Let me start by putting it very simply: - "Bad Buddy" is one of the best series I've watched since "I Told Sunset About You" (and ITSAY is one of the best series ever made, IMO). It's very difficult to separate and break down the various facets of the show because they all go so well together. The casting is sheer perfection. Nanon Korapat and Ohm Pawat complement each other in a manner that few actors can achieve. Their chemistry is off the charts. Not a single false step along the way. You watch the characters grow and mature – from secret tin-can-phone buddies to working adults who come to terms with their relationships with each other, their families, and their friends. BTW, kudos to Pattamawan Kaomulkadee who plays Pat’s mother. It’s one of those tricky parts that should be what I call a “non-part”, but in the final two episode she manages to pull the entire Pat’s Family storyline together without saying more than a dozen words. On the topic of the supporting cast, what can I say? It’s a two-man show, and the supporting actors hold their own against these two powerhouses.
Speaking of actors, let me just say, I’ve been following the careers of these two recently and Ohm Pawat never fails to impress. I’ve been a fan of his work ever since I saw him in “He’s Coming to Me” and I don’t think he knows how to give a bad performance. Nanon Korapat, on the other hand, wasn’t one of my favourites, having first seen him in “Blacklist” in which he barely changes expression from scene to scene, episode to episode. As a matter of fact, when I started watching “My Dear Loser: Edge of Seventeen” I remember thinking, “Not this guy again…” And he was wonderful in that! Now when I’m watching him in “Bad Buddy and “55:15 Never Too Late:” and I can hardly believe it’s the same actor from “Blacklist”. He is brilliant in both series while playing two completely different characters. Bravo!
As for the rest of BB: - the story and screenplay are a great reimagining of the “Romeo & Juliet” tale (with a happy – and a believable – ending) and the director Backaof Noppharnach Chaiwimol does an incredible job of bringing the whole thing to life. I waited over a year for “Bad Buddy” – occasionally thinking that it must have been postponed or cancelled due to all this COVID madness. To say it was worth the wait would be the understatement of 2022.
Hats off to everybody – and I do mean everybody – who brought the story of Pat and Pran to life. You guys should be very, very proud.