In a year that has been plagued by mediocre BLs (with some total disasters along the way), it is always refreshing to at least have something decent. "Love in Translation" decided to at least break the cookie-cutter mold that most GMMTV series have been and avoided the usual highschool/college students setting that we seem to get at least 3+ times per year (like "Fish Upon the Sky", "Tonhon Chonlatee", "2Gether", "Bad Buddy", "Dangerous Romance", and a long long etc.) and are so popular not because the acting was great or the story was fantastic but because GMMTV shoves the lead couple down our throats endlessly in very similar series later on. And other studios don't have the long list of actors so we get to see them plenty of times in several stories (like Frank-Lee Long, Noeul-Boss, among others)

"Love in Translation" provided a break from mediocrity and while certainly NOT perfect, is not the slow burner that "I Feel You Linger in the Air" has become (not a bad series but just becoming a bit too predictable) or the near porn show that "Only Friends" has been from the beginning (seriously, I'm shocked as to how only 2 segments of the 9 episodes that have aired are age-restricted on GMMTV's Youtube channel). And here are some of the reasons this series has been a pleasant surprise:

1. OFFROAD: I still think this guy has been vastly underused in the Thai entertainment industry. Yes, I know his main job is being a singer but we've seen him acting briefly in a cameo in "Rak Diao/One Love" (episode 8) and as the lone shining moment of the disaster that was "Our Days", where he simply stole most of the scenes he was in alongside the two leads. In this series, we get to see him play the bubbly character of Phumjai, a guy who is madly in love with a Thai-Chinese influencer called Tammy and that has to deal with an older brother, Phojai, who doesn't feel he is mature/responsible enough and follows him around trying to check on him from a distance. Later, to prove he is "worthy" of Tammy's love and to shut his brother's mouth, he decided to open a business and with Otto's help he meets Yang, a Chinese guy who is trying to open a business in Thailand but needs a Thai partner to do so.
Offroad once again shows his versatility as an actor as he navigated through several very different moments like when he is so flustered to meet Tammy for the first time, to realizing he is not in love in her but actually he is developing feelings for Yang, to feeling sadness and anger when Yang rejects him, to feeling worried when Yang is kidnapped and when Phojai has to stay with the kidnappers, to the loyalty he shows to Tag and other mini-mart workers, to all the cute moments he has with Yang, to the mature conversation he has with his brother in the final episode. All those moments were not 100% perfect, but certainly were well done by a guy who doesn't have a whole lot of acting experience (someone please show this series to Gun Napat!)

As point 1A, I will give an honorable mention to Daou who is making his acting debut in this series (he also appeared in episode 8 of "Rak Diao/One Love" but was only to promote LAZ1) and had a bit more complicated emotional scenes than Offroad but did it decently enough... However, the combination of him and Offroad proved to be deadly thanks to...

2. CHEMISTRY: Holy chemistry between the leads Batman! Offroad and Daou did not have a lot of kissing scenes or intimate moments like we've seen in many other shows. However, whatever they had, they made the screen sizzle like their sex romp inside the mini-mart and the kisses in episode 8. Not sure if being part of the same group has made me much more comfortable with each other but it was good to see two rookie actors really go for it in the kissing scenes without the hesitation and sometimes cringe that some more veteran actors show when they have to kiss their on-screen partner. In episode 8 I was 2 seconds away from screaming like the 2 ladies that were witnessing the moment as they definitely went for it in the kissing department. As a viewer, not only that makes the romance a bit more real but also I can appreciate the commitment instead of having fish kisses or actors who look really awkward while trying to avoid touching lips as much as possible. Outside of these moments, both developed a good dynamic in the other situations so the lead couple felt actually like a lead couple.

Now, not everything was picture perfect...

Some of the PLOT/STORYLINE made no sense because there was really no background story provided to know about Yang's past. We know his family has a lot of debt and they seem to be running away but I wish more details were provided so we didn't have to be guessing. The kidnapping in episode 7-8 was a bit unexpected as apparently the guy who wants the money from Yang suddenly kidnaps him and forces him to work in his company?! I mean, I've never heard of a loan shark who actually "hires" you to pay your debt by doing manual labor for him. Then, when Phojai stays, he ends up using his knowledge to save the loan shark's company and ends up being called "Boss #2"... I mean, talk about moments that come out of nowhere...
Plus, the way Phumjai, Tag and Phojai end up joining Yang and then the negotiation to only retain Phojai is also a bit weird as no loan shark will agree to that. Then, the money Phumjai has to lend to Bokki and her sick father is a bit unnecessary as all is solved off screen and Bokki remains "eternally grateful" to Phumjai for helping.

Then, the secondary couple of Tag and Phojai had zero back story or development... both are already dating in secret by the time the series start, Tag wants to go public, Phojai doesn't, they argue, they might break up until Phojai has a revelation and confesses his love for Tag, and he decided to move in with Tag at the end. The stalking that Phojai does for most of the series is a bit off-putting as he uses Tag to "report" on everything that Phumjai does and keeps following his brother's actions. The only good moment was the conversation both brothers have in episode 8 were the clear any misunderstandings and you can finally see a conversation between two adults.

In a minor complain, I wish Daou did not have to wear that wig, but given he had military commitments, I understand the need for it.

In the end, while definitely not perfect, this series at least brought some much needed fresh air from all the disappointing series we've had this year (not only from Thailand but also from other countries) and exposed us to Offroad-Daou who should be definitely be used more as actors in the near future.