alwennia
Europe
If you like Frank, Drake, trope-y teenage shows, watch this. Otherwise, don't bother.
When we started watching this with my viewing buddy we did not have great expectations. We started watching it because we'd enjoyed Drake and Frank in 2gether. We thought they had great chemistry together and wanted to see something else they'd done together.
Before I start my review proper, I want to warn future watchers about a TW which might feel important to potential future watchers. There is a scene in one of the early-ish episodes which is essentially sexual assault. It is resolved in a way that is somewhat okay and made us feel like they'd at least realised what was wrong with it and that we could continue the show, but a friend told me they'd stop watching the show then.
Now to the review proper. There are some good things about this drama and there are some bad things about this drama. It isn't one I would recommend except if you fall in a few very specific categories for several reasons.
First about the bad things:
When I watch this kind of drama, I don't expect the same level of quality as I do for other types of drama or shows in general, but I do expect a minimum of quality. I don't think a single episode was colour corrected which left us with some scenes where every change of camera (with often back and forth) showed a different brightness with some shots overexposed and some under in the same scene which does distract from watching somewhat. But the most problematic technical thing for me was the sound issues. For some reason, the director decided to have a lot of scenes take place on a bridge at night, a bridge with a lot of cars going past, cars which made a lot of noise. Which would not have been as much of a problem if they'd had clip-on mics, but I'm hypothesising here that they did not. It sounds like they did try to solve the problem in post, but the result is quite a few scenes (including important scenes) when we can barely make out what they say, which is an issue even if we have subtitles.
Similarly, I don't expect the script to be the most amazing work ever written, but it felt really disjointed at times with really bad dialogue. The scenes and moments that felt the most natural and good felt like the improv moments. Once again, I don't expect greatness, but this felt like below the threshold of what I hope for, even in a cheesy, trope-y teen drama. (Plus you know, that one TW I mentioned earlier which I could have done without.)
Second about the good things:
We started watching for Frank and Drake and they were definitely one of the plus of this show. Drake's character's Mork especially is endearing even if he makes a lot of mistakes. Khaotung who plays Mork's best friend's Au and we had already seen in 2gether deserves a special mention and I particularly liked his arc. The two actors and characters who stole the show (especially at the beginning, I have more issues with their story arcs towards the end of the show) are Neo's Gord and Phuwin's Morn. They are very wholesome and if I am to believe the comments on Youtube, I am not the only one to think so.
This drama is very true to life and it truly felt like watching real life's teenagers which was refreshing.
There was also a whole discussion on homophobia which I felt was handle quite well. I definitely recognised patterns of thoughts and reactions I have encountered before. The whole arc with Tee's mum in particular hit really close to home.
This drama and the characters are endearing enough and manage to grab you in in caring about the characters just enough that you want to know what happens after and that is what made us continue watching despite the poor quality of about everything else.
In conclusion, we didn't regret watching this show, but wouldn't necessarily recommend it. If you have seen Frank and Drake in other shows and want to see them in something else, watch this. It truly reminded me of the French and American teen shows I would watch as a teenager in the 00s and 10s so if you liked those, this fits in the same category. If you enjoy really this type of cheesy and trope-y teen drama, feel free to watch this.
But otherwise, passez votre chemin as we say in French, go away and use your time in a more productive way by watching some better drama.
Before I start my review proper, I want to warn future watchers about a TW which might feel important to potential future watchers. There is a scene in one of the early-ish episodes which is essentially sexual assault. It is resolved in a way that is somewhat okay and made us feel like they'd at least realised what was wrong with it and that we could continue the show, but a friend told me they'd stop watching the show then.
Now to the review proper. There are some good things about this drama and there are some bad things about this drama. It isn't one I would recommend except if you fall in a few very specific categories for several reasons.
First about the bad things:
When I watch this kind of drama, I don't expect the same level of quality as I do for other types of drama or shows in general, but I do expect a minimum of quality. I don't think a single episode was colour corrected which left us with some scenes where every change of camera (with often back and forth) showed a different brightness with some shots overexposed and some under in the same scene which does distract from watching somewhat. But the most problematic technical thing for me was the sound issues. For some reason, the director decided to have a lot of scenes take place on a bridge at night, a bridge with a lot of cars going past, cars which made a lot of noise. Which would not have been as much of a problem if they'd had clip-on mics, but I'm hypothesising here that they did not. It sounds like they did try to solve the problem in post, but the result is quite a few scenes (including important scenes) when we can barely make out what they say, which is an issue even if we have subtitles.
Similarly, I don't expect the script to be the most amazing work ever written, but it felt really disjointed at times with really bad dialogue. The scenes and moments that felt the most natural and good felt like the improv moments. Once again, I don't expect greatness, but this felt like below the threshold of what I hope for, even in a cheesy, trope-y teen drama. (Plus you know, that one TW I mentioned earlier which I could have done without.)
Second about the good things:
We started watching for Frank and Drake and they were definitely one of the plus of this show. Drake's character's Mork especially is endearing even if he makes a lot of mistakes. Khaotung who plays Mork's best friend's Au and we had already seen in 2gether deserves a special mention and I particularly liked his arc. The two actors and characters who stole the show (especially at the beginning, I have more issues with their story arcs towards the end of the show) are Neo's Gord and Phuwin's Morn. They are very wholesome and if I am to believe the comments on Youtube, I am not the only one to think so.
This drama is very true to life and it truly felt like watching real life's teenagers which was refreshing.
There was also a whole discussion on homophobia which I felt was handle quite well. I definitely recognised patterns of thoughts and reactions I have encountered before. The whole arc with Tee's mum in particular hit really close to home.
This drama and the characters are endearing enough and manage to grab you in in caring about the characters just enough that you want to know what happens after and that is what made us continue watching despite the poor quality of about everything else.
In conclusion, we didn't regret watching this show, but wouldn't necessarily recommend it. If you have seen Frank and Drake in other shows and want to see them in something else, watch this. It truly reminded me of the French and American teen shows I would watch as a teenager in the 00s and 10s so if you liked those, this fits in the same category. If you enjoy really this type of cheesy and trope-y teen drama, feel free to watch this.
But otherwise, passez votre chemin as we say in French, go away and use your time in a more productive way by watching some better drama.
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