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AudienceofOne
The BL film this TV series is ostensibly based on was an enjoyable watch with some lovely characters. But there was definitely some gaps for a TV adaptation to fill, especially around the development of the main relationship and the characterisation. Unfortunately this series didn't really do that, spending far too much time on other plotlines and relying too much on a season 2 that has not yet eventuated.
Having said that, there's a lot to like in this show. It's one of the few Thai BLs with strong and well-developed female characters and with a solid grounding of family. Bank and Golf's lives are messy and this mess gives it a sense of realism that a lot of similar shows lack.
Spread over two different timelines 8 years apart, we soon learn that Bank and Golf are stepbrothers who were in love while in high school but separated by their parents when their relationship was discovered. Bank has made a successful and stable life for himself in the US but Golf is a mess; cut off from his family and bouncing through south-east Asia and the Pacific working as a diver. In this, the characterisation is superior especially as it portrays Bank. Portrayed in the film as being fragile to the point of being infantilised, this Bank is a definite improvement being strong, smart and utterly comfortable in who he is and with his homosexuality.
As the couple fall in love in the past, they attempt to navigate their relationship with each other and with their family in the present. Bank is engaged to another man but is instantly torn when faced with his past love. Golf is so unhappy he's determined to recreate the past rather than try to live in the present. It's a new and interesting path for a BL to tread and gives us some lovely and intelligent moments between two adults rather than the confused children BLs are usually concerned with.
Unfortunately, given 12 episodes to really explore why these two men fell in love and why they're drawn to each other again, the show instead gets distracted by other plotlines and other characters. Perhaps one day we'll get the season 2 that wraps up the plotlines and resolves the somewhat unsatisfactory ending. But until that day, this is it.
Having said that, there's a lot to like in this show. It's one of the few Thai BLs with strong and well-developed female characters and with a solid grounding of family. Bank and Golf's lives are messy and this mess gives it a sense of realism that a lot of similar shows lack.
Spread over two different timelines 8 years apart, we soon learn that Bank and Golf are stepbrothers who were in love while in high school but separated by their parents when their relationship was discovered. Bank has made a successful and stable life for himself in the US but Golf is a mess; cut off from his family and bouncing through south-east Asia and the Pacific working as a diver. In this, the characterisation is superior especially as it portrays Bank. Portrayed in the film as being fragile to the point of being infantilised, this Bank is a definite improvement being strong, smart and utterly comfortable in who he is and with his homosexuality.
As the couple fall in love in the past, they attempt to navigate their relationship with each other and with their family in the present. Bank is engaged to another man but is instantly torn when faced with his past love. Golf is so unhappy he's determined to recreate the past rather than try to live in the present. It's a new and interesting path for a BL to tread and gives us some lovely and intelligent moments between two adults rather than the confused children BLs are usually concerned with.
Unfortunately, given 12 episodes to really explore why these two men fell in love and why they're drawn to each other again, the show instead gets distracted by other plotlines and other characters. Perhaps one day we'll get the season 2 that wraps up the plotlines and resolves the somewhat unsatisfactory ending. But until that day, this is it.
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