BLISS RATING: ★★★
“Men don’t fall because of deception, they fall because of love.“ – Apostle Dr. Joshua Selman Ninmak Quotes
Let’s first start with what is wrong with this series before I get into why I still liked it. Well, the production is not very good. It is obviously a low-budget production. The editing is choppy and not always making sense. The translation is a bit rough around the edges. And the story is way too rushed to make any sense overall. Conceptionally it is a very interesting story, but it tries to do too much in too little time to do it in. It feels rushed and a sense that something is ‘missing’ but I cannot quite put my finger on what that is. Lack of depth? Lack of natural development? No real character development? It is hard to tell given that everything seems to be so rushed.
But despite all of that, the story is somewhat profound. It is one of those series that while watching you have this sense that you are bored and it all seems so uninteresting but when you think about it later in total, it somehow becomes quite a fascinating story and plot. The title aptly describes this series as it begins with carnal and lustful desires and actions. While the story seems simple, it is rather complex and offers a lot of twists and turns that makes it both uplifting and yet sad. It is a story of manipulation and deceit with a twist of trying to do the right thing at the end. If I tried to describe the story, it undoubtedly would not make any sense. So let me list some of its main points.
It is a story in which an owner of a coffee shop named Thien Long (Thien Lam) is drunk because he has been dumped (which in and of itself is a very interesting story). He passes out but he bumps into this ‘girl’ who helps him get home and they end up having sex. He cannot escape the idea that he has fallen in ‘love’ with this ‘girl’ who in reality is not a girl at all, but a guy dressed as a girl. His real name is Minh Hoang [Hang] (Nam Mario). He gets a job as a server where his two gay friends work at the coffee shop that by coincidence is owned by Long. Therefore, their journey to self-discovery begins.
Both Long and Minh Hoang have secrets and behaviors for which they are not proud of, and both try and become better individuals through the discovery of them loving one another. We discover that Long is quite ‘lascivious’ and really treats females merely as sexual objects to play with. However, the real take-away from this series is that Minh Hoang is a product of sexual abuse previously. Perhaps not in the classic sense of how we think that term is used, but he had been manipulated or coerced into dressing as a woman for the benefit of someone else; not because he wanted to do it.
To add to this deception, his best friend, Gia Vy (Le Tuan Anh), enhanced the deception and coercion for becoming a prostitute for Duy Khahn (Duy Khanh). Duy Khanh manipulates Minh Hoang into believing he is his boyfriend, and this is an easy and quick way to make money for them. Minh Hoang finally realizes he is being manipulated and therefore take this regular job at the coffee shop. Long plays the role of being a gigolo until he meets Ming Hung. Something in her (him) stirs a deeper feeling and he wants to pursue that with her (him). All along, however, Long had been aware that Ming Hang was Ming Hoeng but he wanted him to explain that for himself. Additionally, he was unsure what to make of these feelings he had for him since he always dated and had only been with females. If this sounds a bit convoluted, it perhaps is but it is a story of great deception and manipulation and does show the vulnerable side of what it is like to be gay and how easy to is to be manipulated by supposedly boyfriends and friends. It also shows how difficult it really is to break that cycle and not be manipulated into the same familiar pattern of behavior.
Who really S.T.O.L.E. the series? Honestly, the acting in this series is so low-keyed that to say anyone person specifically stood out over the rest of them is difficult. However, the one who essentially carried this series is Nam Mario as Minh Hoang (Hang). He is an incredibly handsome individual with unquestionably boyish looks and charm. He has this innocence about him and in real life, one could almost see him being taken advantage of simply because of his sweet, innocent looks and wanting to please people all the time. While I am not sure he makes a convincing female, he was cute along with his best friend. (By the way, Le Tuan Anh as his best friend Gia Vy is simply dropped-dead gorgeous and is one of the handsomest men I have ever seen on the screen. He has been blessed with exceptionally good looks which honestly is so hard to deny). While Nam Mario is effeminate, it is never over-the-top so. It all looks and feel so natural for him. And he plays that well because to have done it too much would have distracted from the role. I think his role was to never be quite over-the-top yet still be unique and himself. When he is Minh Hoang, he is quite good and portrays a certain fortitude in controlling his fate. Yet, when he meets up with his former boyfriend, he reverts to being vulnerable and susceptible. He is very low-keyed in his approach but is so pivotal to controlling everything and everyone around him. It is a very interesting performance and must be appreciated frankly for its quality. It was not an easy role to perform.
Overall, I enjoyed this series, but felt a bit cheated by it. Cheated in the sense that it seems short. Characters were not developed well. Changes of attitude came much too quickly (this will make sense to you if you watch the series). They also downplayed the dastardly deeds of Minh Haong’s boyfriend, Duy Khanh, in which he seemed to have suffered little by his actions except in the end his real boyfriend, Gia Vy, turned on him and is now working at the coffee shop as well. There also was a strange scene at the end in which Duy Khanh appears in a mask, then takes it off, and smile, indicating that there is perhaps more to this story. So, I am not sure if the intent were to have more episodes or another season.
This could have been a way better series if some serious thought was given to actually developing the characters instead of making it so episodic so that a story could be told. We really want to care about these characters and want to feel something for them, but it all seemed so rushed. Food for thought if there is a second season – slow it down. Even the other two gay characters who were servers were interesting as they were a couple themselves and it would have been nice to know them better. They were not just ‘filling in’ so to speak but played a pretty solid part in moving this story forward. (They were not there just for comic relief).
This series had so much potential and good-acting overall, but it all seemed just a bit too superficial and of course rushed. Slow down. Do not be so timid next time!
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