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The First And Best
I'm pretty sure there is nothing I could say about this show that hasn't already been said. It is a masterpiece (or, as I have lovingly taken to calling it, a monsterpiece). It was the first Thai drama I ever watched and it irreversibly pulled me into the weird and wonderful world of queer Asian dramas and for that alone I will always love it.
But it's much more than just personal fondness that makes this drama so incredible to me.
This show takes what could easily have been a contrived, Romeo-and-Juliet-esque plot and turns it into a fiercely loving and genuine story about first love, self-determination, and the struggles of learning how to be yourself in the face of constrictive, sometimes even crushing, social and societal expectations. It touches on topics of sexuality, identity, compulsive heterosexuality, performative violence, and intergenerational trauma (in a "the sins of the father are the sins of the son" type of way) with a sensitivity and care that is still all too rare in cinema these days.
Now onto some (mild) spoilers.
Some personal highlights (aka Things I Loved):
- The deep respect and love Pat and Pran have for each other. Their relationship is tender, realistic, and frankly just plain fun as well, and seeing them both work so hard on building a healthy and lasting connection is beautiful and incredibly satisfying to witness.
- The pacing, specifically during episodes 6-10 in which the two of them just get to exist and grow together while tackling different problems facing them together and advancing their relationship step by step each episode. I know this sort of relationship progression isn't for everyone and hey, I get it, I love a good slow burn as much as the next guy, but personally I find that nothing compares to watching such an achingly real relationship unfold and grow, and seeing two people who love each other fiercely progress through their lives together rather than each of them struggling alone and pining from afar.
- The realistic depictions of sexuality. Specifically Pat letting go of his former infatuation with Ink and allowing himself to explore a romantic relationship he wasn't expecting until finally coming to the conclusion that he is attracted to all genders, which he then expresses out loud, with his words, as a direct response to a "oh but aren't you only gay for him" comment. Revolutionary, I know.
- Ink and Pa. I love my girls so much, they are both incredibly charming and compelling characters, yes I have huge crushes on both of them, what's your point
- The way the typical langkorn staples of sound effects, over the top silliness, and even the product placements (shoutout to Nivea, inexplicable make-up removal scenes my beloved) are utilised to underscore and enhance the story's genuine emotional moments. Beware, beware the danger of the artists who figured out how to use The Silly And Goofy to tell clever and touching stories.
Some personal lowlights (aka Things I Didn't Like):
- The ending. Don't get me wrong, I was very pleased with it being a happy ending and the end of episode 12 was just so goddamn charming it had me grinning from ear to ear, but I really disliked the whole "hiding their relationship" aspect. I would have loved to see them further develop the plotline of Pat and Pran actively defying their parents and refusing to live with and suffer for mistakes and heartbreaks they themselves had nothing to do with, and seeing the parents actually learn to let their kids live their lives for themselves. And if not that, then I could have at least done without them faking a break-up at school, that was just unnecessary in my opinion. Sure, there's a chance their parents would have found out about their continued relationship had they not hidden it that way, but that was seemingly a non-issue previously when they were openly dating so I don't see why they wouldn't have risked that. And lying to their friend groups (with the exception of Wai and Korn) just felt weird to me.
- Korn and his ilk in the early episodes. God but they were pricks, the lot of them. Korn especially irked me. He had a few moments that made me think he was actually becoming a redeemable character, but nothing came of them (see: that one moment in one of the early episodes where Korn reprimanded his friends not to make sex object jokes about women only to then just sort of continue making those jokes himself).
I will say though, that he did win me over by the end. His character arc wasn't as fleshed out as it could have been, but he did manage to pull his head out of his arse and learn to support his friend and put his needless feud with Wai to rest, so I am somewhat willing to overlook how much I wanted to punch him for roughly the first 70% of the show's runtime
- Wai forcibly outing his friend and how little it was discussed. I love Wai as a character (he is my little gremlin, my little weirdo, my scrungly boy) but forced outing is one of the most traumatic experiences a queer person can go through and for Wai to experience essentially zero consequences for his actions and even had Pran apologise to him really rubbed me the wrong way.
In conclusion: This is a wonderful, wonderful show by queer people for queer people and it remains a stand-out success and an absolute highlight among not just Thai shows, or queer Asian dramas, but among queer films and shows in general. Go watch it.
But it's much more than just personal fondness that makes this drama so incredible to me.
This show takes what could easily have been a contrived, Romeo-and-Juliet-esque plot and turns it into a fiercely loving and genuine story about first love, self-determination, and the struggles of learning how to be yourself in the face of constrictive, sometimes even crushing, social and societal expectations. It touches on topics of sexuality, identity, compulsive heterosexuality, performative violence, and intergenerational trauma (in a "the sins of the father are the sins of the son" type of way) with a sensitivity and care that is still all too rare in cinema these days.
Now onto some (mild) spoilers.
Some personal highlights (aka Things I Loved):
- The deep respect and love Pat and Pran have for each other. Their relationship is tender, realistic, and frankly just plain fun as well, and seeing them both work so hard on building a healthy and lasting connection is beautiful and incredibly satisfying to witness.
- The pacing, specifically during episodes 6-10 in which the two of them just get to exist and grow together while tackling different problems facing them together and advancing their relationship step by step each episode. I know this sort of relationship progression isn't for everyone and hey, I get it, I love a good slow burn as much as the next guy, but personally I find that nothing compares to watching such an achingly real relationship unfold and grow, and seeing two people who love each other fiercely progress through their lives together rather than each of them struggling alone and pining from afar.
- The realistic depictions of sexuality. Specifically Pat letting go of his former infatuation with Ink and allowing himself to explore a romantic relationship he wasn't expecting until finally coming to the conclusion that he is attracted to all genders, which he then expresses out loud, with his words, as a direct response to a "oh but aren't you only gay for him" comment. Revolutionary, I know.
- Ink and Pa. I love my girls so much, they are both incredibly charming and compelling characters, yes I have huge crushes on both of them, what's your point
- The way the typical langkorn staples of sound effects, over the top silliness, and even the product placements (shoutout to Nivea, inexplicable make-up removal scenes my beloved) are utilised to underscore and enhance the story's genuine emotional moments. Beware, beware the danger of the artists who figured out how to use The Silly And Goofy to tell clever and touching stories.
Some personal lowlights (aka Things I Didn't Like):
- The ending. Don't get me wrong, I was very pleased with it being a happy ending and the end of episode 12 was just so goddamn charming it had me grinning from ear to ear, but I really disliked the whole "hiding their relationship" aspect. I would have loved to see them further develop the plotline of Pat and Pran actively defying their parents and refusing to live with and suffer for mistakes and heartbreaks they themselves had nothing to do with, and seeing the parents actually learn to let their kids live their lives for themselves. And if not that, then I could have at least done without them faking a break-up at school, that was just unnecessary in my opinion. Sure, there's a chance their parents would have found out about their continued relationship had they not hidden it that way, but that was seemingly a non-issue previously when they were openly dating so I don't see why they wouldn't have risked that. And lying to their friend groups (with the exception of Wai and Korn) just felt weird to me.
- Korn and his ilk in the early episodes. God but they were pricks, the lot of them. Korn especially irked me. He had a few moments that made me think he was actually becoming a redeemable character, but nothing came of them (see: that one moment in one of the early episodes where Korn reprimanded his friends not to make sex object jokes about women only to then just sort of continue making those jokes himself).
I will say though, that he did win me over by the end. His character arc wasn't as fleshed out as it could have been, but he did manage to pull his head out of his arse and learn to support his friend and put his needless feud with Wai to rest, so I am somewhat willing to overlook how much I wanted to punch him for roughly the first 70% of the show's runtime
- Wai forcibly outing his friend and how little it was discussed. I love Wai as a character (he is my little gremlin, my little weirdo, my scrungly boy) but forced outing is one of the most traumatic experiences a queer person can go through and for Wai to experience essentially zero consequences for his actions and even had Pran apologise to him really rubbed me the wrong way.
In conclusion: This is a wonderful, wonderful show by queer people for queer people and it remains a stand-out success and an absolute highlight among not just Thai shows, or queer Asian dramas, but among queer films and shows in general. Go watch it.
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