Wandee Goodday (2024)

utterly charmed and the rest comes out in the wash

Really, the thing that matters the most about this series is that the main cast is utterly, utterly charming and carries their stories with grace and humor. This production doesn't always make the best choices and the story line gets sloppy in several places, but the talents of the cast paired with feelgood message takes it across the finish line to become a series I was very fond of. While it may not deliver on the whole premise, a good day is promised and good day was had.

-The Full Review-

STORY:
Hm. Admittedly, this kind of story, one that hits more at after school special than adult series, isn't my cup of tea at all. So for the sake of meeting the story where it's at I'll set aside the more soapbox-y monologues about relationship as simply "not for me." The messages are good and chosen with care, just a little... blatant or, perhaps, juvenile for my tastes.
That said, the plot of Wandee Goodday was pretty all over the place as well. In the first several episodes there are so many plot threads started it's difficult to keep track of what the main story is. This is repeated at the end as several spares are paired despite little connection to the rest of the plot, as well as a few points tied up with a neat little bow that maybe shouldn't have been so simple. I don't necessarily think any of these plot points were bad--just that they were woven together quite sloppily, making the story choppy and disjointed.
My biggest criticism of this story is how Wandee's goals seemed to fall to the wayside as Yak's fight took up a vast majority of the screen time and emotional presence. I would have liked to see more time and space given to his challenges and growth, considering he's the title character. I find a lot of GMMTV BLs struggle to give emotional weight to both leads simultaneously and end up with stories one character facilitates the other's growth (instead of two characters growing together).

ACTING:
I am a huge, and hugely biased, fan of Great Sapol. I absolutely loved him as Inspector M in Manner of death, and I think Wandee Goodday was a perfect and interesting choice to show off his range and charm. Yak felt dimensional, fun, and just that bit heightened that makes romcom characters so lovable. Great especially shined in the way Yak attempts to cover his struggles in good humor and a changed subject,
Despite not having the pleasure of seeing Inn Sarin before, I really enjoyed him! I think that the straight-man side of a comedy duo often ends up going too far, but Dee always managed to hold onto a playfulness and life that countered Yak's rambunctious energy quite well. I wish the script had not abandoned Dee's insecurities so quickly, because I was really enjoying the play between the mature, settled doctor and the stubborn, irrational young person.
Of course, I have to give a shout out to Thor and Fluke. I didn't expect myself to fall for them as hard as I did! Though I don't have any expectations of getting it, I would love to see their whole story properly. The chemistry between these two is absolutely adorable and so tender. Both of their marriage equality scenes really, really got me.

PRODUCTION:
Oh boy. Well, on the first of it. P'Golf continues to provide some truly beautiful neon visuals, though ones that lost their coherency as time went on. A bit more discipline on the colors and use of metatext in the production would have created a neater and more impressive project, but it was quite visually stunning. I particularly loved the bright yellow of the Boxing club and the contrast with Wandee's purples.
My biggest bone to pick with this department is actually with the GMMTV shop. I hate how much the little Dee figure and the elephant pants (both of which are items for sale) took over the show. While the elephant pants were a decent enough choice for Yak, the frequency of their use really limited the costuming of a show that was already fairly limited by uniforms (though huge shout out to Cher's costuming which was... absolute perfection in every scene!). The Dee figurine was... completely incoherent the entire show.

INTIMACY:
In the positives, this show was sex positive and diverse in representations of sexuality. The variety of intimacy shown--from simple skinship to YakDee's more adventurous exploits were treated very maturely (which was very much appreciated considering the moralizing tone of the piece). GreatInn and ThorFluke were both extremely natural pairings that delivered performances explored the characters beautifully.
That said... it was pretty tame? Based on the trailer/synopsis, I was not expecting this show to be so mild. Of course, there's nothing wrong with montage-style sex scenes that fade to black/blurry quite quickly, but I was a little taken aback at just how reserved the show was. It's well done, but it's nowhere near high-heat.

In all, I had a wonderful time with this cast and look forward to seeing what they do next. But this show still brings a vast majority of GMMTV (and P'Golf's) worst habits in a way that prevents it from being truly great.

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