This review may contain spoilers
At least the first half was a good time!
I was prejudiced against this show because of its mafia boss premise for the longest time, and people’s reviews highlighting the cheesy lakorn-inspired flirting weren’t convincing me to give it a chance. However, I found myself scrolling through the GMMTV catalogue on a day with nothing particular to do, and this was the only show with relatively good reviews I hadn’t watched. Also, the mention it earned itself in Head 2 Head alongside the general hype surrounding it (which seems to have resulted in the sequel “Peach and me”?) were all the more reasons to put on an episode.
And just like that one episode became two, two became three, and I was hooked.
I actually had no issue with the cheesy flirting and the out-of-touch mafia boss lead. I even found the dynamic Thee and Peach had very enjoyable to watch, at least in the beginning. Even the cringe moments (that were definitely there) did not result in as much second-embarrassment as I imagined they would. I really enjoy shows depicting class differences and how such are navigated in relationships, so I was living for every single moment in which Peach told Thee off. It seemed to me that Thee was also improving up until they labelled each other boyfriends. Then it all went downhill.
For one, as soon as they established some sort of (shaky) common ground, the fun back and forth they had almost disappeared. Thee continued with his rich antics from the beginning of the show, and Peach would simply shake his head and only intervene when things really crossed his boundaries. Their relationship was elevated, but their chemistry didn’t go anywhere - this show had some of the worst kisses and intimate scenes I’ve seen, so when the proposal eventually came, I was completely flabbergasted. Nothing I had seen on screen so far suggested the emotional and physical closeness I would expect from a couple about to get married. In general, I had somewhat of a hard time believing Peach was just as into Thee as much as Thee was into him. The development of his feelings was mostly believable until he opened up about his childhood trauma in the hospital, but after that, other than Thee pampering him and saving his life once, what other reason did Peach have to love him?
Thee barely changed as a character. Sure, he got a taste of Peach’s normal life, he made a compromise or two, but in the end of the day, he didn’t have to give up anything to be with Peach. Peach not only had to give up his safety (for a time being, apparently everything was fine after the Japanese company left the country. What?), he also had to completely change his lifestyle, obey to Thee to show his love (bathe him, brush his teeth, literally what the fuck), commit to a marriage like, what, one month into the relationship AND he even got children in the end of this all? I would’ve much rather preferred Thee ruining his relationship with his family, exposing the negative sides of being this rich and therefore constantly in danger, eventually choosing to move in with Peach and have a peaceful and normal life with him.
Speaking of Thee and his perfume business: is he a mafia boss in the end or not? The money laundering allegations of ARSENI were rejected, and sure, he used money to get his way, but the show also constantly insisted on him doing things (mostly) lawfully. So why did Peach keep calling him a “mafia boss” if even his own father said he did everything better than him, and why was there a fucking gun on that wedding poster? I mean, if I have to be very real, no such amount of wealth is accumulated in lawful ways and without human exploitation, but if the show wanted to portray Thee as a “good rich person”, it should’ve at least stayed consistent with the ways not only Peach, but also everyone else talks about him.
Also, if love was such a big deal for the Lee family, then why did Peach have 0 issues with proving himself? The show set up this conflict to be way more important than it actually ended up being. That, combined with the nothing burger resolution of the rivalry with the Japanese company, made for a really unsatisfying ending. Not to fall into clichés, but it would’ve been 10 times better if something bad had happened to Peach or Thee and they had to confront the fact that, ultimately, they couldn’t keep their promise to ensure the other one’s safety at all times.
On the good side, Mok’s character was iconic, and Est is just perfect for that role (and not only because he looks damn good in those glasses). I really enjoyed watching his reactions to Thee’s actions, as well as his inner conflict between being his friend and his employee, and between prioritising his feelings for Rome and staying professional. That was a great touch to the story. I would’ve loved to know more about how the romance between him and Rome bloomed - was it a childhood crush that carried on? A drunken hookup on one of Mok’s days off that he still regrets to this day? What did Mok like about Rome? Considering the big role Mok had in the show, I would’ve loved to see more of his perspective on things (but maybe we are going to get this in “Peach and me”?).
For good or for bad, I am tuning in for the sequel. If this show has anything going for it, it’s interesting characters. If you expect crazy chemistry, this one is not for you - Peach is like a dead fish in all intimate scenes, and his feelings for Thee seem unbelievable until the very end. Also, if you want to watch something more critical of the rich and capitalism in general, don’t even think about starting this one. “Me and Thee” was a fun time, but the longer one thinks about its contents, the more one realises they are the result of pure brainrot (maybe similarly to Thee, the screenwriters had AI assisting them…)
And just like that one episode became two, two became three, and I was hooked.
I actually had no issue with the cheesy flirting and the out-of-touch mafia boss lead. I even found the dynamic Thee and Peach had very enjoyable to watch, at least in the beginning. Even the cringe moments (that were definitely there) did not result in as much second-embarrassment as I imagined they would. I really enjoy shows depicting class differences and how such are navigated in relationships, so I was living for every single moment in which Peach told Thee off. It seemed to me that Thee was also improving up until they labelled each other boyfriends. Then it all went downhill.
For one, as soon as they established some sort of (shaky) common ground, the fun back and forth they had almost disappeared. Thee continued with his rich antics from the beginning of the show, and Peach would simply shake his head and only intervene when things really crossed his boundaries. Their relationship was elevated, but their chemistry didn’t go anywhere - this show had some of the worst kisses and intimate scenes I’ve seen, so when the proposal eventually came, I was completely flabbergasted. Nothing I had seen on screen so far suggested the emotional and physical closeness I would expect from a couple about to get married. In general, I had somewhat of a hard time believing Peach was just as into Thee as much as Thee was into him. The development of his feelings was mostly believable until he opened up about his childhood trauma in the hospital, but after that, other than Thee pampering him and saving his life once, what other reason did Peach have to love him?
Thee barely changed as a character. Sure, he got a taste of Peach’s normal life, he made a compromise or two, but in the end of the day, he didn’t have to give up anything to be with Peach. Peach not only had to give up his safety (for a time being, apparently everything was fine after the Japanese company left the country. What?), he also had to completely change his lifestyle, obey to Thee to show his love (bathe him, brush his teeth, literally what the fuck), commit to a marriage like, what, one month into the relationship AND he even got children in the end of this all? I would’ve much rather preferred Thee ruining his relationship with his family, exposing the negative sides of being this rich and therefore constantly in danger, eventually choosing to move in with Peach and have a peaceful and normal life with him.
Speaking of Thee and his perfume business: is he a mafia boss in the end or not? The money laundering allegations of ARSENI were rejected, and sure, he used money to get his way, but the show also constantly insisted on him doing things (mostly) lawfully. So why did Peach keep calling him a “mafia boss” if even his own father said he did everything better than him, and why was there a fucking gun on that wedding poster? I mean, if I have to be very real, no such amount of wealth is accumulated in lawful ways and without human exploitation, but if the show wanted to portray Thee as a “good rich person”, it should’ve at least stayed consistent with the ways not only Peach, but also everyone else talks about him.
Also, if love was such a big deal for the Lee family, then why did Peach have 0 issues with proving himself? The show set up this conflict to be way more important than it actually ended up being. That, combined with the nothing burger resolution of the rivalry with the Japanese company, made for a really unsatisfying ending. Not to fall into clichés, but it would’ve been 10 times better if something bad had happened to Peach or Thee and they had to confront the fact that, ultimately, they couldn’t keep their promise to ensure the other one’s safety at all times.
On the good side, Mok’s character was iconic, and Est is just perfect for that role (and not only because he looks damn good in those glasses). I really enjoyed watching his reactions to Thee’s actions, as well as his inner conflict between being his friend and his employee, and between prioritising his feelings for Rome and staying professional. That was a great touch to the story. I would’ve loved to know more about how the romance between him and Rome bloomed - was it a childhood crush that carried on? A drunken hookup on one of Mok’s days off that he still regrets to this day? What did Mok like about Rome? Considering the big role Mok had in the show, I would’ve loved to see more of his perspective on things (but maybe we are going to get this in “Peach and me”?).
For good or for bad, I am tuning in for the sequel. If this show has anything going for it, it’s interesting characters. If you expect crazy chemistry, this one is not for you - Peach is like a dead fish in all intimate scenes, and his feelings for Thee seem unbelievable until the very end. Also, if you want to watch something more critical of the rich and capitalism in general, don’t even think about starting this one. “Me and Thee” was a fun time, but the longer one thinks about its contents, the more one realises they are the result of pure brainrot (maybe similarly to Thee, the screenwriters had AI assisting them…)
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