John Master
Orange County
You've seen this before, but it's still fun
“Second Chance the Series” is a perfectly innocuous example of a Thai BL series. If you watch BL because they make you happy, this series will work for you. The various plotlines unfold in such by-the-numbers fashion that one could easily envision, standing open on the screenwriter’s desk, a dogeared copy of that famous reference guide So You’re Writing a BL Series? Formulaic it may be, but “Second Chance” entertains; it pleases; it delivers not one, not two, but three (THREE!) cute couples to cheer for. Predictability becomes both a strength and a weakness. Strength: the series delivers Exactly What Viewers Expect and Want from a BL. Weakness: the series possesses no traits that enable it to stand out amidst a crowded slate of series in a genre that is evolving rapidly beyond its traditional tropes.
To be clear, “Second Chance” is a good series. But a great series, it is not. The production delivers an entertaining result. The story and acting entertain sufficiently. The production values are unobjectionable. Well, save for the unfortunate instance when one character’s hair changed colors between scenes then reverted to the original thereafter. Lack of originality in the story supplies this show’s major flaw. The audience will have seen these story beats previously, probably in multiple instances. And that’s where the predictability undermines any claim to greatness. “Second Chance” aired in March and April—and already by this point in 2021, several of the year’s other series have dazzled and delighted viewers. 2021 is likely to go down in the annals of BL history as a transformative year, one that introduced genre-altering innovations in storytelling and series quality.
• Unlike “Manner of Death,” SC breaks no new ground in its setting or plot—it’s got both feet firmly entrenched in the standard-model story about high school students.
• Unlike “Lovely Writer,” SC has nothing much to say about BL as a genre—the story features boys falling for each other (and fujioshi girls cheering them on) without much introspection about what it all means.
• Unlike “Fish Upon the Sky,” SC wasn’t highly-anticipated due to a star-studded cast who earned their pedigree and their popularity acting in prior BL series—the actors offer typical levels of cuteness and charm, but none exudes attention-grabbing charisma.
• Unlike “We Best Love” [either season], SC didn’t take standard BL-couple tropes and rework them so they felt charming and fresh—the three featured couples tread the familiar, if comfortable, beats of the friends-to-lovers trope, a standard pursuit of a crush trope, and a younger-older trope (here, mostly not-cringey).
• Unlike “History 4: Come to Me,” SC will not require any trigger warnings—here, the boys’ methods of courtship raise no red flags. (Ok, that’s actually a good thing, but fans sniping at each other in message boards over H4’s narrative choices creates controversy that probably drives eyeballs to the series. So, again, nothing here to make the series stand out.)
And that’s just how this series stacks up against other 2021 series so far. Given the stratospheric expectations surrounding more than a few of the year’s yet-to-air productions, it’s likely that swaths of BL fandom will simply overlook this effort. By hewing so closely to the genre’s standard playbook, “Second Chance” will likely enrapture some portion of the genre’s devotees. Ultimately, however, this series will not likely linger long in memory. In 2021, being good is not good enough.
Story Synopsis
The story trails the romantic trials of three couples, TongFah/Paper (friends-to-lovers), Chris/Jeno (pursuing a reluctant crush), and Near/M (younger-older). TongFah, Paper, and Chris are close friends. Jeno and Near are other students at the same school, while M operates a game/coffee shop that serves as a hangout for the characters. From the first episode, it’s clear TongFah’s feelings for Paper have evolved beyond the friend stage, but it’s less clear how enthusiastic Paper is for this shift in their friendship. Jeno is being bullied at school by his ex-boyfriend, prompting him to sign up for MuayThai instruction. His mentor at the gym turns out to be Chris, who quickly determines to pursue his reticent classmate. Near, an avid gamer, has a part-time job at M’s café. It’s clear to viewers that M likes his young employee, but that Near is oblivious to the boss’s feelings. “Second Chance” is a bit of a slow burn, but by the end of Episode 3, all three couples seem to be inching towards acknowledging mutual attractions. By the end Ep 4, all three embryonic couplings have imploded. Yes, folks—they need a second chance!
Where “Second Chance” had the potential to deliver some originality to BL storytelling lay in its exploration of couples trying to reboot their relationships. I do not recall another BL series centered around the idea of redeeming a relationship that once had foundered. Unfortunately, such redemption would have required more time to unfold than the two episodes that remained in the series. Those last two episodes are the weakest two in the series, rushing through complications, reconciliations, and proms.
Typical of Thai BL series, “Second Chance” offers no particular comment on what it means to be gay in 21st century Thailand. Posters from queer cinema classics decorate the walls of TongFah’s bedroom, but that’s as close as the series comes to implying any of the lads extrapolates a personal identity from his romantic leanings. On the bright side, the writers eschewed using homophobic families as a source of conflict in the story. Boys falling for other boys is treated as a perfectly normal state of affairs in this tale, no complications from school authorities, the families, or from society writ large. Frankly, relief from those overused tropes about anti-gay attitudes is a big reason the meager plot of “Second Chance” succeeds in delivering a happy story—and after all, seeing happy stories that lead to boys kissing other boys is why many of us consume BL series in the first place.
To be clear, “Second Chance” is a good series. But a great series, it is not. The production delivers an entertaining result. The story and acting entertain sufficiently. The production values are unobjectionable. Well, save for the unfortunate instance when one character’s hair changed colors between scenes then reverted to the original thereafter. Lack of originality in the story supplies this show’s major flaw. The audience will have seen these story beats previously, probably in multiple instances. And that’s where the predictability undermines any claim to greatness. “Second Chance” aired in March and April—and already by this point in 2021, several of the year’s other series have dazzled and delighted viewers. 2021 is likely to go down in the annals of BL history as a transformative year, one that introduced genre-altering innovations in storytelling and series quality.
• Unlike “Manner of Death,” SC breaks no new ground in its setting or plot—it’s got both feet firmly entrenched in the standard-model story about high school students.
• Unlike “Lovely Writer,” SC has nothing much to say about BL as a genre—the story features boys falling for each other (and fujioshi girls cheering them on) without much introspection about what it all means.
• Unlike “Fish Upon the Sky,” SC wasn’t highly-anticipated due to a star-studded cast who earned their pedigree and their popularity acting in prior BL series—the actors offer typical levels of cuteness and charm, but none exudes attention-grabbing charisma.
• Unlike “We Best Love” [either season], SC didn’t take standard BL-couple tropes and rework them so they felt charming and fresh—the three featured couples tread the familiar, if comfortable, beats of the friends-to-lovers trope, a standard pursuit of a crush trope, and a younger-older trope (here, mostly not-cringey).
• Unlike “History 4: Come to Me,” SC will not require any trigger warnings—here, the boys’ methods of courtship raise no red flags. (Ok, that’s actually a good thing, but fans sniping at each other in message boards over H4’s narrative choices creates controversy that probably drives eyeballs to the series. So, again, nothing here to make the series stand out.)
And that’s just how this series stacks up against other 2021 series so far. Given the stratospheric expectations surrounding more than a few of the year’s yet-to-air productions, it’s likely that swaths of BL fandom will simply overlook this effort. By hewing so closely to the genre’s standard playbook, “Second Chance” will likely enrapture some portion of the genre’s devotees. Ultimately, however, this series will not likely linger long in memory. In 2021, being good is not good enough.
Story Synopsis
The story trails the romantic trials of three couples, TongFah/Paper (friends-to-lovers), Chris/Jeno (pursuing a reluctant crush), and Near/M (younger-older). TongFah, Paper, and Chris are close friends. Jeno and Near are other students at the same school, while M operates a game/coffee shop that serves as a hangout for the characters. From the first episode, it’s clear TongFah’s feelings for Paper have evolved beyond the friend stage, but it’s less clear how enthusiastic Paper is for this shift in their friendship. Jeno is being bullied at school by his ex-boyfriend, prompting him to sign up for MuayThai instruction. His mentor at the gym turns out to be Chris, who quickly determines to pursue his reticent classmate. Near, an avid gamer, has a part-time job at M’s café. It’s clear to viewers that M likes his young employee, but that Near is oblivious to the boss’s feelings. “Second Chance” is a bit of a slow burn, but by the end of Episode 3, all three couples seem to be inching towards acknowledging mutual attractions. By the end Ep 4, all three embryonic couplings have imploded. Yes, folks—they need a second chance!
Where “Second Chance” had the potential to deliver some originality to BL storytelling lay in its exploration of couples trying to reboot their relationships. I do not recall another BL series centered around the idea of redeeming a relationship that once had foundered. Unfortunately, such redemption would have required more time to unfold than the two episodes that remained in the series. Those last two episodes are the weakest two in the series, rushing through complications, reconciliations, and proms.
Typical of Thai BL series, “Second Chance” offers no particular comment on what it means to be gay in 21st century Thailand. Posters from queer cinema classics decorate the walls of TongFah’s bedroom, but that’s as close as the series comes to implying any of the lads extrapolates a personal identity from his romantic leanings. On the bright side, the writers eschewed using homophobic families as a source of conflict in the story. Boys falling for other boys is treated as a perfectly normal state of affairs in this tale, no complications from school authorities, the families, or from society writ large. Frankly, relief from those overused tropes about anti-gay attitudes is a big reason the meager plot of “Second Chance” succeeds in delivering a happy story—and after all, seeing happy stories that lead to boys kissing other boys is why many of us consume BL series in the first place.
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