This was a pretty satisfying finale with so many feel good moments that I'm still floating on the endorphins.
What I liked
Fencing competition. Although it was a foregone conclusion that Khanin was going to win the fencing match they managed to make it somewhat suspenseful with Ramil's awful performance in the beginning and then rallying after he saw Paytai.
Khanin's humanity shines through even in battle as he lends a hand to Ramil to help him get back on his feet. Being a good human has always been more important to Khanin than winning.
Ramil/Rachata. I would have preferred if Ramil threw Rachata through a wall after he beat and lambasted him for losing the fencing match, but I'll settle for him finally standing up to his father and walking out. He's shown capacity to be a decent person despite a crap upbringing.
King's redemption I have trouble with the King's redemption plot because I read the book. In the series he was a bad leader who ran a dirty gold mine. I guess it was his punishment to die from lung cancer caused by the pollution. But he got to die in peace with Khanin's forgiveness after all the crap he put him through not to mention the thousands of his subjects who got sick and died from the pollution. It was way more than he deserved, but on the other hand he wasn't outright murdering people like he was in the book. (I guess this qualifies as a semi-criticism)
King Tharin A case of sometimes good guys finish first. Emmaly gets a king who will actually look into the pollution problem and try to solve it in addition to being more humane and egalitarian to the four clans that he leads. And he's a good dad. He will not try to control Khanin's future and make him be a prince if he doesn't want to be.
The last dance The last dance scene is kind of superfluous but it finally shows Khanin and Charan as an out couple and I'm a sucker for Zeenunew romance. Plus I love "Dancing in the Moonlight". The OST was one of the highlights of this series.
Ramil/Paytai I liked the final scene between Ramil and Paytai more than I thought I would. Ramil is remorseful for the way Paytai was treated in the palace. They are both broken and tortured after being unloved and abused by their families but somehow Paytai has managed to keep both his mental health and his humanity intact. Hopefully now that Ramil has escaped the clutches of evil daddy he will be up to the task of being the lover that Paytai deserves. They cling to each other in the sand like life preservers and we can only hope that they have finally found safety in each other. As actors Jimmy and Ohm have amazing on screen chemistry so I look forward to their own series coming up.
Calvin/Jay Not much to say about Calvin and Jay. They finally confess that they like each other, a quick peck and a hug. It was cute, but a pretty undeveloped subplot, common for a third couple in a BL. As an aside I forgot how incredibly handsome Net is after wearing all those ugly baggy Royal clothes. He looked so much more beautiful in this scene.
Khanin grows up In this episode Khanin shows enormous maturity compared to the start of the series where he was clinging to Charan for safety and later lusting after him and seducing him. He's now in love, he believes in the Emmalian custom of a kiss sealing them as a couple forever. But he's willing to wait for Charan to be ready to give him the commitment he wants, rather than whining that he isn't getting it right now. They are okay with being apart in the interim, Charan assisting King Tharin with the pollution crisis and Khanin studying pollution management in England.
The set in England was my absolute favorite of the entire series. A little bit of royalty but mostly comfy and luxurious furnishings. Could have been an HGTV renovation. It's a completely feel good scene with Thatdanai making Beef Wellington and Chakri being horrified that Khanin wants him to call him "mate" instead of Your Royal Highness. Much as I love Zeenunew, Ballchon's Chakri will forever be my MVP of the series.
The softening of Charan Over the course of this episode you see Charan opening up his heart more to Khanin even if he is not quite ready to commit. And when he shows up in London we finally get to see the same unrestrained joy that Lian had for Kuea once they became lovers in Cutie Pie. Zee got a lot of undeserved criticism for his demeanor as Charan, but you can see here it's not because he has poor acting abilities but because that was his role in the series.
And he called Thatdanai "Dad". 😉
The breakfasts, before and after The breakfast scene in the final episode was a sweet full circle moment recalling the second episode where Khanin didn't even want to sit at the table with Charan because he found him so controlling. Now they can't keep their hands off each other.
The final NC scene We also get a much more intimate and less stilted NC scene, my favorite for two reasons. First Charan initiates and he is loving, sweet and relaxed unlike the first two times. Second, this NC scene was only 9 minutes (yes I clocked it) which just goes to show you don't need 15 minutes and paint brushes to show satisfying intimacy.
Other nice touches to the NC scene, happy music "I Need Your Love", "Dancing in the Moonlight". I also love that little pearl necklace that Charan gave Khanin. You can tell that the costume department thought about the length of the chain to make sure it wouldn't get in the way.
The proposal The proposal scene is another full circle moment where Charan presents Khanin with his mother's ring, one that he first saw at the Phithakthewa mansion. Khanin has always wanted a champagne color Meenanakarin pearl, and now he has one from his forever love. From the first time I saw it I knew that ring was going to wind up on Khanin's finger.
AND a parting gift, a new OST If all of that wasn't enough in the last few minutes as Charan puts the ring on Khanin's finger we get another beautiful OST, this time a Zeenunew duet. The official MV is now out:
Advertising Lolani and IQIYI advertisements in the final episode. Yuck. Those things have annoyed me throughout this series and I cherish the few episodes when I didn't see them. Aof needs to get a new marketing department to put together better and less intrusive deals with advertisers especially now that he's becoming more of a big time producer. There's a difference between product placement and actual advertisements in the middle of the plot.
Too many flashbacks Most of the flashbacks during the fencing scene could have been eliminated in favor of more main character and side character development in the final episode. I don't know about you, but my memory isn't so bad that I can't remember things that happened 13 episodes ago. This seems to be something that I see in a lot of BL series though.
Charan's commitment issues I honestly don't understand Charan's commitment phobia after he already was intimate with Khanin and considered a mere kiss his forever bond. I love you seems a small thing to say when you've already made an implicit vow of eternal love and fidelity. It was a huge plot hole to me.
Sound engineering issues The piano music during Charan's scene with Vedish continuing through his meeting with King Tharin was way too loud and I had trouble even hearing the dialogue. Fortunately since I don't speak Thai I was looking at the subtitles anyway but it was very distracting.
The ending doesn't quite get there From Aof we know that there isn't going to be a special episode to take us through the wedding and their return to Emmaly which you do see in the book. My only complaint about that is not the lack of a wedding, but the fact that both Charan and Khanin were previously dedicated to working on the pollution issue. Khanin moved all the way to the UK just to get a masters in pollution management, and now that they're getting married all of the sudden we don't hear about their future plans to return and work on this issue.
They're getting married, not lobotomized. And the rest of their lives should surround things that are important to them. So forgetting all about the Emmalian people while in their love bubble bothered me. Yes they mentioned earlier that this was their intent, but I would have liked to see them making plans to return if we weren't going to see them back home working on the issue.
The Next prince finally ended. No doubt how much anticipation we had regarding this series due to director and…
Khanin and Charan didn't cheat on each other in the book, and they didn't break up. They always intended to reunite when Khanin moved to London, and just like the series they stayed in touch while they were apart.
Ramil wasn't a coward in the series. He was abused and traumatized. He was a victim and it took him some time to write his father off.
The only reason there were any scenes for Ramil Paytai, Calvin Jay, and Ava Mira is because they expanded their…
Oh Lord. The last thing I would ever do is watch a BL to hear NuNew speak English. I think he understands it fairly well but he certainly isn't conversational. It's really something that he and Zee need to work on if they ever hope to reach an international audience.
I don't know if anyone noticed it but there was a beautiful new OST duet with Zee and NuNew during the proposal scene. Here are the lyrics and I will give you a link the minute it is released on the platforms, or even if there is a YouTube fan cam of it. It was sung during the event, but I couldn't find a clip of just the song.
My review of the final episode will come tomorrow. It's got a few criticisms but all in all I liked it so if you're a hater of the series you can skip the first part and go straight to the criticisms. I've labeled the sections for you. 😉
Do you know, my dear? I know we'll fly beyond with no fear Right my dear I'll never fade or drift away Beside you is where I'll always stay The only one I need each day It's just you, my heart won't stray
Let me just love you as the moments fly That's all I ask, to call you mine The world may shift over time Let me hold your hand so tight Through every joy and tear we find Like the sky, I'm by your side
Do you know what makes the sky shine, Keeping it lovely up high It's when the majestic sea reflects the sky Just like you and me, side by side It's enough for me, your hand in mine
Right, my sunshine I'll never fade or drift away Beside you is where I'll always stay The only one I need each day, It's just you, my heart won't stray
Let me just love you as the moments fly That's all I ask, to call you mine The world may shift over time Let me hold your hand so tight Through every joy and tear we find Like the sky, I'm by your side
Let me just love you as the moments fly That's all I ask, to call you mine The world may shift over time Let me hold your hand so tight Through every joy and tear we find Like the sky, I'm by your side
Well if nothing else you are very entertaining. This was a mostly satisfying finale to the series. Don't think…
I'm sure that Aof has absolutely no interest in GMMTV. But if what you say is true the parent company is treating their subsidiary like a stepchild. I've never even heard of any of their BL's and over the last couple of years I've watched quite a few.
At the very least Domundi knows how to promote a series. If you are a viewer of Thai BL You would have to be sleeping under a rock not to have heard about TNP.
I can't speak to quality about GMMTV productions since I've never seen one. But for sure they've never been promoted sufficiently or I would have.
Because he doesn't have a singing role in TNP you probably don't know that Ballchon has a fabulous voice. In his reels today there is footage of him singing "I Trust You" at the TNP final episode event. What I didn't know is that he is Dome Jaruwat's brother so I guess those pipes must run in the family.
I first discovered Dome after Zee sang his song "Last Love" at NuNew's first DreamCatcher concert.
I don't know if he'll put it in his regular posts eventually so if you want to hear it you probably have to act fast:
He hasn't posted anything on this page for years. What are you talking about?
If you mean reels, he doesn't have any up right now. And you probably don't want me to be writing him anyway because I thought it was a pretty good drama and I especially liked the final episode.
We don't know that Ramil is going to continue to live in the palace. He was at his father's side at the King's…
I saw a very confusing comment by him on Insta. But I don't think the series really needs a special episode. They wrapped it up better than I thought they would.
A Fanfiction written by a teenager on wattpad will have a better plot and character development than this show.…
We don't know that Ramil is going to continue to live in the palace. He was at his father's side at the King's funeral. And then he sought Paytai out on the beach. At least to me the indication was that their lives were going to be different from now on.
It was actually a more satisfying ending to their story than I was expecting in this final episode. Ramil had been slowly realizing what a bad effect his father has had on him over the span of the series and to me this was the climax. He finally accepted that his father was irretrievable and he had to move on in his life without him.
I think Zee has absolutely no chemistry with women. Spice and Spell had absolutely no spice and he did the best he could to stay as far away as physically a possible from his love interest.
This just shows how much better Ramil would have been if he got a peaceful environment. I guess he is a better…
Ramil was pretty well spent before the fencing match. His father is a complete asshole not understanding anything about motivating his son to do a good job. His training at the end of episode 13 foretold a less than stellar outcome for him in episode 14. I'm actually surprised he did as well as he did. And he probably would have continued to fall apart had he not seen Paytai standing there in the doorway to support him.
Khanin had all the love and support needed to become a functional adult. Both from his adoptive father and his biological father plus Charan.
It made it much easier for Khanin to grow into a compassionate human than it did for Ramil, who will have to work harder on that now that he's broken free of his father.
Zee really needs a new partner. ORThey should pair Zee and Max for their next project.
Zee already has one foot out the door from BL. He was ready to be done with it years ago after Why R U, but was eventually convinced to do Cutie Pie because he really liked NuNew after he met him.
NuNew was originally paired with Park (Poppy's older brother) and they were supposed to star in Cutie Pie together. Park had some kind of a conflict and that's when Zee stepped in.
Neither Zee nor NuNew has any interest in ever doing a BL with someone else, so when the time comes NuNew will do other types of movies or maybe just switch to music entirely and Zee will be running his businesses.
In an interview a couple of days ago Zee said after the age of 35 (two years from now) he plans to dramatically slow down his participation in the entertainment industry and I am pretty sure that will trickle down to nothing within a few years.
Well if nothing else you are very entertaining. This was a mostly satisfying finale to the series. Don't think…
Obviously you haven't been reading my posts if you say that. I've been pretty critical about certain things in the series. That being said overall I've liked it. It's not perfect. I think there are probably other vehicles that suit Zee and NuNew better.
This was a pretty satisfying finale with so many feel good moments that I'm still floating on the endorphins.
What I liked
Fencing competition.
Although it was a foregone conclusion that Khanin was going to win the fencing match they managed to make it somewhat suspenseful with Ramil's awful performance in the beginning and then rallying after he saw Paytai.
Khanin's humanity shines through even in battle as he lends a hand to Ramil to help him get back on his feet. Being a good human has always been more important to Khanin than winning.
Ramil/Rachata.
I would have preferred if Ramil threw Rachata through a wall after he beat and lambasted him for losing the fencing match, but I'll settle for him finally standing up to his father and walking out. He's shown capacity to be a decent person despite a crap upbringing.
King's redemption
I have trouble with the King's redemption plot because I read the book. In the series he was a bad leader who ran a dirty gold mine. I guess it was his punishment to die from lung cancer caused by the pollution. But he got to die in peace with Khanin's forgiveness after all the crap he put him through not to mention the thousands of his subjects who got sick and died from the pollution. It was way more than he deserved, but on the other hand he wasn't outright murdering people like he was in the book. (I guess this qualifies as a semi-criticism)
King Tharin
A case of sometimes good guys finish first. Emmaly gets a king who will actually look into the pollution problem and try to solve it in addition to being more humane and egalitarian to the four clans that he leads. And he's a good dad. He will not try to control Khanin's future and make him be a prince if he doesn't want to be.
The last dance
The last dance scene is kind of superfluous but it finally shows Khanin and Charan as an out couple and I'm a sucker for Zeenunew romance. Plus I love "Dancing in the Moonlight". The OST was one of the highlights of this series.
Ramil/Paytai
I liked the final scene between Ramil and Paytai more than I thought I would. Ramil is remorseful for the way Paytai was treated in the palace. They are both broken and tortured after being unloved and abused by their families but somehow Paytai has managed to keep both his mental health and his humanity intact. Hopefully now that Ramil has escaped the clutches of evil daddy he will be up to the task of being the lover that Paytai deserves. They cling to each other in the sand like life preservers and we can only hope that they have finally found safety in each other. As actors Jimmy and Ohm have amazing on screen chemistry so I look forward to their own series coming up.
Calvin/Jay
Not much to say about Calvin and Jay. They finally confess that they like each other, a quick peck and a hug. It was cute, but a pretty undeveloped subplot, common for a third couple in a BL. As an aside I forgot how incredibly handsome Net is after wearing all those ugly baggy Royal clothes. He looked so much more beautiful in this scene.
Khanin grows up
In this episode Khanin shows enormous maturity compared to the start of the series where he was clinging to Charan for safety and later lusting after him and seducing him. He's now in love, he believes in the Emmalian custom of a kiss sealing them as a couple forever. But he's willing to wait for Charan to be ready to give him the commitment he wants, rather than whining that he isn't getting it right now. They are okay with being apart in the interim, Charan assisting King Tharin with the pollution crisis and Khanin studying pollution management in England.
The set in England was my absolute favorite of the entire series. A little bit of royalty but mostly comfy and luxurious furnishings. Could have been an HGTV renovation. It's a completely feel good scene with Thatdanai making Beef Wellington and Chakri being horrified that Khanin wants him to call him "mate" instead of Your Royal Highness. Much as I love Zeenunew, Ballchon's Chakri will forever be my MVP of the series.
The softening of Charan
Over the course of this episode you see Charan opening up his heart more to Khanin even if he is not quite ready to commit. And when he shows up in London we finally get to see the same unrestrained joy that Lian had for Kuea once they became lovers in Cutie Pie. Zee got a lot of undeserved criticism for his demeanor as Charan, but you can see here it's not because he has poor acting abilities but because that was his role in the series.
And he called Thatdanai "Dad". 😉
The breakfasts, before and after
The breakfast scene in the final episode was a sweet full circle moment recalling the second episode where Khanin didn't even want to sit at the table with Charan because he found him so controlling. Now they can't keep their hands off each other.
The final NC scene
We also get a much more intimate and less stilted NC scene, my favorite for two reasons. First Charan initiates and he is loving, sweet and relaxed unlike the first two times. Second, this NC scene was only 9 minutes (yes I clocked it) which just goes to show you don't need 15 minutes and paint brushes to show satisfying intimacy.
Other nice touches to the NC scene, happy music "I Need Your Love", "Dancing in the Moonlight". I also love that little pearl necklace that Charan gave Khanin. You can tell that the costume department thought about the length of the chain to make sure it wouldn't get in the way.
The proposal
The proposal scene is another full circle moment where Charan presents Khanin with his mother's ring, one that he first saw at the Phithakthewa mansion. Khanin has always wanted a champagne color Meenanakarin pearl, and now he has one from his forever love. From the first time I saw it I knew that ring was going to wind up on Khanin's finger.
AND a parting gift, a new OST
If all of that wasn't enough in the last few minutes as Charan puts the ring on Khanin's finger we get another beautiful OST, this time a Zeenunew duet. The official MV is now out:
https://youtu.be/hAzFAyUQZVQ
Advertising
Lolani and IQIYI advertisements in the final episode. Yuck. Those things have annoyed me throughout this series and I cherish the few episodes when I didn't see them. Aof needs to get a new marketing department to put together better and less intrusive deals with advertisers especially now that he's becoming more of a big time producer. There's a difference between product placement and actual advertisements in the middle of the plot.
Too many flashbacks
Most of the flashbacks during the fencing scene could have been eliminated in favor of more main character and side character development in the final episode. I don't know about you, but my memory isn't so bad that I can't remember things that happened 13 episodes ago. This seems to be something that I see in a lot of BL series though.
Charan's commitment issues
I honestly don't understand Charan's commitment phobia after he already was intimate with Khanin and considered a mere kiss his forever bond. I love you seems a small thing to say when you've already made an implicit vow of eternal love and fidelity. It was a huge plot hole to me.
Sound engineering issues
The piano music during Charan's scene with Vedish continuing through his meeting with King Tharin was way too loud and I had trouble even hearing the dialogue. Fortunately since I don't speak Thai I was looking at the subtitles anyway but it was very distracting.
The ending doesn't quite get there
From Aof we know that there isn't going to be a special episode to take us through the wedding and their return to Emmaly which you do see in the book. My only complaint about that is not the lack of a wedding, but the fact that both Charan and Khanin were previously dedicated to working on the pollution issue. Khanin moved all the way to the UK just to get a masters in pollution management, and now that they're getting married all of the sudden we don't hear about their future plans to return and work on this issue.
They're getting married, not lobotomized. And the rest of their lives should surround things that are important to them. So forgetting all about the Emmalian people while in their love bubble bothered me. Yes they mentioned earlier that this was their intent, but I would have liked to see them making plans to return if we weren't going to see them back home working on the issue.
Ramil wasn't a coward in the series. He was abused and traumatized. He was a victim and it took him some time to write his father off.
My review of the final episode will come tomorrow. It's got a few criticisms but all in all I liked it so if you're a hater of the series you can skip the first part and go straight to the criticisms. I've labeled the sections for you. 😉
Do you know, my dear?
I know we'll fly beyond with no fear
Right my dear
I'll never fade or drift away
Beside you is where I'll always stay
The only one I need each day
It's just you, my heart won't stray
Let me just love you as the moments fly
That's all I ask, to call you mine
The world may shift over time
Let me hold your hand so tight
Through every joy and tear we find
Like the sky, I'm by your side
Do you know what makes the sky shine,
Keeping it lovely up high
It's when the majestic sea reflects the sky
Just like you and me, side by side
It's enough for me, your hand in mine
Right, my sunshine
I'll never fade or drift away
Beside you is where I'll always stay
The only one I need each day,
It's just you, my heart won't stray
Let me just love you as the moments fly
That's all I ask, to call you mine
The world may shift over time
Let me hold your hand so tight
Through every joy and tear we find
Like the sky, I'm by your side
Let me just love you as the moments fly
That's all I ask, to call you mine
The world may shift over time
Let me hold your hand so tight
Through every joy and tear we find
Like the sky, I'm by your side
official MV is now out;
https://youtu.be/hAzFAyUQZVQ
At the very least Domundi knows how to promote a series. If you are a viewer of Thai BL You would have to be sleeping under a rock not to have heard about TNP.
I can't speak to quality about GMMTV productions since I've never seen one. But for sure they've never been promoted sufficiently or I would have.
I first discovered Dome after Zee sang his song "Last Love" at NuNew's first DreamCatcher concert.
I don't know if he'll put it in his regular posts eventually so if you want to hear it you probably have to act fast:
https://www.instagram.com/ballchon
If I find it on YouTube I'll give you another link.
NuNew should really duet with him. 🙂
https://youtu.be/rxG58S9fMqQ
It was actually a more satisfying ending to their story than I was expecting in this final episode. Ramil had been slowly realizing what a bad effect his father has had on him over the span of the series and to me this was the climax. He finally accepted that his father was irretrievable and he had to move on in his life without him.
Not even a kiss in the proposal scene. Yikes.
Khanin had all the love and support needed to become a functional adult. Both from his adoptive father and his biological father plus Charan.
It made it much easier for Khanin to grow into a compassionate human than it did for Ramil, who will have to work harder on that now that he's broken free of his father.
NuNew was originally paired with Park (Poppy's older brother) and they were supposed to star in Cutie Pie together. Park had some kind of a conflict and that's when Zee stepped in.
Neither Zee nor NuNew has any interest in ever doing a BL with someone else, so when the time comes NuNew will do other types of movies or maybe just switch to music entirely and Zee will be running his businesses.
In an interview a couple of days ago Zee said after the age of 35 (two years from now) he plans to dramatically slow down his participation in the entertainment industry and I am pretty sure that will trickle down to nothing within a few years.