Don't Say No (2021)

The two C's: Consent & Communication

I'm going to be the person to say that I would compare Leo and Fiat to Gene and Nubsib from Lovely Writer. Yep, I'm going there. When it comes to asking for consent and checking in with your partner, they were on par and maybe even better about it.

There were so many questions and conversations about what are you into, what are you worried about, what do you like, is this okay, are we on the same page, etc. This showed a level of consent to strive for and look up to.

Okay, onto my more detailed thoughts:

First off, this was adorable. A big portion of this drama (especially in the beginning) focuses on these two people who are starting a relationship and don't quite know how to go about it, have their own insecurities and inexperience, and are trying to overcome their nerves and fear of disappointing the other.

You don't really get to see a drama start with them already being in a relationship and showing how it's not as though everyone knows how to be together perfectly right off the bat. People get nervous and shy. People worry that some aspects of themselves may be disliked by their partner. It's exciting but terrifying to start something with someone you have loved for a long time and have longed to be with.

Also, there were so many amazing conversations being had, whether it was between Leo and Fiat or one of them and their friends. It may have taken this couple a little bit of time to have the talk they needed to but they always brought their deepest thoughts and feelings out into the open. I fell in love with the open conversations we got. Yes, for communication! Yes!

Such a healthy couple. And, I really admire this drama for its tone. It knows when to give you something light-hearted or fun and when to slow down and just have the characters talk. Just, talk. Talk about where they're at and what they're feeling/thinking. I think people forget that relationships aren't just about being physically intimate with someone--and relationships aren't so perfect and easy that you are able to read your partner's mind--they are about voicing your wants, needs, insecurities, and concerns with honest and upfront dialogue.

I loved how this drama would often set things up as though it was going to be something bad when it wasn't at all, twisted our expectations, and/or had its characters deal with legitimate conflicts/issues that fit them/the situation. Seems like this year I am learning to have more faith in my dramas and its characters. And the faith is actually being well-placed.

Once again, I have to reiterate that consent is seen as a priority here and is amazingly done. Not many dramas will set so much of their run-time and lines around this subject. Here, it is a constant.

Regarding representation, because I would be remiss not to mention it, we had a confirmed Pansexual SML, Leon. And they did it in no uncertain terms. They described how he would date/was interested in men, women, and non-binary people, they called him Pansexual at least twice, and he was also involved with a girl before he started seeing Pob. Could we ask for much more? Not really short of him saying it himself.

There were some flaws during the last few episodes but nothing that took away from the overall experience and what they were going for.

Good job, Don't Say No. Good job.

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Mostly a disaster

Ok, this has to be one of the weakest BLs of the year, and maybe one of the weakest all time that doesn’t come from a small company with low-budget and completely inexperienced actors. Author Mame cannot write anything different from what she has written in the past, so we got “Love by Chance 2: A Chance to Love” and “TharnType 2: 7 Years of Love” and now this series, all really bad series and all very similar series in terms of plot and scenes. I’m amazed as to why there are so many comments and reviews that say this is the “best series ever” and score this with a perfect 10… I wonder what are they drinking/smoking to be so delusional and here is why…

The premise for this series were the two characters that appeared in “TharnType 2”, Fiat and Leo, that get their own BL series for reasons that are beyond my comprehension. In TT2, Fiat gets injured and needs physical therapy, only to be treated by Dr. Type and that immediately causes a stir in Fiat's thin body and, despite the constant rejections from Type and also knowing that Type has a boyfriend, Fiat decides that he will steal Type for himself all while acting out as a spoiled brat that throws tantrums like a 3-yr. old would do. All this is watched by Fiat’s best friend, Leo, who has been secretly in love with Fiat for many many years but has never gather the balls and the courage to tell him. After some clumsy attempts to stop Fiat from harming the Tharn-Type relationship he confesses his love for Fiat, which brings us to this series. So basically, a guy who tried to wreck a relationship and then behaved like a slut and another guy who was happy just being his best friend and not confessing his love got a full series... go figure!

So, let’s talk lead actors. First plays Fiat and Ja plays Leo and I’m sure both are really nice guys in their real lives but I cannot find any charm in them acting in this series nor as a couple. Fiat is always a nagging, whining, bitchy, crying mess because in all the episodes he is either complaining about Leo’s younger brother, Leon (more on him later), acting like a diva in front of his friends and rivals, crying like a little baby after every single misunderstanding with Leo (and there are PLENTY of those), and becoming an emotional mess around his own family. Sadly, First does not do a good job trying to portray all these emotions, whether it's his bad acting mixed with some bad directing and coaching or is just his lack of talent, but I did not like him in “Tharn-Type 2” and still don’t like him here. Ja is a bit better portraying Leo as he needs to be the stronger one in this relationship and his emotionless expressions and cold stares normally do the trick. But as several reviewers have pointed out, this couple sure lacks some chemistry on screen and while they don’t look as uncomfortable during the kissing scenes and the sex scenes as Plan and Mean did in “Love by Chance” and “Love by Chance 2”, they sure struggle.

Now, the secondary couple has Smart playing Leon and James playing Pob and surprisingly enough, newcomer Smart does a decent job portraying the savvy and charming Leon that knows what he wants and insists until he gets it but he does it without being pushy, controlling or annoying like Leo. Pob is the sweet and caring guy who wants to help orphan children and rescue stray cats but is hesitant to trust “playboy” Leon immediately. Eventually he does fall for him and their relationship evolves in a much more normal and stable way with Leon courting Pob and always asking his permission to do things he knows might be uncomfortable or awkward for Pob. In real life, James is 8 years older than Smart (28 vs. 20 years old), but despite the age difference, they do have much more chemistry and seem a bit more committed to the intimate scenes than the lead actors. These two characters are the only saving grace of this disaster and it is a shame that the end was not a satisfying one for them. In very usual Thai BL fashion, we have Pob leaving Thailand to help orphan children in a remote location after realizing his application for the job was accepted. In more clichés, he does not know when he will be back and he does not want to hinder Leon’s dreams if he comes with him so they break up.

The rest of the supporting juvenile actors do not really provide much to the series aside from a few funny moments from the twins and all of them joining forces in the last episode to prevent Punn and King from doing bad things and splitting Fiat and Leo. The older actors are mainly Fiat’s father, crazy mother and stepmother and also Leo/Leon parents. And here is where I begin the headache that is the plot/storyline of this show.
a. Fiat’s father divorced his mother because she has a mental illness and she makes Fiat believe nobody loves him except her. Fiat develops a hate towards women around his father so he is always rude and cold towards his stepmother and stepsister. Fiat’s mother escapes the mental institution and finds Fiat so she brings back all of Fiat’s traumas. Leo is the one “negotiating” with Fiat’s father to solve this issue and tell Fiat the truth so they can be a happy family again. All of this because Fiat seems unable of having a conversation with his father and his father is unwilling to tell Fiat all the truth.
b. Fiat loves Leo with all his heart but both are unable to communicate effectively and efficiently during the series leading to many misunderstandings, confusion, tears, arguments, etc. It becomes a bit repetitive as both fight and cry only to finally understand what happened in the next episode and have sex. And now, I’m always up for some sexy scenes when the scene makes sense in the plot, but Mame had this habit in “Tharn-Type 2” of including sex scenes nearly every other episode and she did the same thing here with Fiat and Leo kissing and having sex constantly.
c. Leo played the martyr role because he waited for Fiat during “Tharn-Type 2” but now that he confessed, he turns into the dominant type, who is always there to basically control and possess Fiat as he wishes. This story is not as innocent as two best friends falling in love because Leo is quite the controlling type and Fiat is quite the submissive type that is a bit awkward to watch. Several times during the series Leo tells Fiat that he hates seeing him talk to other guys and that he will “lock him up” so he cannot do that because he gets jealous and possessive of him and Fiat just says “ok” (episode 12) which leads to more sex.

There is one more special episode coming November 6 to basically show us how happy Leo and Fiat are and how Pob comes back from abroad to find Leon and be together happily ever after as I’m sure Mame will do the same predictable things she did for the “Tharn-Type 2” special episode. UPDATE: Turns out the special episode was more of the same disappointing writing from Mame. Just like she skipped 7 years in Tharn-Type for season 2, she decided to jump 3 years into the future in this episode only to have Leo-Fiat still do the same things they did before in terms of nagging, whining by Fiat and an almost obsessive jealousy and possessiveness by Leo (seriously, this dude has some issues). Nothing relevant happens with them after coming back to Thailand. Leon and Phob should have had a happy ending but Mame and the director decided to make us suffer even more by making them miss each other by mere moments in almost every scene they were on. Phob sent emails for 3 years to Leon because Phob forgot there are phones to communicate... Leon also forgot his password and didn't check that email account at all because he apparently has never heard of password recovery. The special episode just left the door wide open for Mame to get more money by writing a new (and surely mediocre) series for Leon and Phob.

In the end, I had very low expectations for this show and it did not disappoint. Aside from the Smart-James secondary couple, the show was poorly written, poorly directed and had incredibly bad plots and storylines that combined with more or less mediocre acting, ended up being what I wrote in the title, mostly a disaster. So, if you already watched this series, “say no” this time and don’t watch it again.

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Feels more like a soap than a BL.

Audiences will have to make their own minds up whether the good parts of “Don’t Say No” are better than the bad parts. To my mind, the good parts are worth watching. The problem is there aren’t enough good parts to have ever justified making this into a 727 minute long show. The consequence of the creators stretching out the various events in DNS is that it feels very episodic, not so much a BL series as more like a tv soap, where each episode is more or less self-contained with viewers left hanging at the end of each episode waiting to see how the cliff-hanger will resolve itself in the next. This also helps to explain why DNS is such a mixture of dramatic scenarios, uncertain of its own character.

Even so, I like how DSN tackles love AFTER the rosy falling in love stage. And also the trope of parent-conflict is reworked to the more harrowing depiction of a psychologically unwell mother.

Stories of how couples handle the day to day of their relationship are not commonplace in BL’s, but here Leo & Fiat are already an item at the start. Their love for each other though is no guarantee that they can handle the misunderstandings and the doubts and concerns that all couples experience in the early years until trust in and familiarity with each other settle in.

Beyond that, “Don’t Say No” goes into some dark places in broken families. Despite the wealthy surroundings in which Fiat grows up, the breakdown of his parent’s marriage is the initial source for his later young adult self-destructive pattern of sexual license. It seems at first as if, nurtured by the strong emotional support of his partner, Leo, he will confront the truth about his mother’s unstable behaviour; but Fiat is practiced at hiding the past from himself and will even risk his relationship with Leo to preserve his fragile mindset.

Leo, it turns out, is the gay bf/partner/husband every guy dreams about or wishes for - tall, good-looking, loving, faithful, devoted, supportive (the birthday scene is a treasure) and dedicated to Fiat’s happiness. (The public kiss on the basketball court at the end is a nice touch.) Ja Phachara Suansri brings to the role of Leo a perfect mixture of sweet doey-eyed charm & sexy allusion. And he is involved in what might be one of the ground-breaking scenes in the BL world: a prolonged amicable conversation between Leo and Fiat’s father about their love for Fiat and the transfer of responsibility for Fiat from parent to spouse.

Ultimately, though, “Don’t Say No” depends for its drama and our involvement in it on the character of Fiat, the show’s central protagonist. First Chalongrat Novsamrong comes to the part with the requisite combination of good looks and sexiness. There is even a suggestion that Fiat & Leo might indulge in some mutually consensual hard core bed play. But, more significant is the emotional baggage that Fiat brings to their relationship. For First, it is as heavy an acting burden as Fluke Natouch Siripongthon had to bear in “Until We Meet Again”; where the dramatic weight of the show depends on their character’s emotional journey and our belief in it. First gets most of it right especially given that tortured internal conflicts are harder for most young Thai BL actors. Occasionally he is left unsupported by the writer when he has to emote on his own; but the support he receives from Ja Phacara Suansri’s Leo in part helps cover many of the weak spots.

It should be no surprise, therefore, in my opinion, that while the overarching themes in this series of relationships - past & present - guide the rough shape of the show, the screenwriter proves to be the weak spot in this drama. Rather than weave the themes together - as happens in real life - the writer breaks the plot developments into set pieces with little forewarning or poor preparation. The effect is to make the show stutter in its progress and, at times, slow to a painful crawl, as the drama, structured in 12 hour-long episodes, struggles to find enough action to fill the time. (Threading of plot lines & character development is one of the key reasons Korean BL’s are generally more effective dramatically than their Thai counterparts.) Silence, for instance, is an effective dramatic device, but not when it is used because the writer has nothing else for the characters to say & the director has nothing for them to do; then it becomes tedious and reveals a lack of ideas & imagination. Characters talking to themselves in an empty room is worse: that only makes the character appear to be demented instead of having an internal reflection.

“Don’t Say No” is also littered with the dramatic device of using song to expand emotional peaks. It is an over-used device, in my opinion, and suffers from the burden it places on the singer-songwriter. No artist, to my knowledge, has been able to write so many successful songs for the one show. In fact, usually, the opposite is the case - a single theme, such as the recurring melody in “Enchanté”, works more effectively than ten or more individual songs.

A mention should be made of the poor animal wrangling of Pob’s rescue cat, Pobjer. Every cat owner will see clearly, in the scenes in Pob’s apartment, that the cat is behaving wary in an unfamiliar space, exactly opposite to how the script describes. Professional film industry animal wranglers know to get an animal to relax on set. It’s way past time that Thai film producers shook off their acceptance of low standards and embraced real film industry performance in all departments.

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Mame should not be a writer.

After watching the TharnType 2 and seeing the start of Leo and Fiat, I had high hopes for this series, but as with all of Mame's work, it was just a disappointment waiting to happen. I can't rate it absolutely the lowest, because at least in this series, she didn't make any of the happy couples come from rape or nonconsensual sexual scenarios. It's kind of a first for this particular author.

The story started out cute. Fiat and Leo have loved each other secretly for years and now they finally get together. First love's ship sails and two friends are trying to figure out how to move from just friends to lovers. Sounds like fun, but wait. So many problems await them. Unfortunately, most of those problems are overly exaggerated or self-caused. Some of those problems were serious mental health issues that got treated like a case of manipulation and cruelty rather than being dealt with or addressed appropriately. And some of those problems come from the simple inability to bear the consequences of your actions.

The acting was okay, but unfortunately, not great. Ja was pretty good, but it's easier to be the strong silent type. First was overacting so much in his emotional scenes that I really wish the director would have pulled him aside once and said, "Less is more." Yes, he had a lot of emotional and crying scenes, but he just needed to pull back a little and understand emotion doesn't always have to translate to loud wailing and whinging.

Music never makes much difference to me. It wasn't weird and it didn't distract, so it's good in my opinion. I didn't find any of the music especially awesome, but none of it was bad.

Overall, the rating has to fall in the middle, it wasn't awesome and it wasn't terrible. So in a way, that's a first for Mame. Usually her work makes me want to vomit, so since I am not puking, she didn't completely suck with this one.

Now, onto spoilers, because there are some. Again, I'm blaming Mame because she lacks the ability to write a relationship that isn't terrible and confusing and lacking in communication. Maybe she has relationship issues? I don't know, but her characters get to share.

One relationship in this drama is pretty decent. Second couple: Leon and Pob. They communicated pretty well and didn't have any bad issues that made you hate them. They were just a good couple. Pob decided to leave and didn't tell Leon about it until after it was decided, but I wouldn't call that a total lack on his part, because even if they were dating, they hadn't been together long enough for me to say it seems weird to make a decision like that totally on your own. If they were closer to marriage or in a long standing commited relationship, I would say, discuss so the other person isn't blindsided, but really, it was Pob's decision to make and he was coming back eventually. So that relationship gets an A- from me.

Now the Leo and Fiat pairing. What can I say? They were the main couple, so Mame couldn't leave them unscathed. Fiat was kind of a slutty guy, but Leo knew that going into the relationship, so I don't understand all the freaking out about his past. Anyway, that wasn't too bad, until we inevitably learn that Fiat was raped (I consider blackmailing someone for sex the same as rape) and naturally, Leo acted like a child, which put pressure on Fiat. He knew about it already, so why act childishly later. Shouldn't he have freaked out when he heard about it originally rather than behaving emotionally later? Oh well, he's young, so he's learning emotions sometimes hurt and that wasn't all that bad. But then some girl comes up and says, King is going to do something to Fiat and I'll tell you if you kiss me. And Leo does it! I mean, why not just say no and tell her that you'll tell Fiat and his friends to be on their guard. He must have known she was never going to actually tell him. The whole thing was obviously manufactuered and ridiculous. Fiat sees Leo kissing someone else and rather than confront Leo about this, he ignores it, says he's fine, and cries in private. Why? Because he feels hurt but doesn't trust his lover. Their relationship would have been so much stronger with some honest communication and expression of hurt, but Mame can't do that, because she equates good relationships with the ones where they hurt each other, lie to each other, and cannot trust each other. This is Leo and Fiat in a nutshell. They spend the entire time telling each other how much they love each other while deciding not to trust each other enough to be honest and talk about anything. Ugh. Still they eventually get together, and Leo talks about locking Fiat up and keeping him to himself, which is so possessive that it's uncomfortable. Kind of a red flag, but let's treat it like a joke. This relationship gets a C-.

Now the relationship between Fiat and his family. Problematic doesn't begin to describe this sh*t show. Fiat's dad finds out that his first wife is crazy. Rather than dealing with a mental health issue with a little dignity and reasonable actions (like maybe taking her to a doctor and talking openly to your son so he can learn to adjust and understand) the dad sends mommy away and leaves Fiat feeling like his mother was stolen from him. Then he immediately replaced Fiat's mom with someone else. Fiat gets in an argument and apparently pushes the step-mom down while she is pregnant. It could have been accidental, it could have been in anger but still he was a child and didn't understand. He didn't even remember, but rather than talking to him and working things out, again the father behaves badly and simply kicks Fiat out of the house for Leo's family to take him in. Way to make your son hate you, dad. Saying you suck at this point is just pointless. Isn't the father supposed to be the adult here? Mature and intelligent? No, he's an idiot from start to finish. Even I hate him and he's not my dad. Step mom and step sister are just side characters whose only screen time is supposedly to show how much Fiat has matured. Well if dad was mature, they never would have been in that situation in the first place, but sure, whatever. Now Fiat's mom. I feel bad for her. This woman clearly had mental health issues, but rather than talking about that appropriately, she was treated as though she was abusive and manipulatitive because she was hateful. What kind of man finds out his wife is losing her mind and rather than help her get treatment, he just kicks her out and tells his son that he's not allowed to see her? Are we making mental health a reason for people to be hated and treated like trash now? Is that the message we're sending with this? Sorry, but that was so wrong that it really makes me angry. Then once Fiat understands, rather than saying, hey dad, you could have explained this to me years ago and we might have had a better relationship, and let his dad take a little bit of the blame that was 95% his in the first place, Fiat apologizes to his dad and now everything's good. Dad lying to you, treating you like crap, and kicking you out of the house when you are a child is all your fault because your mother had mental health issues, right? The way this mental health issue was dealt with was 100% wrong and the way that Fiat was treated as a result was wrong as well. I'm going to give all of Fiat's family relationships a FAIL.

Bascially, this is another disappointing series based on characters and story by Mame. Please, stop producing her work. You're just encouraging her to continue writing trash BLs with very little thought and toxic relationships. I really hope to see Ja and First in another series, preferrably one written by someone with talent and maybe even some class and taste. By the way, why was Leo in tails at that party at the end? No one else was, seriously he was the only one and it was too long for him and not properly fitted. Just put the man in a suit! Sorry, that just had to be said.

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25% BL - 80% Soap Opera

This is about Fiat's character development. There is no "action" . This bothers other reviewers, but not me. The story shows Fiat gradually confronting the way he thinks and behaves and attempting to learn from it. I like the idea. Wish it had been refined a little more. The back stories are not always convincing, realistic or well thought-out, it's not clear that Fiat is learning anything, and you have to overlook the value judgements embedded in those lessons. Also, the other characters seem static.

But OMG, at 12 hours, this is way too long. The same story (with its shortcomings) could have been told in 3-6 hours and it would have been more engaging. Emotions can be conveyed in seconds; they don't require endless, long, drawn-out silences.

Production values: 9.0 (a few issues with bedroom scene lighting)
Story: 6.0 (like the concept, needs refinement)
Acting: 7.5 (hard to judge. So much of acting is based on direction, Leo seems wooden, other characters seem static. Fiat occasionally seems good. Some episodes better than others. Giving the actors benefit of the doubt)
Music: 6.0 (better than a lot of other Thai BL. A few bright spots, but a lot of tedious/repetitive bits as well)
Sound: 9.0 (cheesy effects very well done)
Pacing: 2 (much too slow)
Editing: 7 (some scenes disproportionately long )
Product Placement: 7 (some were subtle - yay!, a few were "in your face" super cheap)

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Worth a watch for Ja and First!

The lead actors are fantastic, but the story is not very well written. I watched the whole thing because Ja and First did a wonderful job with what they were given. Especially considering this was their first time as the main couple in a show. There are only a few acting "growing pains" here and there. Mostly they are very natural, heart-felt, and believable in the wide range of emotions they expressed. And the way they interact with each other is both comfortable and magnetic. Awesome chemistry.

Their group of friends and Ja's mother were also enjoyable in their roles.

The script and direction were frequently awkward. Dialogues didn't have a natural flow, or give-and-take between characters. The director seemed to want to show all the latent pauses in-between words or actions that the weakness of the script created. The story/plot required a lot of suspension of disbelief, especially from Ep 7 onward.

Emotionally, there was a whole lot of unnecessary angst, but it was "enjoyable" because of Ja and First's dynamic. In other words, it hurt just right ;)

So if you like experiencing both emotional highs (there's a lot of sweetness too) and lows that are mostly resolved, really hot chemistry and intimate scenes, and can suspend disbelief and logic to go with the flow and not get frustrated, then this is great to watch at least once.

Slight spoiler of the end: it ends well for Ja and First's characters. For me, that's what makes it worth going through the angst!

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Unnecessary long duration for "love" scenes

They are going overboard with the love scenes. I mean it's okay to put a bit of love scene to make this series "spicier" but we all know "too much never taste good". I watch with no interest, my face becomes flat, and I decided to skip it. There's even a time when I stopped watching this series for weeks because the amount of love scenes annoys me so much.

STORY
The story is so-so, not bad but not that good. Plot is fine, not messy. I appreciate their ep 0 to make sure everyone who doesn't watch Tharntype S2 (like me) could still understand their backstory and enjoy the series to the fullest. Shortly, it's about best friends who are actually in love with each other but have no courage to say so, their cowardness then leads them to misunderstand each other and ruins their relationship. I actually interested in the conflict Fiat had with his family, but the execution is not as good as I thought it would be. "Boring" is not a harsh word at all to describe the overall story.

ACTING
Obviously not great, just okay. Awkwardness is still there, weirdness is still there, everyone can tell they are new in the industry (except the older cast, they're indeed great actors).

SONG
The opening is more ear-catching than the ending song, the ending song is not my cup of tea. ALSO, why the ending MV is so weird and cringe...? whyyyyyy :((

I'm not recommending this drama and I won't rewatch all episodes, but there's a possibility I'll rewatch scenes of Leon and P'Pob, they're cute.

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Why is everyone disappointed?!

Prior to watching the series, I ofc came here for the reviews. Tbh, all I saw was disappointment. But, I still went ahead and watched it because I saw some clips and liked them.
I really don't understanding why is everyone hating on this. I mean, for me, I am quite happy with the series. Firstly, we got to know about Fiat's past and as to why he is the way he is. We also got to know about Fiat and Leo's past. Secondly, I loved Leo's family. I am all here for supportive parent's.
Yes, there were some toxic stuff too, but, after having seen countless of BL's, this series is much better tbh. Could've been worse, but in my opinion, it is watchable. If you can survive cringe BL's, this is nothing in front of them. I said what I said.

Now, the acting. I really liked the acting for most of the cast. The main leads, the second couple, the friends, all the acting was really good. The main couple, for me, really depicted the emotions very well and didn't seemed too forced tbh.

Also, I loved Leon's acting. I am so in love with his smile and the way his eyes sparkle! (You can solely just watch this for Leon, he is too adorable).

And yes, the second couple's ending. It did ended realistically. Yes, they were cute together. But, let's be honest, it ended that way so they could have a series of their own. It will happen. It always does. I don't get why people crying over their ending. Their story is really cute. They together are cute. But, the ending shown is good too. I mean, you don't always prioritize your s/o over your dreams. So, I really don't have any issues with the way the second couple ended.

**This all is subjective. As I mentioned in my very 1st sentence, because of the reviews, I was not going to watch this. But, I really do think that some people are exaggerating. Because, with the amount of Thai BL's that I have seen, this is watchable. **

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Review on DSN

This show was umm..something else and not in a good way

Leo and Fiat are so toxic especially together like BRUH,for fiat to be the leader of a starred basketball team,he acts like a wuss the only time I didn't absolutely hate him was in ep 11 when he wore that red suit cause that was FIRE,I guess they updated his wardrobe designer since that"eat me" shirt.

Leo,I need you to get a life because yours is completely revolved around Fiat and tbh I don't get why because he's annoying and whiny.I need you to stop being so damn toxic,you kissed Punn there was no need to blame it on annoying Fiat and try to guilt-trip him even if I can't stand him

Mame..Mame..MAME

Why ruin the only thing good about this trash of a show you wrote or was it your assistant because as far as I know you could have never wrote Leon or Pob,they're just too healthy but you just had to go and mess that up too like you did with leofiat.I watched all your shows and I never got this upset as I am with what you did to leonpob..you did both us and them dirty mame anyway I hope you can redeem yourself in the special episode because if not,you've lost a supporter

On to indept with the side couple,I think Leon was written well like well done mame's assistant for writing a respectful and mannerable character.He's aggressive but knows when to back off and can actually read body language when he realized that pob was not ready to kiss him instead of forcing him he respectfully backed up and controlled himself which I have a applause to like well done.I know some people think that he's a bit immature and a playboy which he is but as the drama progressed you can see his playboy ways changing gradually as he falls in love with pob and his mature side came out alot too when he talked to pob and leo,I personally think he's more level headed than Leo even though he's younger which goes to show that age can't define maturity on the other hand you can see that pob is more mature and thinks with his brain while Leon goes solely based on his heart,I would like a season two to see more about pob's past and why leon became a playboy because there's always a story behind every character and I'm more interested in them than leofiat like I wished there was a cut on leonpob parts so I didn't have to tolerate seeing Fiat and Leo because they annoy me more than anything in the world

Ja and First were not comfortable with all the unnecessary kissing scenes and tbh I wouldn't be either,there just way too much and it was driving me completely insane.They are not the reason I gave this series 7 because if it was based solely on them this series would've been rated 0 by me and I didn't rate leonpob 6.5 because I didn't think they deserved 10 ,they deserved it and more for their hardwork the thing is I DESPISED that ending for my two favourite characters.For Smart and James first time acting together,I am impressed and will be following up for more in the future from both sadly can't say the same about the main leads because of this series..I can't get over their toxicity and I don't think I'll keep in schedule of their upcoming projects not because I don't like the actors,their great but I can't get over this series and if I watch another one of their projects with or without each other it'll remind me of this disaster of a series

Anyway,this is my personal opinion,don't take offence to anything I have just wrote above,it's purely based on my honest thoughts

I'll be coming back fpr the special episode to see if my favourite cpuple,leonpob reunite and if they'll get their fairytale ending

Special episode is on November 6,2021

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Healthy Love vs. Possessive Love

I love the storyline between Leon and Pob. I know that the draw for this series is Leo and Fiat, but I kept getting off put by all of the red flags in their pairing.

The love that developed between Leon and Pob took themselves AND the viewers by surprise. How it was written, developed, and their heartbreaking, but healthy, loving, supportive, and realistic "ending" was wonderful to see.

I think I may have to skip the next tv adaption of the next Mame project. She definitely has these issues regarding consent and possessiveness that aren't appealing to me as a viewer.

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Started good but almost no storyline

When I started watching this, I had high expectations on this series because the first few episodes were actually good. It was nice to see how Leo and Fiat got into a relationship and how difficult it was for them from being friends for years and now being in a relationship.
But the following episodes got more and more boring. Literally nothing much happened, there was a small drama caused by someone and in the end they solved it. There was also almost every episode a bed scene just to fill screen time as it seemed. In episode 11 they had a bigger problem and broke up to create a bit more drama for the final. There were many scenes which were not that logical, for example why Leo directly kissed this girl just to get some information instead of talking to Fiat.
Now to the second couple, Leon and Pob. Their storyline was more interesting because you saw how they got to know each other and then got into a relationship. It was nothing special, and the plot of a playboy who falls in love with the good boy was nothing new. My biggest problem with Leon and Pob was that I didn't see much chemistry, and at some points it seemed a bit awkward.
All in all this series had potential especially the main couple because they had great chemistry, but the writing was bad with unnecessary drama.

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‘Didn’t give what is was supposed to gave’

Firstly, this show was watchable for the sole fact that I am a shallow woman that likes to look at attractive men.

Honestly I technically only watched up to episode 9, however I’m marking it as completed as I basically watched that last episodes through edits and I’m not willing to actually finish it alone.

The plot - the plot for this show had a lot of potential, it was meant to be about how the past can come back to haunt you. However it just turned into a huge medley of s*x and past mistakes that weren’t even mentioned directly (all the ‘men’ from fiats past just turned out to be bad people).

The acting - the acting of this show was satisfactory at best, the cast is clearly made up of new actors that require practice. It was clear that the cast was following a script word for word because even the way they moved felt scripted. Like after a emotional/seggsy moment they will deliberately walk to sit right in the middle of the camera frame. It just looked very unnatural.

Pros -
- In the first half I enjoyed the cute moment between both leads. The second leads in particular.

- LeoFiat have amazing chemistry, (so do LeonPob) especially they’re seggsual chemistry.

- They’re story started weak but i grew to really love LeonPob.

- I can’t think of anything else *face palms* but I will say I like in the very beginning the use of inclusive language “to all the boys, girls and non binary’s” “he’s pansexual”. There was acknowledgment of other identities and sexualities which isn’t common in Bl dramas especially the pansexual part. They’re usually either gay for you or straight lol.

Cons -

- The character Fiat plays one of the most complex characters of this series, therefore the role is significantly harder to act well. Although I definitely saw First (the actor) as Fiat, this role significantly displayed his lack of acting skill/talent/ability. Despite this I couldn’t see anyone else act as Fiat.

- Leo’s character is 2 dimensional. He’s the perfect rich guy with a perfect face and perfect house. He exists only to be with Fiat.

- The script was cheaply written resulting in many contradictory actions/behaviour.

- This is the productions fault 100% but they failed at creating a lasting tension/intrigue for me. The next episode preview and highlights and trailers basically reveal everything that will happen leaving not much to be desired.

- The start and finish of most/all plot lines are rushed, so there isn’t a nice build up, developed story or satisfying resolution.

- The seggsy scenes are hot, don’t get me wrong but there were too many for me to enjoy it. Every single episode has a scene or at least a kiss and this actually made the future scenes get more boring for me. Especially since there wasn’t much variation in the bedroom roles. By this I mean, Leo is the perfect, nice top that gets seduced and Fiat is the sultry seducer bottom that initiates. Except maybe the last episode, Fiat initiates every sexual encounter and has to seduce Leo for him to be into it. It almost feels like he wouldn’t be sexually attracted without the seduction part.

- This isn’t a huge deal but I’m not a fan of the overall look of the drama. The lighting, outfits (red suit at the end was beautiful tho) etc all look fake and unnatural. Even when Leo’s mum cooks for them it looks so fake, they’re in a kitchen that looks like an IKEA display.

- We never once met one of Fiat’s regular one night stands. The few we met he never slept with and where bad people. Why? I believe this is due to the concept of ‘out of sight, out of mind’ - Leo repetively says he doesn’t care about Fiat’s past only because he has only met the few bad ones. What would happen if he saw the regular ones, the decent ones? Cause to be fair, there wasn’t anything wrong with Fiat sleeping around, as long as everyone’s consented.

If you want the same aesthetics and writing style of ThanType season 2, without the blunt/clear toxicity, then I suggest this drama. Although the plot is different the way it was written in terms of progression and depth I’d pretty much the same. The show moves seemingly quickly with some big conflict but the actual main conflict is officially started and finished within the last couple episodes.

It was kind of shocking how similar the writing was for these to dramas. What do u expect when they’re written by such a person?

Overall I’m pretty upset with this show, it had real potential to talk about past mistakes and their influence on later relationships, but Instead it fell flat on its face and still missed the point. This isn’t a surprise considering the writer. (All her stories are like this although I liked some, I admit that they too missed the real overall point of the plot - imagine missing the point of your own writing…sad!)

And this is a small extra but if we where to analyse Leo, I don’t think he’d pass as a perfect, healthy to be with boyfriend IMO.

Another extra lol, but the ending for both couples should have been switched cause I’m not having it.

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