This review may contain spoilers
Compelling story with some missed opportunities
I started watching Ticket to Heaven with some trepidation. A BL with a religious theme? Seemed like it had the potential to be great or a complete disaster. Here are my pros and cons:
PROS
ACTING. After watching them in mostly light fare, I was pleasantly surprised and impressed at the range of both Gemini and Fourth. I also liked many of the other actors. There were some serious scenes that conveyed real emotion.
POSITIVE TRANS REPRESENTATION. I don't know the name of the actor who played the trans character in Ep. 6, but she did a phenomenal job of creating a sympathtic, positive role model.
RESPECT FOR THEME. I appreciated that the story maintained respect for the Catholic religion while exploring the difficulties of young gay men growing up in that environment.
LENGTH OF SERIES. Six episodes felt just right to me.
CONS
DEPTH. While I was fine with the length of the series, I would have liked it more if it had gone deeper into Tan's struggles, which could have been addressed in place of certain other scenes, which dragged on and didn't offer anything important to the plot.
TIME JUMP. I get it, the story dated from 1996. But when they jumped 20 years at the end, it wasn't believable at all, with the exception of the Father with his added face wrinkles (good job there, makeup crew!). There was a reference to Kongdech having some grey hair. They tried to age Barth with different glasses and clothes (didn't work), and Tan looked exactly the same. No way someone is going to look the same after 20 years. They should have used different actors at the end, to make it credible.
DISAPPEARING CHARACTERS. Barth's mom was great. It would have been nice to know what happened to her. And what happened to the guy who was bullying Barth in Ep. 1? It would have been satisfying to see him get his comeuppance, like seeing him tied to an anthill and covered with honey or something...
While I feel there were some missed opportunities for a more powerful presentation, overall it was a pleasant experience for me.
I'm giving it 7/10.
PROS
ACTING. After watching them in mostly light fare, I was pleasantly surprised and impressed at the range of both Gemini and Fourth. I also liked many of the other actors. There were some serious scenes that conveyed real emotion.
POSITIVE TRANS REPRESENTATION. I don't know the name of the actor who played the trans character in Ep. 6, but she did a phenomenal job of creating a sympathtic, positive role model.
RESPECT FOR THEME. I appreciated that the story maintained respect for the Catholic religion while exploring the difficulties of young gay men growing up in that environment.
LENGTH OF SERIES. Six episodes felt just right to me.
CONS
DEPTH. While I was fine with the length of the series, I would have liked it more if it had gone deeper into Tan's struggles, which could have been addressed in place of certain other scenes, which dragged on and didn't offer anything important to the plot.
TIME JUMP. I get it, the story dated from 1996. But when they jumped 20 years at the end, it wasn't believable at all, with the exception of the Father with his added face wrinkles (good job there, makeup crew!). There was a reference to Kongdech having some grey hair. They tried to age Barth with different glasses and clothes (didn't work), and Tan looked exactly the same. No way someone is going to look the same after 20 years. They should have used different actors at the end, to make it credible.
DISAPPEARING CHARACTERS. Barth's mom was great. It would have been nice to know what happened to her. And what happened to the guy who was bullying Barth in Ep. 1? It would have been satisfying to see him get his comeuppance, like seeing him tied to an anthill and covered with honey or something...
While I feel there were some missed opportunities for a more powerful presentation, overall it was a pleasant experience for me.
I'm giving it 7/10.
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