This review may contain spoilers
Great performances
There are a number of interesting themes in this BL drama. The evils of social media and the domino effect of bad actions that cause a whole series of undesirable outcomes. Keng (Oat) is a gay University Senior who falls in love at first sight with shy, introverted Junior Shin (James). Keng endures the common themes of overbearing parents and social conditioning that rejects same sex relationships. Unfortunately, he isn't able to contain the rage this kind of repression creates and ends up raping the object of his love. We're never quite sure of Shin's sexual orientation. Shin's best friends Bright (Yacht) and Promote (Top) really are the stars of this piece -- showing what real friendship is about. They form their own bromance along the way. Some reviewers have asked for a longer series, but I'm happy this one was only 3 episodes. Most of these BL dramas are heavily padded to run for 30 hours and have many sub-plots that lead nowhere. The writing of the first two episodes is very strong and the plot follows a logical path. But there are some serious flaws in the last episode. Keng's brief little blackmail moment doesn't ring true to his character and only puts the final nail in his coffin for being a person unworthy of anyone's friendship, never mind love. Shin apparently recovers from the trauma of rape and even finishes university, two years late. But five years have passed and he has no new friends or girlfriend or boyfriend? In five years? Some have explained the ending as both boys, Shin and Keng, stepped off the curb to end their lives at the same time, finally brining them together in the afterlife. Well, that makes as much sense any other conclusion, but there was plenty of time in the third episode to make that more clear. While the script is above average, writers have to be vigilant about falling into stereotypes. And it's a long and weary Hollywood cliche that gay characters (including those implied to be gay) must suffer violently for their orientation. Or they must be evil. (see almost any Alfred Hitchcock movie for proof of this). So here we've got two evil gays: Man and Keng and presumably gay Shin who attempts suicide and dies at the end. We've seen this formula too often. Male rape is an interesting dramatic platform, but rather than gay Keng as the rapist, why not the straight boys in the photo club? Male rape is common in straight fraternities. Or how about a woman raping Shin? Perhaps an older female employer at a part time job? You see, there are lots of easy fixes to avoid stereotypes and these would have made the story far more interesting.
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