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This review may contain spoilers
Compelling. Prepare for binge watching
The series draws you in right from the start.
Your eyebrows will be raised before the opening credits are starting.
It serves a compelling story about the ugly side of the entertainment business combined with a great OST (the intro song slapped. No skipping on my part 😁), good cinematography and a cast full of face cards, who displayed the necessary acting skills.
So far, so good. All in all one of the better Thai dramas out there, and definitely worthwhile to watch.
But I had my grievances with some story parts, too. So I need to rant a little.
+++ Spoilers +++
Sky's camera phobia.
His trauma response and how it got treated literally and figuratively didn't make much sense in my eyes.
He got a contract with Dreams, but both parties didn't pursue a therapy option right from the bat to broaden his prospects and to increase his market value? Really?!
Then Sun comes along, recommends it and without further ado Sky is off to therapy and his trauma gets treated. Voila.
Atp I expected at least something along the lines like "tried therapy before, didn't work" or some other explanation for Sky's untreated trauma response.
Nope.
The payback/revenge agenda of both MCs.
Got multiple times mentioned throughout the show, but felt more like lip service with each new episode than setting things up to reach that goal.
It might make sense for Sun's character development from guilt ridden self punishment to a more positive mindset, but it fell flat for Jay's arc.
After all the revenge talk at the beginning, which built up our expectations as viewers - how it got executed in the finale felt anticlimactic. Like the promise of (at least small) fireworks, but getting handed some sparklers instead.
The finale.
Aside from the too thinly fleshed out revenge plot did the story progress at a good pace until the last episode.
Sadly here the writing encountered some bumps in the road.
The revenge execution felt too much like a hastily last minute arranged strategy, based solely on legal technicalities. For viewers less enjoyable and satisfying than a good right hook.
How the villains got punished left me regarding the director and Sunny with mixed feelings too.
The director, because it felt too out of left field. A writer's cop out.
And Sunny - he was a despicable and vile character. His actions deserved a hard punishment. But is to violent r*pe him, concealed as livestreaming content, the right way? Tbh, I have no answer to that question.
While these are the main reasons, why I rate this drama only 8,5/10, despite the fact, that I liked it A LOT, I want to point out some positive things before ending my ramblings.
* The rooftop scene, when Sun acted the suicide scene purely based on his own interpretation. For me one of the most impactful moments of the show. It told us so much about his mindset.
* The small makeshift family of Sun, Sky and the manager. Our likable underdogs. I rooted for success for each of them.
* The romance. At the beginning I was on the fence, because of how Jay enforced some kisses. But after a while it became obvious, that these two had their own special dynamic going, which was working for both sides. The well made NC scenes were telling in that regard.
* How Sun's acting career was written for the final send off: a small supportive role as starting point for him as an actor instead of instant leading role in a major project.
* Boss as photographer. Tyvm. 😁 😘
Definitely a show to watch. Fully recommended from my side despite some shortcomings.
Your eyebrows will be raised before the opening credits are starting.
It serves a compelling story about the ugly side of the entertainment business combined with a great OST (the intro song slapped. No skipping on my part 😁), good cinematography and a cast full of face cards, who displayed the necessary acting skills.
So far, so good. All in all one of the better Thai dramas out there, and definitely worthwhile to watch.
But I had my grievances with some story parts, too. So I need to rant a little.
+++ Spoilers +++
Sky's camera phobia.
His trauma response and how it got treated literally and figuratively didn't make much sense in my eyes.
He got a contract with Dreams, but both parties didn't pursue a therapy option right from the bat to broaden his prospects and to increase his market value? Really?!
Then Sun comes along, recommends it and without further ado Sky is off to therapy and his trauma gets treated. Voila.
Atp I expected at least something along the lines like "tried therapy before, didn't work" or some other explanation for Sky's untreated trauma response.
Nope.
The payback/revenge agenda of both MCs.
Got multiple times mentioned throughout the show, but felt more like lip service with each new episode than setting things up to reach that goal.
It might make sense for Sun's character development from guilt ridden self punishment to a more positive mindset, but it fell flat for Jay's arc.
After all the revenge talk at the beginning, which built up our expectations as viewers - how it got executed in the finale felt anticlimactic. Like the promise of (at least small) fireworks, but getting handed some sparklers instead.
The finale.
Aside from the too thinly fleshed out revenge plot did the story progress at a good pace until the last episode.
Sadly here the writing encountered some bumps in the road.
The revenge execution felt too much like a hastily last minute arranged strategy, based solely on legal technicalities. For viewers less enjoyable and satisfying than a good right hook.
How the villains got punished left me regarding the director and Sunny with mixed feelings too.
The director, because it felt too out of left field. A writer's cop out.
And Sunny - he was a despicable and vile character. His actions deserved a hard punishment. But is to violent r*pe him, concealed as livestreaming content, the right way? Tbh, I have no answer to that question.
While these are the main reasons, why I rate this drama only 8,5/10, despite the fact, that I liked it A LOT, I want to point out some positive things before ending my ramblings.
* The rooftop scene, when Sun acted the suicide scene purely based on his own interpretation. For me one of the most impactful moments of the show. It told us so much about his mindset.
* The small makeshift family of Sun, Sky and the manager. Our likable underdogs. I rooted for success for each of them.
* The romance. At the beginning I was on the fence, because of how Jay enforced some kisses. But after a while it became obvious, that these two had their own special dynamic going, which was working for both sides. The well made NC scenes were telling in that regard.
* How Sun's acting career was written for the final send off: a small supportive role as starting point for him as an actor instead of instant leading role in a major project.
* Boss as photographer. Tyvm. 😁 😘
Definitely a show to watch. Fully recommended from my side despite some shortcomings.
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