itskooty

A realistic portrayal of family, marriage, and love.

If you're expecting something groundbreaking for a story about family and marriage and everything in between, I think you need to lower your expectations. As the headline says, this is a realistic portrayal of family, marriage, and love, especially in a SEA country. For those who are not familiar with SEA, or even EA culture, family is tremendously important. If your parents do not approve of your spouse, then this is most likely how it's going to end up. Someone will be tossed to the side whether it's the parent or the spouse. The Moms love playing the guilt tripping card, which was heavy in this series. You can see how many times Runch will falter when Kingkamol would say "I'm your mother," "I'm doing this because I love you," etc. This is why the series has a lot of pushing and pulling throughout the episodes, but it's not abrupt. There's a build up. There's anticipation. There's a reason why everything is happening. It's a lot of ups and downs, and that is what you should expect when it comes to a story about a marriage that's barely hanging on.

The novel, in my opinion, did not have much to offer. It was simple, but the concept was easy to understand. Two women getting married, but a Mom kept getting in the way because, at the end of the day, she didn't like the idea of her only child slipping away to a woman she didn't like. I believe this was a pretty good adaptation of the novel. They added a lot more details to it, which was a pleasant surprise. Runch wasn't likeable in the novel; she had a lack of a spine. But in the series? They added more to her character where at times it was hard to make you side with Neen, which is surprising because you'd think you would 100% be on Neen's side given the circumstances. While it wasn't enough for Runch to come out on top and for the majority to understand her complexity, it was a wonderful addition to her character, so I thought the writers did a decent job on that.

There's a particular detail that I'm sure a lot of other people who have watched episode 11 agreed that we could have done without the kidnapping scene. I believe it would have done a lot more to the story if it focused more on the tension between RunchNeen finally divorcing. We got a bit of Runch spiraling, but I hoped there was more on that and her inner turmoil. The pacing was off toward the latter half of the series, which I wished they could've have done better on.

Lingling, Orm, and Kik did a superb job with their acting. The quiet chaos brewing in Runch, the explosive outburst in Neen, and the unhinged and unreasonable behavior of Kingkamol. There were many, many frustrating moments because of Kingkamol and how they couldn't seem to completely cut her off, but you have to understand that this is Runch's Mom. The scenes of them growing up, the picture frames they have together at her home, the trophies and mementos she kept. If your Mom, who constantly showers you with affection and only wants the best for you, suddenly makes a 180 on her behavior when it comes to your wife, of course you'd be shocked and confused. That's why Runch couldn't completely cut her out (I mean, if she did, the series would only be like 1 episode). Runch's character is complex, and I don't think a lot of people completely understand her because she's not as vocal or overly expressive like Neen. She was complacent growing up, doing things her Mom told her to without question, but the second she wanted something for herself, it was like utter betrayal.

Overall, just like Lingling said in an interview, I am glad that this was their 3rd project together. I don't think they would have been able to portray such heartbreak if it was their 1st or 2nd series. They have had time to be familiar with each other. I am happy that LingOrm had the opportunity to work with a renowned director in the Thai industry. PaJaew really helped LingOrm a lot with their diction, acting, pacing, etc. You can tell he cares for the girls. I wouldn't mind if they worked with him again.

I can go on and on about this series, but if you've read to this point wondering if you should even consider watching it, just watch it and give it a shot. It's definitely not their worst series or even a bad series overall like how some people are making it out to be.

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