Between Us (2022)

Lives up to its promise but struggles to surpass expectations

I’ve been following BounPrem for a few years now and Between Us is by far the best story they’ve been in.

If you haven’t managed to catch UWMA (you totally should, btw) and are wondering whether you have to watch it to understand Between Us, I have mixed feelings about this.

The developments between Win and Team are much more rewarding when you consider what the audience already knows (or rather, doesn’t know) from UWMA. This sequel is intended as an expansion pack of UWMA, essentially filling the gaps of how Win and Team’s story started and evolved. And wow, it really provided a surprising glimpse into their relationship.

Perhaps it’s the length of the series (two whole seasons + fluffy side stories in Between Us Special), but I thought Win and Team lost steam after starting out pretty strong in the first half.

The good news is, one of the side couples (Tul and Waan) actually caught my attention. I became increasingly invested in this couple over time, and by the final few episodes, I was way more interested in them than WinTeam.

All in all, Between Us is a perfectly good show with emotional depth, character development and excellent romance. It lives up to its promise as a sequel to UWMA, BUT, struggles to surpass expectations. Perhaps with all the anticipation that has been built over time.

My full review: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2023/02/02/between-us-2022-review-bl/

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A good series to binge

I have watched Until We Meet Again so many times over the years that I have lost count. When Between Us was first announced, I was so excited. I watched interviews and I even watched the special with the cute moments between Team and Win.

I started watching this on Monday and finished it yesterday.

Team and Win's relationship starts with just sex, where the arrangement is beneficial to them both. Until they start hanging out more, where they watch movies together, go grocery shopping together, their feelings towards each other start to change.

The plot mostly focuses on the characters and their relationship with each other along with the issues they both are facing. Team has nightmares and insomnia whenever a swimming competition is approaching and Win struggles with receiving love and showing love, probably because of how much pressure his father puts on both himself and brother Waan.

Win notices Team's nightmares and allows him to sleep in his room. This becomes a pattern. Whenever he is unable to sleep, he is welcomed to come to this room whenever.

I feel the turning point for them both is when Win saves Team from drowning. Once he is out of the water and looking at Win, Team apologizes to him, but Win just stares at him before he saying 'I told you that club was a day off today. Yet, you broke in with no permission. Why?' Team explains that he just wanted to practice. Win, the man that doesn't care about anything and always has a nonchalant demeanor loses his cool, when he yells at Team 'Fuck the practice! You almost died right in front of me! Do you not realize that?' Win realizes just how important Team has become to him. If something were to happen to him, his heart would be torn apart and Team realizes that his actions have/can hurt other people and just how close he was to drowning again. I lost count of how many times I have watched that scene. It was so well done and captures their feelings perfectly. They both cry as Win hugs Team close to him. Team made the same mistake he did as a kid, when he wanted to go swimming and not listening to his older cousin who instructed that he warm up first so he doesnt get a cramps, which is what happened this time. He wanted to practice but he didn't warm up therefore he got a leg cramp while swimming which caused him to start to drown.

If Win had not noticed the lights in the pool on, and come to investigate, Team would have drowned.

The next day, Win comes to the conclusion that he doesnt want to love anyone because he is afraid of losing them.

Team feels that Win is nice to everyone therefore concludes that none of the things that he is doing, hold no special meaning. (Despite MUILTPLE people telling Team that Win in fact does not). He doesn't allow anyone ride on his bike, except for this brother Wiew. He doesnt eat snacks or listen to music, but he has started to after getting involved with Team. There relationship has no label so neither of them know what to refer to each other as. They don't know what the feelings they have for each other are. Is is love? fondness? Is Team sneaking someone that reminds him of his brother Ton? When they first hooked up, Win told Team to address him as Hia. Does Win want someone to rely on him as his little brother does? Why would he want him to address him as such? When Team went home to see his parents and visit his brother's grave, he called Win crying and Win rode his bike for TWO hours to get to him. He leaves his door unlocked just in case Team can't sleep.. He buy him snacks, and food. He even eats breakfast with him. Through this whole series, Win treats Team different but Team still worries that he is not special. By the beginning of episode, the two talk. Team states something along the lines of how Win stays up to help him study, he is awake in case Team stops by to sleep, he is friend to Dean and a brother to Wiew and Waan. 'When do you have time to study? When do you have time to sleep? If being special, means to lose yourself, then I don't want to be." There are so many powerful and memorable scenes throughout the series. The two officially become boyfriends, finally confessing their feelings and not running away or overthinking.

The audience gets snippets of what is going on with Team as far as his insomnia but Win does not get the full story until episode 11/12. The scene at his Ton's grave, with him talking to his Aunt was also well done. Team has survivor's guilt, and thought it is touched on, I don't feel like it was clearly stated.

This series was 12 episodes long with five couples. Team/Win, Waan/Tul, Bee/Prince, Manoaw/Pruek, and Pharm/Dean. That is not a lot of screen time for the main couple. I feel like the screen time taken for the other couples could have been used to flesh out more of Team and Win, maybe clear up the misunderstands a lot more quicker. I dont know how many times someone can either tell Team that Win does not usually do something, that he does for Team, or Win showing how much he cares and loves Team without saying it. Sometimes people don't know how to say 'I love you' but they have their own way of showing it. Win tried to run from his feelings, he even went to bar and invited Tul and his brother Waan. Tul states somethin

I still love the friendship between Manaow/Pharm/Team and now we have a clearer view of their relationship that we didn't see in Until We Meet Again. Just like in this series, we see snippets of Pharm/Dean.

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Our BL hearts are satisfied after all

Since UWMA was the series which got me into BLs, I found an argue to write a review.

I hate the fact that I was waiting over a years for this. Don’t take me wrong I found this series extremely adorable.
It’s all sweet sugar filled, loving , caring, romanticizing (Probably the most romantic BL so far..)

It’s just that it could be WAY better after those 3 years. It’s had enough time and space to amaze the watchers. It is a little pity.

After all it’s a binge-watch (I watched it every Sunday, but I know you need just one night to digest it), and it’s super fast. Be prepared that the plot is umh 🤷🏼‍♀️, it’s made for BL fandom’s satisfaction.

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I loved it. I had no preconceived notions of this series as UWMA was never on my radar (I just don't care about fated mates and reincarnation, sorry), so I came in fresh with zero expectations of how the story should go, and I think it served me well.

I also found it when it was well into the series, starting just before ep 10 aired, and I think that it served me well too, because I didn't have a week between each episode to obsess and get angry about no one talking to each other. This show was very internally driven, which I find does better well on binging rather than watching week to week. And having watched the whole thing again since the drama wrapped up, I can confidently say that binging it all at once actually increased my opinion of it as a whole.

I felt like the reasons that both Win and Team had for hesitating were very well done, even if I can also understand how it was frustrating to watch from the outside. I was not frustrated, myself, being the type of person who can't communicate emotions well on top of becoming immersed in the story enough that I could see it from their POVs. The hesitation felt very real for two people who are 1 - still fairly young and 2 - have the specific hang ups that they both have surrounding love and whether or not they deserve it/can keep hold of it.

I do wish that Team's trauma had been addressed a little more thoroughly. To me that was the biggest misstep of the drama, followed by maybe too many side couples. I was 100% in it for Team and Win, and all of the side stuff started to get annoying after a bit. I wanted to enjoy Wan and Tul more than I did, and I have less than zero time for Bee and Prince, although I was pleased by them tackling (or at least attempting to tackle) the issues that celebrities can have dating in the real world, because people start to think that they own you. If any side couple was the MVP for me, it was Pruek and Manow, honestly. They were so darn charming it hurt. Still, thank goodness for the ffw button.

One thing this drama definitely did was make me a fan of Prem and Boun. I honestly didn't even know about these two before this but thanks to this show they are extremely on my radar and I look forward to whatever they wind up doing next, even if it isn't together (although I won't lie, I hope they have more projects together because their chemistry is lovely).

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J'adore Boun et Prem mais franchement c'était long, ennuyant vraiment je suis déçue, ils auraient dû réduire le nombre d'épisodes s'ils avaient à ce point rien à raconter parce que franchement y a des épisodes où ils se passent rien et l'histoire n'avance pas. J'ai eu l'impression de regarder plusieurs fois le même épisode tellement c'était toujours la même chose.
En plus, les autres couples n'étaient pas intéressants sauf ceux qui bah au final on ne voyait jamais.
Pour ce qui est de l'alchimie entre Team et Win je suis mitigée des fois elle était super et des fois plus rien et je trouve que niveau personnalité ils ont rendu Team beaucoup trop gamin.
Après c'est décevant mais ce n'est pas non plus le pire drama que j'ai regardé mais je pense que j'ai regardé tous les épisodes surtout parce que j'adore Win et Team de UWMA et Boun et Prem.

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Sequels are Challenging

This series came into being with a challenge. The first series "Until We Meet Again" was a great yet complex script with masterful direction which made it easy to keep the time shift between past life and this life organized for the viewers. This series has much of the same cast, the scripting is very weak with slow-moving progress in each storyline. The delayed rollout onto other platforms such as iQIYI was probably not the best strategy for this series. Had there never been “Until We Meet Again” this series may have had an easier sell to a wider viewership.

The secondary couples are what draw you back for follow-on episodes. When Samantha Melanie Coates (Manow) is in a series, she always brings fun and sunshine to every scene she is in. Her partnership with Bosston Suphadach Wilairat (Pruek, the third swim coach) is a very innovative (almost unexpected) match and one that I hope appears in a future series (not a third season of this current story thread--- let's end this here). Sood Yacht Patsit Permpoonsavat (Tul, a member of the swim team) and O Puwanai Sangwan (Wan, Win's older brother) are lively in interviews with a very cool vibe.

Benz Panupun Vongjorn (Prince) and Tae Weerapat Toemmaneerat (Bee/Bumblebee) the final secondary couple started out slow, but their momentum shifted in an un-noticed script transition. Prince introducing Bee to skin beauty products---well just too fun. If you haven't seen Benz Panupun Vongjorn Duean (Prince) in the series “Coffee Melody” (2022) it is well worth your time. I probably would have missed it but as we* were researching for other roles the secondary couples were in, we* started through his portfolio of work.

Much to our delight, when we* were seeking expanded portfolios for Born and Zee (from Cutie Pie and many other options) we* watched the comedy “Rose in Da House”, with Born and Zee plus others you will recognize from BL dramas. It was hilarious. We* rounded out our search last week by watching the "Be My Boyfriend 2 " concert. Both Boun and Zee were performing with 4 other BL stars in "boy band mode". Boun has a great voice. Seeing these actors in expanded performance roles makes you appreciate the full range of their talent. Today, someone sent me the trailer for the 2023 “Zomvivor Series”…another comedy with BL stars including Boun and Zee. The trailer was funny…mostly to see these actors as themselves in comedies is such a change…just watching their antics makes you laugh out loud.

Bottomline…we* got to episode 10 and will certainly see it through to the end, but unlike “Until We Meet Again” this won’t be a “re-watch” for us. Let me be very clear….this is just our view (and we review dozens of projects a quarter). This is in no way a criticism of the actors (which we like and now have viewed most of their full portfolios of work). In today’s marketplace, there is so much competition for a viewer’s time (and we are often asked “what have you watched lately you would recommend”. We* recommend what we have seen that felt at the end of the series/movie that it was time well spent. NOTE: This is one reason we* took the time to seek out the full portfolios of these actors. We* wanted to be able to make recommendations from their portfolios to give them continued visibility of their work.

*We clarified: Usually there is a small group who gets together for “viewings” of various types of movies/concerts/documentaries etc.*

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Absolutely wasted potential

Before I start throwing the shade let me clarify something. By looking at the rating of acting, you can clearly see the acting is not my problem.
The biggest problem of this serie is: ABSOLUTELY NO STORYLINE. And when I say there is none, I mean it. I have been watching this serie since it started airing and I am beyond dissappointed. Not only is this waste of money and time, it is also waist of actors potential. Almost all of them have stared in some show and are known in some kind of way so they wouldn't have any problem finding new gig. And if there is any storyline, it doesn't make sense. We basically don't know anything about the character since WinTeam were previously side couple and the rest...I don't even care about the rest. The other characters shortly don't have any potentional, which is such a pity, because we know them from UWMA. They could have made them a short storyline that would actually make sence rather than storyline every other part of every episode.
Another reason that is maybe the problem, is that Win and Team are not build to have their own serie. And there is nothing wrong with that. They probably weren't meant to have their own anyways but fans wanted it so they made us one.
This is everything I can think of about this serie. I am only finishing this drama because of BounPrem who have proven many times, they are really good actors. If they weren't in the series... boy oh boy... I would have dropped this drama after few episodes.

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Too many side couple and unimportant scenes

Tbh I was looking forward to this series cause I liked them in the previous series but I am just too bored. There are way too many side couple and unnecessary scenes used to only fill up the time. I rather have only 8 episodes of this with 40 mins run time with only Win and Team rather than 12 episodes with 1 hour run time when most of the time nothing is happening and the side characters are taken most of the time. I want to watch Win and Team so give me them. I don't care about these boring side characters whose plot is so tasteless and have been repeated 10 or so times. I don't care about this previous series main couple, I already know about them and how they will end. Thailand need to stop adding so many couples in one series. I don't care about them. Quality over quantity. Anyways got too boring to keep up, I just spamming the forward button most of the time.

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Acting is Fantastic........Plot not so!

First of all I want to begin by saying that I haven't been one of those people waiting for years for this show. I watched UWMA for the first time last year and found out by accident that Boun and Prem were getting there own spinoff a few months before this aired. Maybe this makes me see things differently to those who have had the long wait. I don't know.

Having watched 8 episodes though here are some of my thoughts.

The acting and chemistry between the two leads was fantastic as expected of these two, and quite frankly after 8 episodes they are the only reason I haven't dropped it yet. I don't know what to say about these two except they keep getting better and I hope get some better shows in the future.

As before, in UWMA, the costumes, music, lighting, filming, and yes even the use of silly noises in places, is all great and adds to the enjoyment and fun of the show.

Now moving on to the problem I found with the show, and I say problems because it's actually a few things that all seem to come from one central point. The Plot!
By episode 8, I expect our main couple to be moving forward by now, however in this show they aren't.......they are still going round in circles. Win has mentioned the 'boyfriend' word once but team just dismissed it and neither of them have bought it up again, so they are both in this limbo of not actually knowing what they are to each other. Also what the plot seems to be stuck on is how much the show is its own entity and how much it follows UWMA. When I say this what I mean is that Dean and Pharm get quite a lot of screen time in this show (as opposed to in UWMA when Win and Team got fairly little), to me this seems unnecessary as they have already had their show and unless the plot is going to change their ending, then we all know what will happen with them. It is simply wasting time that could be used on our leads.

Another problem is that on one hand the show recreates some of the scenes from UWMA, trying to link itself tightly with its parent show, then goes and catapults in new characters that were not in UWMA at all. This wouldn't be a problem if not for the fact that two of these characters build one of the side couples, one member of which is a first year swimmer the same as team, and known by not only Team and Pharm but Win and Dean as well. The other is a semi famous actor who is in Team and Pharms year also............yet we are expected to believe that these two were in the background of UWMA but never mentioned, not even by the queen of gossip herself, Manow. It just doesn't make sense.......is the show trying to link itself tightly with UWMA or stand on its own.

Lastly the plot has introduced far too many side couples, there is Dean and Pharm (who I have mentioned before), Manow and her boyfriend, this couple I can understand as many people want to see her get a happy ending, but then their is the third side couple I mentioned above who have been introduced for this show and just overwhelm the story with too many side plots.

Most people came to watch this show for the leads Boun and Prem and maybe to see the cast reunited once more, but the writers, directors, etc seem to have got completely out of hand with things and are ruining what could have been a great show.

Before I finish I would like to state that when mentioning characters I am not speaking about the actors abilities. All the actors in this show do their jobs brilliantly, it is simply a case of some of the characters either do not need the screen time they are given or to be in the show at all in my opinion.

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Worse than parent story

This review is based on my personal opinion and not targeting anyone who liked this drama.

I had been waiting for this drama for ages to finish. When I saw all the comments and review, I was a bit sceptical about watching it. Once I started watching it, I felt disappointed and dropped due to the following reasons:
1. Too many couples to begin with. The focus was mainly on Win & Team pair. What’s the point of having multiple couples when screen time is not given to them?
2. Dean and Pharm were given very little screen time and most of the scenes were taken from the parent story. The difference was clearly visible in terms of their hair colour. They looked quite young when they were main leads in Until We Meet Again Series.
3. The storyline didn’t make sense, at least for me. There is too much friction and hatred between generations which overshadowed the romance and comedy in the drama.
4. Lastly, I found very little cute and comic moments between friends especially between Team, Pharm and Manaow. There were many comic moments in between them in Until We Meet Again.
After watching a couple of episodes, I couldn’t continue any longer and went back to rewatch the parent story one more time.

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