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Bad Buddy thai drama review
Completed
Bad Buddy
10 people found this review helpful
by immoralq
Jan 23, 2022
12 of 12 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 10
Story 10.0
Acting/Cast 10.0
Music 10.0
Rewatch Value 10.0
This review may contain spoilers

If you haven't seen this, drop everything and go watch it right now

This review is basically going to be me raving over this series for however many paragraphs it takes.

Take that as your first and final and only warning.

Where do I start?

The story is of two young men who are studying in different faculties in the same university. Pat, Engineering. Pran, Architecture. Historically, the two faculties have been rivals and several of Pat and Pran's friends take this all very seriously. The first scene of the very first episode is a bunch of Engineering students chasing down and beating up an Architecture student, so you know the rivalry is intense.

To make things even more complicated, the two young men grew up right next door to each other and their families absolutely loathe each other. We don't find out why until nearly the end of the series, but it's not a trivial reason, and the hatred on the part of Pran's mother towards Pat's father is warranted and justifiable.

Unknowingly, Pat starts courting Pran (it's a mix-up that does completely make sense) and, when he discovers who it is he's been exchanging notes and gifts with, he doesn't immediately have a meltdown at the mere though of liking a boy (which I half expected, because it's such a trope in BL), he doesn't punch Pran or accuse him of deception or any of the other things that happen in these situations in other BL's.

No, they pretty much agree to stop being rivals and start being friends, before things develop into more. They use bets and competitions as flirting and it is hilarious.

They have such good communication with each other. They talk about things honestly and openly and they both apologise to the other for their mistakes and they stick by each other when one of them is in trouble and....it's so refreshing and wholesome and good to see.

The acting is on another level, especially for a BL. Ohm (Pat) and Nanon (Pran) are both very skilled and it shows. I already knew Ohm was good, having seen him in Make It Right and He's Coming To Me (I recommend the Book/Frame cut of Make It Right if you haven't seen it, and He's Coming To Me is an excellent shorter series in which Ohm partners with Singto. It's a gem.)

I hadn't seen Nanon in anything else, though his resume is quite impressive, so I wasn't sure what his acting would be like going in, but I need not have worried. He's so good it's almost unbelievable. If they gave out awards for TV acting in Thailand, he should be up for Best Actor. His emotional range is impressive.

The chemistry and dynamic between Ohm and Nanon takes this series from great to excellent.

There are only two songs used throughout the series, and one of them is kind of over-used, but both are still lovely and the incidental music is good too. I like the fact that they avoided so many of the ridiculous sound effects that other shows tend to overuse. Moderation is key, and it's clear the director and editor agree with me.

Even the product placement, whilst definitely there and noticeable, has been toned down, which is so good to see.

And, to make things better, we get an actual GL second couple in this, even if their relationship isn't as developed as the main leads. There's talk of a sequel to this, and to be honest, I don't want one. I'd like a spin-off instead, focusing on Ink and Pa's relationship. There's a time jump at the beginning of episode 12, and I'd like to see how their relationship developed over that time.

REWATCH VALUE: high, high, so so high. I'm rewatching it now, in fact.

I've said in other reviews that no show is perfect, and this isn't either, but this is the only one that I've felt justifies the full five stars/10 out of 10 rating. I watched this and I didn't feel cheated, I didn't end up feeling like I'd wasted my time and the ending was satisfactory and fulfilling.

That, to me, is the hallmark of a great series.
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