Having recently watched Love by Chance I decided to give TharnType a chance, even though I could see that it had very discordant reviews. After watching this show I can see why some people love it and some people hate it. I lean towards the last group of people. I don’t think I have ever watched a worse romantic series than this, where I didn’t even want the main couple to end up together, because of romanticized assault, molestation and toxic behavior.

I feel like this show was made for straight people, not the LGBTQ+ community. Because honestly it felt like an insult to the whole gay community. No to mention that the whole script felt like it was written by some teenage fanfiction writer who has no sense of life, romanticizes everything and has no clue what’s right and what’s wrong in a relationship. They took a very serious topic and totally ruined it and even made it actually harmful to watch. I can’t believe that there are young people who watch this show and will walk around in this world thinking that this kind of acting in real life is actually okay.

Since most of the show deals with Tharn and Type’s relationships, let’s start with them. I must say that I don’t think either of them was very well thought through character, but at least with Type you could actually understand where his thoughts and actions come from. It’s clear from the very beginning that his homophobia comes from his past trauma. His fear over what happened to him is clearly coming out as anger towards LGBTQ+ community. Which is in a way understandable but definitely does not justify his actions. I was waiting the whole show for someone to talk to him about it and in the end we got ONE nice line from his old friend Khom (who by the way just kind of disappeared), who actually tells him, that just because of what happened to him does not mean that all gay people are bad and that most of them are actually nice. Khom also points out how his homophobic behaviour is hurtful and honestly I think that this scene was so powerful. I was hoping that Tharn would talk to him about this, but clearly this was too much to hope for.

Then Type’s characteristics. I do have a huge problem with his tendency to hit, kick, push, shove Tharn. This is not okay in any relationship! But him being cocky and self-centered actually may come from his past, too. I think that he likes to have this strong and confident persona, that no one approaches, because actually he is unconfident and somewhat scared to have any kind of attention on him. It is apparent in many different scenes. For example him not wanting to be part of the football team or the picture incident. So, even though Type is in no way a perfect character, I think that at least as a viewer you can actually understand his behavior a little bit, if you think about his past and really pay attention to his words and body language. I would honestly only watch this show again to pay even more attention to his characteristics.

I also like that there are some minor signs in Gulf’s acting that clearly show how certain things make his character uncomfortable or scared due to his past trauma. They are blink-and-you-miss it kind of moments. It can be seen whenever Tharn holds him in a way that he can’t escape or when he forcefully comes towards him (especially in the early episodes). Also during the picture incident with LGBTQ+ community people - I liked his acting there. I really think that even though Type’s character had his flaws, Gulf’s acting really saved him. Most points that I gave to this show come from his character and his acting.

Now, let’s talk about Tharn. The thing is - I didn’t like his character at all! First, he molested Type, while he was drunk just to get back at him. And later it was never addressed. Also, he never listened to words like ‘No!’ or ‘Let me go!’. Even if he later learned about Type's past. He had no respect towards consent or towards Type’s boundaries in general. He even told him something like ‘I don’t care what you want’ and in one scene ‘I don’t force myself, I just make it hard for you to resist’. I am paraphrasing here, but you get the idea, what kind of thoughts he has in his head. What pisses me off even more, is how he is portrayed to be this caring, friendly, respectful, warm guy, who everyone likes, but then he acts like a sexual harraser towards a guy he claims to love. Talkin about his love for Type. I guess I understand he fell in love with him during those three weeks, before Type didn’t know about his sexuality, but after that I can’t see how his love didn’t disappear? Also, when you learn that a person his homophobic you dont try to push yourself on them or pursui them in hopes of maybe he will love you back. And you certainly don’t touch and kiss them during the night! The bathroom scene was just horrible! Also the scene about sex offer from Type and Tharn accepting it! This was wrong on so many levels! WTF? There were just sooooo many problematic scenes with him. He was either acting problematic or saying very problematic things. Later when they were in a relationship he was also constantly manipulating him and playing the victim, so that Type would have to apologize. Their whole relationship was one big miscommunication that led to constant fighting.

Another thing that really pissed me off during the show was constant possessiveness, jealousy and controlling behavior from both of them. I don’t understand why so many BLs think that jealousy is cute or hot or whatever. No, these are all ugly and toxic behaviors in a relationship. It is as if when they get together they can’t spend time with anybody else anymore. Like what? At this point honestly I loved their break-up scene, because what Type said was actually true. I would have loved it if they had stayed broken-up. I don’t think they were ready to be in a relationship. It was way too problematic and toxic.

Talking about other characters, the only character I liked besides Type was Techno. He honestly saved the show for sure. I even liked this Techno more than the one in Love by Chance. He was actually a great friend and he was the least problematic character in the whole show. Also, Mild’s acting was really great!

And if I mention Tar and Tum, then I didn’t like them in Love by Chance and didn’t like them in this show either. I still think their story should’ve been left out from this whole universe. And then of course we have Lhong, whose place is in a mental hospital or jail. I think they should’ve put more effort into making the main storyline actually watchable and not burden it with all these side stories.

All in all, I don’t recommend anyone to watch it unless you have a very good sense of critical thinking. I do understand that people love this show because of main actors’ chemistry and some cute scenes here and there, but I just can’t enjoy a show that actually plays into harmful stereotypes that gay people have to fight against every day. No to mention all the toxic behavior and romanticizing awful things. They make Tharn out to be this sex-crazy gay man that has a reputation of having a lot of exes and then he also pushes himself on Type - a assumingly straight guy, whoe despises gays. And then during the picture incident again the LGBTQ+ community members are made out to be the problematic ones. That’s why I don’t think this show is written for LGBTQ+ community but rather for straight young girls who find it hot and cute, when two handsome guys are together… Also there are scenes where poeple justify Type's homophobia and that's not okay!