BLISS RATING: ★★★
“The story of us is and always will be the story of love.” – LoveToKnowQuotes
This is a massively frustrating series that went nowhere and literally said nothing. It should have been named snippets of Pappy and Daddy. Besides being so sanitized and non-offensive, I do not think it will satisfy anyone. I had so looked forward to watching this as I thought it would have some meaning to it, but I could not find one. It had a good premise and perhaps in the long run, it might have become an entertaining overall series, but alas there are no more planned after this. So, it ends abruptly and frankly, stupidly. What a disappointment.
It is about a gay couple who have a surrogate son. All of that is quite cute and the little boy is so adorable and is the center of attention but never overplayed. The story revolves around Damien (Melvin Sia) who is a successful restaurateur. He meets a vlogger by the name of Jerry (Mike Lin). He is smitten by him immediately. It is a story of them and the development of their relationship and the raising of their son. The premise is very good, but it moved too fast and was so full of Pablum that you could not sink your teeth into anything solid here.
All the problems about being a gay couple (even in Taiwan), raising a child, coming out to your parents, and yes dealing with your past are simply glossed over as if Mary Poppins gave everybody a ‘spoonful of sugar’ and all the problems magically disappeared. Yes, it was nice to see a ‘gay’ couple be out and raising a child and try to fit into society. But it is just too sanitized. The series tended to get bogged down in minutia such as the droning on in the Gay Parade and birthday party and then gloss over quickly the boy’s questioning of “what is a Mommy”? That would have and could have added way more depth to this series if they had tackled some of these issues more than superficially.
For sure, the coming out to the parents of Jerry and them accepting the reality was heartwarming and cute, but just too convenient. Life is not always tragic, and conversely, life is not always wrapped up into a nice, neat package that makes people feel good. There has to be a bit more reality here for these series to work or have a point. It was refreshing that this couple were older, successful, had out and proud gay friends, and were seemingly accepted by others. The raising of a child was quite good as it did tackle (a little) the trials of tribulations of being a parent, trying to balance home and work together, and showing that guess what? It does not matter if you are gay or straight, the same problems arise! It also superficially addressed the reality of a child not being accepted by his peers because he had a ‘different’ family. It also tackled the anxiety of wanting to and trying to fit in to society and yet be able to maintain your ability to be who you are. But again, it was all so sanitized.
What also distracted for me was that these two actors were hard to believe that they were in a relationship. While you can ‘act’ gay; it does not necessarily translate into being believed you are gay. I just did not buy them as being gay. They are cute, handsome, and had a certain connection together; but believability was not one of them. Perhaps if the series was not rushed, they might have been able to develop a more solid bond with one another. All of it just seemed so polished and it felt as if this is what an idealized gay couples should look like. But guess what? It does not.
The ending just has to be discussed. It ends with Damien having another son (a teenager no less whom he brings home unannounced to Jerry) to a woman he was married to previously. Huh? Did you never suspect that maybe this was your son? Did you not think to tell Jerry that you had another son? I know this was supposed to be a soap opera but really. To leave your audience hanging like this was not just a cliffhanger but essentially throwing you off the cliff – headfirst.
Who really S.T.O.L.E. the series? Honestly, no one really stood out. But the one who seemed to at least give some depth to his role was Tzu Chian Wang, as Jerry’s father. He seemed to give at least some semblance of emotional pain but in a laconic fashion. His foundation was critical to the family supporting Jerry and Damien and he acted as if he understood the importance of that. Considering what had already happened, he sensed and analyzed that if he did not accept this, his son and the happiness of this relationship was at risk. So, he was capable of putting his feelings aside as well as those of the old guard surrounding the culture and customs. He was a very quiet accepting head of household who knew it was time for a change and was willing to do it. While he only had very brief scenes, he is so pivotal to this story and gave it the grounding that it needed. Too bad this series ended as he would be quite a role model for others and a source of strength to his newfound grandson. I like his role and how unassuming he was and yet he made it his own.
I honestly must state what a disappointment I found this series to be. It lacked even a modem of depth to it and glossed over important issues and simply grazed solutions to some very serious issues in the gay community and raising a child with gay parents. In addition to the fact that there really was no real chemistry between the actors or profundity to the characters made this series hard to appreciate.
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