This review may contain spoilers
I'm going to open this by saying that if I had to choose one word to describe this series, it would be 'disappointing'.
It was truly awful, and not even in the good way, where the angst abounds and you want to cry but it's all so well done that you don't mind.
The acting was pretty good, especially by War (Mark) but the story and plot were just a mess of scenes thrown together that contradicted each other and made no sense.
Let's start with what passes for a plot, shall we? Mark is pining over his fellow student, Bar, and goes on a bender to drown his feelings in alcohol. Mistaking another student, Vee, for Bar, Mark demands to know why he's so unlikeable.
Instead of taking Mark home, Vee kisses him and they have sex. No, you know what? That's too polite. Vee rapes Mark. And don't come at me to disagree. Mark is so drunk he can't even tell who he's talking to, which means he's in no position to give informed consent.
The problem is, Vee is already in a relationship and he's caught his girlfriend cheating, so he's only sleeping with Mark to get back at her. But Mark starts to have feelings for Vee, and Vee seems to reciprocate but can't let go of his girlfriend.
Deciding to break up with her, he leaves Mark to tell her it's over. And then doesn't come back, leaving Mark waiting for hours. Mark phones Vee who says he's told his girlfriend that it's over, but that he still wants to be friends and they're going to a bar for a farewell drink. He invites Mark to come along. Mark does. Then he catches Vee kissing his ex.
Mark leaves and cuts off all contact with Vee for a month, then comes back to school with a new boyfriend? (it's not made clear) and ignores Vee, who's spent the whole time trying to call Mark to sort things out. They eventually talk and get together in one of the worst finales I've ever seen.
My problems with this show are numerous, but I'm going to stick to the two biggest ones.
1. War's acting is great. He expresses so much with his eyes, you're just drawn in. The same cannot be said for the majority of the cast, especially Yin (Vee) who just comes off as lacklustre. Next to War, he shows no depth of emotion and I didn't connect with him.
2. I'm so over the love triangle trope, and this story just made it ten times worse. Vee is horrible person. His self-awareness levels are lower than Khai's from 'Theory of Love', and that's saying something. He's selfish, cruel, manipulative and thoughtless. He abandoned Mark to go to a bar with his ex-girlfriend, and then kissed her knowing full well Mark could walk in and see them because he'd invited him! Then, we he finally gets a chance to talk to Mark, the words 'I'm sorry' never cross his lips (I re-watched the scene to double check this, and that is not an exaggeration - he never actually says the words.) He makes excuses for his behaviour and then thinks he can solve everything by saying "I love you" to Mark. Since this is BL, it works - which just ended up making me angry.
Are there any bright spots in this show? Well, yes actually, and their names are Yiwaa and James, who are great friends and stick up for Mark and are on his side and I love them.
Rewatch value? This show has none. it's a dumpster fire from start to finish, and one could argue that's mostly due to 'Rona' but, from the little I could glean from the comments, the source material isn't exactly wonderful and this is an improvement. Too bad it wasn't enough of one.
It was truly awful, and not even in the good way, where the angst abounds and you want to cry but it's all so well done that you don't mind.
The acting was pretty good, especially by War (Mark) but the story and plot were just a mess of scenes thrown together that contradicted each other and made no sense.
Let's start with what passes for a plot, shall we? Mark is pining over his fellow student, Bar, and goes on a bender to drown his feelings in alcohol. Mistaking another student, Vee, for Bar, Mark demands to know why he's so unlikeable.
Instead of taking Mark home, Vee kisses him and they have sex. No, you know what? That's too polite. Vee rapes Mark. And don't come at me to disagree. Mark is so drunk he can't even tell who he's talking to, which means he's in no position to give informed consent.
The problem is, Vee is already in a relationship and he's caught his girlfriend cheating, so he's only sleeping with Mark to get back at her. But Mark starts to have feelings for Vee, and Vee seems to reciprocate but can't let go of his girlfriend.
Deciding to break up with her, he leaves Mark to tell her it's over. And then doesn't come back, leaving Mark waiting for hours. Mark phones Vee who says he's told his girlfriend that it's over, but that he still wants to be friends and they're going to a bar for a farewell drink. He invites Mark to come along. Mark does. Then he catches Vee kissing his ex.
Mark leaves and cuts off all contact with Vee for a month, then comes back to school with a new boyfriend? (it's not made clear) and ignores Vee, who's spent the whole time trying to call Mark to sort things out. They eventually talk and get together in one of the worst finales I've ever seen.
My problems with this show are numerous, but I'm going to stick to the two biggest ones.
1. War's acting is great. He expresses so much with his eyes, you're just drawn in. The same cannot be said for the majority of the cast, especially Yin (Vee) who just comes off as lacklustre. Next to War, he shows no depth of emotion and I didn't connect with him.
2. I'm so over the love triangle trope, and this story just made it ten times worse. Vee is horrible person. His self-awareness levels are lower than Khai's from 'Theory of Love', and that's saying something. He's selfish, cruel, manipulative and thoughtless. He abandoned Mark to go to a bar with his ex-girlfriend, and then kissed her knowing full well Mark could walk in and see them because he'd invited him! Then, we he finally gets a chance to talk to Mark, the words 'I'm sorry' never cross his lips (I re-watched the scene to double check this, and that is not an exaggeration - he never actually says the words.) He makes excuses for his behaviour and then thinks he can solve everything by saying "I love you" to Mark. Since this is BL, it works - which just ended up making me angry.
Are there any bright spots in this show? Well, yes actually, and their names are Yiwaa and James, who are great friends and stick up for Mark and are on his side and I love them.
Rewatch value? This show has none. it's a dumpster fire from start to finish, and one could argue that's mostly due to 'Rona' but, from the little I could glean from the comments, the source material isn't exactly wonderful and this is an improvement. Too bad it wasn't enough of one.
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