Papa & Daddy (2021)

More than just the simple BL it appears to be

Story:
Wow, although I know that there have been various BL series where the couple adopt a son, this series took that theme to another level. I think it’s important that this is a Taiwanese series as Taiwan is the first and so far only (not counting Israel) Asian country to legalise same sex marriage and allow partial adoption for same sex couples. This series deals with some serious and prevalent issues that unfortunately many LGBT couples still face to this day, including homophobia, child bullying, and adoption as prime examples of this. It’s clear both Jerry and Damian don’t have supportive parents due to the simple fact that they are hiding their marriage and adoption from their families, and in episode 2 and 3 I understood why that was when watching Jerry’s mum. I’m honestly really happy to see LGBT dramas portray such realistic aspects of gay relationships, such as societal pressure and trying to come to a consensus with something both Jerry and Damian can agree on (in this case it’s having children). I love the fact that they dug deep into Kai’s confusion with having 2 dads instead of a mum and a dad, because it really shows the heteronormative society we live in where children are expected to have a mum and dad despite this fact not affecting anyone else except the family. Episode 5 was by far my favourite because it does such an amazing job to present the fear of coming out, especially to conservative parents which I’ve definitely had a lot of experience with. It was so heartwarming that their love could be accepted and I nearly cried at the final scene. Unfortunately episode 6 was when everything went downhill and they left it with a cliffhanger which will cause a lot of drama if a second season is made. I’m hoping that people uploading episodes illegally won’t affect the production from season 2, because I really need to know what’s going to happen now.

Acting/Cast:
—Melvin Sia as “Damian”- Melvin was such a great, natural actor. He has fantastic expression management and his acting is so natural and realistic, which I’m not surprised about knowing he’s already won several awards for his acting prior to this series. His interactions with his “son” and with Mike are so natural I could hardly believe this was the first drama where he played a gay character.
—Mike Lin as “Jerry”- Jerry is another amazing actor whose acting has such a natural feel to it and really draws you in. Jerry is definitely a very relatable character who just wants to travel the world and has such high aspirations yet, with a supportive partner, is still able to settle down while doing whatever he wants. In episode 5 he did an amazing job portraying the fears that those in the LGBT community still face to this day when coming out to close family members and friends. With Melvin I wasn’t surprised to see he was already a successful actor, but I was shocked that Mike is still so new to the industry, having only acted in 1 other series and 2 movies prior to this. Despite being so new he did an amazing job and I really hope to see him in future series too.

Music:
Other than the opening and ending there is nothing particularly memorable about it.

Overall:
A definite 9.5/10 for me. This may only be a short series, but despite its length there is a very strong portrayal of a married gay couple and their adoption, versus how those around them and society as a whole reacts to these connections. It’s definitely worth a watch but I would recommend avoiding the last episode until news of season 2 is officially announced, otherwise it’s going to be a very inconsequential watch.

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Please, more of this

I just have watched the 5th episode (for me, the best one so far) and I am sad that there is only one episode left. I could watch this all day and night because THIS is true. It is not one more of an unrealistic BL-story.
Do not get me wrong, I like a good romantic BL. But this show is so much closer to the real life of a gay couple! This is a fact that often bothers me, that 99% of the BL series our there are not about gay relationships but only exist to please a certain kind of viewers: women who ship the actors even in their private life, regardless if they are real or not.
This show really "get's to the point": the stuggle about having a child as a gay couple, the acceptance of the queer friend group, but not the family (although episode 5 made me burst in applause for the dad, BEST DAD EVER!), the "need" to hide in front of the mom's at kindergarden - and the actors are absolutely believable, they work amazing with each other.
I would love to see more of these series, where it is not about "Am I gay? No, I only love this paritcular boy *blabla*" or engineering students falling in love with each other while women are hysterically screaming in the background. Show us how it is to live in a gay / lesbian / queer relationship, only "true" shows like this will lead to a bigger acceptance in real life! THIS creates real support, not stupid character / actor - shipping.

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