1
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MJ Koontz
Back to being lost in America
The actors mostly shine, the director shows talent, and there is sex appeal for a while, but...
Yes, Bad Buddy is good. Let's put that out there before I get attacked for not giving it straight 10s.
With that said, there are also some huge holes in its story, unneeded or unexplained awkward gaps in time, some poorly executed moments, and enough drawn-out product placement to question if it's an infomercial or a television show.
Sold and packaged as a Romeo and Juliet story, Bad Buddy, in-the-end, shares very little in common with the over-taught, and over idolized, tale. Yes the two main leads, Pat (A sexy and charismatic Ohm Pawat Chittsawangdee) and Pran ( A Soft, cooing, emotional Nanon Korapat Kirdpan) come from warring families and friends that just refuse to get along. However, everything else in this series is its own and does not use anything more than this basic plot device to create the age old trope of enemies to friends. For a while you may be trying to decide who is who with all the side characters in play and maybe MOST importantly who is Romeo and who is Juliet, but the story never lends itself to those rigid character constructs (For our male/male leads this is a good thing and recognizes the differences in homosexual relationships) and the tale never allows any of these side characters, or main characters, story arcs to play out in any meaningful way, Thus, in the end it will be a fruitless endeavor with time better spent on not trying to match these characters up but to just toss the Shakespeare play you know away and watch the series as simply an Enemies to Friends story. (To be fair it IS adapted from a novel and not the age old play so this fits)
Our two main leads spend the first couple episodes lost in the chaos the story is trying to design around them and create a base of why these two just can't like each other or be together. Yes, you will get their introductions and a helping of some backstory (that stays muddled so future episodes can put it more into clear focus), but you will not really spend time with the leads in any truly meaningful way while this is happening. These beginning episodes are repetitive, long winded, and obnoxious with only some golden nuggets of moments for the audience to cling and see that their may be something worth staying for here. It was enough that the MDL rating dipped almost out of the 8's into the humdrum 7's at the time, and the director took to media to tell everyone to just sit tight and stay tuned that the show was about to leap forward.
So it was a rough start that mainly only the attractiveness of the stars and the rabid fan base kept afloat, not to mention the BL industry being so disrupted by Covid that most 2021 projects found themselves delayed or canceled and such Bad Buddy came along in an anorexic marketplace. Also, the music in these episodes is by far the best. Not only the theme song and the introduction to Nanon's single (Which I will say I liked) but the score of these episodes is a fun techno crunch of leftover 90's and early 2000's synth kits that are energetic and fun to hear. I missed them in the latter half of the series.
Trying to steer clear of spoilers, in broad strokes the center of the series, or middle episodes, explode into some great story telling, exceptional acting, truly emotional moments, and amazingly choreographed scenes that possibly may be considered meteoric and will be ensconced in the "Greatest Ever Moments" annals of BL fandom. Or ya know, maybe they won't. But, it is, in all honesty, this portion of the series that awards Bad Buddy with a rating in the 8s. What comes before it is very average 5-6 area. And what comes in the later episodes is much more 7-8 range. Meaning that if the middle hadn't been so incredibly strong this would probably only be a level 7 rated series at best.
Unfortunately, the creators cannot keep this momentum or strong storytelling going, and it all collapses into the heinous episode 7 which is set to restart the story in an ACT II design. Yes, it covers, or hides, the very poor writing under heaps of sexiness and flirtatious moments that had the fandom reeling and social media in overtime with edits and clips of these scintillating moments. But, these distractions were layered over an illogical time jump that makes the "game" the leads are playing seem to last for months of time off screen, while changing nothing of the actual story except to bring Pat's younger sister Pa into the University for a side plot. This jump comes out of nowhere and is awkward to watch and swallow. The fact that at least a1/4th of the episodes runtime (or one whole section since the episodes are delivered in 4 part installments) is taken up with product placements is shameful and cheapens the overall feel of the show. It is, by far, the largest disappointment the series comes to offer and its juxtaposed in an episode that highlights some of the great chemistry the main leads have with each other, which makes it one hell of a frustrating watch.
The ending of the series will finally follow the story lines built in the beginning episodes. One of the friends of one of our leads will do an unforgivable act. Long rivalries will be discovered but left unhealed or left in their toxic states. Pa, Pat's sister, (Played motherly and humble by Love Pattranite Limpatiyakorn) comes to cement herself in the series as one of the MVP's along with (Head strong and kind Milk Pansa Vosbein) as a mutual friend to all in her wining role of Ink.
The final episode is, like many I have watched, both satisfying and disappointing. Overall, the series has always put their strongest moments and best parts of every episode mostly in the part 4/4, or end of each episode to get you to come back the following week. That is, for the most part, the beginning of each episode is throw-away that eventually grows into something of more importance by the end. In fact, it could almost be said that you could watch Bad Buddy as a series of part 4s and have a very strong almost level 10 viewing experience. That rings true even up through the final episode which starts off very awkwardly, again with a time jump that is mostly not needed plot-wise, but ends very winningly.
I will give this show the benefit of having some excellent chemistry, acting, and directing choices. While the end starts to feel more perfunctory, and as some have stated, Bromancy (With sexual acts inferred and talked about playfully, but never attempted to be shown in even a G-Rated way and kissing moves more to cheek territory, and you just start to feel like you are watching best friends play around with each other) at one time it was palpable and exhilarating with some truly strong moments. Nanon and Ohm show they are a head of the pack in their acting chops and capabilities than most Thai BL's casts while Jimmy Jitaraphol Potiwihok as Wei gives a star making performance (Already with a new show for 2022 announced). Bad Buddy brings a lot of goods. But it only hints and has moments of Greatness, its own story the weakest part of production and dragging it down. But boy how moments of greatness can elevate an otherwise average encounter into something noteworthy. Bad Buddy could be a case study.
8.0 = B+, 4-Stars. A solid all around entry that will likely not disappoint.
With that said, there are also some huge holes in its story, unneeded or unexplained awkward gaps in time, some poorly executed moments, and enough drawn-out product placement to question if it's an infomercial or a television show.
Sold and packaged as a Romeo and Juliet story, Bad Buddy, in-the-end, shares very little in common with the over-taught, and over idolized, tale. Yes the two main leads, Pat (A sexy and charismatic Ohm Pawat Chittsawangdee) and Pran ( A Soft, cooing, emotional Nanon Korapat Kirdpan) come from warring families and friends that just refuse to get along. However, everything else in this series is its own and does not use anything more than this basic plot device to create the age old trope of enemies to friends. For a while you may be trying to decide who is who with all the side characters in play and maybe MOST importantly who is Romeo and who is Juliet, but the story never lends itself to those rigid character constructs (For our male/male leads this is a good thing and recognizes the differences in homosexual relationships) and the tale never allows any of these side characters, or main characters, story arcs to play out in any meaningful way, Thus, in the end it will be a fruitless endeavor with time better spent on not trying to match these characters up but to just toss the Shakespeare play you know away and watch the series as simply an Enemies to Friends story. (To be fair it IS adapted from a novel and not the age old play so this fits)
Our two main leads spend the first couple episodes lost in the chaos the story is trying to design around them and create a base of why these two just can't like each other or be together. Yes, you will get their introductions and a helping of some backstory (that stays muddled so future episodes can put it more into clear focus), but you will not really spend time with the leads in any truly meaningful way while this is happening. These beginning episodes are repetitive, long winded, and obnoxious with only some golden nuggets of moments for the audience to cling and see that their may be something worth staying for here. It was enough that the MDL rating dipped almost out of the 8's into the humdrum 7's at the time, and the director took to media to tell everyone to just sit tight and stay tuned that the show was about to leap forward.
So it was a rough start that mainly only the attractiveness of the stars and the rabid fan base kept afloat, not to mention the BL industry being so disrupted by Covid that most 2021 projects found themselves delayed or canceled and such Bad Buddy came along in an anorexic marketplace. Also, the music in these episodes is by far the best. Not only the theme song and the introduction to Nanon's single (Which I will say I liked) but the score of these episodes is a fun techno crunch of leftover 90's and early 2000's synth kits that are energetic and fun to hear. I missed them in the latter half of the series.
Trying to steer clear of spoilers, in broad strokes the center of the series, or middle episodes, explode into some great story telling, exceptional acting, truly emotional moments, and amazingly choreographed scenes that possibly may be considered meteoric and will be ensconced in the "Greatest Ever Moments" annals of BL fandom. Or ya know, maybe they won't. But, it is, in all honesty, this portion of the series that awards Bad Buddy with a rating in the 8s. What comes before it is very average 5-6 area. And what comes in the later episodes is much more 7-8 range. Meaning that if the middle hadn't been so incredibly strong this would probably only be a level 7 rated series at best.
Unfortunately, the creators cannot keep this momentum or strong storytelling going, and it all collapses into the heinous episode 7 which is set to restart the story in an ACT II design. Yes, it covers, or hides, the very poor writing under heaps of sexiness and flirtatious moments that had the fandom reeling and social media in overtime with edits and clips of these scintillating moments. But, these distractions were layered over an illogical time jump that makes the "game" the leads are playing seem to last for months of time off screen, while changing nothing of the actual story except to bring Pat's younger sister Pa into the University for a side plot. This jump comes out of nowhere and is awkward to watch and swallow. The fact that at least a1/4th of the episodes runtime (or one whole section since the episodes are delivered in 4 part installments) is taken up with product placements is shameful and cheapens the overall feel of the show. It is, by far, the largest disappointment the series comes to offer and its juxtaposed in an episode that highlights some of the great chemistry the main leads have with each other, which makes it one hell of a frustrating watch.
The ending of the series will finally follow the story lines built in the beginning episodes. One of the friends of one of our leads will do an unforgivable act. Long rivalries will be discovered but left unhealed or left in their toxic states. Pa, Pat's sister, (Played motherly and humble by Love Pattranite Limpatiyakorn) comes to cement herself in the series as one of the MVP's along with (Head strong and kind Milk Pansa Vosbein) as a mutual friend to all in her wining role of Ink.
The final episode is, like many I have watched, both satisfying and disappointing. Overall, the series has always put their strongest moments and best parts of every episode mostly in the part 4/4, or end of each episode to get you to come back the following week. That is, for the most part, the beginning of each episode is throw-away that eventually grows into something of more importance by the end. In fact, it could almost be said that you could watch Bad Buddy as a series of part 4s and have a very strong almost level 10 viewing experience. That rings true even up through the final episode which starts off very awkwardly, again with a time jump that is mostly not needed plot-wise, but ends very winningly.
I will give this show the benefit of having some excellent chemistry, acting, and directing choices. While the end starts to feel more perfunctory, and as some have stated, Bromancy (With sexual acts inferred and talked about playfully, but never attempted to be shown in even a G-Rated way and kissing moves more to cheek territory, and you just start to feel like you are watching best friends play around with each other) at one time it was palpable and exhilarating with some truly strong moments. Nanon and Ohm show they are a head of the pack in their acting chops and capabilities than most Thai BL's casts while Jimmy Jitaraphol Potiwihok as Wei gives a star making performance (Already with a new show for 2022 announced). Bad Buddy brings a lot of goods. But it only hints and has moments of Greatness, its own story the weakest part of production and dragging it down. But boy how moments of greatness can elevate an otherwise average encounter into something noteworthy. Bad Buddy could be a case study.
8.0 = B+, 4-Stars. A solid all around entry that will likely not disappoint.
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