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BounPrem and lacking plot
So, I am a HUGE BounPrem fan, I have seen all of their works, and I first discovered Thai BL from this very show. The plot was good, the original cast were together from UWMA (other than KoaEarth because it wouldn't fit with WinTeam). The drama was good, and Boun really showed a lot of depth and emotion in this work. Prem has slowly come into his own, and you can see his improvements in the series, too. But, I have some big issues with the show overall. I would have loved for special episode to show how things turned out for WinTeam after college ended, but I know that is sadly not going to happen. :( Still, it was a solid show that highlighted a lot of love, bitter emotions, the importance of having someone accept you, and overcoming your fears. Here are the pro's and con's of this series. I still HIGHLY RECCOMEND WATCHING THIS! But, here's some spoilers you should know and some major issues I had with it.
Pro's:
1) Its BounPrem. Anything they work on together is gold chemistry-wise, and the projects that they have worked on under other directors or even during live events have been really enjoyable to watch. They are very natural with one another most of the time. Though Prem is still pretty innocent with anything physical, so he tends to need time to really get into a scene, since he's admitted to having no experience, having only kissed Boun, and so he ends up having a slow response to some scenes, it worked well for this show because it matched Teams character, so it's a pro here.
2) Episode two's nc scene was so awesome! Their special clip for it showed that they had a lot of... excitement, in their eyes. Like you could tell they got into it, which made it sexier and realistic. Team showed impressive control when interrupting Win while they were making out, because his character is typically meek, so I liked that part of the scene too. They both did a fantastic job in this one, much less nervous, more confident and it wasn't rushed, either, so the pace was good. It was probably my fav nc scene of the show. They did very well.
3) The songs for this were recorded by Boun and Prem and it made it better, to hear their music during certain scenes. Very nice touch.
4) Win's care of Team is magic, I love how he pampers him without being too easy on him, and his care for Prem comes through in his portrayal of Win. You see them a lot before and after this project and Boun always looks at Prem with affection (whether that is as friends, brothers, or more- its undeniably there) and Prem's awkwardness that is often covered for by Boun is also present in this series. As is the obvious trust and playfulness Prem has with Boun whenever they are seen together. It felt like they brought parts of themselves and their relationship (whatever it is) to the roles, it didnt feel like they were just acting. That made the series much better. It takes talent to give that impression.
5) Boun's smile is honestly one of my favorite things, its contagious, so whenever he would flash that smile after a emotional scene or while flirting, it always drew me in. Prem always seems to smile or calm down when Boun is smiling, and you can see that happen a few times when it really shouldn't have. (Like, Team is crying and had just had a traumatic experience and Win smiles and suddenly he seems much calmer) Its a double edged sword for Prem, really, but I think its a pro in this case. It matches Team's reliance on Win, so it fits nicely here.
6) The story for WinTeam is pretty good regarding the slow burn effect that many fans love. They grew closer slowly but surely, with Win focusing on Team from the beginning and both slowly falling in love. It was a beautiful aspect of the show, if not a bit frustrating at times.
7) The scenes with WinTeam always had a certain gentleness to them, and the drama was good. Boun really stepped up his acting for this role, and Prem has really improved in a lot of ways. Of the two, Boun has always been the better actor, but Prem is finally coming into his own, which is seen throughout this series.
Cons:
1)The other couples and the unnecessary amount of time they were given. Now, granted, BounPrem's first roles were side characters in UWMA and in only 30 minutes of scenes, the BL world fell in love with them. In fact, they are arguably the favorite pair from that series! However, neither of the side couples in Between us had that chemistry, neither of them could capture feelings of love or connection beyond that which is expected of them. (Though Bee did try his best!) they took away from WinTeam time- which is why we were all even watching this!- and the Bee/prince story didn't have anything to do with the theme, it barely even tied in with WinTeam or the premise of the series!
1.5) Most specifically, the relationship between Bee and Prince was... upsetting. Not because it wasn't a sweet concept, but frankly, Prince's acting is in need of work and, when paired with Bee whose character was built around humor, it just didnt fit. Not only that, but they had wayyy more time than needed for side characters. 30 to maybe an hour max should be devoted to side couples, especially when they have TWO of them, but they had a large chunk of time in most episodes, even when WinTeam was dealing with a lot of emotion, this couple would suddenly pop up and break up the pacing of the entire episode. If you want this paring, give them their own series, but for the love of god, don't freaking interrupt the main pairing and the whole plot of the story randomly to see the side couples!!!!!!
1.6) Also Tul and the brother... WTF was that? Frankly, I thought it was a better concept than Bee/Prince, since it at least fit with the story and added to it rather than took away from it, but they did not get nearly enough screen-time for any real coupling. The ending was super rushed for the entire show and this was very much the case for Tul and the brother. They should have had more time to develop, if so much time was devoted to lesser known and less important characters (bee/prince) while Win's close friend and brother were given minimal... it seems unfair. Like the director (issue number 2) had a specific focus on the Bee/Prince pairing and had no plans to deviate from that focus, even if it means taking away WinTeam time and stopping the other side couple. If you're going to half-ass a side couple, just dont try it.
1.8) The THIRD side pairing that was the most unnecessary was between Manow and the swimmer. It didnt fit and wasnt needed. It likely only happened because the actress is dating a producer, so she got more screen-time than she should have.
2) The director. Whenever New is directing, you can expect to see odd pacing, too slow plots or too fast turn arounds, and way more of a boyish, shy, less mature approach to relationships. This can be seen very clearly with the pace and the lack of kissing. They are set in college, not high school, and more maturity was needed from them in terms of approaching the other. As they are close friends and occasionally more for this series at first, I could see it. But as they develop feelings for each other, it is obvious that they want to-or should have- shared a few more kisses and physical scenes. It didnt need to be too intense, but friends with benefits suddenly becoming super sweet and not at all physical makes little sense. They needed to run with that plot, or confess much MUCH sooner. Several times kissing was teased, which was annoying. He also tends to have odd breaks right after intense scenes, like HE needs a break and so he just switches gears on the pairings and the fans. Its annoying and i wish BounPrem didn't like him so much, as he is the director both prefer to work with. :( so their series are most likely going to be directed by him. :(
3) The NC scene in the bathroom. That was Horrible. It was rushed, like it barely happened. After their steamy ep.2 scene, they should have-and needed to- bring that same fire for the bathroom scene. Win had clearly wanted to stake a claim on Team, he's holding back and it's harder for him every day. So when he follows him to the bathroom and kisses him, there should have been more to it. When he asked if he could sleep with Team and then just pushed him into a stall- which was hot- only for the scene to end, well. I was pretty upset about it. The pace was too fast. They should have been shown kissing for longer because they clearly want each other by this point, so passion and desperation would have been two emotions really needed for this kind of sudden scene. It lacked that, it lasted 2 minutes, and it left me upset that a good opportunity was wasted. Why put it in there at all if your going to not run with it??
4) The confession. Another poorly done pacing from New. They had so much build-up, so much they both worked through, Win was planning to confess- and then he froze. For a looooonnnnggg time. Then he's chasing after Team, and they for whatever god-awful reason decide 'hey, lets not talk about this. lets sing about it while we cry and still dont say the freaking words' which went on for a solid 5 minutes. Before they finally got to the point. The fact that Win had Team so insecure was really sad, but Win was even more insecure, and he needed Team to be strong for him. Which, thankfully, he was. So, of all the BL confessions I have seen... this one is a 6/10. I'm being generous. If I didnt LOVE BounPrem, it'd be less. Once again, this is a New issue. He's constantly messing up the pacing, and it makes an otherwise critical scene either too long, too short, or oddly arranged.
Overall, I still rewatch it, because Boun-specifically- tends to have a soothing effect on me for some reason so I'll rewatch his works. But, if you dont like attention to side couples, the slow-burn, teasing kisses, and/or dislike the overly drawn-out type of story... well, please support them by watching it regardless, just get ready to be left displeased half the time.
Pro's:
1) Its BounPrem. Anything they work on together is gold chemistry-wise, and the projects that they have worked on under other directors or even during live events have been really enjoyable to watch. They are very natural with one another most of the time. Though Prem is still pretty innocent with anything physical, so he tends to need time to really get into a scene, since he's admitted to having no experience, having only kissed Boun, and so he ends up having a slow response to some scenes, it worked well for this show because it matched Teams character, so it's a pro here.
2) Episode two's nc scene was so awesome! Their special clip for it showed that they had a lot of... excitement, in their eyes. Like you could tell they got into it, which made it sexier and realistic. Team showed impressive control when interrupting Win while they were making out, because his character is typically meek, so I liked that part of the scene too. They both did a fantastic job in this one, much less nervous, more confident and it wasn't rushed, either, so the pace was good. It was probably my fav nc scene of the show. They did very well.
3) The songs for this were recorded by Boun and Prem and it made it better, to hear their music during certain scenes. Very nice touch.
4) Win's care of Team is magic, I love how he pampers him without being too easy on him, and his care for Prem comes through in his portrayal of Win. You see them a lot before and after this project and Boun always looks at Prem with affection (whether that is as friends, brothers, or more- its undeniably there) and Prem's awkwardness that is often covered for by Boun is also present in this series. As is the obvious trust and playfulness Prem has with Boun whenever they are seen together. It felt like they brought parts of themselves and their relationship (whatever it is) to the roles, it didnt feel like they were just acting. That made the series much better. It takes talent to give that impression.
5) Boun's smile is honestly one of my favorite things, its contagious, so whenever he would flash that smile after a emotional scene or while flirting, it always drew me in. Prem always seems to smile or calm down when Boun is smiling, and you can see that happen a few times when it really shouldn't have. (Like, Team is crying and had just had a traumatic experience and Win smiles and suddenly he seems much calmer) Its a double edged sword for Prem, really, but I think its a pro in this case. It matches Team's reliance on Win, so it fits nicely here.
6) The story for WinTeam is pretty good regarding the slow burn effect that many fans love. They grew closer slowly but surely, with Win focusing on Team from the beginning and both slowly falling in love. It was a beautiful aspect of the show, if not a bit frustrating at times.
7) The scenes with WinTeam always had a certain gentleness to them, and the drama was good. Boun really stepped up his acting for this role, and Prem has really improved in a lot of ways. Of the two, Boun has always been the better actor, but Prem is finally coming into his own, which is seen throughout this series.
Cons:
1)The other couples and the unnecessary amount of time they were given. Now, granted, BounPrem's first roles were side characters in UWMA and in only 30 minutes of scenes, the BL world fell in love with them. In fact, they are arguably the favorite pair from that series! However, neither of the side couples in Between us had that chemistry, neither of them could capture feelings of love or connection beyond that which is expected of them. (Though Bee did try his best!) they took away from WinTeam time- which is why we were all even watching this!- and the Bee/prince story didn't have anything to do with the theme, it barely even tied in with WinTeam or the premise of the series!
1.5) Most specifically, the relationship between Bee and Prince was... upsetting. Not because it wasn't a sweet concept, but frankly, Prince's acting is in need of work and, when paired with Bee whose character was built around humor, it just didnt fit. Not only that, but they had wayyy more time than needed for side characters. 30 to maybe an hour max should be devoted to side couples, especially when they have TWO of them, but they had a large chunk of time in most episodes, even when WinTeam was dealing with a lot of emotion, this couple would suddenly pop up and break up the pacing of the entire episode. If you want this paring, give them their own series, but for the love of god, don't freaking interrupt the main pairing and the whole plot of the story randomly to see the side couples!!!!!!
1.6) Also Tul and the brother... WTF was that? Frankly, I thought it was a better concept than Bee/Prince, since it at least fit with the story and added to it rather than took away from it, but they did not get nearly enough screen-time for any real coupling. The ending was super rushed for the entire show and this was very much the case for Tul and the brother. They should have had more time to develop, if so much time was devoted to lesser known and less important characters (bee/prince) while Win's close friend and brother were given minimal... it seems unfair. Like the director (issue number 2) had a specific focus on the Bee/Prince pairing and had no plans to deviate from that focus, even if it means taking away WinTeam time and stopping the other side couple. If you're going to half-ass a side couple, just dont try it.
1.8) The THIRD side pairing that was the most unnecessary was between Manow and the swimmer. It didnt fit and wasnt needed. It likely only happened because the actress is dating a producer, so she got more screen-time than she should have.
2) The director. Whenever New is directing, you can expect to see odd pacing, too slow plots or too fast turn arounds, and way more of a boyish, shy, less mature approach to relationships. This can be seen very clearly with the pace and the lack of kissing. They are set in college, not high school, and more maturity was needed from them in terms of approaching the other. As they are close friends and occasionally more for this series at first, I could see it. But as they develop feelings for each other, it is obvious that they want to-or should have- shared a few more kisses and physical scenes. It didnt need to be too intense, but friends with benefits suddenly becoming super sweet and not at all physical makes little sense. They needed to run with that plot, or confess much MUCH sooner. Several times kissing was teased, which was annoying. He also tends to have odd breaks right after intense scenes, like HE needs a break and so he just switches gears on the pairings and the fans. Its annoying and i wish BounPrem didn't like him so much, as he is the director both prefer to work with. :( so their series are most likely going to be directed by him. :(
3) The NC scene in the bathroom. That was Horrible. It was rushed, like it barely happened. After their steamy ep.2 scene, they should have-and needed to- bring that same fire for the bathroom scene. Win had clearly wanted to stake a claim on Team, he's holding back and it's harder for him every day. So when he follows him to the bathroom and kisses him, there should have been more to it. When he asked if he could sleep with Team and then just pushed him into a stall- which was hot- only for the scene to end, well. I was pretty upset about it. The pace was too fast. They should have been shown kissing for longer because they clearly want each other by this point, so passion and desperation would have been two emotions really needed for this kind of sudden scene. It lacked that, it lasted 2 minutes, and it left me upset that a good opportunity was wasted. Why put it in there at all if your going to not run with it??
4) The confession. Another poorly done pacing from New. They had so much build-up, so much they both worked through, Win was planning to confess- and then he froze. For a looooonnnnggg time. Then he's chasing after Team, and they for whatever god-awful reason decide 'hey, lets not talk about this. lets sing about it while we cry and still dont say the freaking words' which went on for a solid 5 minutes. Before they finally got to the point. The fact that Win had Team so insecure was really sad, but Win was even more insecure, and he needed Team to be strong for him. Which, thankfully, he was. So, of all the BL confessions I have seen... this one is a 6/10. I'm being generous. If I didnt LOVE BounPrem, it'd be less. Once again, this is a New issue. He's constantly messing up the pacing, and it makes an otherwise critical scene either too long, too short, or oddly arranged.
Overall, I still rewatch it, because Boun-specifically- tends to have a soothing effect on me for some reason so I'll rewatch his works. But, if you dont like attention to side couples, the slow-burn, teasing kisses, and/or dislike the overly drawn-out type of story... well, please support them by watching it regardless, just get ready to be left displeased half the time.
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