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The all-together BL that everyone should see
Besides the rapid amount of time it takes to heal from a gunshot wound and, in my opinion, the ill placed relationship between one or two of the characters, I really enjoyed this drama as it exceeded my expectations in terms of what else I’ve seen from Thailand in the BL sector.
Personally, I didn’t feel that every character needed to have a happy ending. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that characters needed to necessarily die, even though that could have sparked a bigger hunger for fight amongst the gang, but more in terms of the various love lines we were given. Besides the out of place Dan redemption arc in his and Yok’s final scene, Gram’s entire love line was unnecessary and is something that should have ended once cleared up in the earlier episodes.
In saying that, I do feel that Black was one character in particular who should have gotten more focus in terms of the story line. Besides the lack of screen time and moments with his brother, or how he was fighting the system “behind the scenes'', we spent most of the series getting to know who he was WITH White, but in turn, the writers chose to keep him hidden while isolating him from his own friends and most of the story itself.
I also found it strange that the writers hinted at more than one potential relationship for Black and in both instances revoked them abruptly leaving us, the viewers, confused, especially the Gram and Eugene happy ending, where they simply ignored the fact that Black still had feelings towards Eugene. Not to forget the wasted opportunity that was the relationship between Black and Todd! They built that relationship so beautifully that it could have easily been a Romeo and Juliet or even a friends-to-enemies-to-lovers trope that could have also solved the Eugene problem, but alas, in those last two episodes we were robbed, for Karma purposes, I guess?
Two other smaller mentions in terms of plot and characters was the reasoning behind Gumpa’s existence and White’s purpose for going undercover. Firstly, besides Gumpa harbouring a gang of college boys in his garage, forcing them into all sorts of dangerous training while allowing them to set up and run with life threatening missions, we actually weren’t given ANYTHING about his character, there was no back story or reasoning to fight, was he simply a strategically placed wannabe Mr. Miyagi? Secondly, White’s original reasoning behind going undercover was quickly overshadowed by the political storyline. Although not a terrible move, it would have been a smoother transition with some sort of acknowledgement as White’s focus shifted.
As I mentioned earlier, overall, I really enjoyed this drama and I was fully invested in the story from start to finish, in fact, I binged it in one day! In terms of chemistry and acting, we have to give Off and Gun a round of applause for their performance. As always, they delivered, especially Gun , as he managed to do a convincing job of playing both the black and white swan. The choice of OST was also refreshing. After watching so many dramas, we KNOW just how repetitive the song choice can get, but the fact that they used various artists and songs throughout relating them to each scene, made a HUGE difference in the way the story was received.
Lastly, the overall arc of this story was an unusual one, especially in the Thai BL world. They took a varied spin on the boy’s varsity life and turned it into a story with great meaning and fight relating to the state of equality in Thailand. Okay, so the story itself was not necessarily THAT deep, but it did a great job in raising awareness, starting serious conversations and speaking volumes that so many can’t.
x dramafoxx
Personally, I didn’t feel that every character needed to have a happy ending. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that characters needed to necessarily die, even though that could have sparked a bigger hunger for fight amongst the gang, but more in terms of the various love lines we were given. Besides the out of place Dan redemption arc in his and Yok’s final scene, Gram’s entire love line was unnecessary and is something that should have ended once cleared up in the earlier episodes.
In saying that, I do feel that Black was one character in particular who should have gotten more focus in terms of the story line. Besides the lack of screen time and moments with his brother, or how he was fighting the system “behind the scenes'', we spent most of the series getting to know who he was WITH White, but in turn, the writers chose to keep him hidden while isolating him from his own friends and most of the story itself.
I also found it strange that the writers hinted at more than one potential relationship for Black and in both instances revoked them abruptly leaving us, the viewers, confused, especially the Gram and Eugene happy ending, where they simply ignored the fact that Black still had feelings towards Eugene. Not to forget the wasted opportunity that was the relationship between Black and Todd! They built that relationship so beautifully that it could have easily been a Romeo and Juliet or even a friends-to-enemies-to-lovers trope that could have also solved the Eugene problem, but alas, in those last two episodes we were robbed, for Karma purposes, I guess?
Two other smaller mentions in terms of plot and characters was the reasoning behind Gumpa’s existence and White’s purpose for going undercover. Firstly, besides Gumpa harbouring a gang of college boys in his garage, forcing them into all sorts of dangerous training while allowing them to set up and run with life threatening missions, we actually weren’t given ANYTHING about his character, there was no back story or reasoning to fight, was he simply a strategically placed wannabe Mr. Miyagi? Secondly, White’s original reasoning behind going undercover was quickly overshadowed by the political storyline. Although not a terrible move, it would have been a smoother transition with some sort of acknowledgement as White’s focus shifted.
As I mentioned earlier, overall, I really enjoyed this drama and I was fully invested in the story from start to finish, in fact, I binged it in one day! In terms of chemistry and acting, we have to give Off and Gun a round of applause for their performance. As always, they delivered, especially Gun , as he managed to do a convincing job of playing both the black and white swan. The choice of OST was also refreshing. After watching so many dramas, we KNOW just how repetitive the song choice can get, but the fact that they used various artists and songs throughout relating them to each scene, made a HUGE difference in the way the story was received.
Lastly, the overall arc of this story was an unusual one, especially in the Thai BL world. They took a varied spin on the boy’s varsity life and turned it into a story with great meaning and fight relating to the state of equality in Thailand. Okay, so the story itself was not necessarily THAT deep, but it did a great job in raising awareness, starting serious conversations and speaking volumes that so many can’t.
x dramafoxx
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