I LOVE a good soulmate trope, but THIS? My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined. It was set up for success: interesting enough plot, good and known actors, under a big production company…what happened?!

When I started watching La Pluie, my interest was peaked as it follows people in a universe where, when it rains, they can only hear their soulmate no matter if they are close to them or not. I was really interested in the worldbuilding of this universe, but as it took a more surrealist approach, I let it never being explained slide.

To break down this broken narrative, let me divide it into sections:

Chapter I: Plot
We follow Saengtai (Tai), a writer, and Phat, a veterinarian, as their love life unfolds after they meet each other in a café one day. This was a very interesting set up with them starting to like each other but both being unaware of their role as each other’s soulmate. It was a nice aspect for the viewer to have a leg-up on information. And it remained interesting to watch their dynamic unfold, with Tai soon finding out Phat *is* his soulmate, and him facing the complication of navigating this. But, why would that be a complication, you may be asking. Well, that brings us to my biggest problem…the characters! (yes, many of them!)

Chapter II: Characters
Saengtai is our main character. He is one of four sons to a divorced couple. After his parents split, it tore his world apart and it caused him to not believe in the whole “soulmates” thing; resulting in him always ignoring Phat whenever it rained for ~2 years straight. Ummm. Rude. This wasn’t the best opening to Tai’s character, as I have always seen him as selfish for this matter. He held on so strongly to the anger he had for his mother, and he was never understanding of their decision for their happiness. Maybe this is my own experience as a child of divorce coming out, but he was very extreme in his irrational grudge regarding the divorce. And, in terms of him as a soulmate to Phat, I thought he was the same level of poor character.

Phat is a sad result of the third-act break-up trope. Phat was great — he was a walking green flag, even. He was communicative, sweet, sometimes shy but also upfront about his feelings. He was protective and sensitive. You could see he really cared for Tai and wanted their relationship to go far. He dealt with Nara (his ex) decently (wish he didn’t let her kiss him, but it’s ok). And then episode 10 hit, and everything (I mean EVERYTHING) went downhill (just like Tai on that countryside trip).

Ep 10 in short: Phat found out Tai lied to him about where he was, so he went to confront him. After seeing Tai with Lomfon (more on him later), Phat goes absolutely insane and starts plumbing him (Lomfon, a literal college student). I, honestly, stared at my paused screen for a good five minutes because I was so taken by surprise. When I say this came out of left field, I’m saying it came out of left field from another country. After this, Phat and Tai fight (Tai was very rational in this conversation), and then part ways…until Phat shows up to Tai’s place drunk and they fight some more and THEN they break up. *sigh* WHY WHY WHY?? Last Saturday, I closed my laptop with only “what happened?” running through my head.

We don’t get any scenes of them directly interacting in ep 11, and I was praying that Phat would show me *some* reason to find him the tiniest bit redeemable, but I was left disappointed. Sure, Phat was sad, but he was sad because they broke up, not specifically because of how insanely abusive he acted. I have no clue what drugs the writers were on for this last bit of the drama, but I hope they never experiment again.

The aforementioned character of Lomfon is the classmate of Tai’s brother, Saengthian. Initially, the two hated each other, but after some school group projects, they both began to develop feelings. Lomfon hung out with Tai because for some weird reason, he can also hear Tai in the rain (soulmates??) and he wanted to figure out why. He kisses him, and then Phat finds them, chaos ensues. BUTTT Saengthian also shows up with Phat, so he sees his crush kiss his brother…hard thing to get over. In the end, Saengthian iconically delivers this line: “Because I like you, a**hole.”

And this brings me to another issue: Random plot points

Chapter III: Randomness
There were some things I found a bit odd that were just thrown in the watchers face and we are supposed to accept it:
• In ep 9, Tai and Phat were revealed to have been childhood neighbors who helped each other through hard times by passing notes to each other. You’re telling me they NEVER saw the other walk outside of the house? Not even a glimpse?!
• When was Lomfon able to hear Tai and Phat? He mentioned that it was after their visit to the countryside, but he expressed interest in Tai long before that. Was that out of a crush??
• Tai saved Lomfon from getting hit by a car the day his parents divorced…okay…
• Tai and Phat can no longer hear each other in the rain all because Tai screamed, “This f*cking destiny, I don’t want it anymore!” Like…okay, why was it that easy…

Chapter IV: Conclusion
The fantasy element is okay-ish. It is nothing that special, and it rained so. much. to a laughable amount and I began to question if it is really like that in Thailand YEAR-ROUND. The script is honestly mediocre, and the pacing sometimes fell a bit flat. I liked the second leads at times more than Phat and Tai. The cinematography also isn’t that special, but the few countryside eps were pretty.

Overall, I am so sad by how this series is ending, and the bad taste it will leave in my mouth. I already know it’s going to end with the two couples getting together and that’s honestly so messed up. It’s giving Love in the Air…detour!

Love in the Air follows two couples: first is Rain and Payu and the second half of the series is on Sky and Prapai. Both couples are toxic in their own way, but would you guess it, they all end up with each other. Writers need to acknowledge that, for a realistic and more impactful ending (and in this sense/context, a positive one), it is perfectly fine for a character to not end up in a relationship they were building them towards if something drastically changes. For LITA, I would have wholeheartedly understood if Sky told Prapai that he was not ready for a relationship after being mentally and physically harmed by his ex again. For La Pluie, I would understand if Saengthian says he doesn’t want to be with Lomfon if he’s not confident in his own feelings. Or Tai if he is uncomfortable with how cruel Phat acted without even trying to understand him (Phat became a traffic light with a broken yellow light). People change, so relationships and hopes do as well, and it is fine for a character to divert their desires based on their needs.

It hurts me to say, but I honestly would not recommend this series to others. Go watch Until We Meet Again for a soulmate trope, Be My Favorite for another fantasy, or You’re My Sky for more of Suar’s (Saengthian) acting <3

EDIT: i finished. i have thoughts.
• Saengthian and Lomfon- whatever, they can end up together. But it would be very weird knowing my partner had a crush on my sibling first.
• I don't like how Tai apologized to Phat and he didn't even apologize back. Tai was saying he was being selfish...NO. You just had good boundaries, babes.
• LOVE LOVE LOVE Nara and Dream <3
• I was going to actually bump my review up to 5 stars (a result of too much coffee and sleep deprivation), and then the ending with Saengthian getting a soulmate happened and I was like...wait...what are you thinking?? I have no clue if they plan to do a spin off, but I honest to god hope not.

Pinterest plug: https://www.pinterest.com/ed3nelle/drama-la-pluie/