BLISS RATING: ★★★★★
“Laugh as much as you breathe and love as long as you live.” – Johnny Depp
This is an astonishing series full of fun, humanity, quirkiness, with a cast of characters that I would want as friends. It tells an unpretentious story with vibrancy and life. It is a tale surrounding a love, bromance if you will, between a straight guy and his gay roommate.
Tat, (Ar Jun) nicknamed Radar, is a straight guy who lives with Zik, (Patrick Pan), his gay roommate. EVERYONE just assumes and concludes that the two of them are lovers since they have known each other for over 20 years and have lived together for many years and frankly seem inseparable. They have a symbiotic relationship that at times is beneficial but at other times, it is a stumbling block to their own individual developments. When we meet these two, they have already been living together for quite some time and have come to rely on each other for literally everything. They are intertwined and share everything. Both have been in relationships before, but all have broken apart. Some due to the other finding fault with that choice. Zik has had a rocky 10-year relationship with Steven (Wai Seng Fung), but has recently broken up with him. Radar has gotten close to seriously being with a female only to pull back because she did not meet Zik’s standards.
This story has a cast of characters that are quirky, fun, and are full of life. Their lives are ordinary, and their story is ordinary but that is what makes it so much fun and relatable. Zik, plain and simple, is your venomous Uranian with sarcasms and snide comments rolling off his tongue like coins from a dispenser. Their living quarters are messy, lived in, yet screams who they are. They have these crazy house rules that they pretend to follow and deploy to get at each other. This story is funny with a lot of humor and joy to it especially when Tat’s mother, Barbra (Chiu Ying), comes to visit them. She is maddingly gregarious and no matter how hard they try, simply cannot get her to understand that they are not a couple even though she sees them as such.
This is their story and while there is a certain amount of contentment in their arrangements and connection, the slow inexorable journey to individual freedom from one another is inescapable. They begin to realize that if they are to grow or be their own person, they must someday be apart. And that is their real journey.
At one point, they had thought that perhaps they actually were a couple and tried to be more than friends. However, they never could consummate the relationship as Tat realized he was into females. But they reasoned they could still be together, remain friends, and live together. This is a complex journey spearheaded by the idea that they never really resolved their own misgivings about their relationship. To say that they were close would be an understatement. They knew each other in all matters and facets. Even bromance does not fit here. It was love but without the physicality, no matter how hard they both tried to not say that or feel that. This is one of the most complex relationships I have seen in a BL and to a degree is the truest form of what love is without sex. They accept each other completely yet both know it is time for each to move on and live their lives separately.
Steven comes back into the picture and no matter how much bantering and caustic remarks are made between Steven and Zik, we know there is a deep strong and abiding attraction. Perhaps love, maybe. In the physical sense of the word, it is, but on other emotional levels, that is debatable. Security? Familiarity? Perhaps. Yet, as Steven comes back into the picture, Zik realizes that if he is ever to explore other parts of his personality with someone else in an intimate setting, he must separate from Tat. A stumbling block to all of this is that while Steven loves Zik, he has been unfaithful to him, and he may have contracted HIV. I did not think it was possible to make that topic humorous, but they certainly did.
Radar insists on going with Zik and Steven for their testing. The exchanges between the three of them is hysterical and perfectly timed. Fortunately, for both Steven and Zik, they are negative which means they can pursue their roller-coaster of a relationship once more. Zik, besides his outward sarcastic exterior is one of the most understanding individuals I have seen on screen. He can easily separate his emotions from reality and see the total picture while the rest of us would be utterly unhinged. His commitment to an individual is complete but not infallible.
But Radar also has news for Zik. He tells him that he has accepted a work assignment overseas and will be leaving Hong Kong. Initially, as usual with Zik, the outward appearance is happy and jovial. But before Radar leaves, they agree to help Tat’s mother marry her boyfriend, Alexander, played by Waqas and at that point, Zik wakes up to the realization that Radar will be leaving for good. So, he works up the courage to express how close they are and how deeply he will miss him. While his voice cracks, he does not weep (although I did). When they hug, I cried because it was the beginning of their end. What struck me more was how much was not said as opposed to how much was. Zik never said the word love to his lifelong friend and Radar never uttered the word love to describe his lifelong friend. Yet, it was there, deeply, whether they said it or not. This was stunningly moving and delivered with perfection. How do I know that? I wept.
This was a profoundly moving story of a capacious and abiding friendship with an esprit de corps built on a foundation of love. Whether it was simply a spiritual love, an unrequited emotional connection, or purely platonic is unknown. It is a beautiful saga of two men in love with each other not in conjugal terms but in all other ways.
Who really S.T.O.L.E. the series? All these cast of characters, including the supporting actors, were phenomenal. Their comedic timing was spot on and the way they delivered their lines was sheer perfection. It was pure comic genius to watch that and so much fun. They knew when and how to do it effortlessly. They not only acted like they had been friends for years, they in essence were. This was the most relaxed and real ensemble of characters I have seen in a long time. However, for this distinction, I want to nominate Chiu Ying as Tat’s mother, Barbra. She is simply hysterical. Quirky. Fun-loving. Honest. Real. Genuine. These were just some of the characteristics showed with sheer perfection. With her comedic timing, bantering, and quips, she gave her character a total personality. Her frizzed appearance simply enhanced her Bohemian style and personality. She made me laugh out loud. Allow me to give an honorable mention to the character FiFi, played by FiFi. His characterization as a friend to Zik popping in and out in both appropriate and inappropriate times is hysterical. He seems to be everywhere and always knows what is going on.
This series has been vastly overlooked in the genre of the BL world which is unfortunate. Sure, it is obviously a shoe-string production but that does not take away from its message, its intense human connections, its incredibly screenplay, and one of the best comedic ensembles out there. This series needs to be experienced. It is funny. It is joyous. It is full of life. Poignant. Topical. And a story of profound friendship that rarely happens in real life.
This is truly a ‘must-see’ series. It is a story of intimacy in all forms except physicality. It is simply thoroughly enjoyable and a real human story of human interactions and more importantly filled with real people that are relatable no matter the cultural backgrounds or country of origin.
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