Tonhon Chonlatee (2020)

Is everone watching the same show I'm watching?

How does anyone find this funny? The level of homophobia and misogyny is unacceptable. In the first episode, feminity in gay men is equated with predatory behavior, and the second episode involves a brothel and one character bullying another into having sex against his will.

This is terrible! Not in terms of production values or acting - it's solid there. But the writing is so backward, unfunny, and offensive that I'm truly shocked anyone likes it.

And the evil ex-GF trope again? Can we move past this?

It's a shame - I love everyone in the cast, and I was excited to see Pod in a lead role. Ep 3 was better and funny, but it's hard to get past the previous 2 episodes But even in 3, you have a gay couple paying a call-girl to pose as their romantic interest because they're afraid of Ton. What kind of message is THAT?

And the lack of originality... yikes:

Trip-and-fall-on-each-other-and-stare-at-each-other-with-faces-too-close-together routine? Check.
Engineers? Check.
Pathetic ladyboy? Check.
Silly fujoshi? Check.

One thing it does have going for it is Pod (Ton) is shirtless all the time (or wearing a skin-tight compression tank top which is pretty much the same thing) and I'm shallow.

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Lighthearted and Funny !!

I was expecting some heavy topics based on some of the previous reviews. The mentioned homophobia is definitely a plot point for Ton (love interest). Although, it may not be fit for everyone's taste portraying a BL with homophobia, it's definitely real. You can't expect the entirety of a university to be openly happy-sunshine-gay.

The 'rape' or attempted 'rape' was pushed past because it's not a very deep topic on the show (of course it is in real life). It's a very go with the flow, style and pushes past issues which more dedicated watchers might not enjoy. Mostly everything can be played off as a joke and moved on, you might not want to watch if you aren't up for a go-happy vibe.

The protagonist Chon is very head over heels, ditzy, and awkward (not a bad thing !!). It's just the way he's written as a character, and nothing against it. I'm in love with his friend

My favorite part is the cheesy dramatic humor incorporated into the series. If your looking for some die-hard serious Grammy winning sh*t this isn't for you... :) BUTT, it's a great pass time. I would recommend it as a background show, not fully invested into the plot line, waiting on the edge of your seat type thing. It's more of a have a laugh with your friends about the cheese fueled acting and awkward encounters.

The ending (not a spoiler) is very cut short and impractical, but it is what it is. Overall, the fluffiness and bubbly feelings are because it's a chill series. Again, I don't recommend if your looking for a binge new obsession type show.

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Yikes

YIKES. This is the worst show I have seen from GMMTV. I hope the careers of everyone involved would be able to recover from this tragedy.

The show went on a freefall after the pilot episode. That Untamed spoof would definitely go down as one of the best prologues to a BL ever, but I could only hope that the creators invested the same amount of effort in filming/writing the rest of the story. The writing of Tonhon Chonlatee is possibly the laziest I've seen from GMMTV. Khao, Neo, Ciize, Mike, and Jennifer were all good but not enough to save us from this cringefest. Attack me if you want, but the PoddKhao tandem never worked. The two had no chemistry at all and they were just too... different. Podd had a much better partner (Gawin from Kiss Me Again/Dark Blue Kiss, who had the right amount of angst and tall enough to appear pretty beside Podd) and Khao is better paired off with someone his own age. Without any chemistry, I found it difficult to show empathy for either of the leads.

I especially hate those scenes where the characters were just seated in the living room. Absolutely zero creativity there. Their discussions did not go anywhere. I was also hoping that they showed us more of Na, who is probably the funniest and most three-dimensional character in the show, but apart from Episodes 7 and 8, he barely had anything to do in the series.

And that ending. DOUBLE YIKES. That was beyond bad.

I quite understand why we got this from GMMTV. The pandemic forced them to delay/abandon some of the most anticipated series they have for 2020, so they had to come up with "temporary fillers" quick: shows that are relatively easy to write and film amid the restrictions. But man, I have seen better fiction written by giddy teens in Wattpad...

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DONT TRUST THE REVIEWS.

I put off watching this series for so long because it had so much hate and people said things that just straight up werent true about it- I should always remember that star wars had overwhelmingly bad reviews when it debuted in 1977 too (thats always my reference when I see something has bad reviews) but the warnings that I read from people scared me off. So im not going to spoil anything or even review this really, I just want others to give this show a chance because Im glad I did and it doesn't deserve the bad rap its been given.

S/A scene:
Yes. There is a scene where a character attempts to sexually assault another. It doesnt get very far, the offender gets punched in the face, and then its over. It has barely any screen time and had a fairly realistic resolution tbh. And the claims Ive seen about the guy who did it being a victim of SA himself? Not true at all. Not even hinted at. I can't speak for the novel, but from my point of view as someone who has only seen the show, this seems like a huge reach based on nothing. If you like Tharntype, 2gether or history4close to you- those all have worse in them than TonhonChonlatee.

This series is loveable, and the characters all seemed extremely realistic l, especially for a BL. I seriously have friends that remind me of Ni, Ai and Miriam (I am obsessed with this trio); Chon's mom is AMAZING; Ton's parents are very realistic and actually have a pretty unique storyline for problematic BL parents; Amp is terrible and I hate her but thats GOOD because youre supposed to hate her. Again I dont want to spoil anything, but I was seriously looking for things to hate while watching this series and found nothing. I loved all of the plotlines, the characters responses seemed reasonable and honest (so rare for BL) and overall I really recommend giving it a shot because there isnt a single flaw with this show that isnt extremely objective.

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So much lost potential

Just finished the series and wow I have never been sucker punched so many times in my life. I truly stopped being able to tell where the plot was going to go because the cuts between scenes would be so harsh and stuff just goes unexplained. The story feels stitched together probably bc of the short run time and departing so much from the original work. The cast is the only reason I kept watching, they really have great chemistry as a whole and the main couple do too so it's wild how they have more chemistry irl than in this show. I'm the type who likes to theorize about the next episode, and this show kind of let me down at every turn. I loved the first few episodes but by episode 7 they lost me emotionally.

Also the last episode? and how they deal with Ton's dad and family? Gay and homophobic. It is so strange to see so many clearly queer references but also spikes of homophobic ideas and scenarios that go unaddressed and unchallenged. The epilogue 3 years later is so strange as well, and their kiss at the end... Ton's lips were so chapped and that's all I have to say.

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Meh. Really Meh.

I wish I had read the reviews here before spending the time to watch this show, because I agree with the reviewers (and not with whoever on Dramalist gave it a 7.2 rating!). At best this was a very mediocre production.

Pros: Production values pretty good. Podd has a great body. I liked the character Miriam.

Cons: Hackneyed plot (confused guy falls for his boyhood friend and has trouble accepting his own feelings). Plot not well developed -- there should have been room for plenty of character development and there just wasn't any. Ton was a clod, until suddenly he wasn't. Chon was soooo passive, until suddenly he wasn't....he basically just passed the first 6 episodes or so giving Ton furtive looks. Two-dimensional acting all around (except for Miriam). Just no passion behind the performances. Boring repetitive soundtrack that consisted largely of clickings and drummings.

There were only two moments worth watching: Chon finally shedding his passivity and getting up to dance in a nightclub (with energy!), and Mrs. Nam going ballistic and bad-mouthing Ton's father. But 10 episodes is a lot of time to invest, for two one-minute good scenes.

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Tonhon Chonlatee is a cute Thai BL Series fell down so much at the end.

at first i really like this series, it was so fun to watch, at the first few episodes of this series they never disappoint you to make you happy

BUT AFTER EPISODE 7 DOWN TO THE END I FELT THAT THIS SERIES IS TO PROBLEMATIC.

HOW THEY REPRESENT THE "GAY" GENDER, HOW THEY REPRESENT HOMOPHOBIA
HOW THEY REPRESENT SURROGATE ETC
THEY NEVER REPRESENT THEM SERIOUSLY INSTEAD THEY REPRESENT ALL OF THESE AS A COMEDY SKETCH OR SKIT (but it's not funny at all)

AND I THOUGHT THE LAST EPISODE COULD SAVE THIS SERIES FOR BEING DOWN BUT NAH, IT BRINGS THE SERIES MORE DOWNHILL.


WHY TONHON DECIDED TO HIDE HIS FEELING FOR CHONLATEE FOR A LONG TIME AND CHOOSE TO BECOME HOMOPHOBIC? ?


WHY TF TONHON'S FATHER WANTS HIM AND HIS SIBLING HAVE A CHILDREN? WHY THE FATHER NEEDS TO PRESSURE THEM? ALSO I HATE TONHON'S FATHER TO BEING TOO MUCH HOMOPHOBIC, FOR ME THIS WAS THE WORST FATHER I'VE BEEN EVER SEEN IN A BL SERIES, I WISH HE COULD DIE BECAUSE OF THAT HEART ATTACK.

ALSO I HATE THE ROLE OF P'KAPOOK IN THIS SERIES. ( i admit it i also hate her role in Friend Zone 2 but at the end i love her character development.)
I HATE HER ROLE FOR BEING TOOOO HOMOPHOBIC (JUST LIKE TONHON'S FATHER) SHE IS CROSSING THE LINE FOR BEING HOMOPHOBIC, SHE PROUDLY SHOWS THAT BEING A GAY IS A SIN, BEING GAY IS A CRIME. I HATE AMP SO MUCH.?

FOR P'TOPTOP AND P'MIKE, I WISH THEY SHOULD NOT INVOLVED ON THIS SERIES.
THEY DESERVE BETTER THAN THIS‼️ THEY DESERVE TO HAVE THEIR OWN SERIES WITHOUT THESE TOXIC CHARACTERS. ☹️
AND ALSO FOR P'JANHAE AND THE P'NEO THEY ALSO DESERVE BETTER THAN THIS.

FOR P'KHAOTUNG AND P'PODD
THEY DON'T HAVE ANY CHEMISTRY ATLEAST 10% TBH. ALTHOUGH OUT THEY ARE SO CUTE TO WATCH ON SOME EPISODE SPECIALLY P'KHAOTUNG BUT STILL THEY ARE NOT A WATCHABLE BL COUPLE TO WATCH OUT FOR.
YEAH TONHON AND CHONLATEE END UP TOGETHER IN THE END BUT YOU WOULDN'T FEEL HAPPY OR IN-LOVE THAT THEY END UP TOGETHER.
P'PODD IS FOR P'FLUKE ONLY. ?


OVERALL I DIDN'T HATE THE SERIES THAT MUCH LIKE THE OTHERS BECAUSE SOMEHOW IT'S ENTERTAINING BUT THIS SERIES DOESN'T HAVE A REWATCH VALUE LIKE SOTUS TOL AND OTHER THAI BL SERIES (EXCEPT IF YOU'RE A FAN OF THE CAST)
THE STORY, THE PACING WAS TOO TOXIC TO WATCH.

ATLEAST THEY TRIED THEIR BEST TO MAKE IT. ?

and i wish that this would be the last time that GMMTV and AisPlay produce this kind of series. ?

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This is underwhelming. It had a lot of issues going on that were solved in a flick of a finger or brushed under the carpet. The leads' chemistry is lacking. The music does not even match the vibe of the show. It's a generic plot that brings nothing new to the table.

The only good thing in this show is Na. And I'm happy they didn't forget him in the finale. I'm also glad that they introduced the idea of surrogacy in there.

I feel bad for Podd and Khaotung because I liked them both but this is really just not it for me. I can't even feel their chemistry at all. The beginning part was serviceable (even if personally I didn't like the slapstick and parody) but it just got worse per episode. Even Mike and Toptap were downgraded in this.

It's taxing to finish it but I thought I'm obligated to because of my love for the actors. Definitely good riddance and not worth a rewatch for me.

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GMMTV dropped the ball on this one

My problem isn't like the majority of the reviews that I am seeing. Cause BL's will always have flaws. It's just how we interpret it and how t is portrayed to us. Some people hate this series and some love it. It's not for everyone. This, unfortunately, was not for me.

Story-5.5/10
The most annoying storylines that one can see in sooo much BL's were present here- the annoying ex- girlfriend, the father who didn't approve and many more. But that didn't annoy me as much as the damn pacing of this series! It started off with SOOOO much potential, stalled and then just went downhill with so much of stuff being stuffed in the last three episodes that if you blink, you may miss something from the story.

And that's what is making me pissed about this series. I mean, Na can't save this series as well as Chonlatee's mom (who was badass and I adore her!) due to how bad the pacing was- especially for a GMMTV series. I mean, I literally began to lose interest in this series thatcthe final two episodes I watched them the day after they aired.

Acting- 6/10
I honestly feel that the MC's and the majority of the actors couldn't save this series with thier acting cause the script was clearly atrocious as can see with the bad pacing of this series. And that's unfortunate. Cause I now the potential these actors have as I have seen some of thier works and it was way better compared to this.

Music- 7/10
I will give credit where credit is due. The music was the most decent thing about this whole series.

Rewatch Valu- 2/10
Yeah...no, I can't. They shoved too much in those three remaining episodes and just end it like...meh to me. I can't rewatch this series again.

Overall-5/10
I really tried to keep the excitement and love for this show that I had in the beginning, but unfortunately it dwindled away as the story progressed. Na and Chonlatee's mom couldn't even save this series for me.

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THIS WAS ACTUALLY SO GOOD

I recently finished watching this drama 2 minutes ago and I was watching it as it was on going. It made me really sad to see so many negative reviews about this phenomenonal drama.

This was almost a slice of life kind of drama and I tremendously enjoyed it. I would look forward to every Friday for the next episode because watching this drama just made me real giddy.

In my opinion, everything was perfect - everything was well paced, yes, the plot was a cliché but the actors made it work and they portrayed it beautifully.

I had zero expectations for this drama - I had never heard or seen any of the actors in this BL before but I still gave it a watch and I was truly hooked from the first episode.

I haven't read the web novel so maybe I could be seeing this in a slightly different light but I just wanted to drop this postive review in between all the negative ones.

Something that I adored about this drama was the comedy, its supposed to be a romantic comedy and nothing too serious and that is exactly what it is. There is no upsetting or sad element to this drama, its just the usual - the nasty selfish ex, supportive friends, and a cute blossoming romance.

Although, I can see why people are so upset by this drama and one of the reasons being the mention of homophobia... there is definitely a taste of that element within this drama BUT what is not being looked at by anyone is how well it is being handled in this drama. The characters do not do anything without a reason, there's a reason for their behaviors and towards the end of the drama we definitely see a massive change in the MC and how he tries to embrace his sexual orientation.

Sometimes as people, we forget to see how other people view something, we become biased almost. I think its just a bit hard for people to accept the fact that the characters in this drama could behave in such ways. Tonhon's father is definitely one of the characters - I do not want to reveal too much information about his actions however, I believe that he was historically and socially inclined. Despite the fact that it wasn't displayed in the drama, theoretically speaking, for a big business man that is under a lot of business pressure, it must be difficult for him to accept a few things as he is already under so much pressure as to what to do with his wealth. I do admit that he definitely went overboard with how he treated and reacted to things, basically drilling his commands into his children but he understood that he stepped the line and did apologize in the end.

I hope I haven't given out too many spoilers as I talked about Tonhon's father. Overall, the reason I would give this drama a 10 out of 10 all star rating is because it stayed true to its genre and also because it never bored me at any point and also because the actors truly did an amazing job!! I genuinely felt the chemistry between the main leads and I loveddd how it was based off a childhood romance. Lastly, one more important thing - the supportive friends are something that need to be appreciated more!! The support characters did an amazing job and I loved how they were sensible whilst handling messy situations all while giving me a big fat laugh.

I think we all need to try and see this drama in a more positive light!! This drama really doesn't deserve the 2.5 and 4 ratings that people have given out of annoyance or anger. The actors did a wonderful job and so did the musicians who creates the masterpiece that is MAI MEE MEIN NO ITROYY okay I don't know the lyrics but this song really hyped me up!! I hope that more people can watch this drama in the future and try to appreciate the hardwork done by the production team:)) And I also hope that this review gets recognized so that not everyone thinks that Tonhon Chonlatee is a bad drama.

thank you for reading thisss!! Definitely give this drama a try just by watching the first episode on YouTube GMMTV's channel.

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Now... This was awful.

This was just bad. Real bad. They make rape joke scenes, there are a lot of homophobic things done and said by gay characters, they portray feminine gay people as predatory, some misogynists comments too... Not to talk about that shitty ending. Seriously? Buying babies? That's what we're doing now? Seriously, if I knew this would have ended like that, I wouldn't have watched it. Also, they tried to fix things saying that Ton was in love with Chon the whole time? They tried to pull a childhood friends to lovers trope from their asses and tbh it made 0 sense. And listen, the main actors are super awesome and amazing but from my POV their chemistry just..... it didn't click. I mean, their acting is great, seriously, they really move you, but........ Just not as a couple? This drama is a constant red flag and in this last ep they just fu***** things up.

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Great Beginning, Terrible Ending

Writing this review is a little hard for me. I really enjoyed this show, but everything callapsed by the end. with my love for Pod, Mike, and Toptap, it's hard to even be able to comprehend that this was the content they gave us. What started off as a masterpiece became a sorrowful excuse of a BL.

Let's Dive In.

Let's start off with the pros of this series. Ai and Ni were the sunshine throughout this series. Mike and Toptap have this comedic energy that only the two of them can create when they're together. There wasn't a single part in the show that I wasn't laughing, they're what kept me watching. They both did an excellent job in this, and I hope that we can see them with their own series. The only thing I can say that bugged me a bit is that we never see them kiss? Every time they would go for a kiss, it would cut, or they would pretend to. It's a GMMTV produced show, so there was no reason to try and hide their kisses (also it's 2021). Miriam was a great addition to the show. She was supportive and caring, and she also had her comedic moments. I wished she was a little less BL-obsessed, but that's my only argument with her. For the most part, this trio was amazing, and I hope to see them again very soon. I loved the character development of Na, He was a snobby kid, but by the end, he improved and even got his own boyfriend to spoil. I'm a sucker for lifelong crush tropes. Tonhon and Chonlatee liking each other but neither knew about it was super lovely and precious. Getting to go back and see the way Ton felt during certain scenes was a really nice touch, and it made me feel differently about him. The dirty humor in this series was spot on, from them pretending to be the two dudes from The Untamed, to them just being themselves. Whoever wrote the script deserves a pat on the back (sort of). Everybody deserves a mom like Chon's mom. Her epic explosion on Ton's dad was the best thing that I have ever seen in my life.

Onto the cons. Tonhon really annoyed me. He was openly homophobic for quite some time (seemingly weird since he had a crush on Chon for quite a while). He was so homophobic that his own roommates didn't even want to admit that they were seeing each other. As I said, it's 2021, there was no need for him to be so homophobic, he could've easily just been a cool dude completely fine with his roommates dating. There was no need for Amp, and definitely no need for Nueng. We are over the petty ex-girlfriend plot, please GMMTV, bring something different to the table. Along with Neung, the bathroom scene with him and Chon was ineffectual. There was no meaning behind it other than Nueng thinking Chon was cute, which he could've just said instead of sexually assaulting while Chon was intoxicated. As much as I love Gunsmile, his character was a nuisance to the show, along with the gay guy that messes with Chon at the restaurant. It puts a bad look on gay people, more especially feminine gay people. The "getting Chon a prostitute" part was so uncomfortable for me. Ton is just straight up not a good person at all. Some part of me thought that Na should've ended up with Chon. At least he tried to do everything for Chon while Ton gave him nothing. Talking about Chon, there was no point in having him kiss Ton without his consent. Of course, Ton was going to freak out that he wakes up and you're making out with him, I would be too. Another case of BL romanticizing these types of things when none of it is romantic, I would've much rather seen a consensual first kiss, even if we had to wait till the very last episode. Speaking of the last episode, what the actual fuck was that? I have never felt so grippingly mad at a plot in my life. This show would've been a solid ten had that ending not happen the way it did. Ton's dad becomes fine with him dating Chon as long as he still has a kid, in which Miriam decided to be their surrogate. What the actual fuck? Number one, that baby was not made out of love, they were made out of greed and power. Two, that dad should be ashamed of himself if that's what it takes for him to accept his gay son. The plot ruined the entire show for me, by the last few minutes of the episode, I was ready to never watch this series again, and I still haven't.

Overall, this was sadly a miss. I would recommend the first 7 episodes which were humorous, fun, and entertaining. By episode 8, everything just goes downhill. All the acting is great, by far my favorite being Mike and Toptap, but Khaotung did an excellent job as well. If we are to get a second season (I honestly think it was fine where it left off), I hope we can clean up that ending, and throw away the father.

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