BLISS RATING: ★★★
“It is impossible to resist a bad boy who is a good man.” – Gangster Love Quote
This series left me feeling confused by all its hype. I am guessing that La Forte is referring to the Italian meaning “The Fort’. In reality, the title should have been, “Kinn Porsche The Series La Costa Nostra.” I did not understand nor appreciate this series. (Having peripheral knowledge/experience of the real Mafia, this is not a subject matter to be glamorized). It is an ugly story of cheating, greed, lying, abuse, intimidation, and murder, with a very strong dose of Cosa Nostra tethering. And its glorification made me uncomfortable and a bit sick to my stomach.
But like a lot of things in life, you are drawn to its story, perhaps because it has the element of badness, which seems to draw us in much like a moth to a flame. Or perhaps the idea of mafia fires up our imagination. In addition, it has such a stunningly handsome cast of characters that display so beautifully both the Yin and Yang of reality and the good and bad side of humanity. This story is not something you can summarize with any kind of coherency on paper. It indeed is a series that must be experienced with all its beauty and ugliness. I unfortunately found that its beauty did not or could not negate the overall ugliness of the story.
Kinn (Mile Phakphum) is this up-and-coming head of a Thai mafia (the Major Family) who is surrounded by inept almost comical bodyguards and servants. He is nearly killed in the opening scenes but by chance meets Porsche (Apo Nattawin) who initially seems to be an arrogant, street-smart fighter with skills and a tactical mind. So much so, that he is recruited to become a bodyguard for the Major Family, specifically assigned to Kinn. Yet all of that was either a ruse or a façade. He proves his ineptness over and over again but for some reason, which we are not initially privy to until the end of the series, the family bestows and gives him special treatment. Kinn and Porsche are drawn to each other, perhaps because they understand one other and are willing to be vulnerable with each other. They are different sides of the same coin, however. And of course, their on again off again relationship is explored extensively. Meanwhile, Porsche gets deeper and deeper into the lifestyle of a mafia even though in reality, he would have never survived without a load of people protecting and watching out for him.
The relationship between Kinn and Porsche is portrayed with incredible intensity. They projected at times their connections with profound affection for each other. Indeed, there are some very steaming and adult-like intimacies with each other which are a welcome relief from the banal and puckishly simple love scenes from most other Thai BL series. Did I believe it? No, I am sorry to say I did not. Not that their acting is not outstanding, as it is, and their adult scenes together are intense and terrific. But there always seemed just in the background lurking a greater love. Was it money, power, or simply the lure of the Cosa Nostra? So, I never felt their ‘love’. Besides, no matter how they projected it, they both are bad trying to pretend to be good but basically only to meet their own selfish needs. There is no doubt that these two loved each other in their own way. but that loved never touched their souls. How could it? They are both soulless.
There are a lot of people coming and going in this series with some simply shot outright. The main antagonist is a member of the Minor Family named Vegas (Bible Wichapas) who is a character that you love to hate. And to a degree, steals the thunder when he is around. He is bitter, angry, a pawn for both his despicable father and the Major family. He tries desperately to shine on his own but usually is unsuccessful. He is bent on bringing down the Major family and Kinn specifically.
In the process, a member of Kinn’s team, Pete (Build Jakapan) is sent into the Minor family to do undercover work. He is subsequently discovered. Here is someone who was originally recruited to be a worker bee and a good foot-soldier with no thought to who he is or what made him tick. As a side note, Pete is literally a commoner and dismissed essentially as not worthy of much attention. So much so that he was literally forgotten about and the excuse of why he was missing was accepted at ‘face value’. It pointed out yet again the low merit the Family placed on the flunkeys. Vegas captures/tortures (in very graphic detail) him. But this kind of intimacy leads each other to see the other in a different way. The two of them begin a relationship that visually is one of the best things about this series. Both tap into the lowest common denominator of their personalities and do not appeal to the ‘better angles of their nature’ but hit at the weakest link in their personalities and feed off that pain to take pleasure in it. They begin to develop a very toxic, abusive, sadomasochistic relationship for both to feel alive and real. It is both sad and utterly fascinating to see their relationship unfold. It is the classic case of the Stockholm Syndrome.
Its reality is shown to us with all its ugliness and disgust. Yet we cannot look away. And honestly feel – intrigued. This is some of the best acting in this series, hands down. Both these guys are remarkable actors. They took these minor characters and gave them completely new personalities with a side of humanity that is hardly ever explored as a possibility. They love not because of love but because of the way they can see each other in each other; they found one another and subsequently found themselves. It is an astonishing and brilliant job of writing and acting. As revolting as these scenes were, are some of the most brilliant scenes in this series as it made us confront our own definition of what love is. These two ought to have their own series.
Who really S.T.O.L.E. this series? It may seem off as to why I did not name Build and Bible for this distinction. And they so richly deserve this accolade. But there is one other here that is such a remarkable example and force for stability and represents a modicum of connection to humanity. That is Porchay (Barcode Tinnasit), Porsche’s younger brother. He gives this series a sense of stability and provides a beacon of light to the normal world. He is not corrupted by all the glitz and glamour of the underworld and in reality, loathes it. He is trying to remain ‘normal’ and grow up with a sense of purpose more in line with expectations of living a normal life. Along the way, he unfortunately meets Kim (Jeff Satur), who is the brother of Kinn. While not a direct part of the mafia family, he none-the-less keeps his fingers in the family business from a distance and is just as sociopathic as the rest of his family. He is and can display ruthless behavior like Kinn. His presence in this series is so enigmatic. He uses, rather cruelly, Porchay, merely to obtain information about his brother Porsche. Kim is a musician and so Porchay aspires to be one too. Because Porchay is so young, inexperienced, and naïve, he falls in love with Kim. And while not explicitly shown by Kim, he also is drawn intensely to Porchay. Kim’s actions are continuously trying to reconnect with Prochay but unsuccessfully. Porchay refuses. In more than one occasion, Kim has saved Porchay’s life, without him ever finding out. Throughout this series, Porchay is the only real and solid connection that anyone has to the outside world of saneness. Porchay is trying desperately to hold onto that reality rather than get himself sucked into the criminal world. His range of emotions were a thing of beauty to watch. And because he was not connected to the mafia, they seemed and felt more real. When he asks Kim, if he ever loves him, the pain on his face to Kim’s nonresponse was so palpable, that I cried with him. He is an astonishing performer and for that reason deserves this distinction.
In terms of production, I do not think you will find a better produced series. This is slick and spectacular. Undoubtedly one of the best cinematic productions to come along in quite a while. It all looks so first rate. Acting, for the most part, is excellent. With some of the scenes showing some real brilliance. But the screenplay left a lot to be desired. Brilliant at times and then cringeworthy at other times. The oldest brother, Tankhun (Tong Thanayut), was an over-the-top character who is mentally unstable and was so superfluous to this story. I could not figure out if he was for comic relief, or merely a misfit to divert attention. His acting is great; but it was wasted on a character that made literally no sense either to the story or direction.
And herein lies the problem with this series. It tried too hard to make these characters ‘likeable’. They are not. They are rotten to the core, looking at life rather cynically and fatalistically. They would lie, cheat, steal, murder, and torture, to gain power, control, and wealth. They are despots guised as human, smiling as they look at life cheaply. I could not ever bring myself to seeing anyone in ‘love’ in this series. They loved being in love but not with the person. The only one who truly loved was Porchay and in the process of trying to love unconditionally, he was cruelly rejected.
There is an axiom about individuals being drawn to ‘bad boy’ imagery and this is the classic case of that. The story became so convoluted and twisted in its outcome that when I finished the series, I did not care. It was all so contrived. This would have been a much better series if they merely presented a love story between a crime syndicate leader and someone who is not. Or an entire series on Pete and Vegas whose love is so deranged and abusive yet so intensively strong. Ironically, the only love connection that I saw as genuine was between Kim and Porchay. Porchay loved Kim (perhaps more of a ‘puppy love’) and Kim, for whatever internally and lonely reasons, loved Porchay, to the extent that he could. But both know it is a love that cannot nor ever will be because it is based on reality while the others are figments in a fantasy world.
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