Nolan Peale

Sure, you may think of it as a bright romance about how "puppy love" can change and develop over time. But really its at the vanguard of a political movement to destroy the moral and legal codes that protect teenagers from sexual predation. A movement that's grown so powerful that even BL has been compromised.

Yah, know what? Takayuki is actually a swell guy and I like how he handled the situation. His little joke at the end complimenting the kiss ten years later said a lot about him. Yeah, he spent a awful lot of time in this series acting like nothing had happened that needed to be discussed, but then that conversation was going to uncomfortable for him, and not knowing whether Asaki would want to discuss it probably made it more difficult. Avoiding bringing it up was probably the right decision, even if it was frustrating for us. But when Asaki finally did bring it up, he handled it very well, in a gentlemanly way, so that Asaki wouldn't feel humiliated.

Even after Asuka and Sakurako explain what they dig about Hiiragi, I still feel sorry for them both for fixating on a dead fish. "You've got too much time on your hands that would be best spent studying" should have ended Asuka from thinking he'll ever return his feelings. I don't get the sense that Hiiragi is hiding anything. He's just cold.

O.K. I'm assuming that there was something important in Song's final messages to Pan that explained why he was o.k. with forgiving Nott.

The ending confused me, as I'm wondering if it was "real" in the sense that "The Character Nott rode his motorcycle indoors to pick up Pan on his Birthday." Or if Nott was playing another character in a Wabi Sabi BL and that whole thing was part of the new series. Like maybe Nott didn't sign with TTV after all and they went to Wabi Sabi together. Because who is allowed to drive their motorcycle indoors or would even want to? (What if there's stairs?). Its the kind of thing that only happens on TV.

Makes me wonder how he became a successful architect if he desired so much company. LOL. Did he ever employ anyone? Ever wine and dine a client?

Anyway, I don't look at his house as a sanctuary where he can decompress away from people. Its more of a luxury prison cell that he's built for himself because he feels guilty. There's nothing in there that's extremely personal to him. No photos of anyone. I doubt there's a typical family shrine like you'd find in a Thai household. And its dark in there. And there's bars in his bedroom/work area where he spends most of his time. The art is too abstract to represent anything tangible. And nothing that would situate him in the location where he is. Even his anthropological folk art piece comes from Africa. His wine probably come from Europe or America. The locally grown produce he's so proud of includes strawberries - and while those are wonderful, are particularly Thai. (The word for strawberry in Thai is...strawberry. This is not a native fruit).

Its the house of someone who has been uprooted and separated.

Makes me wonder how he became a successful architect if he desired so much company. LOL. Did he ever employ anyone? Ever wine and dine a client?

Anyway, I don't look at his house as a sanctuary where he can decompress away from people. Its more of a luxury prison cell that he's built for himself because he feels guilty. There's nothing in there that's extremely personal to him. No photos of anyone. I doubt there's a typical family shrine like you'd find in a Thai household. And its dark in there. And there's bars in his bedroom/work area where he spends most of his time. The art is too abstract to represent anything tangible. And nothing that would situate him in the location where he is. Even his anthropological folk art piece comes from Africa. His wine probably come from Europe or America. The locally grown produce he's so proud of includes strawberries - and while those are wonderful, are particularly Thai. (The word for strawberry in Thai is...strawberry. This is not a native fruit).

Its the house of someone who has been uprooted and separated.

Yes. They graduated university together.

Yeah. I'm pretty sure Xavier Dolan and Pedro Almodovar are influences here. Although the cinematography isn't drawing from either.

They are far enough away from Bangkok that she needs to take a flight home. Whatever "city" she drove to to make these arrangements has a birthday party planning company that has access to a modern interpretive dance troupe at the drop of a hat. Like that's pretty high concept. She would have been lucky to find an edible arrangements gift store.

Thankfully, Inn's revelation pointed to him being Wang's father's lover and not Wang's actual father.

I'm glad they changed it up a bit. "Once he removed his glasses, I found him hot" is one of those Hollywood tropes that as a glasses wearer, I find annoying. When I take off my glasses, I don't transform, really. And people who wear them aren't less attractive. And most of the time, the actor or actress is so hot, it would be unlikely that no one would have noticed that before. Clark Kent should need to do a whole lot more than just put on his glasses so that people don't realize that he's Superman. The fact that he never does do more than that is one of the mysteries of the series.

Yeah. We'll see if that was something he did because his boyfriend wanted him to, or if that's something he does when he's not in school. When the band mates identify the cheating boyfriend, its as Qui Qui's boyfriend, not Ray's boyfriend. So I'm guessing they know him as a transwoman, not as a student. Like she goes to see the band and is a fixture of that scene.

Yes, they are pulling all the BL tropes and clichés on the BL off the shelf. If you are taking a shot for every trip, scooter ride, hair drying, dead father, overbearing but distant parents, and obsessed girl they throw out there, you'll be drunk each episode. But you know what? It works. Its fun. And I like that they've reversed a few of the standard aesthetics. The short shy boy with glasses gets to play the seme for a change.

"I'm going to dismantle his car. Do you want to come along?" is one of the best pick up lines I've watched in a BL in a long time. I really want to find out if he said "Yes." If he did, the side couple is going to be a riot. I'm assuming he talked her out of it, since Jian seems like a nice boy. But yes, QiuQui, dear, cry all you want right now, but don't forget to slash his tires.

Monday is BL Band Night these days, with Coffee Melody, What if and About Youth all sporting boys in a band. While we haven't heard them play yet in What If, I'm thinking this band is probably the only one worth watching.

O.K. so this episode seemed shorter than the others. Maybe it had less runtime. Or maybe it was that even less happened than usual and I just couldn't pay attention.

Finally and explanation of the meaning of Iguazu Falls! One more mystery symbol checked off the list. If they come home from camp still virgins I'm going to stop watching. Nah. I've come this far.

The Magnificent Sasi over at 180 degrees Longitude should take over. She'd be willing to just end this story by having Rain order Phayu to have sex with him, without these interfering ideas of consent, equality, and personal autonomy that are getting in the way. I think Phayu would be happy not to have to decide to have sex with his master.

Sun has a very rare disorder where he can play volleyball in the hot sun all afternoon but packing clothing and walking around in the cool evening is too much for him. I've about had it with this. Move it along. Maybe it turns out Khim is a perfect match for a heart transplant, and he'll donate his to Sun and live without one on the power of hope.

I think any women who were playing the game will be found 3 days later having starved to death waiting for their soul mates to arrive, since none of the men on this trip were at interested in finding them.

I've got a new idea for the next Fluke Ohm project. In the first scene, they are meeting with their manager who says "I have a new project for you. It's like Until We Meet Again, only this time Fluke, you play a guy who passes out because of a bad kidney and Ohm you play a quiet and reserved student who is carrying the burden of a pain you can't explain"...and then Fluke yells "Sutt! I'm fucking healthy. O.K. I'm a completely healthy 26 year old" and Ohm holds him down while Fluke beats him to death with the awards he won for "Change" and "My Bromance." The rest of the movie is them comically bonding while trying to dispose of the corpse and robbing liquor stores to pay the rent.

I never want Fluke to have to play a character like this again. Let him be free. Give him a role like "Red Wine in the Dark Knight" where he can play sex on legs again rather than "20 year old who needs a walker" or like he had in Green Fictions where he's not afraid to call attention to himself. But 9 episodes in I'm really tired of sick Fluke.

Secret Fujoshi or Jealous Rival? Tune in next week.

I think you're supposed to cringe when he calls her honey. That is all sorts of wrong. But all sorts of interesting at the same time. Especially when Wang uses it to make his mother's young lover uncomfortable. While its cute, I don't necessarily assume that they are joking. All I can say is that if that makes you uncomfortable, all your internalized social and psychological systems are functioning properly.

Like a lot of Thai dramas recently, this series is attempting to tackle the impact of social change and make sense of it. Thai society is very hierarchical, to say the least. Contemporary society, especially western society, is very much about breaking down those hierarchies and doesn't have a lot of time to waste on deference and the rituals around supporting that. For instance, I can consider my mom one of my best friends. And I can call my boss by her first name, and everyone these days is supposed to have an "open door policy" and be frank and direct. That's not how it worked in the past.

The issue here is this category of "friend" and what it means. Inn compliments Sasi on being the epitome of a modern parent, where children are treated more like friends. She also brags that she's so young looking that others can't tell if they are mother and son or brother and sister. And she also calls Elsa, who is her assistant, her gay friend. All of those relationships would have been managed through mores and customs of deference to a hierarchy that have been equalized into this category of "friend". Unfortunately, if everyone is a friend, everyone is also potentially a lover, so now all the characters are confused. No, I don't think the writers are in favor of this. But are enjoying presenting the struggle that occur when the boundaries appear to be turned off, but are still there. Or the problem of trying to overcome boundaries (yay! freedom) while constructing them and keeping them in place at the same time (yay! order!).

They missed an opportunity a few episodes back to find out more, since they met a man who had returned and was upset about it. They are assuming that its finding a soulmate, and should be romantic. But what got them into this mess was very traumatic - all four of them nearly died and I assume all 4 woke up in the hospital. You're not allowed to kill yourself to get back, but it could involve a similar type of trauma to return.

Romantically, I’d say this is less likely to have a happy ending than a Friday GMM BL series. That said, it’s also unlikely that this will have the old fashioned melodramatic ending where one or both of the gay lovers dies. Most likely is the kind of “it didn’t work out as planned” ending of a Club Friday episode. But I don’t have a crystal ball

For Wang's next birthday, I'm going to buy everyone hawaiian shirts and plaid trousers, though. The men need some color in their lives.

O.K. where to start with Ep 3.

Regarding the debate as to whether this is a gay series or a BL series. Its actually a mainstream drama aimed at adults. In the US, this would be for the Masterpiece Theater/TCM audience, who might go downtown to see the latest play and hire a babysitter so they don't have their choices limited to something that their kids might sit through. It really is nice to watch an adult series that isn't just the same ol’ BL but with bare butts so it'll get an NC-17. There's really more to adulthood than that.

Regardless, my god, this is more erotic than any NC-17 BL. I need to sit down and fan myself whenever Wang stares and Inn. Jeebus, Lord, have mercy on me. If Shin in Minato's Laundromat had looked at Akira like that in episode 1, we wouldn't be walking in circles 10 episodes later. Love in the Air would have ended on the highway in the rain without the need to install a free battery.

Seriously, its nice to have Wang brush his hands across Inn's sweaty dirty chest without an elephant trumpet or whiz-bing-buzz inserted, like we need to be reminded that this is hot as hell and that No, he isn't just doing that because he likes the people around him to be clean.

I did a spit take though when Sasi announced that Elizabeth Taylor was her idol. I was going to mention last episode that Mam's performance reminded me a lot of Elizabeth Taylor. And it should. The character I think desires to be Cleopatra but is really living in Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf or Golden Eye.

On the downside, I think Wang is starting to talk too much. I don't think they need to rely on him narrating events going forward. His actions and interactions with others are enough to convey what he's thinking at any time.