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Well, from the series called 'Kiss', I would expect maybe... A better kiss? LOL
Okay... We have 2 pretty girls and 2 hot guys here, they're all "friends". But make no mistake, there's only one possible pairing. Because the main cast includes both Thawornwong brother & sister. Obviously the producers weren't "cruel" to make the siblings portray a couple. Even though they might actually look less wooden than most onscreen couples, thanks to that:-pFirst look: Girl with looks of Mild Lapassalan is supposed to be strictly buddy-like kind, whom no one wishes to treat as female. Younger looking girl with more dependent character is supposed to be her big sister. Pop Khamgasem, who was so sexy in 'Love Lie Hide Fake', acts like buffoon in this. There will be no shortage of WTF in this show, no doubt.
First episode is like cramped with nosy parkers who can't mind their own bussiness. It's positively annoying. I instantly recalled Mek Jirakit's previous role in 'Part-Time Lover', where his character didn't wish to have any friends for exactly this reason, lol.
After that, I waited many episodes for something romantically enjoyable. After 10 episodes filled with vague mixture of this and that, there is a first Mook & Tao kiss, which is fake so obviously that we as the audience are reminded the two of the cast have a problem. Maybe she would really be better off with her brother, lol. After all, we don't have to care about the private lives of the cast, just as long as we do get to see good result. By the way, the kiss didn't feel right even from the characters perspective. Like, he kisses her as her boss on a bussiness trip? Where she got drunk, heartbroken from her fresh break-up with somebody else?
I must say I probably expected something else from this series. Perhaps some lipstick company sponsored this and it's the reason for the name. The actual content? One "romantic couple" spends most of the time in office. He is her direct supervisor so I found the relationship very uncomfortable. The other "romantic couple" spends most of the time at school. It's all very group kind of thing with many meddlers. He is supposed to be her friend, but he slept with her at a party (which "happened" offscreen) and since that their whatever relationship is strained. She starts dating a complete stranger just to avoid him (or so it seems). It's someone who started hitting on her out of the blue. I don't know what was the purpose the writer aimed for, but the other guy gives the impression like he was just paid to court her. Or perhaps he made a bet with someone. Because of how much he insists that she dates him RIGHT NOW and as soon as she does, he brings her to meet his mother (another WTF scene).
Needless to say I didn't enjoy either of the two lines. There's large load of side characters (never a good sign) who try to add to it by being funny, which is more or less annoying. Or maybe if we just had the group-camaraderie and focus on their friendships which at least might be real rather than the artificial romance, it would be better? (There's a also weird psycho side-character who attempts to strangle the main girl at one point, but not much importance is given to THAT.) Tay Tawan looks hot in this, perhaps he should have a third line... Which he actually does. It soon turns out the "group of friends" actually consists of 2 bickering couples + 1 odd guy out. Hence the constant tension. Whatever it is, it's not enjoyable, though. I know there's also 'Kiss Me Again' and 'Dark Blue Kiss' as other related series attempts, but after watching 'Kiss', I am not excited...
As I haven't seen anything much exciting here. That part got skipped or perhaps happened off screen. Any kind of fun seemed to left town and I wasn't interested in solemn conversations about possible unexpected pregnancy, the only thing I kept thinking of during such scenes was, why the hell couldn't they cut Mek Jirakit's hair into SIMPLE, SHORT haircut? Would that be so hard to do? Did they HAVE TO let him look like a moron OR spend hours styling it? (With not much difference as a result, I might add.) I grew to hate what they do to male hair on tv. And I had enough time to dwell on it here because I was colossally bored. I was a HAIR close to dropping this series in episode 12 out of 16. Enuff said.
The office "romance" reaches its highest point of "drama" when some rumors spread across the office. It's the first time the girl starts acting more than just a wooden doll but she chooses the moment when for the first time I agreed with what was happening. She should quit that job. (And had she done that long time ago, she could have at least spared the audience.) So, she ends her lame internship in which even fotocopying was beyond her capability level but leaves carrying a big box like she did work there for years. Tao Sattaphong's character looks wistfully out of the window like she is ending their marriage or smth. I at least smirked about how this looked ridiculous, first time after long boredom. Not that the other couple was better...
Watching them sitting on a bench having a serious talk going nowhere (but accompanied by serious, classic piano music) because the girl would rather ponder this or that but couldn't simply lift her a** and go at doctor's. So far we haven't yet seen if this "pregnancy" was even confirmed. I don't know why, but somehow I doubted they even slept together. What if they remembered wrong? I mean, NOTHING in this show really convinces the audience there is (ever was) anything between these two. It all felt colder than the fridge to me.
The girl who is not capable to do a simple urine test, is nevertheless ready to quit school immediatelly & ruin her future in a flash. All the hysterical side-characters seem more invested in the main story than the main ones... The supposedly pregnant girl meets the psycho girl on the top of the stairs in very obvious scene just to end up in the hospital at last... Big, big drama scene occurs in the hospital, where everyone yells on the top of their lungs (even after a nurse came to ask them to be quiet) about the big secret, which after FOURTEEN episodes is about as exciting as a party in a nursery home. And the "big" sister who is unable to survive 1 day at work throws the main guy out and says dramatically that she'll take care about her sister and nephew by herself... One would laugh if not bored to death by then. It appears making a (functioning) simple romance drama was just beyond this series makers' skill. Now, did they leave the industry or made 2 more side-dramas? Then, who am I to complain things make no sense in drama world, if the don't in real one?
Last two episodes finally start focusing on the couples without all the bullsh*t, which could work if it was episode 2, not 2 from the end. Even so, these were just not very enjoyable. The first girl got a choice in between a complete stranger who, without ANY relationship development, relentlessly pursued her. And still he was (sadly) more likeable than the main guy, who acted like an a** the whole time (if you tell the girl that you don't care if she'd date someone else, then you do deserve that she'll date someone else, lol) and never really talked straight to anyone except of his roommate or colleague or who that person was (a minor support character that is not even listed here). As for the second girl, by the time her guy was finally ready to openly pursue her, she was too tired from all the cr*p she went through with the secondary guy. And the viewers with her. As this is a spoiler-free review, I won't reveal wether both the couples, in their last scene - where the guy grabs girl's hand, apologizes for his behavior during the whole series and asks her for one more chance - kiss, or not.
I have more romantic life than these characters. Which is about the most unflattering thing I can say about this LOL.
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First scene of this lakorn, we have the typical henhouse with two female doctors competing who's to be better at patient's diagnosis (it's more important to win, than the life of a patient, of course), who's to date local cute male doctor and who's more popular on the internet. I think, enough said. I didn't like either of the female characters. This mercifully gets interrupted by one of them going away solo.
Second episode is filled with crazy comedy, but even that gets long. There are "funny brutality" scenes... Then because Taew's character was drunk one episode, they let her be drugged the next. LOL at Prin Suparat's cameo, though:) Episode 5, I contemplated what's there to stick with this series for. Perhaps just the cute Ter Chantavit, or Prima & Sorawit couple. I found episode runtime double than it should be, though. Episode 6, there is a boxing match... DURING which there were too long sequences I wanted to skip(!!) Enough said. The annoying show only was saved by the super cute Ter Chantavit.
I kept watching for Ter Chantavit... Also couple of the village side-characters, who were funny. Overall, it's a crazy-comedy series. While it was annoying at first, later I admitted it was the right tone for this. It would not be bearable, had it taken itself seriously. Episode 9, it really goes crazy-crazy. Every scene is a parody of something, characters speak straight to the camera, one more actor from '2018 Kom Faek' makes appearance, there is a hilarious "videoclip" sequence... Among all this fun, boredom is gone but no romance really works as great ridicule is made of it, too.
Episode 10 eases off the crazy comedy a little - though there's still lot of it - and romance gets the bits of vacated space here and there. Jackie's character gets more substance than just an someone else's antagonist, like she deserves.
One episode Ter Chantavit's chief pretends he's gone crazy in very fun way, it was a pitty that was not longer. Then the romance lines go on... The "brutality humour" gets repeated... I must say by the time it was all over I was kinda tired of all the crazy comedy/parodic elements. Kinda pointless to review this as "drama", it really was wacky mishmash of this and that, but at least it had 13 episodes and not 30 and it wasn't overall that boring.
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While I enjoyed most of the main couple's interactions, I certainly did not enjoy most of the main story. The evil psychopatic "uncle" got way beyond the line. Even compared with the child ghost, lol. I think we CAN have a lovestory where the main couple is not surrounded by characters that mostly belong to prison/pillowed cell? Obviously, thai do not think so. Because this lakorn's story is actually pretty typical. Nevertheless I found the "crime line" quite unwatchable and mostly fastforwarded through it. The two main couples were cute, though. So was the good guardian spirit:) Still, most of the screentime we have to deal with crazy stuff centering around various antagonists, which sadly is a norm for a lakorn.
Extra points: 1) Kisses! Especially appreciated from such young nang'ek. I would excuse HER to fake, after watching 40-year old actresses STILL struggling with a small peck, lol. 2) Good song 'Ru Mai' by No One Else.
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Clearly kissing is banned in this lakorn, because we can't see it with any couple, present or flashback. It has fast progress of relationship in between the characters though, no wonder it's 10 episodes only. Somehow Saimai & Puen couple isn't exciting at all, despite them having their almost-kiss in every episode. Peter & Aom couple has huge age gap. The child is needed actually to save it somehow. Still this couple has more life to it.
After the past of all characters got explained, I settled in and cheered mainly for the Peter & Aom couple, not only as lovers but also best set of parents for the little girl. I especially cheered for Peter Denman's character and his "papa giraffe" to be the little girl's dad. Denman, youngest member of the main cast, was able to portray warmth and maturity which was pleasant to watch. He was actually more credible than Aom Sushar's thirty year old pixie.
As the other review pointed out, since episode 7 it all kind of crumbled. The characters including the nicely mature ones went petty for the sake of bringing more drama, which made me wish instead for peace and quiet, for the little child. Overall I really wasn't enjoying the "progress" the characters made. Somehow, everyone became less likeable, of course the little girl's mom ("evil spoiled bitch") acted the worst because her character got also unhinged by the scriptwriter to go too far with the little kid, else she was pitiable more than anything else, and by the way she was the prettiest woman around (the usual rule "the prettiest actress = nang'ek" did not apply in this show) so I kind of wished her to repent and get happy ending instead of just leave. Never mind. If they made everyone an asshole just for the sake of romantic angst, they should have added kiss, though. A good one. Not a forced fake thing to uglify this drama. Also, I obviously felt they put the little girl through too much... Hopefully, at least the child actress had a good experience shooting the drama.
Episode 8 added yet one more bizarre twist that made no sense and divided all characters into 2 battle groups (it's a custody battle for a little girl who doesn't remember her dad, but remembers her nanny). Her naughty mom doesn't get her happy ending. In fact no one does, the only thing we get to see is someone proposes to someone but it's not a couple that one would cheer for before this episode. Episode 9 the general situation calms down. Things are more or less back to how they originally were, only now everyone has a broken heart. So that was probably the only purpose.
Of course there is a "big action final" in the end and Peter Denman kisses the right girl on her oxygen mask, lol. It's so bad it's funny. It's clear they didn't know what to do with the ending, but they managed to squeeze some really hilarious moments into it (those were unrelated to the main plot). There is a happy ending on a beach of course, but the main guy suddenly started wearing glasses so that the audience could see there was a further barier in that final kiss, to forgive how it looked. Looked like the cast was also glad this was 10 episodes only. I won't even mention the death-embarassing "catholic" (aren't they all buddhists?) wedding with the english speaking priest and english spoken wows recited by the asian groom & bride, who both then posed for a camera not-kiss. Yeah, I was also glad it was ending.
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Supporting cast is good in comedy. That helped, too. Also there was a funny moment in second episode where Anne's character believed that pra'ek murdered his previous girlfriend. And was now after her, lol. With more episodes, the screentime devoted to ghost stuff, the past and the annoying side-characters plotting against the main girl for some silly reason or other, and their long side-stories started piling up, so I began skipping. But I stayed and watched scenes with Nhing Nirut, as watching him is enjoyable no matter the role.
But then - besides the added ghost stuff and the revenging family stuff - even long flashbacks, featuring many side-character's past stories AND Anne portraying the other (now dead) girl, were added. When they started to take up most of each episode's screentime, I began considering dropping this. There was now too many elements I wanted to skip. It all started to remind me of 'Yok Lai Mek (2009)' and that was a suffering of a watch I didn't want to repeat.
This was my last chance of watching Krissada as pra'ek (I've watched all his other subtitled lakorns already) so I did not want to drop this one... But, even those rare pra'ek-nang'ek scenes that were free of any past/ghost/revenge/villain bullsh*t were not spared from the hysterics of yet one more side-character, a super-jealous batsh*t crazy secondary female, thus spoiling rare "normal" scenes of Krissada-Anne. Episode 5, they DO get to enjoy 2 minutes alone, which results in fake CHEEK kiss (they needed to fake a kiss on the cheek, even) and Anne's character being immediatelly abducted by a secondary villain male. Oh yes, in case we did NOT have enough elements disrupting the romance genre, there's a little dose of "action/kidnapping", too. Just EVERYTHING but romance.
Episode 6 there is a proper slap/kiss. I mean the oldfashioned kiss followed by a slap then followed by even longer kiss... So we get the oldfashioned camera angle and kissing right beside the mouth, of course. The more awkward it gets the sooner it is interrupted by the hysterical secondary female, once again.
Episode 7 on Anne's character who's alive investigates who killed the dead one... Since then, there's practically nothing to keep my interest... Krissada & Anne were adorable together, else I wanted to skip 90% of the runtime. I really had ZERO interest in the plot.
The whole hong-kong setting was corny. The title "qipao" everyone was in such awe with was an usual kitchy chinese flower dress. The family jade bracelets looked absolutely ridiculous I couldn't imagine even a child wearing them (reminded me of 'Yok Lai Mek', again). As can be expected from anything chinese-related (would prefer if thai dramas remained in Thailand). Music was annoying the hell out of me. The family drama was tedious as hell. I wasn't interested in character's lengthy history. I didn't care who killed the dead girl. The series felt very long even with only 13 episodes. Episode 10 already felt like a 100.
Saying all this, you can imagine how much I fastforwarded in the end... I tried not to get too nauseated by all the murder and corpse bride stuff. Such idiocy cannot be saved by having a gay character. Krissada was cute but honestly the heoine would be better off not meeting him, lol. Especially because she would have never left her thai office with the funny side-characters and never traveled to h-k. She could have spared the audience SO much.
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Note: I have given the best rating in the end, because I appreaciated the ending and the overall closure. I don't agree with someone saying the romance was scarse. It WAS romantic. Sometimes, one look is worth more than ten passionate kiss scenes. (Especially, if we have the cast we have here.) I actually appreciated we didn't get to watch the main heroine, who was no longer a young girl, doing something like fleeing away and leaving husband with whom she spent majority of her adult life and with whom she shared a CHILD. I appreciated how things got portrayed. This was a mature, kind and human drama and I appreciated it.
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I do like work dramas so that aspect worked well with me, obviously. The main heroine aspires to be great in her work and I seem to always enjoy that trope. I'm not keen on the whole story being actually narrated by somebody else, but never mind. I was enjoying the main heroine's journey to become a great chef so much I could spare romance line completely. But no, she has to have a double one. Both the guys she meets are good, both the romance lines are lame and go from nowhere to nowhere, but we dwell painfully long time on it. While it's funny one of the guys is half her age and it's not the one portrayed by Jason YOUNG, I wished we could just focus on the work drama.
That's very pleasant, well executed, the main heroine knows passion for her craft, willingness to learn, humility and endurance, AND in stark contrast to her "romance" behavior, isn't picky. She gets to work for vastly various people. The topic of cooking (which does NOT interest me) is made as interesting as possible, the work challenges are engaging, visual works perfectly and the acting - including those actors I previously never praised - is commendably understated. No cheap overacting in this lakorn: and that's something in the case of Jason Young, especially:) Who directed this? Let them make more lakorns, please.
With the series progressing, we repeatedly change the main heroine's workplace rather abruptly, while I wouldn't mind to spend way more time in there. We then spend the time with the modern generation couple, which is not a couple, but another threesome. The guy talks straight to the camera explaining various ways how to determinate which of the two girls he actually loves. I say if he loved someone he'd hardly have doubts, THAT would not be his problem, lol. In short, I'd prefer if this lame guy would concentrate solely on telling the story of his mother: and preferably the one about her success, not about "how his mother met his father". Luckilly, we always return to the period line (perhaps this should rather be a story of his GRANDmother? if she "invented" that much of thai cuisine), but even there we have the same thing going on. Soon, Gybzy Wanida's main heroine is asking her friend which of the two guys who are crushing on her should she choose. I felt like smacking her face. Didn't she already moved in with one of the guys, introduced him to his mother, told him she loved him and nobody else? Seriously, this should just concentrate on her work-related journey. She seemed like completely different person in her spare time! When I was watching the work side of her, I was cheering for her so much. I wanted to keep that. Therefore, I wanted to watch the work drama where I got a heroine I rooted for. Not the relationship drama where I got a leading lady acting like a c*w.
Period line was bearable only partially (when whole episode got dedicated to relationship stuff only, it was a disaster). The present line was completely unwatchable. Again and again, one of the girls was asking the son of the main heroine which of the guys his father was. Again he did not reveal it. I wanted to shout: I don't care! LOL. The son definitely knew about his mother's lovelife in too much detail. Seriously, all I wanted was for this series to stop dealing with it. I would accept gladly had the mother chosen either of the guys, even the one I liked less, as long as the other one would immediatelly pi** off. And while we're at it, the son might, too. Both the period surplus guy and the whole present time "story" could (and should) be axed. Let the mother have just one guy, let's focus on her work story, and let's keep the son only as voiceover. Would that be so hard to do?
This way, the series felt long despite having 13 short-runtime episodes only. While the relationship drama got overplayed in a loop several times over, the work drama was interrupted and incomplete. As a result, half the time I loved this series, half the time I wanted to drop it immediatelly (yes, without getting to know who the modern line guy's father was, or which girl he chooses, geez I would take pride in NOT learning it). How to rate it now? This series was definitely successful in making me enjoy a story about pursuing a career in cooking (though it ends up in weird paradox of her still not knowing the same as nearest street vendor), and even more particularly successful in making me resent watching a romantic line (despite the otherwise likeable characters), which always used to be my favorite. Gee, I could recommend this show if you call yourself incurable romance junkie and wish to get cured. Try this one, it might do the trick;)
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If this is not example of writer's failure, then I don't know what is.
I got a bit scared reading the synopsis, nevertheless their school years start in 1999, therefore it's not true the characters are "growing up in Bangkok in the 1980s", LOL. Actually, the series starts with Bank Thiti's voiceover saying he's 35 now, but back when he was only 16, "everything around him was merry". Then follows the beginning of the story that starts with some good ol' school bullying. Merry.Pattie Ungsumalin's character enters the school, wearing their puffy school shirt, so that we don't get to see whether her waist is 20 or 40 inches (of course there's no doubt in Pattie's case, she's always been skinny to the point it's uncomfortable to watch) and acting all wooden (probably not Pattie's performance fail, just the character's trait). She first gets bullied for something she didn't even do then after she still takes her bullies' side they accept her among themselves. "Yay".
Nevertheless, she gets along best with the only boy that was not mean to her even in the beginning, and rather avoids Bank Thiti's character, who suddenly looks all jealous. He also keeps being annoying in class and bringing unasked attention towards Pattie's character, even if it's quite obvious she is the attention shy type. She even more or less openly tells him so. Still, he doesn't quit it. Best Nathasit's character Yae is shown mostly doing silly fun stuff and laughing around, but he was laughing also when a girl was being bullied. Jomjam Suphitcha's character Khing is a girl who takes no nonsense. Now, she would probably be best person to set the Bank Thiti's character straight. Instead, the scriptwriters let her mostly hanging around Yae and challenging him in his antics. Victor Chatchawit's Cheaw keeps clinging to Pattie's quiet girl, offering help and support to her ceaselessly. Which only results in Bank Thiti's character targetting her the harder. The circle thus closes.
Things are not black and white all the time. Actually, both of the boys prove to have good feelings towards the same girl in question, but that's a problem, too. They might be in 1999 but I am not: I find it tiring that when there are 2 boys interested in 1 girl, they always have to be best friends (and if not, then they are brothers, of course). Then the reason of Pattie's character's extreme quietness is revealed. It's quite a tragic one. I really didn't get the "merry and carefree atmosphere" the high school timeline was suppposed to have... when it was quite full of bullying and fighting and jealousy and tragic deaths? It's true the characters keep on spending plenty of time just hanging out and laughing, no matter what they just dealt with. Maybe we should do that even after we finish school and get a job? Is that what this show is trying to tell us?;)
All the characters were dealing with considerable stress (one bordered on suicide attempt). The main couple shares one fake kiss, the second couple shares an awkward tussle, the odd guy out shares a night with his absentee mother. There's nothing to be enchanted with. Should the "college years" be better? I waited for many episodes... It draaagged, I seriously began to be annoyed even by the opening credits. Why all the nostalgia? This series was far from portraying some "unforgettable story" (if there was any story at all). I tried and waited and waited and waited for the university part to FINALLY begin (seriously, it was like the high-school would NEVER end, that much it dragged) so I would find out what was the point of this "drama"?
There was still yet one more episode almost entirely dedicated to the guys packing their stuff and visiting the empty classroom one last time to sit there with teary eyes. I understand the scriptwriter was having huge nostalgia attack while writing this. Still, seeing the supposedly teenage characters acting deeply moved by completing high school attendance was kinda ridiculous to watch. Oh, there was also Khing being finally asked to date the guy she had the unrequited crush on, followed by the worst onscreen kiss ever (then she almost got gang rap*d... aw, the idyllic school days).
Then another crisis hits with one of the friends going to jail... I wondered whether we were still in the "idillyc" timeline. This was probably the first time the show wasn't boring, but we suddenly move by sharp edit to university (with the group of 5 friends now reduced just to 3) without this being resolved (or it just got resolved by him dissappearing into prison, just like the other boy disappeared abroad).
Then the university life happens, which is quite horrifying experience itself. You get uprooted from safety of your home (if you did have that kind of home), bullied by seniors and their "initiation games" to no end, and forced to LIVE with strangers: apparently one cannot choose their roommates, but they might choose to bully you, too. We now concentrate just on our first couple + Khing (as we lost the 2 other friends). Fang, after spending years in anxiety that she won't get into the same uni as her boyf, is clearly going to have a taste of "be careful what you wish for". She doesn't get to live with Khing, but with ruthless rival targetting her boyfriend, who got popular with ladies instantly. She comes to their dates all moody and refuses as much as to kiss him. You can see her losing him before it actually happens.
There is also a new suitor for Khing, who is about as funny - the scriptwriter obviously thinks Khing NEEDS to date a "funny guy" - as Yae, BUT doesn't look like Best Nathasit (who perhaps got another acting gig by now and had gone in other show, because suddenly we can't see even a visit scene with him). The college life really doesn't seem an improvement... Oh, there is one new girl getting closer to Win, and she is likeable. She is actually too likeable for the character portrayed by Bank Thiti, and of course more likeable than the girl portrayed by Pattie Ungsumalin, which doesn't even need the mention.
As we no longer have 5 people, we lost the scenes featuring the group camaraderie. Mostly we are forced to watch the very slow breakdown of the relationship of Win & Fang, who has the disadvantage that she's not compatible with him in bed. The two of them are on different timelines kind of, too:) She needs to wait for years to be ready, ideally for a wedding. He has the hormones (pun intended) screaming to him NOW. Even if he sincerely loves her and intends to marry her, there are years stretching ahead during which he'll need to deal with the body's needs somehow. Ideally such couple should be separated for this, and meet again after studies then this awkward discrepancy should not be mentioned:)
So, people who should have stayed together got separated. People who should get separated stayed together. Thus begins the university part of the series.
When Win hangs out with the likeable girl, we can see it's not just the unfilled body needs. He's also bored out of his wits (one scene he falls asleep while being with Fang alone). And the new girl is interesting and fun to be with. But at least he can relax with his roommates. Boys are not as cut-throat as girls, so he's friends with them. Fang has to live in as hostile an environment as ever, but it's safe to say one can understand Win's view. Even writing an e-mail (THAT's what he's supposed to do when he misses her) to her is uncomfortable.
Suddenly we skip 1 year ahead, which is manifested by Bank Thiti's hair growth to uncomfortable length (I'm not sure if it was his own or they've given some crazy wig to him). Pattie Ungsumalin's character spends couple of nights knitting him a cap, to cover the hair. She also keeps being badmoody because she is jealous, unfortunatelly she acts the way she's practically pushing him to be with somebody else. I must say after watching this couple from the beginning, I am tired with their storyline. On the other hand, Khing has to strive for several episodes to be able as much as see Yae, of course. All the while being pestered by the annoying new guy, whom I just wished to step back to group background cast. If this is not a sign of a scriptwriter's failure, then I don't know what is.
Best Nathasit finally reappears, wearing even crazier wig than Bank Thiti, or if those were his real hair, then good for him. He appears, and nothing much else. The only comfort is the number of remaining episodes is getting thinner. This CANNOT drag AS much as the high school. Music does stand out, though. It's like stolen from some way different (and way better) series/movie. There's also interesting visual effect acompanying Pattie Ungsumalin's silouette leaving one scene, unfortunatelly I was focusing more on her unflatteringly skinny figure and weird shape of her bones (which we CAN see clearly, ya know:) so that aspect - along with poignant music acompanying banal events - also did not work on me.
It looked more and more like this whole show's only purpose was to portray the way full of doubts whether there will be an happy ending for the couple Win & Fang, the couple I didn't even care whether they stayed together. And all the other characters were, after all, also only there to add support to their "story" (they didn't get their stories properly adressed and finished). Regretfully, I found basically any side-character in there more interesting than Win, or Fang, or the acting of Bank Thiti, or the acting of Pattie Ungsumalin, who seems to be always cast in roles where we are obviously supposed to be in awe just looking at her, though I don't find Pattie Ungsumalin that all-sufficient.
The synopsis says that in the university "Win starts dating a beautiful girl, Alyn. Out of jealousy, Fang hangs out with a playboy." It is not even as "entertaining" as that. What we really see is Win dating Fang for even more years, despite that their dating totally sucks. Win hangs out with cool girl, Earn. After quite some time, their developed feelings just start to show more on the surface. Out of jealousy (because she of course happened to see the first GLIMPSE of something happening in between the two and then got instantly jealous... same like Yae, btw.), Fang first leaves the university (after mostly hanging out with Khing, who is not allowed to have her proper story) then suddenly is seen in some kind of study group where she doesn't protest loudly enough against one insipid looking boy attempting to get closer to her.
Another weirdly absurd scene is shown when there is a photo exhibition being held with many people attending yet there is only Fang's face being shown on dozens of photos. It's like it's all happening in some bizarre reality where there is nothing more fascinating to look at than the face of Pattie Ungsumalin. Even if she really had that interesting a face, it would be slightly ridiculous. Her face is practically wallpapering the walls. Ironically, the girl who is - at least in direct comparison - interesting, just humbly sits there playing her guitar. It's Win who is author of all the photos, but he hugs the likeable girl, which we can UNDERSTAND even without words. Of course, Fang appears just the right second to see it (it's the 3rd time this gimmick is used in 1 same episode, therefore it gets so ridiculous I almost expected to hear added laughter in the background, like in sitcoms) and leaves jealous, YET AGAIN. I'm afraid that even though the college part of the series is considerably shorter, I shall probably be proven wrong in thinking it won't manage to be as draggy as the high school. Yet another "achievement" of this show's scriptwriter (please don't write more "dramas", please).
We touch the side-stories of the characters we COULD care about ever so slightly, but most we dedicate to "drama plots" like Fang being stupid to go into the room of some loser guy who's obviously trying to make move on her and prepared his rape drug for her already... I kinda tend to ignore such plot devices in all lakorns/dramas as for me, they don't even count. Here, they have chosen to mix it with the first Win/Earn bed scene which was kinda unfair to those characters, maybe teenage audience might be impressed by such montage (pitty the editor did not put their professional skills to better use than this series) but I am far from it: this didn't change the way I looked at the characters. In other words, just because they mixed two unrelated things in one montage or because she called his name in a drug haze, I will not think that Win was responsible for what happened to Fang. So moving on, to actual final of this "Fleet" of time... Which felt like eternity, LOL.
Now, the most amazing about the final episode was that it actually came. What this series managed to do is produce the feeling that it might possibly NEVER end. LOL. At least I got busy writing this review during it, else I would probably eaten my ficus plant. But before the final, there is of course yet one more episode showing the "happy" reunion of the 5 friends sitting at one table mostly with long faces, each trying more or less to supress. I couldn't help but smile. It's like they'd shown facial expressions of an audience watching 19th episode of this. They could probably look similarly "excited", lol. Especially knowing it is STILL not the last one... Loved seeing Khing & Yae together, though. Even if that was just somehow hastily put together near the end. Next time the group meets there are 6 people, sitting like 3 couples. Besides Khing sitting with Yae, Fang is sitting with Cheaw, which she probably should have done AGES ago (spare herself AND the audience) but then Win brings Earn, which was a shitty thing to do. Though I agreed with the 3 couples, and I liked Earn, I would know better than to bring her with me when meeting my ex and OUR common old friends. And if I have enough brains to know this, then so should Win. But of course this show's great scriptwriter needed all the people gathered for the "great" final, which is not worth the bother of describing it here.
Overall, the sharp discordance of the music playing with the content showing was oscillating between ridiculous and bizarre. Plainly said, strong score was put over weak scenes. Better actors were serving background to lesser ones. Characters were dissappearing/recurring at random... But I wouldn't let myself to be mislead that made this series something special. Uneven and dilettantish yes. Just because most of the creators kinda screwed up in their job, I would not sit here and wonder whether this is the best or worst story ever. Back to planet Earth... I'm giving this the rating it deserves.
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Series include some awkward scenes and kiss scenes and bed scenes and over the top scenes that won't leave you at ease in your seat so there IS enough to comment on. It is at times very entertaining to read it, nevertheless it also kinda distracts the viewer from the actual content being... a VERY uneven work, as a drama series piece. The added commentary is actually the only consistent thing the viewer can count on, here.
But then, what can I expect from the series that is called 'What the *uck' (everyone can obviously imagine 'F' instead of the 'D':) There's lots of sex and stupid behavior so that's why this won't bore you but I can't vouch for any other qualities, LOL.
For 20 episodes this was quite long and not very eventful, I mean what happened in like episode 17 might as well happened in episode 2:) On the other hand, one of the boys STILL didn't come clean to his female date and I didn't get it. Well, one of these days BL scriptwriters would have to come up with some actual script rather than always adding "unsuspecting" girlfriend to the mix. It's getting old.
It all kinda felt like it didn't really have a story and if it was really "adapted from a novel", then I can't imagine that novel, LOL. Or maybe I can, after all anyone who can write can write, we know since Twilight, heh. In today's times, where we have internet posts which are so "popular" they get published as a "novel" in the end, we have a result like this. There is even a sequel to this (in compare this 20-episode season, the second has only 8) so fingers crossed. Else it really can be called 'Boring Love'.
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Now, most of the screentime is filled with peculiar side-characters. They are supposed to be funny, I'm sure.
Okay... To name something positive about this movie, the music is good (being E-san) and Tono is a good actor. He's really wasting his super dramatic facial expressions here, though. I wish to see him in another 'Fatal Destiny' kind of movie (yeah, movie would be better than another series). This way we're watching musical sequences with camera whirling wildly (to the point to make you nauseous) while filming a completely static scene where nothing major happens.
All in all this movie bored me and haven't stirred at least mild interest in me.
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Dark. Trashy.
Note Watcharabul doesn't look handsome anymore, LOL. Cee Siwat was always a cutie but got a bit slimy in his thirties (the oldfashioned hair gel adds to it, too). I always liked Praew Chermawee in the past but here Yui Chiranan became my favorite. Very cute fighting/flirting sequence with Cee Siwat right in episode 1:) It's been long since 'Le Femme Nikita' that I watched stuff like this, LOL.Talking about years back... Music here sounds REALLY dated. The villains use some kind of mind control... There is some kind of a cult wearing masks... It's all so b-grade. So, the spicy character interactions are what makes watching this bearable (yeah, it gets quite unwatchable at times) because despite them all having smartphones, this seriously doesn't seem like something from 2018.
Action is present in every episode. For me, to care about an action scene, I need to care about the people in it. Both couples here engage in action scenes, but while Yui Chiranan's heroine is a woman who can take care about herself well, Praew Chermawee's character is a stupid "reporter" who is only a burden and needs to be rescued each time.
Everyone here has a double identity or a triple agenda and most of the screentime is filled with the endless dealings of all the numerous groups involved, while I cared only for a few people. After first 5 episodes it all started to drag despite constant fight scenes. My only fun in the monstrose 18x90 minutes runtime were OCCASIONAL Yui & Cee scenes, some inserted comedy (little of it, but funny) and some action scenes so over-the-top they were funny, too. I seriously could not care less for any of the plot. First Yui & Cee kiss is episode 11. I waited long;)
The first use of the mind on control on the character I cared about was end of episode 15.
Rewatch value: Yui & Cee scene in episode 1.
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My Hero Series: Sen Son Kol Ruk
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The rich girl lives in the house right across of his, he actually brings up a telescope to watch her, LOL. He's more on point to asses her situation than with the poor girl (there he keeps some misunderstandings). While the poor girl still keeps her fighting spirit and also has her best friend, the rich girl clings to pra'ek as her only help, else she is just helplessly forced to smile in public. While the poor girl has to withstand hardship and mistreat at work to earn a little money only to get those wasted by her relatives, the rich girl is a prisoner of them who her family ows big money to.
If the poor girl & rich girl have one thing common, it's they have that kind of a mother they'd be better off without. I felt they both should have just leave home (be it the poor or rich house) and never look back.
What I didn't like was while there were 2 slimy evil guys, there was only 1 pra'ek. Therefore, in order to get rid of the competition, one of the girls - the rich one - slowly starts to act more like a nang'rai. Which was a pitty, because in the beginning, I would have preferred if pra'ek was going for the rich girl. She was the one who the big bad guy wanted, also she wasn't acting as silly so their couple interactions didn't remind of bickering of two ten-year-olds. But it's the poor girl on the poster, and pra'ek seems to go for her. Then the rich girl shows sincere remorse and shares good feelings with pra'ek, too. I really started zoning out. If the show itself didn't know which couple to cheer on, then how was I supposed to? One episode before last the two girls were still arm-pulling the guy in between themselves. Literally.
Similar to other multi-series called 'The Cupids', even here we deal with such a grave theme as human trafficking. AND similar to 'The Cupids', such theme is in great discordance with the character's silly antics. If human trafficking is really such a common occurence in Thailand, making such stupid tv shows about it is probably helping the real mafia even more.
The big evil guy's night club of course has a "cool" english name and I snickered every time it was shown. The club is called 'Booze' (what a classy name for a club, LOL). When thai are using english in any way, it is funny every time. But it's scary when a tender aged girl starts working in that nightclub as a "gentlemen's companion" and soon disappears (eerily underlined by the fact the barely 20 yr actress was dead before this aired). The guy himself (and his right hand man) looks rather lame with bland, plain looks and badly un/shaven beard.
I wasn't enjoying this much in any way, not as romance, not as drama... After all I was glad this was 8 episodes only. It felt long already.
Right before final of course there is even more action, kidnapping and gunfight, during which the "big boss" does the smuggling of girls across the border in person along with his henchmen who never seem to run out of bullets even if they unexpectedly leave the car and run off into a forest with a single gun. I was tired of hearing constant gunshots. Anyone knows some good romance series? Apparently not to be found much among thai lakorns. Those seem to compete in being as "crime sharp" as possible.
When I got to the final I was totally zoning out, I didn't care who got arrested, who got killed or who got mad. Everyone acted stupid to the EXTREME. Episode runtime was double than it should be.
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Sleepless Society: Two Pillows
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The main characters in 'Two Pillows & A Lost Soul' are past their twenties, we don't deal with annoing "teenagers" in this one. Wife let off some steam wrong time wrong place, at the party that ended bad. She's far from selfless but she's got her share of grief. She has a horrendous mother (who keeps ruining her life since childhood), too. Husband beats the wife, but apart from that he's having a cute gay romance line. No black and white characters here. They all have some pretty dark moments but I could relate. The sleep issues are incorporated well, which is stylish for this series theme. Same works for music.
Amongst all this, a romance blossoms that involves Bee Namthip, who is still so beautiful I didn't mind the age gap, yet it kinda even more underlined the loneliness of her character. Watching her getting on with complete stranger still had a depressed tone for me. Their bed scene was good, though. I can appreciate it as I've recently watched another age-gap series with Nune Woranuch, who was even older than Bee Namthip, and yet she still wasn't able to do a simple onscreen kiss better than twenty years ago.
All these characters just being themselves would make a strong drama even without the whole murder case.
Unfortunatelly, things get even darker than would be my taste.
I didn't like anything that happened in episode 9.
After that, I finished the series but it wasn't the same anymore.
I found the ending rather cheap.
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Remarkable how it's different from the parts before and after
This little 11-episode series is remarkable in 2 things. First, it's a part of multi-series. The part that precedes and the part that follows is so distinctly worse that it's a wonder especially if all is a work of the same production team. Also the casting definitely has nothing to do with it, as...Secondly, it's a lakorn with Margie Rasri and it is NOT bad. Which is unique, LOL. She even has a double role here (not sure if that was necessary, the twin addition proved to stir feelings in Phiphat rather than Sama).
From the very beginning, this is entertaining. The main duo has a good tension in between them and it's not because they trip and fall into each others arms, have an imbecile argument with loads of yelling, or lash at each other before they know each other. I mean he is annoying her at first but he is doing that on a purpose (as he might have a certain history with her:)
As for Chakrit Yamnarm, him appearing in hawaiian shirt his character keeps wearing here is enough to make me smile (he also has a fat cat he keeps feeding sweets). And I nearly pi**ed myself with laughter at the retrospective scene with him having long hair (but then, I actually found him cute;)) The child actress was awesome... don't know if those were real twins or a double role, too? (MDL doesn't list the cast). But it's always so weird the same person who was so cool and smart as a child then grows up into someone so silly and annoying, right? Well, like I said 'Mon Jan Tra' IS way better than the other 'Musketeers' series, but it's NOT thanks to Margie Rasri or her (grown up) character here.
I think it's obvious I always way liked Chakrit Yamnarm and he's been around for quite some time, did so many pra'ek roles so the more pitty I never saw him in a single lakorn I would really like. Sometimes I doubted his acting abilities quite a bit. Sometimes he redeemed himself with me. But it was never a good lakorn (I'm not saying I watched all his lakorns, but I did watch 11 of them). To be completely honest I didn't find him very compatible with Margie Rasri, the more I must appreciate how well their romance line was delivered. They looked so niece & uncle, no matter how hot the uncle:)
I think this story's plot was pretty average. It was not in fact better than the other '3 Musketeers' stories. Before, Margie Rasri never seemed like a good actress to me. But in this short series she had a few really good scenes with Chakrit Yamnarm. It was not just about romance. When she told him that if anything happens to her sister she won't ever see him again, I believed her every word. Chakrit as well. Just his facial expressions without saying anything. But of course, majority of the screentime is devoted to action scenes.
I wouldn't re-watch it so this hardly is a 10 rating lakorn for me (too much action and stupid side-villain stuff). Chakrit definitely matured into more than just handsome pra'ek, though. I am going to watch '4 Kings', now!;-)
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