Big Dragon (2022)

It already fails with the most used and easiest love trope – the love triangle/corner.

This was a mess. Completely all over the place with no depth or any development.
It felt like the director & writers wanted to make another KinnPorsche, but then realized in the middle they're better at making another Lovely Writer.

Was it even directed by one person? It genuinely feels like every 10 minutes someone else directed it with a script from a different writer, and these different teams didn't communicate between each other. Like, "oh yea, let's all make short films about these characters, every team will work on another time period of their story, and then add these shorts all together to have one full series. Oh, and also, we won't tell each other what exactly we're gonna put into those scenes – who needs communication, when you can surprise each other." Basically. That's what I imagine the producers said to the team working on it.
If not that, then it felt like the director(s) (& writers) never watched a movie before, never did anything in that field, never even read a book or consumed any type of story.

I'm convinced that a kid, who watches nothing but "baby shark" on Youtube all day, would make a better director & writer than this team did.
At least for the overall plot.

There were scenes here and there that I did like, where it really seemed the team has actually put some effort and passion into what they want to show, and then really flourished to prove to everyone what they're capable of. Particularly episode 7, at the end, had beautiful shots; also props to the camera and color grading team for that.
Generally, the cinematography was mostly beautiful and great. The camera team are definitely professionals; at least they knew what they were doing and put their passion into it, despite the awful writing and probably also directing.

~

Episode 1 starts off with a rather "dark" tone, talking KinnPorsche or generally mafia vibes. As far as I know, Yai's family is not mafia, just very rich. That already felt out of place, because while they were going for the dark tone, there was no dark plot whatsoever.
Yai seems to be into BDSM and drugs people a lot apparently, but that's it. It's like Yai listens to too many of those "POV: you're a mafia boss" music playlists on Youtube and tries to make it his personality, but the problem is that nothing in his life suggests to be dark or even fit the mafia vibe – except for being rich and having bodyguards.
He tries to be that dark playboy/womanizer, who doesn't let anyone close to his heart, but ends up failing every time he puts up the facade. Manipulated by TikTok into wanting to be the main character so badly, wanting to be this hot and dangerous mafia boss, and refusing to give up, even though he knows it's not his personality.
Well, it was never said that being a playboy was just a facade, but if it's not, the story would make even less sense, and my brain is just trying to fill the gaps.
The Yai at the beginning and the Yai at the end, especially episode 7, feel like two different characters.

As said earlier, there was never any development. No transition between scenes, plot points or character personalities. It was constantly jumping. In one moment he's that dark rich kid and in the other he's that shy kid, who lost his mother too early, and just needs to be held by someone. If my "theory" about his personality is true, then it would definitely make a little more sense, but the thing is it was never addressed in some way or the other.
In ep1 he’s basically a mix of Kinn & Vegas (from KP), and the rest, especially the second half, he's like Gene from LW.
But it's not only him. In one moment, Mangkorn is that hot womanizer, who makes out with another woman every day in the back of some shady bar, and the other moments, he's like Nubsib (from LW), who just wants to finally get together with the crush he had for so long, but doesn’t know how to be honest or make friends.

The only characters, who stayed the same from beginning to end, really were only the bodyguards, Pong and Park. Goofy, awkward, clumsy, comedic reliefs without being funny (at least for me the comedy felt forced and out of place), and horrible at their job.
Why does Yai even have bodyguards? First off, Yai's family doesn't seem to be hated or anything, there was never any dangerous situation in the series, where they were needed. Secondly, they're so horrible at their job, that, if there really were a moment where they'd be needed, Yai would die sooner than they can blink or even realize that he's in danger.
At this point I think these two are cousins of him and just needed a job, so the dad made them bodyguards, even though Yai doesn't need them. Just so they have some kinda job on paper and get legal money from that.
Or Yai was just lonely, so he hired them to basically keep him company.

Also, the rival thingy. They're supposed to be these two rivals, who aim for the same women, hate each other and apparently also want to make each other’s life miserable, instead of focusing on getting the woman.
And apart from that, the woman they're fighting for, didn't even seem interested in either of them. Like, if you do the rivals trope, at least show that they are in fact rivals.
What are rivals? Two people who have an equal chance of winning. All they had was an equal chance of losing, because if you'd asked her, she'd reject them both. Edward & Jacob, those are love rivals. But Yai and Mangkorn? They may hate each other (for no reason, because they've never actually met before the moment at the bar), but you can't call that rivalry.
How did they fail at making a love triangle/corner, when it’s the most used trope in the romance/YA genre? All they needed to do was to actually just make the woman be interested in or at least attracted to them. Show that she’d pick at least one of them. How can they be rivals, when the prize they’re competing for isn’t even in their reach to begin with? It’s like as if two runners were arguing over who of them will win the next marathon at the olympics, but they both forget to actually sign up for the olympics.
Especially because as soon as they slept with each other, they completely forgot about the woman they were fighting over. Rivalry gone in like two seconds and suddenly they're not interested in her anymore, and make out with other women.
Sure, it's hinted that Mangkorn never actually hated him in the way Yai hated Mangkorn, and just played along with his game, pretending he's into the woman, to make him jealous. His intentions would make sense, after you find out the backstory.
But Yai? He got drugged by his own bodyguards (accidentally), slept with a guy for the first time, who happened to be that guy he hates and wanted to ruin his image with a tape (by filming how a woman rapes him, which is another part I don’t get… if he’s a womanizer, surely everyone knows he sleeps with lots of women. How would a video, where he sleeps with a woman, or, well, is getting raped by her, ruin his image?), but instead that guy figured him out and stole the tape (which had footage of the two guys making passionately out), and then threatens to post it, if Yai doesn't do what he says. So, from Yai's perspective, their relationship is based on a threat, which would surely make anyone hate a person even more. Yet, when Mangkorn asks him to be friends an episode later, Yai seemed to have forgotten their hateful relationship and agrees. And then suddenly they’re really lovey-dovey, talking about deep feelings, as if they’ve known each other for years.
What? Did I miss something? Was there a whole episode the producers had to cut? Seriously, either the writers have no idea how to write smooth transitions and make realistic developments, or there actually were some more scenes, but for some reason didn’t make it or were forgotten. But it feels like they skipped a whole season.

I started this drama mostly because of the "rival to lovers" trope but got deeply disappointed in that aspect.
Later at the end, there was another rival relationship, with Mangkorn & Nine. Now, these were real rivals. I actually wanted them to hook up, so that the teased "rivals to lovers" trope could finally be fulfilled, because that would've worked. Not that I ship these two, but a make out session would’ve been cool.

And then there are the sexualities. Since they were both womanizers before, and after having slept with each other, you'd think they're both bi/pan. Well, apparently not.
Mangkorn seemed like he knew he was bi, considering he knew what he was doing in ep1 and the fact that he had a crush on Yai for far longer. But aside from that, we've never seen him hooking up with a man. If he knows he's into a guy and doesn't mind it, why does he only make out with women then? Is it easier to get a woman or was he not ready to explore his sexuality? Or is he "only gay for him"? Questions that are never answered or even hinted at.
Yai too was supposedly that hot playboy, but we only ever see him make out with a woman once – except that short BDSM scene with a call girl, who he often calls. Don't get me started on this, because the whole scene was just awkward – they wanted BDSM but didn't know what to do with it; the girl was just basically hitting his leg, trying to get him in the mood, but he didn't seem like it and wasn't even naked; then they talked about him being down and she leaves… and the BDSM aspect is never explored again.
He's also never slept with a guy before, given his butt was hurting af after their first scene (typical trope you find in college BLs) and he didn't know what to do about it. He does have a kiss with another guy, though, but never with a woman again, making it seem like they pulled the trope "I was hetero before but he turned me gay", forgetting that bi- or pansexuality exists.

Oh, and the lesbian couple. GL asian dramas are rather rare, but even rarer it is to find them in a BL drama. I was thrilled when their relationship was confirmed, but at the same time just confused, considering they didn’t seem like a couple at all. I did ship them, but they seemed like good friends, who might have a crush one another, yet aren’t even close to the point of confessing to each other. And then it turns out they’re actually already together and have been maybe dating for a few years (they talked about marriage)??
They were cute, but ultimately didn’t seem like a couple. I thought for a sec they could be an aro/ace couple, but considering how non-modern and non-2023 everything else was, there’s no way the directors/writers have even heard about the aro/ace spectrum.
And then they had a somewhat kiss, and oof, was that awkward. It was just a kiss on the cheek, or, well, that’s what it was supposed to be, but her lips didn’t even touch her cheek. Why? Isn’t it common for women to kiss each other on the cheek, especially for heteros? There’s no way the actresses were uncomfortable with that, unless kissing friends/family on the cheek isn’t a thing in Thailand.

And they throw an arranged marriage trope in there. Huh? In 2023? Apparently it was only a plan between the dads, the mothers had no saying in there and the kids didn’t even dare to talk with their fathers, even though they both didn’t agree with the marriage.
Can parents even force their children to marry someone nowadays? Lawfully speaking. Why did the kids seem like their world was shattered, when technically it shouldn’t even be a problem? Dude, it’s 2023! If your father forces you to marry someone, especially if you’re a son, you can just laugh at him and give him an updated calendar.
But even then, why were they so afraid of talking to their fathers? They didn’t seem to be abusive in any way. At least they could’ve shown a scene where they once tried to talk to them and since then know it’s useless, but with what it is, the audience is basically clueless.
Weird thing is, that, in the last episode, the mother of one of them was like, "oh, I finally talked to your dad and he’s okay with you not marrying her."
Huh?? So it was easy after all?? All it needed was one talk?? Wtf? The marriage proposal was made so dramatic, that it seemed like the kids would rather die than marry or talk to their dads. Dude!

~

You can’t tell me that 8 episodes is too short to flesh all of this out on its own. Each episode is around an hour long, that is more than enough time. Considering there are kids shows with 8 episodes, each only 10-20 minutes long, and somehow can develop things perfectly.
Sure, there were definitely too many plots thrown in there, but even then it isn't an impossible task to write connections between the plots and give it a somewhat depth.

The high rating really just comes from episode 7. The last 15 minutes were beautiful, truly art. Episode 8 was way too dramatic honestly, but also had good shots, with the director finally realizing what they’re good with: filming static, emotional/intimate, slow scenes.

Technically you could watch ep1 and skip to ep7 right away. You wouldn’t miss out on any development, because there was none. You’d also have more fun, because then you wouldn’t need to sweat through those unfunny & forced comedic scenes, as well as the unrealistic moments (like the one at the doctor's office or Yai chasing Mangkorn at uni).

Oh, and btw the OST is amazing, particularly "Dancing with the devil" by Isbanky. Only that the song doesn’t fit the series at all – it’s like what they wanted to be, but miserably failed in trying. (The song would fit PeteVegas from KP pretty well, though.)

There's also no homophobia or dramatically realizing they’re into the same gender (looking at you, SOTUS), so that’s a plus. And Mangkorn’s mother was also really supportive and mature – saying that she doesn’t care which gender he likes. 

The two main actors had beautiful chemistry and I got butterflies during each of their intimate scenes or even when they were just holding eye contact for long. The other male actors were overall also good, though not as good as the two mains.
But the women… mostly just awkward. Well, not really the actors itself maybe – this is probably just another mistake by the writers.
Especially Yai’s stepmom. She was too dramatic, and it didn’t even make entirely sense.

Overall it basically seems like the writers first wrote the hot scenes between the main couple, and then realized they actually will need some kind of plot, but had no idea how to write „normal“ plots and especially never heard of smooth transitions (only jump cuts), let alone what development is.

-07.01.24

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