Love Syndrome III: Uncut Version (2023)

No Love Lost

I was not expecting greatness from Love Syndrome III. I had watched Unforgotten Night which was pretty much trash, but I actually liked the characters of Day and Itt, so I was interested to see a drama with them at the center. I knew they were going to be different from the characters in Unforgotten Night since it was a different production company, but I was not expecting the characters to be essentially polar opposites with nothing in common. I was unprepared for the extreme toxicity that permeated almost every relationship in this drama and left me with a sour taste in my mouth. This is not a drama worth watching.

Again, I came into this because I liked Day and Itt in Unforgotten Night. They are absolutely unbearable here though. Itt is a man child throwing temper tantrums and stomping his feet, obsessing over cake like a two year old and Day is his mother indulging him one second and then scolding him the next. What the heck kind of relationship is this? They scream toxicity from almost the second they are together on screen. They are both extremely jealous and possessive. After two years together there should be a degree of security in the relationship and there is none.

Following Day's accident, Itt becomes more bearable as he takes on more responsibility and becomes less selfish, but it's Day's turn to become a raging asshole. We're treated to multiple episodes of him taking Itt for granted and using and abusing him basically seeing how far he can push him before Itt throws in the towel. His asshole level slowly goes down as he begins to regain pieces of his memory and then just to spice things up a bit more because this drama isn't ridiculous enough, we have a random villain from Day and Itt's past return. Of course everything turns out fine and we end things with a wedding. It's a ride to say the least.

The biggest issue with this drama is the toxicity. Essentially every relationship is toxic in one way or another.
-Itt and Day are toxic in pretty much every way possible. Their relationship is toxic at its very core. It began because Day wanted to get revenge on Itt for masterminding a plan to have his friend Gear rape his brother Night. I mean, it's essentially a case of Stockholm Syndrome. They are both possessive of each other to an unhealthy degree. If anyone even glances at the other, they get jealous to the point that they're ready to throw punches and they get angry at each other. Also, things like Day pretending not to remember Itt again to punish him is unimaginably cruel and not something I could ever imagine doing to someone I professed to love. They're communication is yelling at each other and fighting. There's no, let's sit down and have a reasonable conversation. It seems at the end like maybe they've progressed to that point, but certainly not at the beginning or while Day's lost his memory. The biggest concern is that there's this underlying sense that their relationship is something to aspire to, that having a boyfriend who is both fiercely loving and possessive is desirable, and tries to sweep the ugly parts under the rug out of sight.
-Gear and Night have a toxic beginning, but at the time of the drama actually seem to have a very healthy relationship. They are very much the exception. Very little is given regarding their background aside from the fact that Gear did rape Night and then somehow or other they did move forward from that to a relationship. I have mixed feelings regarding that. I don't think it's realistic and I think there are connotations with that that could be damaging, but within the context of this drama, there is also part of me that's glad that there is one relationship that isn't drowning in problems.
-Nik and Neil are the other couple that seem relatively healthy. On the one hand, you do have Nik who likes to flirt apparently to get Neil's attention, but I think Neil does mention that there's a reason for his behaviour and they do seem to overall be a happy and solid couple and I do adore how Nik sticks up for Itt against Day.
-Mac and Nan, okay, this one is the most disturbing to me. It is heavily implied that Nan has been holding Mac against his will for some time, not allowing him to go home, presumably keeping him as essentially a sexual prisoner and really no one bats an eye. Itt clearly doesn't like it and he does protest it, but he also doesn't really do anything about it. And it turns out that Nan has been blackmailing Mac with a fake video. He does eventually let him go home, but then Mac comes back to him? Like what? We have another Stockholm case? It was just so messed up I could barely comprehend it.

One thing that really bugged me was the inconsistency with Day's recovery of his memory and his behaviour. It felt all over the place. There were some scenes like the one at his cast removal party between he and Itt that felt far too intimate for where they were at the time with getting to know each other again. They just ran hot and cold and I felt like I was getting whiplash sometimes. Flashbacks were heavily used which were useful to some degree but quickly became repetitive when the same scenes were shown multiple times. Practically every guy they met was in love with Itt which was unrealistic and weird. I mean seriously, he had four or five guys falling for him. Please, he's cute, but he's not that good looking.

Throwing a villain in towards the end was pointless, particularly such a weak villain. There was absolutely nothing threatening about P. He was cartoonish with his maniacal laugh and the camera angles used. He was just boring. Literally the only purpose he served was to give Day the bonk on the head he needed to get his memories back. That whole plot line was so nonsensical, particularly their plan to get P to surrender. Did they actually think Itt was just going to sit back if he thought Day was in danger? Did they not consider that maybe if they explained their plan, that maybe he could help out? They literally only had themselves to blame for it all going south.

The acting wasn't as good as it could have been. I was disappointed in Frank. I've seen him in other dramas and thought he was a pretty decent actor but he seemed to struggle here, especially with the more emotional scenes. His crying was painful to watch, very forced and fake. I first saw Lee in Tin Tem Jai, another terrible drama, and I think he's a good actor who has yet to be given a role where he can really stretch his wings. He didn't have a whole lot to work with here, but he made do with it and I think he did a decent enough job. The chemistry between Lee and Frank was hit or miss, sometimes I could feel it, sometimes it felt contrived, but they have another upcoming project so hopefully with continuing to work with each other, that will all come together. I hadn't seen Kokliang since his turn as Tar in TharnType and I actually really enjoyed him as Nik. He was so sassy and fun and one of the few positives in this drama. I loved him standing up to Day for Itt. The others were decent in their roles but no real standouts.

This was just an all around toxic drama (I know I've said that word a lot, it's justified) that's not worth your time. There is really nothing redeemable about it, in my opinion. Evidently they're supposed to be dramatizing the other web novels as well. I sincerely hope they don't because it sounds like the story only gets worse. Unless you like garbage dramas, I would recommend watching something of a higher quality.

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