LONG REVIEW but first, let's start with some warnings for first-time viewers out there or people considering whether to watch this drama or not.

!!! DRAMA WARNINGS !!!
1) I'm sure you've probably noticed from the comment sections but let me re-iterate it here. This drama has scenes of abuse - physical, emotional and psychological. This show is a literal minefield of triggers. If you're sensitive to scenes of violence, rage, rape, emotional blackmail and abuse, this is either not the show for you, or if you're still intent on watching it regardless, please go into it heavily armed and prepared. You have been warned.

2) For a lakorn, I personally think that this is one of, if not the, most realistically set lakorns I've seen. Why is this a warning? Well, because the realism and the depictions of scenes, especially those in your typical everyday places, make it harder for you to disassociate from the show. You're not taken out of your world into another, no, this world comes knocking on your front door and makes itself at home in your house. And that adds another subtle layer to the emotional triggers on this show. It's harder for the viewer to disassociate from what's happening on-screen.

3) I personally would not label this show as a 'romance' for a primary genre because large chunks of it could hardly be considered romantic - so for those of you going into this expecting a sweeping romance, you're going to be in for a very rude shock. If you asked me, I'd prefer to call it a study on human psychology and cognitive behaviour, and its impact on others. I can't believe I'm actually saying this about a lakorn.

4) The main characters depicted in this show are not caricatures or stock characters. They are not overdone or over-cooked or over-dramatised. There are people in the real world out there who actually can, and do, act and behave the way our main characters do. This is disturbingly, and horrifically true. And the show does a damn amazing job at showing it, and their twisted logic for their behaviours, too well for comfort. So, if you're a person who has had bad experiences with people who exhibit such behaviours, again, emotional trigger warning. It may not be the scenes or actions which may trigger an emotional response but the characters themselves as well.
Potential character triggers are:-
a) characters with rage/ anger management issues,
b) characters who use physical violence,
c) characters who use verbal attacks, manipulations and provocations on another,
d) characters who come from and are part of broken and highly dysfunctional families,
e) characters who have been on the receiving end of rape, violence and abuse, and
f) characters who do not act or seem passive when faced with someone who has been abused.
So, please, if any of the above character personalities are triggers for you, proceed with caution.

There, long list of warnings but necessary, I believe, to spare potential viewers shock or horror or disgust or even emotional breakdown.


STORY (No spoilers)
I'll be honest with you, I had to prepare myself a lot because I was worried about the subject matter which this show depicts. It's not a subject matter I liked, it sounded disturbing and I was not sure if I could stomach it all the way through. And I have to say, for all my preparation, I still found myself surprised at how deep and disturbing this show can run. Goes to show that there is only so much you can do to prepare yourself, but once you start down it proper, it will still grab you by the balls and knee you in the groin. And I think that it says a lot about how solidly fantastic this show was in bringing out the dysfunctionality of the characters, and their psyche and motivations behind their decisions and actions.

All our main characters are flawed. Kawee, Leela and Kawee's father (Kid), are most definitely flawed and rather messed up people, but Narin is no angel of goodness either. She has her character flaws too - different sort of flaws but flaws all the same.

People are born with some character flaws, but circumstances, environment and upbringing can twist it, mould it, and shape it into the living being that the person is today. It's true. It's real. It's life. And this show will resonate with those of us who've been through some of that. The more we've encountered some of the circumstance and the people in this show, the more it will resonate with you. And I believe that in each and every one of us there will be something in this show that will ring just too close to home.

So, this show will inevitably touch you in some way. It will dredge up and provoke all sorts of thoughts and emotions because it is pretty realistically grounded. The twisted logic and motivation behind some of the character decisions is surprisingly believable, and the careless or thoughtless actions which may seem harmless at first glance can evolve into a monster of your own making in an incredibly real way.

I don't know what else I can say on this subject without going into spoilers. Goodness knows, there is so much to talk about in terms of the details on how excellent this show is on the character portrayal aspect, but you'd need proper examples and situations to walk you through it, and I can't do that without revealing spoilers.

Another thing of note is the dialogue in this show. A lot of the character insights and motivations are revealed in what they say - you get an insight into the brokenness of their hearts and their biased thoughts through their outbursts of speech. And when you see two of them going at it in massive verbal shoutouts, as a viewer you are just utterly mesmerised. It's just crazily real how each person acts and speaks from their own standpoint, but it is utterly at cross-purposes and received so differently by the other.

I'm also going to say something about the abuse in this show - I think this is probably the single most polarising aspect of this show for the viewers. It's not a nice subject matter, but unfortunately it is the hinge on which the show swings on. Without it, the show fails to really impact and gain emotional traction. However, this show makes no excuses for the abuse depicted, nor does it romanticise it and tries to sell it to us as an acceptable thing - something you will realise if you took the time to step outside of the outrage the show incites and view it in a more objective manner.

The character personalities the show portrays are also not necessarily a fantasy either. Some people do neglect and fail to understand their own children. Some people respond to childhood neglect through attention-seeking, reckless and violent behaviour. Some people respond to personal rejection in twisted vengeful ways. Some people can actually fall for the people they abuse, and victims of abuse can also sometimes feel empathy for their abusers. And some people do stay silent or passive despite knowing about another's abuse.

On the other hand, there are also some people who do change and try to redeem themselves as abusers too, even if others think that they should be destroyed for their sins. And some people are willing to give others a second chance, even if others believe that they shouldn't.
Whether we feel that it is right or wrong is irrelevant, in my opinion, because this is a show about people being people. And whether we like it or not, there are characters and people like this in real life that behave and respond this way. And I personally think that this show is rather brave by depicting all that - controversies be damned.

Last but definitely not least, I'm glad that while this show had us seeing all that dross that makes flawed characters tick, the show also took pains to show us the transformative power of love. It sounds terribly cliche, and it's been done a million times, but it doesn't make it any less true or less powerful a message. There is a reason why love is such an amazing thing - it really does have the power to instil change and motivate a person to see outside of themselves and to consider the feelings of others. It really does transform people from selfish individuals into selfless ones.

And this is why I gave it a 9 out of 10 rating on the story aspect, not so much for the story per se but mainly for the tightly-scripted character portrayals, the character developments, and for the way the main characters eventually deal with and arrive at a conclusion.

I may not like the overall subject matter of this show, but I respect the way the show is determined to show us the ugly and weak side of being human and take us on a redemptive journey through the eyes of some of them.


ACTING/ CAST
Majority of the casting and acting is solid. There are a few characters which I can do without (i.e. I personally don't think they really add value to the production or to the show and are one-dimensional or caricatures and when placed side-by-side with the complex characters, they cheapen the production).
But the credit and the show really and ultimately rested on 4 main characters and their amazing and effective acting performance. Had any of these four been lesser actors or actresses, this show would not have half the impact it does nor half the weight and heft.
So here goes...

DILOK THONGWATTANA - as Kid Worawath, Kawee's father. Gosh, everyone talks about Ken's performance but I think a lot of people also don't realise how good Dilok was as Kawee's father. His role and his acting might not be as eye-catching as Kawee, but he is absolutely critical and the primary catalyst for us being able to see Kawee as he is. So, it takes an actor of calibre to be able to pull off the character of Kid well so that he gives Kawee life. And Dilok does the character of Kid to perfection. Some of the best and most memorable scenes in this show are when Kawee is facing Kid - the emotion and the energy is just... tangible and weighty. And this cannot be done without Dilok holding his own against Ken in those scenes. An amazing veteran actor who fulfilled and did his role to perfection.

NATARIKA THAMAPREEDANAN - as Leela, Narin's older sister; Kid Worawath's wife and Kawee's step-mother. I found her more difficult to rate as an actress here because there were many occasions where I saw her character showing all sorts of emotions on-screen but found myself wildly guessing what she was feeling and wondering what was in her mind at that point. She is the most difficult one to fathom in the whole show but maybe that's because Leela probably had multiple and conflicting emotions bubbling and brewing in her chest during these scenes and I don't think there is that one single emotion that can be portrayed. She has the most internal conflict, I think. She has to balance her love and her responsibility towards her sister, her own unburied and un-dealt-with feelings for Kawee and her own feelings for Kid and the whole marriage setup. But for what it's worth, I thought Natarika still brought life and complexity to the character of Leela, and that in the hands of a lesser actress, Leela would not be as enigmatic and as faceted a character as what we have.

ANNE THONGPRASOM - as Narin. I truly and honestly believe that nobody could have done a better Narin than Anne. The range of emotions and the way she immersed herself into the role so that all of Narin's conflicts and feelings are vividly seen, is just... downright amazing. She just pulls you into her character so damn well that instead of feeling like a third-party observer (which you can sometimes feel with an actress who is less masterful in her role), it is almost as though you were right with her in her circumstances and in her emotions. You feel her fear, her desperation, her heart-break, her despair, her hate, her conflict, and her love - and she does it all without going overboard with it, without over-doing it, so instead of an element of the theatrical (which, again, in the hands of lesser actresses, could easily swing that way), there is an air of pathos, of heavy emotional weight, and of realism in Anne's performance as Narin. The evolution of her character as Narin from the optimistic and confident girl who sometimes carries an air of almost careless arrogance, to a withdrawn and cautious girl who has experienced severe trauma in life but is determined to get on with the consequences and with life itself regardless, is painfully realistic. She is simply outstanding here as Narin.

KEN THEERADETH - as Kawee Worawath. Wow. Kawee is not an easy character to portray without having him descend into needlessly cruel, heartless beast on one end of the spectrum, or into self-entitled theatrical drama queen on the other end. Neither ends of the spectrum yield much, if any, sympathy nor do they evoke any emotional connection with the character.

Without Ken's nuanced and layered acting as the emotionally stunted and neglected Kawee, none of us would be able to identify as much with the brokenness that is at work in this man which manifests itself in his violent, outward actions. This man is like a wounded animal - growling, snarling and slashing out at anyone who provokes or rouses him. Those wounds, big and gaping and bleeding, are what makes us realise that this man is not lashing out just for kicks and giggles. This inability to relate to other people in any other way makes him a pitiful creature, who is, at the same time, dangerous and someone to be highly wary of.

I'm not going to make excuses for Kawee's behaviour but there is a difference between a person who has received deep wounds through the neglect and and insensitivity of others and who is unable to find any alleviation and relief from such wounds except through the expression of rage and violence; compared to a person who very coldly and very deliberately sets out to destroy others for the pure enjoyment and satisfaction of it.
There is sympathy and understanding for one, and none for the other.
And, more importantly, there is hope for one, but none for the other.
And it takes a powerhouse actor to be able to let us distinguish between the two.

Thankfully, this show doesn't just have poor Kawee stay this way but takes us on a rather rough journey to how Kawee eventually changes from a dysfunctional man starved of love to one who eventually learns how to love by falling in love. It is not an easy journey for him but seeing him go through it, and seeing how Ken was able to portray the conflicts and changes Kawee goes through is a beautiful watch. Ken's plethora of best actor awards is truly well-deserved.


MUSIC
While I like the soundtrack and thought the character theme songs rather fitting, I did feel that this aspect of the show could have been better done. I personally think that some of the more emotional moments could have been more impactful and carry more gravitas or weight with a more deft hand in handling the background music.


RE-WATCH VALUE
Wow. I think whether a show is re-watchable is entirely subjective and depends on the person's individual experience with the show. For me, it was an emotionally provoking show, which is what makes this drama so powerful. It is not something I can take in large doses, but at the same time, it is not something I can entirely leave alone or forget about either.