This made me think of Two worlds series. I really wanted Nat to talk to the other guy in the series.
Same I wanted the other guy for him there as well. Sigh...seems they are hanging on to their pairing with a nasty grip! Maybe they are comfortable IRL but that is not enough to keep putting us through this.
In a series with so few good ppl to rally around Payback pulls off a lot to keep my interest but I have to call them out on sensationalizing the evils of the industry too much without consequence. Yes, these things happen- if you were not aware you should be by now with how the show beats us over the head with it. But, continuing to show it after it has been firmly established episodes ago makes the show as guilty of the very thing it proports to be railing against. Sun was saved from being *aped buy Jay - part owner of the club that is notoriously where these boys are abused, *aped and even murdered- and yet it has been episodes since Jay saved him. Now we know Jay is fully aware of what goes on in HIS club and nothing has been done about it. Sun has not even mentioned anything to Jay or Uncle 'I'm so fun and quirky' to get them to stop allowing these kinds of things to go on! So now who can we root for? Jay? He's to busy planning his own revenge to bother stopping the abuses on his property, Uncle? He's to busy sneaking around teasing Sun to bother - he just keeps the liquor flowing. Sun? He's so obsessed with saving his 'brother' again in Sky that he can't think to say to the guy who apparently would do anything for him hey can you stop the *raping and abuse in your club? I get so angry watching yet another murder, *ape, abuse scene knowing it didn't have to happen. The show goes to the abuse well too many times to be labeled as the good guys trying to expose abuses when they are profiting off of the abuse depictions in salacious viewership- how does that give them any high ground?
Big fan of Boat and Oat but I'm starting to get bored. There is really no story here. They are literally just walking through the scenes toward what end I cannot guess. The tropes are troping HARRRRD: Omega that switches between bad ass and wimp at the turn of the script, Daddy issues for no damn reason, mob shootouts with no ramp up or tension, a wanna be ex who inserts herself into the drama with no real reason to be there, weak acting 'Bros' around Oat who just sit in a coffee shop and talk about ABO all day, soft spoken Mum who can't seem to see any chaos around her, second couple that has about as much chemistry as a broken beaker, the bad seed sibling, and a sizzling hot sexually well seasoned Alpha who acts like a starved virgin. I had modest hopes for this series but was concerned, with how fast they churned it out after My Stubborn special episodes, that it would arrive all dressed up with no where to go and that seems to be the case. What they need here wasn't a script editor they needed to have gone with a different script entirely, this one can't gain traction from where it has been run aground. Shame because Boat and Oat have the chops this script just has no bite.
Just watched epi 1 and unimpressed is the least of it - the real issue for me is chemistry. Nat and Max are out of step with each other, again. They're not clicking at all. Max is breaking his back trying to elevated this but Nat cannot seem to make his character exciting. He's just there with the same half grin confused guy look on his face for every scene. And the shinny af lip gloss constantly on Nat- what is this bl circa 2012? Not sure what the director is going for here but anytime Max was on screen with anyone other than Nat I was interested in the story. When Nat was talking about all his adventures at the start I though that was setting him up for a dynamic character and he could be interesting but as soon as he was around Max the chemistry falls off a cliff. Coming off Suntiny, which I won't even get into here how bad that was, sadly with YT their downward spiral continues. Sticking with this pairing is holding them both back. This paring has not been inspiring for a while now and both separately have a lot of potential. I wish they would stop forcing it and branch out to other work.
This is better then a lot of the BLs. The only difference really is that other BLS that are kinda lame are associated with bigger names. Those couple fandoms will keep even the worst series afloat. I'm not so much a fan of the second couple in this series but I'm glad they finally got together in Thailand. I'm hopeful the first couple will be able to work their situation out. The industry is very smarmy. In so many shows now like Payback, and this one, you watch it and you feel like you stepped in shit some times. Sadly I don't think this is going to be series of the year but it wasn't as big of a waste of time as others have been.
They have to find a balance - the show doesn't seem to know from one epi to the next what it is trying to say. I see the romance building with JaySun but it comes in spurts so it's hard to really get into their dynamic before the show changes direction and decides it is about revenge mostly. We now add Jay's revenge for his mother - and it just so happens his target is the mentor of Sun's target. That's not contrived.
But then we turn to Sky's mental trauma for an epi which is not related to anything else. Sky stepping in to take the younger brother place and humanize Sun - I get that clear as day. But using an epi to tell his story and wrap up his healing before that epi is done makes it too obvious they aren't vested in Sky - he is just there to move the development of Sun. Now that happens all the time but seldom for most of an epi - it really felt like they were also finding a way to give screen time to Boss aside from the logical, and more meaningful, way of having him romantically involve himself with Sky. How did they sleep on their chemistry - it was mad good! Anyway the acting is great, look and feel works, but they lean too heavily on the rapes throughout the series. We get it, the industry is full of sick perverts preying on and forcing artist to do things to get ahead. But do we need to see the pushed down head thrusting on each epi without ever seeing any of these sickos brought to justice? Sun almost being forced himself and being saved by Jay tells me that Jay knows what's happening to these young actors at a business he partly owns and he isn't doing shit about it unless it's Sun. What does that make Uncle - who they try to make out as an all knowing zen master- he is running a rape house! So who is responsible here, really? I want to find someone to route for here and am close to that being Sun but he hasn't pushed the man who obviously would do anything for him to clean up the damn rape rooms. So I'm on the fence about him as well. They show the abuse and nasty behavior in the industry but that is just being sensational if you are not going to show all the perverts being held accountable for their crimes. Otherwise you are exploiting the rape culture just as much for views. I need the show to figure out what story it is really trying to tell.
This is so damn cringe it is a masterpiece! BoatOat are killing the Alpha/Omega game on this because they are so comfortable being all over each others body- the trust level is on 12! But the cast around them is so amateur they are a let down any time BO are not on screen. The cast around them for My Stubborn was Shakespearian compared to this group . So much of what goes wrong is fixable with small choices from the director. That is what is shaving off ratings for them - casting choices and terrible direction. That said I can see BO pulling this off and saving the damn day each episode. I am in it till the end- but damn when will they fire the wardrobe team? Had the same issues on MS - Boat if fine af and they dress him in 70's bell bottom pants all the time and many times they don't reach the top of his shoes - what the hell? And those damn shorts on Oat - WHO thought that was a good damn idea? It is like they produce in an echo chamber where no on vets this stuff from the outside looking in. Give me one day on set and I would have corrected it all- damn shame!
My post is for Jeff. I know he will come read the comments here to see if he is still getting juice from the non-existent promo for HES - so to Jeff I say:
WHAT THE HELL, DUDE?
Seriously, how many times do you think you can go to the well of unkept promises and just skate on from it? First it was the promise to release the behind the scenes of the making of the pilot. DIDN'T. Then it was series coming out end of 2025. DIDN'T. Then second quarter of 2026. DIDN'T.
When is enough, enough? It is the silence that makes ppl not trust your word- if you said hey it is taking longer than we thought, we cannot get the schedules to line up give us some grace, or even mentioned it- we could deal but the silence is insulting.
Some may say "he doesn't owe ppl any comment " Bump that - yes you do. Loyal Sats have been riding with you through all the nonsense surround WB, variety shows, every concert venue, brand deal and event under the sun for years now with nothing but empty HES promises. You have all the time in the world to play chef detective, idol mentor, cat product enthusiast, etc. So I get it - if you cannot pull this off - just say so - that would be appreciated. Got Barcode out here singing your songs on live all melancholy seems he is missing you as well - asking how you are to the fans cause it is obvious you are not checking in with him so that makes the possibility of you and him filming secretly a negative. Too much smoke and mirrors - just pull the Band-Aid off or drop a trailer!
I don't want to lose hope here esp. since WB was such a huge disappointment in it not being released but Jeff being the one who is in control fully of this project needs to be more forthcoming about where things are. Putting pre-script meeting on his calendar now and then is just dangling carrots and kicking the can down the road enabling him to dodge being more specific. He can plan a tour and concert schedule a year out - but cannot give this series a definite window of even starting production? It all just seems a like endless passes are being given due to him being so busy - just say you are no longer making this within the next year or 2 and let it go. By then Barcode will prob have moved on anyway.
The level of stupidity in epi 12 is unreal - how did this get past the the writer's room. They had all the elements; a good premise, good cast (though some should reverse roles), great cinematography and still they continue to shank it! I kept hoping it would get tighter, as it went on, as some of the police procedures, and the depiction of the ghosts, really impressed me. But it has continued to devolve into a clown show. What in the hell with them finding King's location but S/T detour to the house to play 'can you hear me' and pause to kiss- just to service the fandom. Are you serious- dude is over there having ppl murdered in front of him and being beaten with a damn stick!?! They moved with negative energy. Then Darrin and Mek- you had one damn job! Allowing the person you are supposed to be guarding at all times to leave the room alone in an unsecured building not to mention you are both men and can go into the washroom together was so stupid. But the icing on the cake has to be Singha taking Thup to the very place he should not be so that Singha wouldn't have one more thing to worry about as he stormed the murder house, only just to leave him alone. S/T seem to be incapable of using common sense at all, it is like they are allergic to it. Damnit! This could have been so fricken good!
So... finally finished watching this and the level of cringe from the big fight scene that opens epi 13 ...it encapsulated my view of the entire series - the elements where there, the premise was new and started strong. Where they lost this was in casting and direction. The blocking on fight/action scenes was terrible. Also, this had too many plot tangents and, sad as I am to say it, very poor acting from Ja. I could not feel him emotionally vested in any way from start to finish. This was textbook for here to get a check in how he looked past committing to this role. The director allowed far too much to move on and fix in post for too many poorly acted segments. You cannot fix lack of engagement in editing. I don't know how this made it through post. Supporting cast, and Tae, tried to pull this off but Ja's role had to work for them to do it and he simply didn't seem to show up.
**Oh and Ice had a grounds for a huge lawsuit against the university and it was unreal how quickly they took advantage of him yet again in having him sign off on that paltry scholarship - he could have owned that school or at least a few buildings on campus!
Damn! I wanted Thup to be the big bad killer- that would have throw everyone and his acting would have really shown for how he fooled everyone. Think instead they will give him a late stage half brother to pawn the murder deeds off on to so he will still have some skin in the game but get a happy ever after in the end. Just imagine how psycho he could have gone if it turned out he was the mastermind.
^iknowthings^ as a name and proceeds to yapp gibberish. you know Nothing my dear!you is a just a fool!
Oh you thought you ate with that...STAY PRESSED. Again, you exposed your inability to make a cohesive argument of your own. Instead, you latched onto something I already said about this being a public forum and tried to repackage it as you “educating” me. Lame. You bringing up respecting other opinions while showing zero ability to do that yourself is exactly how we got here. Reverting again to silly words because you have no true counterargument is true to form. So stay over there and enjoy your gibberish-free echo chamber.
I really don’t get the hype around this series. The ghosts are cool and they look good, but otherwise the investigation…
Spot on and it was an easy fix - instead of putting him at the crime scene - make him a spiritualist that works with the PD routinely and assign him to this case - then go one better and make him the killer in the end - after he has gained Singha's love and trust- give us some grit!
1 
I had modest hopes for this series but was concerned, with how fast they churned it out after My Stubborn special episodes, that it would arrive all dressed up with no where to go and that seems to be the case. What they need here wasn't a script editor they needed to have gone with a different script entirely, this one can't gain traction from where it has been run aground. Shame because Boat and Oat have the chops this script just has no bite.
But then we turn to Sky's mental trauma for an epi which is not related to anything else. Sky stepping in to take the younger brother place and humanize Sun - I get that clear as day. But using an epi to tell his story and wrap up his healing before that epi is done makes it too obvious they aren't vested in Sky - he is just there to move the development of Sun. Now that happens all the time but seldom for most of an epi - it really felt like they were also finding a way to give screen time to Boss aside from the logical, and more meaningful, way of having him romantically involve himself with Sky. How did they sleep on their chemistry - it was mad good!
Anyway the acting is great, look and feel works, but they lean too heavily on the rapes throughout the series. We get it, the industry is full of sick perverts preying on and forcing artist to do things to get ahead. But do we need to see the pushed down head thrusting on each epi without ever seeing any of these sickos brought to justice? Sun almost being forced himself and being saved by Jay tells me that Jay knows what's happening to these young actors at a business he partly owns and he isn't doing shit about it unless it's Sun. What does that make Uncle - who they try to make out as an all knowing zen master- he is running a rape house! So who is responsible here, really? I want to find someone to route for here and am close to that being Sun but he hasn't pushed the man who obviously would do anything for him to clean up the damn rape rooms. So I'm on the fence about him as well. They show the abuse and nasty behavior in the industry but that is just being sensational if you are not going to show all the perverts being held accountable for their crimes. Otherwise you are exploiting the rape culture just as much for views. I need the show to figure out what story it is really trying to tell.
WHAT THE HELL, DUDE?
Seriously, how many times do you think you can go to the well of unkept promises and just skate on from it? First it was the promise to release the behind the scenes of the making of the pilot. DIDN'T. Then it was series coming out end of 2025. DIDN'T. Then second quarter of 2026. DIDN'T.
When is enough, enough? It is the silence that makes ppl not trust your word- if you said hey it is taking longer than we thought, we cannot get the schedules to line up give us some grace, or even mentioned it- we could deal but the silence is insulting.
Some may say "he doesn't owe ppl any comment " Bump that - yes you do. Loyal Sats have been riding with you through all the nonsense surround WB, variety shows, every concert venue, brand deal and event under the sun for years now with nothing but empty HES promises. You have all the time in the world to play chef detective, idol mentor, cat product enthusiast, etc. So I get it - if you cannot pull this off - just say so - that would be appreciated. Got Barcode out here singing your songs on live all melancholy seems he is missing you as well - asking how you are to the fans cause it is obvious you are not checking in with him so that makes the possibility of you and him filming secretly a negative. Too much smoke and mirrors - just pull the Band-Aid off or drop a trailer!
**Oh and Ice had a grounds for a huge lawsuit against the university and it was unreal how quickly they took advantage of him yet again in having him sign off on that paltry scholarship - he could have owned that school or at least a few buildings on campus!
Again, you exposed your inability to make a cohesive argument of your own. Instead, you latched onto something I already said about this being a public forum and tried to repackage it as you “educating” me. Lame. You bringing up respecting other opinions while showing zero ability to do that yourself is exactly how we got here. Reverting again to silly words because you have no true counterargument is true to form. So stay over there and enjoy your gibberish-free echo chamber.