This review may contain spoilers
Oh dear, what a mess
With too many characters, some of them annoying and poorly written (like Mueanphrae and Pawn/Paula), and far too many plot threads for 8 episodes, "Your Dear Daddy" does not deliver on most of what it promised or hinted at. The situation is not helped by questionable pacing and frequent tonal shifts. I started, continued and finished watching YDD for SaengNuea’s performance and his on-screen chemistry with Fluke, but there was not enough of that in the show to save it. Sidelining the main plot in favor of half a dozen side plots is rarely a good idea (remember "The Next Prince"?); it dooms a show when the main plot is the only good thing in it – which is what happened here.
Somewhere around episode 3 or 4 I got convinced that YDD was initially written for at least 12 episodes and "adjusted" for its actual running time before production started. It is just a theory, but it does explain certain things about the show, like why the Gale-Mueanphrae storyline is so shallow or why the Mok-Saeng story goes nowhere. It also explains why the main story feels like there are several scenes (or even episodes) missing. What it does not explain are some of the choices what to include in the show – and here the list of things that should have been reduced or dropped entirely is long (starting with both aforementioned side plots).
What I liked:
- SaengNuea’s performance, which could not save the whole show, but did save Saitharn – a main character done dirty by poor writing,
- Sila’s and Saitharn’s relationship – even though it was underdeveloped and sidelined far too often (I did not mind the whole indentured servitude thing which got that relationship going – I assumed it was not to be treated seriously); one needs to appreciate that – unlike in most BLs – here both main characters are adults with a lot of backstory,
- Gap – he was doing his best and watching his performance became a guilty pleasure of mine; not a fan of his character though,
- setting almost the entire show in Chiang Rai, far from Bangkok, and filming a lot of it outdoors; that – as well as farming tea – brought back some fond ATOTS memories,
- fashion show in episode 8.
What I disliked:
- spending too much time on the mostly nonsensical business storyline and its numerous characters – Maenmueang would suffice as the show’s sole villain, Sila’s nemesis and (potentially) Saitharn’s hookup which got him to travel to Chiang Rai,
- how Saitharn’s traumatic past was handled and how it was introduced,
- leaving the Mok-Saeng storyline hanging – they should have either been developed into the secondary/supporting couple or their storyline should have been dropped and their parts reduced (maybe even letting go of one of them entirely – Saitharn did not need both Mok and Saeng to introduce him to farm work),
- Mueanphrae – an unlikeable, passive character we were meant to sympathize with (I did not and could not understand why Gale fell for her),
- show’s misleading title,
- more a nitpick than anything else, but the show’s main song included the line "my heart will always be yours forever", sung in English (the rest of the song is in Thai and seems okay) – and I found it awful.
I mentioned my theory of YDD getting less episodes than the script required to work. Once I got that theory, I remembered another Thai BL which was only 8 episodes long, had a relatively big cast and several side plots, but did not fall apart while I was watching it: "Moonlight Chicken". I guess that only shows that with smart, concise writing even 8 episodes can be enough to present a multi character story.
Somewhere around episode 3 or 4 I got convinced that YDD was initially written for at least 12 episodes and "adjusted" for its actual running time before production started. It is just a theory, but it does explain certain things about the show, like why the Gale-Mueanphrae storyline is so shallow or why the Mok-Saeng story goes nowhere. It also explains why the main story feels like there are several scenes (or even episodes) missing. What it does not explain are some of the choices what to include in the show – and here the list of things that should have been reduced or dropped entirely is long (starting with both aforementioned side plots).
What I liked:
- SaengNuea’s performance, which could not save the whole show, but did save Saitharn – a main character done dirty by poor writing,
- Sila’s and Saitharn’s relationship – even though it was underdeveloped and sidelined far too often (I did not mind the whole indentured servitude thing which got that relationship going – I assumed it was not to be treated seriously); one needs to appreciate that – unlike in most BLs – here both main characters are adults with a lot of backstory,
- Gap – he was doing his best and watching his performance became a guilty pleasure of mine; not a fan of his character though,
- setting almost the entire show in Chiang Rai, far from Bangkok, and filming a lot of it outdoors; that – as well as farming tea – brought back some fond ATOTS memories,
- fashion show in episode 8.
What I disliked:
- spending too much time on the mostly nonsensical business storyline and its numerous characters – Maenmueang would suffice as the show’s sole villain, Sila’s nemesis and (potentially) Saitharn’s hookup which got him to travel to Chiang Rai,
- how Saitharn’s traumatic past was handled and how it was introduced,
- leaving the Mok-Saeng storyline hanging – they should have either been developed into the secondary/supporting couple or their storyline should have been dropped and their parts reduced (maybe even letting go of one of them entirely – Saitharn did not need both Mok and Saeng to introduce him to farm work),
- Mueanphrae – an unlikeable, passive character we were meant to sympathize with (I did not and could not understand why Gale fell for her),
- show’s misleading title,
- more a nitpick than anything else, but the show’s main song included the line "my heart will always be yours forever", sung in English (the rest of the song is in Thai and seems okay) – and I found it awful.
I mentioned my theory of YDD getting less episodes than the script required to work. Once I got that theory, I remembered another Thai BL which was only 8 episodes long, had a relatively big cast and several side plots, but did not fall apart while I was watching it: "Moonlight Chicken". I guess that only shows that with smart, concise writing even 8 episodes can be enough to present a multi character story.
Was this review helpful to you?
