even know that they end up together for quite some time), and Suansoon touching Ongsa when he was sleeping was not romantic but came across as creepy, in general they should have shortened this time and focused more on young Ongsa/Suansoon and older Ongsa/Suansoon
- nonsense stuff, how did no one say anything about a highschooler romancing an almost 30 year old??? why wouldn't in the present Suansoon call Onga's parents/go to their house/look on social media/talk to mutual friends/do an internet search/hire a private investigator/hang up fliers/go to their old hangouts....he just cried
- slow pacing, there was a lot of hanging out in a coffee shop and crying
- a bunch of flashbacks
- really poor world building and a ton of "because the writer said so"

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I can’t decide it I love it or hate it

The plot seemed interesting, and I admit that the trailer really drew me in. I was sure it was going to be an emotional rollercoaster, but my expectations for it were still high. I was, however, ready to drop it after the first episode. It just didn’t catch my attention and it felt like very little happened. Things do pick up a bit in the second episode, but it has a lot of ups and downs in terms of how interesting it is.

The switching between past and present got a bit confusing at times, it was hard to keep up with it in some episodes, especially when we were watching Ongsa and Suansoon each in a different time frame. I do think that we were left with quite a few plot holes in the end, especially those about the accident that occurred at the beginning and everything connected to it. Also, how the time travelling happened, was there any reason or a trigger for it (except the first one), how did they get back to their time, etc. was never fully addressed. It just was. Including both of their actions once they got “back” to the present. Why not do something about it instead of leaving it up to a chance, fate?

Ongsa & Suansoon: the two of them are soulmates, destined to meet and all that. I actually quite like both as characters, they seemed to be different enough yet similar to make them appear as a perfect couple. They are both loyal and willing to do a lot for those they love. But Ongsa appears to be friendlier and more open, while Suansoon seems to be more reserved and a bit cold. But that is understandable. I think all four actors that played the present and past couple did great. As problematic as I found the relationship development showed between the young Ongsa and older Suansoon, I think they had the best chemistry as a couple. It might be because they were the pairing we followed most closely, but I really loved their chemistry.

I liked the side characters, a lot. But again, I feel like there are quite a few plot holes around them. The biggest one being why does Suansoon acts like he has never met Ongsa’s friends when they have dated for ten years. It doesn’t really make sense.

While I understand the need to show a lot of the scenes multiple times – from different perspectives, with different outcomes, as memories, as flashbacks – I did find it excessive. At one point, it seemed like I have been watching the same few scenes over and over again. Maybe if it was in a smaller capacity, I wouldn’t be bothered with it, because it does make sense in relation to the plot. But it was too much.

As were all the crying scenes. I know, I know, it’s a very emotions heavy series and it was set as such from the start. But the tears are something that could have been cut a bit short. There are probably enough crying scenes to run for the length of a whole episode.

The ending was what it was. I’m not going to spoil it. It wasn’t really what I was hoping for, but it was what I was expecting.

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