Roy Leh Marnya (2020)

Good Storytelling, but Love Destiny is Better Mak Mak

I see so many opinions on this show, both good and bad, and have so many thoughts about the whole thing that I needed to write this review for my own peace of mind. This review is also full of spoilers, so read only if you want to know what happens.

Before I begin, I just want to commend the drama for being very well-written as a whole. Overall, the characters in the story were very well-rounded, and the story itself was very neatly completed, with all the plot threads beautifully tied up. However, I would not rewatch it purely because it's very painful to get through all the messy emotions and villain arcs within this story.

For those coming here after Love Destiny, Pope and Bella do get a lot more sweet moments and skinship here, but I still prefer the yearning and pureness of their connection in Love Destiny, without all the messy misunderstandings and villains present in Deceitful Love.

// 1. Max and Aim’s Marriage

The saddest thing about it all is that it’s clear that Max and Aim care for each other, which is why they married in the first place. Max wasn’t lying when he said that Aim’s the best woman in his life. But it’s also a fact that there are men who adore having an innocent, gentle woman as their wife, but like playing around with promiscuous women outside of their marriage. Because at the end of the day, most men are fully capable of separating love from sex and do so with alarming regularity. And this is what makes women suffer, because most women are incapable of doing so. Humans aren’t innately monogamous creatures – it is an active choice that one has to make; to love and respect your chosen partner for each and every second of your life the moment you tie yourselves together. And when you don’t, this is what happens.

It is incredibly unfair to say that Aim doesn’t care about her marriage, and that it contributed to her marriage falling apart (in addition to Max’s infidelity, of course). She’s not a robot – no one can expect her to continue giving when she’s constantly being slapped in the face every time she tries to turn the other cheek. It is also incredibly unfair to say that she was too forgiving and soft-hearted towards those who have wronged her, when she’s just trying to pick up the pieces of her life as best she can. And for those who think that Aim’s hot-headedness is just “too crazy”, let me just say that it is not wrong for someone who has been hurt beyond measure to lose all sense of rationality and go mad at every slight against her. It’s only human.

She made her stand when she filed for divorce, and it was the right choice.

// 2. Min and Aim’s Relationship

Firstly, I wanted to say that they were adorable in Episode 5. Following her despair about her failing marriage, Aim says she feels like the sky is so dark that there’s no way out, and Min tells her that he’s here and he will find a way out for her, then he bites his lip while looking at her laughing next to him, like he wants to say something he shouldn’t.

The show doesn’t make it clear whether Min and Aim were ever together, but what’s clear is that they are each other’s could-have-been and almost-was, which is a more painful existence than someone who’s been truly loved and lost. Back in school, I think they were a couple in every way except they never formalised the relationship. My favourite thing about Min is that when they get their second chance, he tells Aim, “You don’t have to take my word, but you can take a look at my actions.” It is a very romantic and convincing way of getting Aim to see for herself whether trusting him was a worthwhile endeavour.

However, I hate how Min inadvertently made Aim feel like she was crazy or overreacting to Nim’s manipulative tactics (i.e. leaving her panties in Min’s toilet) when he should know that when dealing with this woman, a stern talking-to is far from enough. What he needed to do was file for a harassment and protection order, which he failed to do. Aim had every right to be vocally angry about the fact that Min gave Nim an opening to manipulate the both of them. It’s not that Aim doesn’t trust Min, it’s that Min is inadvertently giving Nim chances to undermine him and Aim’s relationship over and over again, which is extremely silly of him at best, and thoroughly disrespectful of Aim’s PTSD at worst. Instead of helping her process her feelings of trauma, he’s telling her with his actions to forgive, forget, and essentially to just get over it. He’s not doing it maliciously, but his cavalier attitude towards her trauma is unacceptable. She needs to process before she can begin to heal, and he’s expecting her to be at the final stages of processing her trauma already? Min, your love is a balm, but it’s not a miracle. That said, Min does have very romantic lines which I love, especially when he tells Aim, “You’re my first love, my only love, and my last love.”

The whole second half of the drama was where Nim got truly ridiculous – yes, she can actually get worse. In sum, she half-pretended to get depression –but actually has borderline personality disorder– then went through the whole show-and-tell of acting like she wanted to commit suicide, then structuring her redemption arc, with the final brushstroke being her multiple attempts to murder Aim and her baby. Min and Aim were extremely silly to have brought Nim into their home to take care of her, but it is what family does –as stupid as that sounds– and it’s hard to begrudge them for making that hard decision at the end of the day.

Finally, I just want to say that it did not surprise me at all that Aim had to take things into her own hands and resolve the threat of Nim by thwarting all her underhanded attempts to hurt her (e.g. pour detergent into her eyes under the guise of helping her apply eyedrops). Truly, when it comes to scheming women, men are utterly incapable of dealing with them. It takes another woman to thoroughly resolve such matters. Men are good at dealing with outright threats, but a woman’s surgeon-delicate touch is required for insidious ones.

// 3. Aim’s Relationship with her Sisters

At the end of Episode 7, Aim’s friends were cheering her on about something, and it truly showed that Aim has an amazingly strong support system in the form of her friends and family. This is why I always advocate for women to maintain close friendships with trusted friends even after they enter a relationship and their significant other also becomes their best friend – because it’s never wise to place all your eggs in one basket, and a person should never make another person their sole reason for being. You are made up of all the people around you who love and support you, and that should never be one person only, just in case the worst-case scenario happens like it did for Aim.

There were comments saying that Aim and her friends forgave Nim too quickly and easily, but I just wanted to say that I don’t think they did. Her friends continued to be wary of Nim even after Aim accepted her back into her life and brought her into her home with Min so that she could take care of her. It’s just that they are supportive of whatever Aim chooses to do, and understand that Aim is incapable of abandoning her beloved sister, regardless of the treachery and betrayal that Nim has perpetuated.

Also, her friends expressed their concern about Nim to Min at the end of Episode 15 as well – they certainly did not leave Aim to Nim’s nefarious hands without blinking. It is not their fault that Nim was manipulative enough that she managed to convince everyone that she had changed for the better.

Finally, I love Mint as Aim’s sister, I wish she had been Aim’s sister instead. Also, Natt and Mint are adorable together – I love their chemistry!

// 4. Frequently Asked Questions

Things I wished someone could have shared with me while I was watching the show:

(a) Nim feels weird – is it just me or is she dodgy?
o Yes, she’s the evil bitch of this show.

(b) Aim keeps feeling faint – is she pregnant with Max’s child?
o No, it’s just exhaustion.

(c) Why does Nim hate Aim so much?
o Nim’s the daughter of a mistress – that’s why she always feels inferior to Aim. But honestly, a mistress’s daughter will always hold a lower position in the household than that of the principal wife’s, and that’s a fact that Nim needs to learn to accept with grace. The fact that Aim’s mother treats her so well is already a boon that she should be grateful for.

(d) Nim said that neither her dad, Min, nor Max ever cared about her – did she ever like or dated Min?
o No, she’s just delusional – the only affection she ever held towards Min was born out of her desire to hurt Aim.

(e) Did Nim really sleep with Min back when Aim first left him for Bangkok University?
o No, she lied. But I did think that it was very silly of Min to hold back the full story from Aim in the name of protecting Aim and Nim –but mostly Aim– from being hurt. While it was silly of Aim to get so upset over Min’s perceived betrayal back then –since they weren’t technically together– it is perfectly understandable that she has trust issues after everything that has happened to her.

Lees verder