Check Out (2022)

Please read this before watching (someone who actually finished this show)

You know how sometimes in competitions you have all the judges voting you off but they all have this one golden button opportunity to vote you in even when no one else believes in you?
This is me giving this show my golden button.
Not because it is amazing, but because I believe in the potential of this show and everyone involved.
I just know that even with all the negative reviews, there will be someone who will absolutely love this show so I hope that that person won't let themselves be scared away by the others.
''Fish upon the sky'' was that for me, with all the negative comments and reviews I saw, I watched it nonetheless and had honestly the best time I've had with a show.
So maybe this is your Fish upon the sky ;)

Now the short break down of my rating is simply that they had the right material, the right angle, the right blue print.
But I think when it went through editing, the pacing got a little messed up which got a lot of people annoyed.
All the way up to episode 7 there isn't a whole lot that seems to happen, which is bad for a weekly viewing, but I've thought about this and if you can watch this all in one go now that it's finished airing that pacing will feel completely different.
Instead of waiting 7 weeks for something to happen, it would make a lot more sense than some other shows that have everything happen within 4 episodes and you're left wondering what the remaining 8 could even be about.
Yes it still follows the cliche misunderstandings, the theatrical smut scenes and some good old fashioned annoying face palm moments especially in those first 7 episodes. BUT I actually started loving this show when I realized how deep and psychologically real this show was. The relationships all feel super real, not like the fluffy typical bl's where people are together for the sake of both being attractive.
I honestly regret reading the comments every week as I was trying to enjoy this show because it tainted my experience. Me liking it and with full anticipation reading the comments to see who I could chat with, kept being followed with an icy cold shower when people who had stopped watching WEEKS ago were still hate commenting.
I know some people tried to defend it when I mentioned the hate hype, but as someone who has seen a lot of real time comment sections on other shows, this show definitely suffered from a hate hype.
I would see the same scene unfold (and not better may I add) in a different show and people would eat that shit up like it was dinner time and we had all been starving. But whenever I came here that exact same scene would be drilled into the ground with people making this seem like a dumpster fire. One that they enjoyed watching as it burned to the ground.
So I might re-watch this when everything has calmed down.

And last but not least, the synopsis. The synopsis got recently changed and most people who watched this show saw a completely different summary on this page. The show is pretty much about what you can now read, but mind you that most people went into this thinking it was a completely different story because the summary said something else.
This probably heavily influenced a lot of peoples opinions as well as that most people went in with high expectations on what they thought this should have been based upon episode 0.
The one thing I learned as a writer is that you can't deflect what you had in mind and rate something based upon that, watch it for what it was intended by the people who made it and you'll enjoy yourself a lot more! :)


NOW LEAVE IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS: Nine's psychology break down.

Nine. Hate him or love him, he is genuinely the best developed character in this show. And when I realized that, I enjoyed this whole show so much more. Nine isn't a good guy, he isn't a bad guy either, he is supposed to be morally grey.
The quick story line we follow goes like this: Nine meets Dao at a resort in episode 0 when he is freshly broken up and they hit it off. They have a good time, sleep together and go back to their respective lives. Both of them acknowledge that they don't necessarily want it to end and they start texting. But as Nine gets back with his ex he essentially ends up ghosting Dao until he finds Dao 3 months later. He figures out where Dao works which so happens to be the company of an old friend and decides to invest into the company to get closer to Dao again. Sounds like shitty behavior right? I mean make up your mind. Nine still really interested in Dao decides to pursue Dao even though he still has a girlfriend and Dao is semi trying to date Nine's old friend Tee. Lots of tension between Nine and Dao unfold as the 2 go through this push and pull, Dao being scared of getting hurt in a genuine connection decides to go with Tee whom he wouldn't end up heart broken by even if it didn't work out and Nine unable to leave his girlfriend is now shown to not only have no loyalty to his girlfriend, but even shown to have cheated on her with other men prior (presumably). Once Nine and his girlfriend finally do break up and when he and Dao get closer together we are left with the idea that he isn't a good love interest. If he cheats with you, who says he won't cheat on you.
As Dao and Nine get together we get to hear exactly why Nine did what he did and everything falls into place.
Now if you have your judgement ready before this it would feel hard to back pedal, as someone did comment on my posts that they only did that to make Nine look good and manipulate the story. I don't agree. To me it all looked intentional and well thought out but the unfortunate thing is that it came too late which made people already drop this before we got our end conclusion on Nine.

First of I LOVE Nine, no I don't love his character, I love how well he was developed which you rarely get to see in bl's.
Nine truly is morally grey and extremely real in my opinion. Let's go back to the beginning and review why this all happened. When Nine meets Dao he is freshly out of a relationship, one that was extremely toxic and mentally abusive. Yes, Nine got mentally abused ladies and gentlemen. I know many that didn't finish the show wouldn't even realize that..
So he meets Dao, a guy that catches his eye. They grow closer pretty quickly which does tend to happen when both people come from toxic situations. (Dao having had his own heart break with Tee as they have dated in the past and Tee ended up hurting him. ) as they hit it off the two end up spending the night together right before they are about to leave to go back to their own lives. Both Nine and Dao liked each other enough to want to continue whatever was budding between them and they end up communicating over text until one day Nine stops texting back. When Nine got back from his trip his ex girlfriend reached out to him saying she wanted to get back together. I've seen surprisingly a lot of people that still didn't understand why he got back together with her even after it was explained, so I will give my explanation on this. When the couple were together the first time around everything was good when it was good, but oh boy was it bad when things were bad. Nine's gf Praew would throw things around and scream in his face simply for being spotted together by paparazzi. Which was supposed to indicate how bad her temper was. We see this happen a couple of times. We witness as Praew dramatically tries to open a bottle of pills that end up spilling everywhere as an attempt to manipulate Nine. Everything was his fault, he didn't want to see her succeed and he can't even support her. This is all being said by Praew because of the paparazzi photo, that in her words, could ruin her career opportunities. We see Praew's behavior a couple of times when she visits the company Nine and Dao work at when they aren't around and she ends up wrecking Dao's desk out of rage. There is even a scene where a highly intoxicated Nine is laying on his bed half asleep and Praew tries to sleep with him. Half passed out Nine obviously isn't moving until he managed to push her off and she get's really upset at his rejection, when what she was doing would constitute as sexual assault. This is the kind of relationship Nine is in and has been in for a long time. Straight up abusive. Now for those who were lucky enough to not have dealt with any form of abuse, this makes it ridiculously hard on the victim to walk away no matter how bad things get. When they were broken up, Nine genuinely thought it was finally the end for them, until Praew showed up and wanted him back. Knowing this information about Praew it doesn't come as a surprise that Candy, a friend of Nine, later in the show reveals to Dao and us that Praew threatened to hurt herself if Nine didn't get back with her. Thus bringing us to where Nine gets back together with Praew. He ends up ghosting Dao due to this, most likely because he never meant or wanted to say goodbye to Dao and couldn't face that confrontation. To have to reject the person he liked, for the person who abused him, he simply couldn't do it so instead he said nothing. Someone mentioned that he could have told Dao about the situation with Praew, but that's not very typical for a victim to do. Especially when he didn't know if this was temporary or not. Nine probably assumed being with Praew was going to be it, there was no way out unless she let him go and he knew she wasn't going to. Onto Nine's friends with benefits play buddies. The show alludes to the idea that Nine has been having male play buddies over, in the 3 months that he doesn't speak to Dao. Since Nine has been in a long term relationship with Praew, his female partner, i think this part is super interesting. To me this was purposefully done to show his desire for Dao, a man. We don't know how often Nine has dated men or has been attracted to men, but there is a likelihood that the reason he cheated on Praew with specifically men, is because they served as a substitute for Dao. The one man he couldn't get off his mind. Cheating is never okay, but we understand by now that Nine isn't in a voluntary relationship. If he leaves, Praew may or may not die or at least get seriously hurt. This is all that is on his mind as someone who still cares about her well being. This little fact brings a lot of complexity to the situation and makes you wonder if Nine is bad for cheating or if we can somehow find ourselves sympathizing with his actions. When it doesn't feel safe to leave an abusive partner, can we find ourselves rationalizing infidelity?
When Nine finds Dao after 3 months, it is obvious that he has never forgotten about Dao and that the feelings that grew once upon a trip were still there. And maybe even stronger than before. Nine can't possibly let go of Dao again, so he does everything he can to get closer to Dao again. Nine and Dao do end up sleeping together not long after their reunion, but it is quickly followed by Dao rejecting Nine and telling him he doesn't want anything to do with him again. Dao enters a situationship with Tee that same night. Still struggling between his current situation with Praew, his feelings and desires for Dao and the now newly established situation between Dao and Tee, Nine is in over his head. He tries to keep Praew happy but can't fake interest any longer, he wants to be with Dao but Dao has shut him out and now he is working at a company amid the uncomfortable love triangle between him, Dao and Tee when no one can know that Nine and Dao have a history together.
This alone would make most of us act in irrational and dumb ways, although there is never an excuse for forcing kisses onto someone else. Nine makes himself increasingly look worse because he is ill equipped to deal with such complex emotions (which is completely understandable, I would be too) and only has the support of Candy who, even though she is adorable, isn't the right person for advice on this at all. She is a pretty passive person, who hates conflict and tries to please everyone, resulting in both her and Nine never making a clear decisions and stringing others along. Candy does this in her friendships and Nine in his relationships. As Nine grows more serious about Dao everyday and less interested in Praew we finally have our climax in episode 7 when he simply can't do it any longer. Nine snaps, it is simply too much, he has to overcome his fear and break up with Praew. This scene was incredibly painful to watch for me since it hit kinda close to home. Adult relationships can be really fucking messy and so can the break ups be. As Nine breaks up with Praew he still lingers for a moment, allowing her to throw herself at him as a last attempt to convince him to stay. To prove that the love is still there. He doesn't waver since is mind is made up, but he is hurting for her which makes rejecting her still too hard. Until he finally slowly pushes her back, makes sure she is dressed and tells her he will always be there for her when she needs him. He still has nothing but love for her and truly wants the best for her. It was one of the hardest things both of them had to go through, but they went through it together and it was the healthiest option for both. Praew being shown a much healthier person post break up as well.
Now being fully single again Nine also seems different, more sure and genuine as he has nothing left to cloud his mind and distort his actions. Which brings me to my final point. Nine is a good boyfriend. Okay okay okay this one is controversial. Yes he cheated on Praew and we already discussed whether or not we can sympathize with his actions. But, we notice how, when Nine isn't being abused, he is genuine and he would do anything to be with the person he loves. Nine is happier, more calm, more understanding and less pushy. When he break up with Praew we even see him giving Dao more space and being more sincere with Dao as well. Even stepping back when he realizes Dao and Tee might seriously get together at the company get away. It isn't until Dao opens up about his feelings that Nine completely gives in and becomes Dao's and Dao's alone. Which is probably the reason why when Dao accepts him back their relationship goes from 0 to 100. With all the angst and fear of losing Dao and having to let go of Dao so many times for other peoples sake, Nine just wants to spend his time with Dao to the fullest. And that feeling alone is enough for him to promise Dao to be his forever with a ring, to bind the two together in a connection that belongs to no one else but them.

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